Lord of the Sabbath

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Matthew 12:1-8 KJV

1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I say unto you, That in this place is [one] greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did Jesus and His disciples do on the Sabbath day? (v.1)
2) How did the religious leaders respond to what they did? (v.2)
3) What was Jesus' response to the Pharisees? (v.3-8)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What does the statement, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice" mean to you?
5) How do you demonstrate your beliefs in the mercy of God your own life?
6) Are you "resting" in Jesus, or are you performing your way into eternal life?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord expects His people to worship Him by extending His mercy, rather than His judgment, to others.
8) Jesus is our Sabbath because He is the One whom we may "rest" in from the trials and difficulties of this life. 
9) Performance oriented religion always leads to spiritual exhaustion, fatigue and burn-out.
10) To "rest" is to cease from one's own striving to allow the Lord to be God in our lives.

Rescuing the Weak

Monday, September 7, 2015
Psalm 82:1-8 NIV 

1 A psalm of Asaph. God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the "gods": 2 "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? 3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5 "The 'gods' know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.' 7 But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler." 8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does Asaph reveal about our God? (v.1)
2) What question does the psalmist ask the readers of this psalm? (v.2)
3) What does the psalmist encourage the readers to do instead? (v.3-4)
4) What does the psalmist write concerning the "gods" of this earth and its foundations? (v.5)
5) What does Asaph write about the "sons of the Most High"? (v.6-7)
6) What plea does the psalmist make to God? (v.8)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Do you believe that God is about to judge the nations of this earth? If so, what, if anything, can you do about it?

LIFE LESSONS
8) The Lord God will one day judge all who have refused His rule and reign in their lives and on this earth, as individuals, as well as nations.

9) The Lord will hear the prayers of the righteous and relent from allowing disaster, or calamity, to strike an individual and/or nation that He has purposed to judge.

How Shall We Repent?

Friday, August 28, 2015
Jeremiah 6:26-30 NIV 

26 Put on sackcloth, my people, and roll in ashes; mourn with bitter wailing as for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. 27 "I have made you a tester of metals and my people the ore, that you may observe and test their ways. 28 They are all hardened rebels, going about to slander. They are bronze and iron; they all act corruptly. 29 The bellows blow fiercely to burn away the lead with fire, but the refining goes on in vain; the wicked are not purged out. 30 They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them."

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After declaring that Israel would be taken captive by an enemy nation because they rejected Him, what did the Lord tell the people to do? (v.26)
2) What does the Lord tell the Prophet Jeremiah about his his role in Israel's coming calamity? (v.27)
3) What is Jeremiah's assessment of Israel? (v.28)
4) Did the "refiner's fire" purge the people of Israel of their rebellion? (v.29)
5) To what is Israel likened? Why? (v.30)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Do you believe that God has rejected the United States? If so, why? If not, why not?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord never judges His people without repeatedly warning us of impending judgment.
8) Those people and/or nations that reject the Lord's warnings will be rejected by Him. 

How Shall We be Jugdged?

Thursday, August 27, 2015
Joel 3:9-16 NIV 

9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, "I am strong!" 11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, LORD! 12 "Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side. 13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow-- so great is their wickedness!" 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After proclaiming judgment against the nations, what else does the Lord proclaim against the enemy nations and for His people? Why?

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
2) Do you believe that the Lord will fight for the people of the United States? If not, why not? If so, why?

LIFE LESSONS
3) The Lord will fight for those who are obedient to His will and His ways, no matter where they live or worship Him.

The Lord Waits to be Gracious

Saturday, August 22, 1988
Isa 30:18-26 NIV

18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! 19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!" 23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Though the people of God continually rebelled against the Lord and His rule over them, what did the Lord long to do for them? Why? (v.18)
2) What was the Lord's promise to His willful children and how would He respond to them in their trouble? (v.19)
3) What had the Lord given His rebellious people and how would He provide for them despite His judgments against them? (v.20-21)
4) What did the Lord expect His people to do in response to His mercy? (v.22)
5) How else would the Lord demonstrate His great compassion for His people? (v.23-24)
6) What would happen in the "day of great slaughter" and when "the LORD binds" up the wounds of His afflicted people? (v.25-26)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) In what ways have you rebelled against the Lord? 
8) How will you restore right relationship with Him?

LIFE LESSONS
9) Despite His chastening, the Lord longs to be gracious to His rebellious people.

You Behaved Worse Than Your Ancestors

Monday, August 17, 2015
Jeremiah 16:9-13 NIV 

9 For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place. 10 "When you tell these people all this and they ask you, 'Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?' 11 then say to them, 'It is because your ancestors forsook me,' declares the LORD, 'and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord God tell His rebellious people to expect? (v.9)
2) How were the God's people to respond to those who questionned the disaster that would befall the people of God? (v.10-11)
3) What other calamity did the Lord declare over His people? Why? (v.12-13)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Do you believe that the United States will be judged by the Lord? If so, why?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord's judgment against a people or nation, becomes progressively severe until the people or nation repent of their sins.

Amend Your Ways and Your Doings

Friday, August 7, 2015
Jeremiah 26:8-15 NIV

8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, "You must die! 9 Why do you prophesy in the LORD's name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?" And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. 10 When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went up from the royal palace to the house of the LORD and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD's house. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, "This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!" 12 Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people: "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard. 13 Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you. 14 As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. 15 Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the people of God do to the prophet Jeremiah after he hold them all that the Lord told Him to say to them? Why? (v.8-9)
2) What did the religious leaders do after hearing what God's people had done to the prophet? (v.10-11)
3) What did Jeremiah prophesy to God's people and their religious leaders? (v.12-15)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Do you know of any modern day prophets of God who have been ignored and/or persecuted by the people of God because they spoke of impending judgment on a church and/or nation?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord always raises up prophets to forewarn His people of impending judgment. Those who ignore God's prophets and continue to rebel against the Lord will face God's wrath.

If You Will Not Listen

Thursday, August 6, 2015
Jeremiah 26:1-7 NIV 

1 Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD: 2 "This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the LORD's house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. 3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. 4 Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, 5 and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.' " 7 The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Who was Jehoiakim the son of and what happened early in his reign? (v.1)
2) What did the Lord say to Jeremiah the prophet? (v.2)
3) What did the Lord tell the prophet to say to His people? Why? (v.3-6)
4) Who heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord? (v.7)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you ever heard a prophetic word, from the Lord, concerning yourself, your church, and/or your nation?
6) if so, what do you generally do in response to those prophecies?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord sends His servants (the prophets) to warn His people of impending judgment to allow them to repent of their transgressions against Him.
8) When the people of God repent of their sins, the Lord God will relent from allowing calamity to befall them.
9) When God's people refuse to heed the words of the prophets, judgment is certain.

My People Have Forgotten Me

Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Jeremiah 18:11-17 NIV 

11 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.' 12 But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.' " 13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel. 14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing? 15 Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up. 16 Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. 17 Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster."

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
After the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, the Lord God told the prophet to go to the potter's house. The Lord told the prophet that He would relent from causing calamity to befall those who forsook evil, but would relent from blessing the disobedient (rebellious).

1) What was the word of the Lord to His people through His people, at this time? (v.11)
2) How did the Lord declare that His people would respond? (v.12)
3) What else did the Lord tell His servant Jeremiah to do? (v. 13a)
4) What questions did the Lord have for the nations and why? (v.13b-14)
5) What did the Lord declare about His people? (v.15-16)
6) What did the Lord declare that He would do to His people (v.17)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Do you know of any individual(s), church, and/or nation that has forsaken the Lord? If so, how have they rebelled against Him?

LIFE LESSONS
8) All those who rebel against the commands of the Lord will be forsaken by Him, until and unless they relent from doing that which is evil in His sight.

Our Redeemer is Strong

Thursday, July 30, 2015
Jeremiah 50:28-34 NIV 

28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple. 29 "Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day," declares the LORD. 31 "See, I am against you, you arrogant one," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, "for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. 32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her." 33 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. 34 Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) The Lord used Babylon to punish Assyria for deporting Israel. He would use another enemy to chasten Babylon. The sins of Israel and Judah would be pardoned and they would be restored. What do the fugitives and refuges from Babylon declare in Zion (v.28)
2) What does the Lord declare about Babylon? (v.29-32)
3) What does the Lord declare about His people and why He defends them? (v.33-34)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What "enemies" do you have in your life? 
5) Has the lord ever allowed one, or more, of those "enemies" to overtake you? If so, what was the result?

LIFE LESSONS
6) The Lord allows His people to be oppressed by their enemies to bring them to repentance.
7) Though the Lord allows His people to be chasted by their enemies, He defends them against abusive chastening (oppression)
8) The Lord always restore His people after they have confessed and repented of their individual, corporate, and/or national sin.

Taught For Your Own Good

Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Isaiah 48:12-19 NIV

12 "Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. 13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together. 14 "Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD's chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission. 16 "Come near me and listen to this: "From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there." And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, endowed with his Spirit. 17 This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. 18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me."

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Lord tell the people He called to do and what does He tell them about Himself? (v.12-13)
2) What does the Lord reveal about His purpose for those who have taken them captive? (v.14-15)
3) What else does the Lord reveal about Himself to His people, through the prophet? (v.16-17)
4) What would have happened to His people if they had heeded His words prior to their captivity? (v.18-19) 

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you ever ignored a warning from the Lord? If so, what happened as a result?
6) Do you believe that the Lord has been warning this nation of impending judgment? If not, why not?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord never chastens His people without many prior warnings.

Our Sins Testify Against Us

Monday, July 27, 2015
Isaiah 59:1-14 NIV 

1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. 4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. 7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. 8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace. 9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. 12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. 14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Prophet Isaiah say about the Lord and those who have rebelled against (turned away from) Him? (v.1-3)
2) What else does the prophet accuse transgressors of doing? (v.4-8)
3) What becomes of those who behave wickedly against the Lord? Why? (v.9-14)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Do you know of any believer who has openly rebelled against the Lord? If so, what has become of them?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord is good to the upright in heart, but allows calamity to befall those who rebel against Him. 

A Day of Bitter Lamentation

Sunday, July 5, 2015
Micah 2:4-11 KJV 

4 In that day shall [one] take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed [it] from me! turning away he hath divided our fields. 5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD. 6 Prophesy ye not, [say they to them that] prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, [that] they shall not take shame. 7 O [thou that art] named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? [are] these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? 8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. 9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. 10 Arise ye, and depart; for this [is] not [your] rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy [you], even with a sore destruction. 11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, [saying], I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After warning the wicked (evil) of pending disaster, how will others react to His wicked people and what will become of their land? (v.4-5)
2) How do the people respond to the words of the Lord through His prophet(s)? (v.6)
3) What does the Lord ask, and tell, His people? (v.7)
4) How do the people of God respond to the Lord's judgments against them? (v.8-9)
5) Why does the Lord allow His people to be taken from their land (homes)? (v.10)
6) What kind of prophet would God's people prefer according to the Lord? (v.11)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) How do you respond when a prophet of God foretells of disaster within your life, within your church, and/or within your nation?

LIFE LESSONS
8) The Lord sends His servants (the prophets) to convict His people of their sins with the hope of their collective confession, repentance, and restoration.

The Righteous and the Wicked

Saturday, July 4, 2015
Proverbs 11:1-10 KJV 

1 A false balance [is] abomination to the LORD: but a just weight [is] his delight. 2 [When] pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly [is] wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. 4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. 5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. 6 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in [their own] naughtiness. 7 When a wicked man dieth, [his] expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust [men] perisheth. 8 The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. 9 An hypocrite with [his] mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. 10 When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, [there is] shouting.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What is an abomination to the Lord and what is His delight? (v.1)
2) What comes with pride and what comes with humility? (v.2)
3) What guides the upright and what destroys the unrighteous? (v.3)
4) What does wealth profit anyone in the day of God's wrath? (v.4a)
5) What is written about the wicked and about the righteous? (v.4b-10)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Are you among the wicked or the righteous? How do you know?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The only hope that the righteous, or the wicked, will have in the day of judgment will be the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Executes Judgment

Friday, July 3, 2015
Psalm 9:15-20 KJV

15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit [that] they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. 16 The LORD is known [by] the judgment [which] he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, [and] all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall [not] perish for ever. 19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20 Put them in fear, O LORD: [that] the nations may know themselves [to be but] men. Selah.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the psalmist write about the heathen (non-believers)? (v.15)
2) What is the Lord known by and how does that effect the wicked? (v.16)
3) Who are the wicked and what will become of them? (v.17)
4) What does the psalmist write about the needy and the poor (v.18)
5) What does the psalmist ask of the Lord and why? (v.19-20)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Do you believe that you, your church, and/or this nation is about to be judged by the Lord? If so, why? If not, why not?

LIFE LESSONS
7) The Lord will judge any individual, church, and/or nation that ignores Him and the people He loves.

Test my Mind and Heart

Thursday, July 2, 2015
Psalm 7:9-17 KJV

9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. 10 My defence [is] of God, which saveth the upright in heart. 11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry [with the wicked] every day. 12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. 14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch [which] he made. 16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. 17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the psalmist ask the Lord to do to the wicked and to the righteous? Why? (v.9)
2) Who defends the psalmist? (10a)
3) How does the psalmist describe the Lord? (v.10b-13)
4) How does the psalmist describe the wicked? (v.14-16)
5) What will the psalmist do for the Lord? (v.17)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Are you more like the psalmist, or the wicked?
7) Do you know of anyone who has acted wickedly and received the chastening of the Lord? If so, describe one such individual.

LIFE LESSONS
8) The way of the righteous will be blessed, but the way of the wicked will be difficult.

Judge Me, O Lord

Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Psalm 7:1-8 KJV

1 [[Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.]] O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending [it] in pieces, while [there is] none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take [it]; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me [to] the judgment [that] thou hast commanded. 7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high. 8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity [that is] in me.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did King David ask the Lord to do for him and why? Why did the kexpect the Lord to help him? (v.1-2)
2) What did David want the Lord to do to him and under what conditions? (v.3-5)
3) What did the king implore the Lord to do for him according to his righteousness? Why? (v.6-8 

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever acted wickedly toward another brother, or sister in the Lord, without cause? If so, what was the result?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord expects His people to live peacefully with all people and blesses those who do.

Days of Punishment Have Come

Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Hosea 9:5-9 KJV 

5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD? 6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their tabernacles. 7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know [it]: the prophet [is] a fool, the spiritual man [is] mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred. 8 The watchman of Ephraim [was] with my God: [but] the prophet [is] a snare of a fowler in all his ways, [and] hatred in the house of his God. 9 They have deeply corrupted [themselves], as in the days of Gibeah: [therefore] he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After telling His people, through Hosea, that He would no longer allow them to worship Him, what did the Lord ask them? (v.5)
2) What did the Lord plan for His people and for their land? (v.6)
3) What was to come (note: "visitation" means judgment or punishment) and why? (v.7-9)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you, your church, or this nation ignored the Lord's prophets? If so, why?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord does not punish His people without first warning them through His prophets.
6) The Lord's prophets are often ostracized and/or belittled by God's people.
7) Prophets are God's spokesmen in this earth to warn God's people of impending judgment for unconfessed sins.

Reaping the Whirlwind

Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Hosea 8:7-14 KJV 

7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. 8 Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure. 9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. 10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. 11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. 12 I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they were counted as a strange thing. 13 They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat [it; but] the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. 14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What had the people of God sown and what would they reap? (v.7)
2) What would become of the people of God? Why? (v.8-14)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
3) Have you, or anyone you know, forgotten who created you and the purpose for which He created you?
4) What, if anything, were the ramifications of your irreverence for the Lord?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The ramifications of refusing to reverence the Lord are severe. 
6) As His children, we must examine our hearts and our ways and depart from whatever opposes the Lord's will and His word.
7) Calamity awaits those who forget our God  and choose our way over His.

The Idle Rich

Sunday, June 21, 2015
Amos 6:4-8, 11-14 KJV 

4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; 5 That chant to the sound of the viol, [and] invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; 6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. 8 The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.... 11 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts. 12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will [one] plow [there] with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock: 13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? 14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What else did the Lord say about those who are at "ease in Zion" and "put off the day of doom"? (v.4-6)
2) What would happen to those people, according to the prophet? (v8)
3) What did the Lord declare (command) and do to His people? Why? (v.11-14)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Do you know of any individual(s) or church(es) that have (are) not grieving as a result of all the trials this nation has faced, since the end of last year?

LIFE LESSONS
5) As children of God, we should be concerned, and prayerful, about any calamity that befalls our brothers and sisters in the Lord, our church(es), and our nation.