Friday, March 6, 2015
Psalm 23 KJV
1 [[A Psalm of David.]] The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Who is David's shepherd? (v.1a)
2) What does David's shepherd do for him? (v.1b-3)
3) What does David do when he goes through terrifying times and why? (v.4)
4) What else does the shepherd do for David? (v.5)
5) What is the psalmist's hope? (v.6)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Who is your earthly shepherd (pastor)?
7) How much is your earthly sheperd (pastor) like the Good Shepherd?
LIFE LESSONS
8) The Lord gives His sheep (followers) earthly shepherds (pastors) who will care for their souls just as He does.
9) A good earthly shepherd must first be a good sheep (follower of the Lord Jesus Christ)!
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Psalm 119:49-64 KJV
49 ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. 50 This [is] my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. 51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: [yet] have I not declined from thy law. 52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself. 53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. 54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. 55 I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law. 56 This I had, because I kept thy precepts. 57 CHETH. [Thou art] my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words. 58 I intreated thy favour with [my] whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word. 59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. 60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. 61 The bands of the wicked have robbed me: [but] I have not forgotten thy law. 62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. 63 I [am] a companion of all [them] that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. 64 The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Psalm 119 is an acrostic containing the twenty-two consonants in the Hebrew alphabet. What does the psalmist ask of the Lord and why? (v.49)
2) What comforts the psalmist in times of affliction and why? (v.50)
3) Who or what afflicts or torments the psalmist and how? (v.51a,53,61a)
4) What did the psalmist do to comfort himself? Why? (v.51b,52,54-61b)
5) What else does the psalmist do because he delights in God's word? (v.62-63)
6) What does the psalmist ask of the Lord and why? (v.64)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) How much do you need the word of God (the Bible) and why?
LIFE LESSONS
8) God has given us His word not only to read, but to remember during times of distress and/or spiritual attack.
9) We keep (retain) the word of the Lord to keep us from sinning against Him and to withstand the attacks of the enemy.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Isaiah 40:1-10 KJV
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. 3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see [it] together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it]. 6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh [is] grass, and all the goodliness thereof [is] as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people [is] grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift [it] up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand], and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What is the Lord's command concerning the exiled people of God? Why? (v.1-2)
2) What is the "voice in the wilderness" to declare and how is that declaration to be done? (v.3-4)
3) What is to be revealed after this season of preparation for the people of God? Why? (v.5)
4) What else is the voice to declare? Why? (v.6-8)
5) What are the faithful remnant (Zion; Jerusalem) to do and say to the cities of Judah? (v.9)
6) What else is to be said about God? (v.10)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Have you ever rebelled (disobeyed) the Lord? If so, briefly describe how the Lord restored you into right relationship with Himself and other believers?
LIFE LESSONS
8) The judgments of the Lord against His rebellious people are always tempered by His mercy and comfort.
9) The heart of the formerly rebellious believer is to be prepared for restoration of fellowship with the Lord and His people.
10) The Lord never gives up on His people.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Lamentations 1:17-21 KJV
17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, [and there is] none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, [that] his adversaries [should be] round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them. 18 The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. 19 I called for my lovers, [but] they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. 20 Behold, O LORD; for I [am] in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home [there is] as death. 21 They have heard that I sigh: [there is] none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done [it]: thou wilt bring the day [that] thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does the Prophet Jeremiah proclaim about Zion (Jerusalem; the habitation of God's people)? (v.17)
2) What does the prophet declare about the Lord? (v.18a)
3) Why were the people of God in sorrow? (v.18b)
4) Who did the people of God call upon in their time of sorrow (during their exile and Jerusalem's devastation)? Did they find anyone to help? (v.19-20)
5) What did their enemies observe about the people of God and how did they treat them? (v.21)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Have you ever experienced the chastening of the Lord because of willful disobedience or rebellion? If so, briefly explain what happened?
7) Do you know of a community, church body or nation that has, or is, suffering as a result of willful rebellion against the Lord? If so, briefly explain how they have rebelled against God.
LIFE LESSONS
8) There are always consequences for willful and deliberate rebellion against the Lord.
9) While the Lord allows people to experience the ramifications of their rebellion against Him, in His mercy, God always delivers or restores those who turn from their sins and turn to Him.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Jeremiah 8:18-22 KJV
18 [When] I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart [is] faint in me. 19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: [Is] not the LORD in Zion? [is] not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, [and] with strange vanities? 20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. 22 [Is there] no balm in Gilead; [is there] no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What two (2) things happened when the prophet mourned for his people? (v.18)
2) What was the complaint of the prophet's people against God? What was the Lord's complaint against His people? (v.19-20)
3) Why was the prophet grieving for the people of God? (v.21-22)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever grieved over the spiritual condition of a lost or backslidden family member or friend? If so, please explain why and describe one such instance.
5) Do you ever grieve over the spiritual condition of this nation? If so, why?
LIFE LESSONS
6) The best and only thing that we can do for the lost among us is to pray for them.
7) The Lord is grieved by when any nation does not acknowledge, or turns from, Him.
8) The Lord expects His people to pray for the people in a wayward nation.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
John 1:29-34 KJV
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Who (or what) did John the Baptist see the day after his confrontation with the religious elite? (v.29a)
2) What did John say about the One he saw? (v.29b-34)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
3) How did the Lord make Himself known to you?
4) What is your testimony?
LIFE LESSONS
5) After the Lord Jesus makes Himself known to us, and we confess that He is our Savior and Lord, He infills us with His Spirit as a witness that we belong to Him.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
John 1:24-28 KJV
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After John the Baptist identified himself as the one who would prepare the way of the Lord to the priests and Levites, who else was sent to question him and what did they ask him? (v.24-25)
2) What was John's response to their question? (v.26)
3) What did John say about the One who would come after him? (v.27)
4) Where did the confrontation with John take place? (v.28)
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Has anyone ever confronted you about your witness for Christ?
6) What has been, or what will be, your response to those who ask why you share Christ with unbelievers?
LIFE LESSONS
7) Our witness for Christ is not just in what we say about Him, but in what He does through us for His glory.
8) The greatest witness for Christ is a changed life.
