-
The
Overcoming Unbelief
Deuteronomy 32:18-21 - New International Version (NIV)
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.
you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
20 “I will hide my face from them,” he said,
“and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,
children who are unfaithful.
21 They made me jealous by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
20 “I will hide my face from them,” he said,
“and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,
children who are unfaithful.
21 They made me jealous by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
Who
did the Israelite people desert (verse 18)?
Who did the Israelite people forget (verse 18)?
What did the Lord do when He saw this (verse 19)?
In your opinion, why did He call the Israelite people His “sons and daughters” (verse 19)?
How will the Lord respond to the rejection of the Israelite people (verse 20)?
What made the Lord jealous (verse 21)?
What had angered the Lord (verse 21)?
In your opinion, what will it take for the Lord make the Israelite people envious (verse 22)?
Who will make the Israelies angry (verse 22)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd
around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As
soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to
greet him.
16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who
is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever
it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his
teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but
they could not.”
19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I
stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately
threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around,
foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he
answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water
to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who
believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me
overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked
the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come
out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy
looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But
Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately,
“Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
Who were the “other
disciples” arguing with (verse 14)?
How did the people respond to Jesus (verse 15)?
What did Jesus ask them (verse 16)?
Why was the man’s son unable to speak (verse 17)?
What did the man ask the disciples to do that they could not do (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what did Jesus mean by “you unbelieving generation” (verse 19)?
What happened to the boy when he was brought to Jesus (verse 20)?
How long had the boy been like this (verse 21)?
In your opinion, why did the father say “if you can do anything” (verse 22)?
What does Jesus say is possible “for one who believes” (verse 23)?
In your opinion, what did the father mean by “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief” (verse 24)?
When did Jesus rebuke “the impure spirit” (verse 25)?
Why did many say that the boy was dead after the spirit came out (verse 26)?
What did Jesus do (verse 27)?
When did the disciples ask Jesus “why couldn’t we drive it out” (verse 28)?
How did Jesus answer (verse 29)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what is the difference between the Israelites who God called a “perverse generation” in Deuteronomy 32:18-21 and the father, who confessed unbelief but received the healing he wanted for his son, in Mark 9:14-29?
Romans 5:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)
1 Therefore,
since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained
access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast
in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also
glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance,
character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to
shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right
time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very
rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone
might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his
own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been
justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath
through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we
were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been
reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not
only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.
When do we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 1)?
How do we gain access “into this grace in which we now stand” (verse
2)?
What do we “glory in” (verse 3)?
What produces character (verse 4)?
Why does hope “not put us to shame” (verse 5)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean
by “when we were still powerless” (verse
6)?
How often will “anyone die for a righteous person” (verse 7)?
When did Christ die for us (verse 8)?
Since we have been “justified by his blood” what will we be
saved from (verse 9)?
What happened “while we were God’s enemies” (verse 10)?
How do we “boast in God” (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does what Paul revealed about Christ loving us enough that He died for us in Romans 5:1-11 help us understand about the tone of voice (angry or sad) that Jesus might have used when He said “you unbelieving generation . . . how long shall I stay with you” in Mark 9:14-29?
James 1:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes
scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the
testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let
perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not
lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you
should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will
be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe
and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and
tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to
receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is
double-minded and unstable in all they do.
How
does James describe himself (verse 1)?
In your opinion, who does James mean by “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations” (verse 1)?
What are we to consider it whenever we “face trials of many kinds” (verse 2)?
How is perseverance produced (verse 3)?
When do we become “mature and complete, not lacking anything” (verse 4)?
What should we do if we recognize that we lack wisdom (verse 5)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to “believe and not doubt” (verse 6)?
What is one who doubts like (verse 6)?
How much should one who doubts expect to receive from the Lord (verse 7)?
Who is “double-minded and unstable in all they do” (verse 8)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does knowing about the Israelite people in Deuteronomy 32:18-21 help us understand what James means by “the one who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” in James 1:1-8?
In your opinion, how do we reconcile Jesus helping the father in Mark 9:14-29 who says “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief” with James’s statement in James 1:1-8 that “you must believe and not doubt” to expect to receive anything from the Lord?
In your opinion, what do we learb from Paul in Romans 5:1-11 when he says that we should “glory in our sufferings” and from James when he says in James 1:1-8 that we should “consider it pure joy” when we face trials of many kinds before they each speak of perseverance?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Mark, Romans and James teach us about doubting and persevering?
In your opinion, should each of us say to Jesus “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment