March 13, 2022 – John’s Writings – Work, the Fruit of Love

Work, the Fruit of Love

Ezra 3:8-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

¹⁰ When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. ¹¹ With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
    his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. ¹³ No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

When did the work begin (verse 8)?

Who was appointed to supervise (verse 8)?

What happened when they “laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord” (verse 10)?

How did the people respond after the song “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why did “many of the older priests and Levites and family heads” weep aloud (verse 12)?

Why could no one “distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping” (verse 13)?

Where was the sound heard (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about the importance of work and our relationship with God?

John 1:35-42 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Who was there “the next day” with John (verse 35)?

What did John say when “Jesus was passing by” (verse 36)?

Who followed Jesus (verse 37)?

What did they say when Jesus ask “what do you want” (verse 38)?

How did they respond to Jesus’s invitation to “come” (verse 39)?

Who was Andrew (verse 40)?

What did Andrew tell Simon (verse 41)?

Where did Andrew bring Simon (verse 42)?

What did Jesus tell Simon (verse 42)?

In your opinion, what does Peter mean (verse 42)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about the importance of work and our relationship with God?

1 John 2:10-14 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. ¹¹ But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

¹² I am writing to you, dear children,
    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
¹³ I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁴ I write to you, dear children,
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God lives in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

Where does the one who loves “their brother and sister” live (verse 10)?

What does the one who hates “a brother or sister” do (verse 11)?

Why is John writing the “dear children” (verse 12)?

Why is John writing the “fathers” (verse 13)?

Why is John writing the “young men” (verse 13)?

Why is John writing the “children” (verse 14)?

Why is John writing the “fathers” (verse 14)?

Why is John writing the “young men” (verse 14)?

Where does the “word of God” live (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about the importance of work and our relationship with God?

Revelation 2:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Who is John to write to (verse 1)?

Who are the words that John is to write from (verse 1)?

What is known (verse 2)?

What has not happened to the recipients of the letter in spite of their having to persevere and endure hardships (verse 3)?

What had the recipients of the letter forsaken (verse 4)?

How are the people to respond after they consider how far they “have fallen” (verse 5)?

Whose practices do they hate (verse 6)?

Who is to hear (verse 7)?

Who will receive the “right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about the importance of work and our relationship with God?

In your opinion, how does the difference in the way the foundation of the temple was laid in Ezra 3:8-13 and the way Jesus began to lay the foundation of the church by naming Peter the Rock in John 1:35-42 help us understand more about our relationship with God today?   

In your opinion, how does the fact that “all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem began to work” in Ezra 3:8-13 and the fact that John addressed the children, the parents, and the young in 1 John 2:10-14 help us understand about who is to be working on God’s temple today? 

In your opinion, how does John in Revelation 2:1-7 challenge those who he wrote to and commended for what they had accomplished in 1 John 2:10-14 to move beyond accomplishment?

In your opinion, what did Andrew do in John 1:35-42 that the children, parents, or young of 1 John 2:10-14 did? 

In your opinion, how can the actions of Andrew and Peter in John 1:35-42 serve as a guide for those who have fallen and need to do “the things” they did at first in Revelation 2:1-7?

In your opinion, what does John saying that everyone who loves their brother and sister “lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble” in 1 John 2:10-14 and Jesus telling those in Revelation 2:1-7 that He holds against them that they “have forsaken the love” they had at first teach us about the importance of love? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about the complex relationship between receiving God’s love, doing God’s work, and loving God’s people?

In your opinion, how are we who have eaten “from the tree of life” to work?

In your opinion, how are we who have eaten “from the tree of life” to love?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 6, 2022 – John’s Writings – Responding to a Glorious God

Responding to a Glorious God

Ezra 1:5-11 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶ All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

⁷ Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. ⁸ Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

⁹ This was the inventory:

gold dishes	30
silver dishes	1,000
silver pans	29
10 gold bowls	30
matching silver bowls	410
other articles	1,000

¹¹ In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

How are the “family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites” described (verse 5)?

What did they prepare to do (verse 5)?

Who assisted them (verse 6)?

How did they assist them (verse 6)?

What did King Cyrus bring out (verse 7)?

Who were the articles “counted” out to (verse 8)?

How many articles were there (verse 11)?

What happened to the articles (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

John 1:14-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

What did “the Word” become (verse 14)?

Where did “the Word” make His dwelling (verse 14)?

What have “we” seen (verse 14)?

Who testified “concerning him” (verse 15)?

Why did John say that “He who comes after me has surpassed me” (verse 15)?

Where has the grace “we have all received” come from (verse 16)?

What was given through Moses (verse 17)?

Where did “grace and truth” come from (verse 17)?

Who has seen God (verse 18)?

What has the “one and only Son” made known (verse 18)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

1 John 1:5-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

What is God (verse 5)?

How much darkness is in God (verse 5)?

When do we lie (verse 6)?

What do we have if we “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does the “blood of Jesus” purify us from sin if we walk in the light (verse 7)?

When do we “deceive ourselves” (verse 8)?

What happens if we “confess our sins” (verse 9)?

How can we “make him out to be a liar” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

Revelation 1:9-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

¹⁹ “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ²⁰ The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

How does John identify himself (verse 9)?

Why was John on the island of Patmos (verse 9)?

Where was John on the Lord’s Day (verse 10)?

What was John to write and send to the seven churches (verse 11)?

Why did John turn around (verse 12)?

Where was the one “like a son of man” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how does the description of the one “like a son of man” make you feel (verses 13, 14 and 15)?

What did He hold (verse 16)?

When did the one “like a son of man” place His right hand on John and say “do not be afraid” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why does the on “like a son of man” say “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” {verse 18)?

What is John to write (verse 19)?

What are the seven stars and the seven lampstands (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show a response to the glory of God?

In your opinion, what does the difference between the “house of the Lord in Jerusalem” that the people in Ezra 1:5-11 were going to build and the dwelling that John says “the Word” made among us in John 1:14-18 teach us about where and how we can have a relationship with God?   

In your opinion, what can we learn about following God from the fact that it was those whose hearts “God had moved” who were going to Jerusalem in Ezra 1:5-11 and those that “walk in the light, as he is in the light” who have fellowship with God in 1 John 1:5-10? 

In your opinion, what does the difference between a people gathering wealth to go to Jerusalem to build a house for the Lord in Ezra 1:5-11 to an inspiring and transformed Jesus standing in the midst of the churches with the angels in His hand in Revelation 1:9-20 help us understand about how to worship today?

In your opinion, how is the grace that John says comes, along with truth, through Jesus Christ in John 1:14-18 connected to the confession, forgiveness and purification he talks about in 1 John 1:5-10? 

In your opinion, what does Revelation 1:9-10 help us understand about the “glory of the one and only Son” that John said he had seen in John 1:14-18?

In your opinion, how does it make you feel to think about walking with Jesus in the light, as instructed by 1 John 1:5-10, when Jesus is the person who is described by John in Revelation 1:9-20, white hair, blazing eyes, bronze feet, double-edged sword from mouth and shining face? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how we, who have sin in our lives and who live in a world where there is suffering, should respond to the glory of God today?

In your opinion, how is God moving in your heart today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 27, 2022 – John’s Writings – A Kingdom with Joy

A Kingdom with Joy

Ezra 1:1-4 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

² “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. ⁴ And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

When did the Lord move the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia (verse 1)?

Why did the Lord move the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia (verse 1)?

What did Cyrus, king of Persia, do when the Lord moved his heart (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why did Cyrus say “the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth” (verse 2)?

What did Cyrus say the Lord had appointed him to do (verse 2)?

Who can “go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord” (verse 3)?

How does Cyrus bless those who go to Jerusalem to build the temple (verse 3)?

What are the people around those who are going to build the temple supposed to do (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

John 1:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Who was “in the beginning . . . with God” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why does John stress that Jesus was “with God in the beginning” (verse 2)?

What was made through Him (verse 3)?

What was the life that was in Him (verse 4)?

Where does the light shine (verse 5)?

Why was John sent “as a witness to testify concerning that light” (verses 6 through 8)?

What does the “true light” do (verse 9)?

Who did not recognize the “true light” (verse 10)?

Who did not receive Him (verse 11)?

Who did He give “the right to become children of God” (verses 12 and 13)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

1 John 1:1-4 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.

Where was “that which” from (verse 1)?

What is John doing with “which we have . . . heard . . . seen with our eyes . . . looked at . . . touched” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, who is the “Word of life” (verse 1)?

How did John interact with the “life” that appeared (verse 2)?

Where was the “eternal life” (verse 2)?

Why did John proclaim what he saw and heard (verse 3)?

Who does John want to have fellowship with (verse 3)?

Who does John already have fellowship with (verse 3)?

Why does John write (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

Revelation 1:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

⁴ John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

⁷ “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
    and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Who is the revelation from (verse 1)?

How was the revelation made known (verse 1)?

What did John testify to (verse 2)?

Why is the “one who reads aloud” and those who “hear it and take to heart what is written in it” blessed (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why does John address the letter to “the seven churches in the province of Asia” (verse 4)?

Who is the blessing of grace and peace from (verses 4 and 5)?

What has Jesus Christ made those He loves and has freed from sins by His blood to be (verses 5 and 6)?

Who will see Him (verse 7)?

Who will “mourn because of him” (verse 7)?

How does God describe Himself in verse 8?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does this passage show the interaction of the people (boots on the ground) and the Lord?

In your opinion, how is the call of Cyrus in Ezra 1:1-4 for those who want to participate to go to Jerusalem and build a temple similar to the invitation of Jesus in John 1:1-13 for people to receive Him and believe in His name and become “children of God” similar?   

In your opinion, how is the proclamation of Cyrus in Ezra 1:1-4 for people to go to Jerusalem and build a temple vastly different from John’s proclaiming what he has seen and heard in 1 John 1:1-4? 

In your opinion, why does John in his gospel (John 1:1-13) and in his letter (1 John 1:1-4) stress that Jesus was “in the beginning” and “from the beginning”?

In your opinion, how is the kingdom of God in Ezra 1:1-4 a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God portrayed in Revelation 1:1-8 (please consider the circumstances and the outcomes)? 

In your opinion, how is the invitation to the reader of John 1:1-13 and the invitation of the reader of Revelation 1:1-8 similar (please consider who the invitation is from and what the invitation is to)?

In your opinion, how does John’s description of Jesus in Revelation 1:1-8 fulfill his promise in 1 John 1:1-4? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how we who have our boots on the ground today can be freed from our pasts to become children of God in all circumstances?

In your opinion, how can we, who have moved from being just boots on the ground to a “kingdom and priests”, make “our joy complete”?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)