God’s Favor and Blessing
Genesis 4:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)
1 Adam made love to his
wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She
said, “With the help of the Lord I
have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to
his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In
the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an
offering to the Lord. 4 And
Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of
his flock. The Lord looked
with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his
offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was
downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your
face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be
accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your
door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel,
“Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked
his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s
blood cries out to me from the ground.
Who was Cain (verse 1)?
Who was Abel (verse 2)?
What did Cain bring “as
an offering to the Lord” (verse 3)?
What did Abel bring (verse
4)?
Who did the Lord
look on with favor (verse 4)?
Why was Cain “very
angry” (verse 5)?
When is sin “crouching
at” Cain’s door (verse 7)?
What did Cain need
to do with the sin (verse 7)?
Where were they when
Cain killed Abel (verse 8)?
How did Cain respond
when the Lord ask “where is your brother, Abel” (verse 9)?
What was Abel’s
blood doing (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what
does this passage teach us about who God looks at with favor and blessing?
Matthew 5:1-12 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 Now when
Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples
came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed
are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed
are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of
evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be
glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Where did Jesus go when He “saw the
crowds” (verse 1)?
What did
He begin to do (verse 2)?
How are the “poor in spirit” blessed (verse 3)?
Who “will be comforted” (verse 4)?
What will the meek inherit (verse 5)?
In your opinion, what will fill those “who hunger and thirst for
righteousness” (verse 6)?
Who will “be shown mercy” (verse 7)?
How are the “pure in heart” blessed (verse 8)?
What will the peacemakers be called (verse 9)?
How are those who are “persecuted because righteousness” blessed
(verse 10)?
Why should those who people insult, persecute and falsely say evil things
against “rejoice and be glad” (verses 11 and 12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about who God looks at
with favor and blessing?
In your opinion, how could Cain killing Abel in anger about offerings in
Genesis 4:1-10 be an example of the way Jesus says that believers will be
persecuted and blessed in Matthew 5:1-12?
2 Timothy 3:10-17 - New International
Version (NIV)
10 You, however, know all about
my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love,
endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of
things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the
persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of
them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and
impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But
as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and
how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able
to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the
servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
What had the Lord rescued Paul from
(verses 10 and 11)?
Who will be persecuted (verse 12)?
What
will “evildoers and impostors” do (verse 13)?
Why was Timonthy to “continue in what you have
learned and have become convinced of” (verse 14)?
What are “the Holy Scriptures” able to do (verse
15)?
How much Scripture is “God-breathed” (verse 16)?
What does the Scripture’s usefulness in “teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” do for the servant of
God (verse 17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about
who God looks at with favor and blessing?
In your opinion, how could Timothy, who is to look at
Paul as an example in 2 Timothy 3:10-17, also find Abel in Genesis 4:1-10 to be
an example?
In your
opinion, how could the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:1-12 have served to equip
Paul for the things that he went through listed in 2 Timothy 3:10-17?
Revelation 22:7-14 – New International Version
(NIV)
7 “Look, I am coming
soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written
in this scroll.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw
these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship
at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But
he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your
fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship
God!”
10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the
prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. 11 Let
the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be
vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person
continue to be holy.”
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with
me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and
the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may
have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into
the city.
Who is “blessed” (verse 7)?
Who “heard and saw these things” (verse 8)?
Who is a fellow servant with John and “with your fellow
prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll” (verse 9)?
Why were the “words of prophecy of this scroll” not to
be sealed (verse 10)?
Who is to continue to do wrong (verse 11)?
Who is to continue to do right (verse 11)?
What will be given “to each person” (verse 12)?
Who is “blessed” (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion,
what does this passage teach us about who God looks at with favor and blessing?
In
your opinion, how does Matthew 5:1-12 help us understand what we have to do
receive the blessing that Revelation 22:7-14 promises to those who “wash
their robes”?
In your opinion, what
do we learn from Revelation 22:7-14 to help us as we strive to follow Paul’s
instruction to Timothy, “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because
you know those from whom you learned it, and how from
infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make
you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” in 2 Timothy 3:10-17?
In your opinion, what do these God-breathed Scriptures from
Genesis, Matthew, 2 Timothy and Revelation teach us about how the world reacts
to those who have found God’s favor?
In your
opinion, how does God react to we, who are poor in spirit, mourning, meek,
hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, who are
persecuted, and who wash their robes?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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