Not Timid but Transformed
Jonah 1:17-2:10 – New International Version (NIV)
17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow
Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three
nights. 2 1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to
the Lord his God. 2 He
said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry
land.
How long was Jonah in the belly of the fish (verse 17)?
What did Jonah do “from inside the fish” (verse 1)?
Where was Jonah when he “called for help” (verse 2)?
What swept over Jonah (verse
3)?
Where will Jonah “look again” (verse 4)?
What “threatened” Jonah (verse 5)?
Who brought Jonah’s “life up from the pit” (verse 6)?
When did Jonah remember the Lord (verse 7)?
Who turns “away from God’s love for them” (verse 8)?
What will Jonah say (verse 9)?
What did the fish do when the Lord commanded it to (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how
God transforms us?
Matthew 12:38-50 - New International
Version (NIV)
38 Then
some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to
see a sign from you.”
39 He
answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none
will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For
as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so
the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the
judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The
Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn
it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom,
and now something greater than Solomon is here.
43 “When an
impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest
and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to
the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean
and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven
other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the
final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it
will be with this wicked generation.”
46 While
Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood
outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him,
“Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He
replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing
to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For
whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and
mother.”
Who wanted to see “a sign” from Jesus (verse 38)?
What sign
will be given to the “wicked and adulterous generation” (verse 39)?
How will the Son of Man be like Jonah (verse 40)?
Why will “the men of Nineveh” condemn “this generation” (verse
41)?
Who came to “listen to Solomon’s wisdom” (verse 42)?
What does the “impure spirit” seek in the arid places (verse 43)?
What does the impure spirit do when it finds the “house unoccupied,
swept clean and put in order” (verses 44 and 45)?
Who came to speak to Jesus (verse 46)?
Who is Jesus’s “brother and sister and mother” (verse 50)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God transforms
us?
In your opinion, what lesson does Jonah’s realization about salvation in
Jonah 1:17-2:10 provide to the teachers of the law and Pharisees who ask Jesus
for a sign in Matthew 12:38-50?
Colossians 1:15-23 - New International Version (NIV)
15 The Son is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For
in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things
have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before
all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And
he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the
firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have
the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his
fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to
reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in
heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and
were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But
now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to
present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from
accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith,
established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the
gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every
creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Who is the “firstborn
over all creation” (verse 15)?
What has been created “in him” (verse 16)?
What does He “hold together” (verse 17)?
Who is He “from among the dead” (verse 18)?
What was God pleased to have “dwell in him” (verse 19)?
How did He make peace (verse 20)?
Why were we “alienated from God” (verse 21)?
How are Christians presented to God (verse 22)?
What should Christians “not move from” (verse 23)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion,
what does this passage teach us about how God transforms us?
In your opinion, how
does Jonah’s reconciliation with God in Jonah 1:17-2:10 compare with the
reconciliation that Paul discusses in Colossians 1:15-23?
In your opinion, how
are the degradation of the person who cleans house but leaves it empty in
Matthew 12:38-50 and the reconciliation described in Colossians 1:15-23 similar,
even though opposite there are opposite endings for the people involved?
2 Timothy 1:6-14 - New International Version (NIV)
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God,
which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives
us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me
his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by
the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because
of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This
grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our
Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an
apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for
shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is
able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of
sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it
with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
What does Paul want Timothy to “fan” (verse 6)?
Who gives us “power,
love and self-discipline” (verse 7)?
How does Paul
want Timothy to join with him “in suffering for the gospel” (verse 8)?
What has God
done “because of his own purpose and grace” (verse 9)?
What has
Christ Jesus brought “to light through the gospel” (verse 10)?
Who was
appointed “a herald and an apostle and a teacher” of the gospel (verse
11)?
What does
Paul know (verse 12)?
What is
Timothy to do with what he heard from Paul (verse 13)?
Who will help
Timothy “guard the good deposit” (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how
God transforms us?
In your opinion, how is God saving Jonah in Jonah 1:17-2:10
similar to the salvation of Christians by Jesus as described in 2 Timothy
1:6-14?
In
your opinion, how does 2 Timothy 1:6-14 reassure Christians who might fear the
return of the impure spirit as described by Jesus in Matthew 12:38-50?
In your opinion, how
does 2 Timothy 1:6-14 help us understand how Christians should move forward
after the reconciliation described in Colossians 1:15-23?
In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Jonah, Matthew,
Colossians and 2 Timothy teach us about salvation?
In your
opinion, how do we continue in our faith not timidly but “established and
firm” in the world today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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