February 23, 2020 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Walking Humbly

Walking Humbly


Daniel 4:28-37 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

³¹ Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. ³² You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”

³³ Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

³⁴ At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion;
    his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
³⁵ All the peoples of the earth
    are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
    with the powers of heaven
    and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
    or say to him: “What have you done?”

³⁶ At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Where was King Nebuchadnezzar when he said “is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty” (verses 28, 29 and 30)?

When did the voice come from heaven (verse 31)?

What has been taken away from King Nebuchadnezzar (verse 31)?

When was the prophecy of verse 32 fulfilled (verse 33)?

What happened when Nebuchadnezzar raised his “eyes toward heaven” (verse 34)?

Who did Nebuchadnezzar praise, honor and glorify (verse 34)?

Why was Nebuchadnezzar’s “honor and splendor” returned (verse 36)?

Who does Nebuchadnezzar “praise and exalt and glorify” (verse 37)?

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

Mark 5:1-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

When did the man with the impure spirit come from the tombs and meet Jesus (verse 2)?

What happened when the man was “chained hand and foot” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why would the man “cry out and cut himself with stones” (verse 5)?

What did the man do “when he saw Jesus from a distance” (verse 6)?

How did he ask Jesus “What do you want with me, Jesus” (verse 7)?

What had Jesus said to him (verse 8)?

Why was the name Legion (verse 9)?

What did Legion beg for (verse 12)?

How many pigs “rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned” (verse 13)?

What did people come out to see (verse 14)?

Why were the people afraid (verse 15)?

What did people plead for Jesus to do (verse 17)?

What did the man who had been demon-possessed beg to do (verse 18)?

What did Jesus tell the man to do (verse 19)?

How did the people in the Decapolis respond to the man (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, how are Nebuchadnezzar’s actions in Daniel 4:28-37 when his sanity was restored and the actions of the man from the tombs in Mark 5:1-20 after the demons were sent away similar?

Acts 19:11-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

¹³ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

¹⁷ When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. ¹⁸ Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. ¹⁹ A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰ In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

Who “did extraordinary miracles” (verse 11)?

What effect did the handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul have on the sick (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why did some of the Jews try to “invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed” (verse 13)?

What position did Sceva have (verse 14)?

How did the evil spirit answer the seven sons of Sceva (verse 15)?

Why did the seven sons of Sceva run “out of the house naked and bleeding” (verse 16)?

What happened “when this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did “many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done” (verse 18)?

What was valued at fifty thousand drachmas (verse 19)?

What “spread widely and grew in power” (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, how is Nebuchadnezzar as he stood on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted in Daniel 4:28-37 similar to the seven sons of Sceva as they said “in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out” in Acts 19:11-20?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the different results of Jesus casting out the “Legion” of demons in Mark 5:1-20 and the seven sons of Sceva being overpowered and beaten by the man possessed by an evil spirit in Acts 19:11-20?

James 4:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

What are the results of the “desires that battle within you” (verse 1)?

Why do Christians “quarrel and fight” (verse 2)?

What wrong motives cause Christians to ask God but not receive (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why is friendship with the world “enmity against God” (verse 4)?

What does Scripture say that God jealously longs for (verse 5)?

Who does God show favor to (verse 6)?

How should we respond to God (verse 7)?

What happens when we resist the devil (verse 7)?

When will God come near to us (verse 8)?

What are the double-minded to do (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why is it important to “grieve, mourn and wail” (verse 9)?

When will the Lord “lift you up” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, how is the truth of James 4:1-10 shown by Nebuchadnezzar’s “friendship with the world” and humbling himself “before the Lord” in Daniel 4:28-37?

In your opinion, what does James 4:1-10 help us understand about the motives of the people who pled for Jesus to “leave their region” in Mark 5:1-20?  How were their motives similar to the motives of the “Legion” of impure spirits?

In your opinion, what does James’s discussion in James 4:1-10 help us understand about the difference in between Paul and the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:11-20?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Daniel, Mark, Acts and James reveal to us about the difference between being self reliant with pride and being humble while praising the King of heaven?

In your opinion, how do we walk humbly?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 10, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Living Stones in the House of the Lord

Living Stones in the House of the Lord

I Chronicles 17:3-15 - New International Version (NIV)

³ But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:

⁴ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. ⁵ I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. ⁶ Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

⁷ “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth. ⁹ And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning ¹⁰ and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.

“‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: ¹¹ When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. ¹⁴ I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”

¹⁵ Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

When did the “word of God” come to Nathan (verse 3)?

Who was Nathan to tell “you are not the one to build me a house to dwell in” (verse 4)?

What has God not done “from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why do you think God asks if He had ever said to any of the leaders “whom I commanded to shepherd my people” to build Him a house (verse 6)?

What had God appointed David to be (verse 7)?

Whose name will David’s name be like (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does God mean when He says “I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed”” (verse 9)?

What will the Lord do for David (verse 10)?

Who will the Lord “raise up” (verse 11)?

Whose throne will be established forever (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why is the quote “I will be his father, and he will be my son” so important to identifying who the Son is (verse 13)?

What will this son of David, and of the Lord, be set over (verse 14)?

Who did Nathan report this revelation to (verse 15)?

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

Zechariah 6:9-15 - New International Version (NIV)           

⁹ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak.  ¹² Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. ¹³ It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ ¹⁴ The crown will be given to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. ¹⁵ Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.”

Whose word came to Zechariah (verse 9)?

What is Zechariah to take from the exiles “Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon” (verse 10)?

Where is Zechariah to place the crown he makes (verse 11?

In your opinion, what is the significance of the name “Branch” (verse 12)?

What will the one named “Branch” do (verse 12)?

How will the one named Branch” be clothed (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that He will “rule on his throne” and also “be a priest on his throne” (verse 14)?

What will “those who are far away” do (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how are the descendant of David who the Lord promises to establish a throne for forever in 1 Chronicles 17:3-15 and the “priest on his throne” that Zechariah sees in Zechariah 6:9-15 related?

John 17:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹  After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Where did Jesus look as He prayed (verse 1)?

What does Jesus ask for (verse 1)?

Why had the Father granted authority to the Son (verse 2)?

What is eternal life (verse 3)?

How has Jesus brought God “glory on earth” (verse 4)?

How does Jesus ask to glorified (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, how does 1 Chronicles 17:3-15 and John 17:1-5 help us identify the son of David that was promised to David through Nathan?

In your opinion, what does John 17:1-5 help us understand about how the “Branch” promised in Zechariah 6:9-15 will “build the temple of the Lord”?

1 Peter 2:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

What did Peter instruct Christians to do with “all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (verse 1)?

Why does Peter tell Christians to “crave pure spiritual milk” (verse 2)?

What does Peter says that Christians have tasted (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why does Peter call Jesus “the living Stone” (verse 4)?

How have humans reacted to “the living Stone” (verse 4)?

How does God feel about “the living Stone” (verse 4)?

What does Peter say that Christians are being built into (verse 5)?

What is the “holy priesthood” of Christians to offer to God (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, how does 1 Peter 2:1-5 help us understand how the house that David’s offspring was to build to God in Chronicles 17:3-15 will be constructed?

In your opinion, how does 1 Peter 2:1-5 help us understand how the temple that the Branch is going to build in Zechariah 6:9-15 will be built?

In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 2:1-5 reveal about our next steps to “grow up” in our salvation to we who have received the blessing of eternal life, knowing the “only true God” and Jesus Christ as described in John 17:1-15?

In your opinion, what do these passages from 1 Chronicles, Zechariah, John and 1 Peter teach us about the the roles and purposes of Jesus?

In your opinion, what is our place as Christians in the House of the Lord?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)