January 19, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Called

Called

Hosea 11:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
² But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
    and they burned incense to images.
³ It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed them.
⁴ I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed them.

⁵ “Will they not return to Egypt
    and will not Assyria rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?
⁶ A sword will flash in their cities;
    it will devour their false prophets
    and put an end to their plans.
⁷ My people are determined to turn from me.
    Even though they call me God Most High,
    I will by no means exalt them.

⁸ “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
    all my compassion is aroused.
⁹ I will not carry out my fierce anger,
    nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
    the Holy One among you.
    I will not come against their cities.
¹⁰ They will follow the Lord;
    he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
    his children will come trembling from the west.
¹¹ They will come from Egypt,
    trembling like sparrows,
    from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
    declares the Lord.

Where did God call his son from (verse 1)?

What did Israel do when God called more (verse 2)?

Who healed Ephraim (verse 3)?

How did God lead them (verse 4)?

What will they refuse to do (verse 5)?

What will “devour their false prophets (verse 6)?

Where are God’s people determined to turn from (verse 7)?

What is aroused within God (verse 8)?

Why will God not “devastate Ephraim again” (verse 9)?

Who will “they” follow (verse 10)?

Where will God settle the ones who come (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

Matthew 2:13-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”

Who told Joseph “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt” (verse 13)?

When was Joseph to return from Egypt (verse 13)?

When did Joseph leave for Egypt (verse 14)?

What was fulfilled (verse 15)?

How did Herod feel when he realized “he had been outwitted by the Magi” (verse 16)?

What did Herod order (verse 16)?

Who was “weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

In your opinion, what is the difference between God’s son that was called out of Egypt in Hosea 11:1-11 and God’s Son that the fulfillment of Hosea’s words are claimed for in Matthew 2:13-18?

Romans 8:28-39 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In what things does God work “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (verse 28)?

Why were those that God foreknew “also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (verse 29)?

Who did God justify and glorify (verse 30)?

Who did God give up His Son for (verse 32)?

Who justifies (verse 33)?

Who is “also interceding for us” (verse 34)?

What will not separate us from the love of Christ (verse 35)?

What do “we face all day long” (verse 36)?

How are we “more than conquerors” (verse 37)?

What is Paul convinced of (verses 38 and 39)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

In your opinion, how does Israel’s struggle to allow God to lead them “with ties of love” in Hosea 11:1-11 (which sometimes is also our struggle also) make the Romans 8:28-39 promise that “those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” more powerful and more comforting?

In your opinion, what does God calling Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod in Matthew 2:13-18 help us understand about God’s love that Romans 8:28-39 teaches keep us, who are “sheep to be slaughtered”, from being separated from God?

1 John 3:1-3 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

What has the Father “lavished on us” (verse 1)?

What are we called (verse 1)?

Why does the world “not know us” (verse 1)?

What “has not yet been made known” (verse 2)?

Who will we be like (verse 2)?

What do “all who have this hope in him” do (verse 3)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

In your opinion, how is the aroused compassion of God proclaimed in Hosea 11:1-11 also revealed in 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, how is the difference between the ones who know God and the ones who don’t revealed in both Matthew 2:13-18 and 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, how do all the difficulties listed in Romans 8:28-39 help us understand the true value of being a child of God as described in 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Hosea, Matthew, Romans and 1 John teach us about what we are called from, and what we are called to?

In your opinion, how can all who have hope in God’s calling purify themselves today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 24, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Children not Welcomed by the World

-            The

Exodus 2:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Who married the Levite woman (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why did she hide her son for three months (verse 2)?

What did she do when she could not hide him any longer (verse 3)?

Who watched to see what would happen (verse 4)?

Why did the Pharaoh’s daughter go to the Nile (verse 5)?

What did she send her female slave to get (verse 5)?

How did the Pharaoh’s daughter react to the crying baby (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did she believe the baby was “one of the Hebrew babies” (verse 6)?

What did his sister ask the Pharaoh’s daughter (verse 7)?

Who did his sister get (verse 8)?

When did the baby become the Pharaoh’s daughter’s son (verse 10)?

Why was the baby named Moses (verse 10)?

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

Luke 2:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Who issued a decree that “a census should be taken of the entire Roman world” (verse 1)?

Which census was this (verse 2)?

Where did everyone go to register (verse 3)?

Why did Joseph go from the town of Nazareth to Bethlehem, the town of David (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did Mary go with Joseph (verse 5)?

What time occurred “while they were there” (verse 6)?

Why did Mary wrap her firstborn in cloths and place Him in a manger (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the childhood of Moses in Exodus 2:1-7 and the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-7?

1 Peter 1:3-9 – New International Version (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Who does Peter praise (verse 3)?

What have we been given “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (verse 3)?

Where is the “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” kept (verse 4)?

How long are Christians “through faith . . . shielded by God’s power” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, how can Christians “greatly rejoice” even though “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?

What do the trials and the “proven genuineness of your faith” result in “when Jesus Christ is revealed” (verses 6 and 7)?

What fills those who believe in Jesus (verse 8)?

What is the end result of faith (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, how is the birth of Jesus when He was wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger because “there was no guest room available for him” in Luke 2:1-7 similar to the “new birth into a living hope” that Christians receive that leads them to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” according to Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-9?

In your opinion, how is the presence of God’s hand in the drawing of Moses from the Nile in Exodus 2:1-7 similar to being shielded by God’s power through faith until “the coming of salvation” as promised by Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-9?

1 John 3:1-3 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

What has the Father “lavished on us” (verse 1)?

Why does the world not know us, the children of God (verse 1)?

Who we be like when Christ appears (verse 2)?

Who purifies themselves (verse 3)?

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

In your opinion, what does John, in 1 John 3:1-3, reveal to us about what we are through the “new birth” that Peter, in 1 Peter 1:3-9, says we receive through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?

In your opinion, what is similar between the child that was wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger in Luke 2:1-7 and those who John says the Father has lavished great love on in 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, how is the birth and nursing of Moses by a Levite woman before he becomes the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter in Exodus 2:1-7 a foreshadowing of we who are called the “children of God” in 1 John 3:1-3 even though God is not our parent?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, 1 Peter, and 1 John help us understand about the world’s relationship with a child of God and also the relationship of a child of God with God?

In your opinion, what can you take from these passages to apply in your life today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 3, 2017 – Psalm 23 – From the lives of David and Jesus – Anointest My Head

“Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” KJV Psalm 23:5b

1 Samuel 16:4-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

⁵ Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” ⁹ Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

¹² So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

What did Samuel do (verse 4)?

Who ask Samuel “do you come in peace” (verse 4)?

Who did Samuel consecrate and invite to the sacrifice (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why would Samuel think that Elian was the Lord’s anointed (verse 6)?

What did the Lord tell Samuel not to consider (verse 7)?

What does the Lord look at (verse 7)?

How did Samuel react to Abinadab (verse 8)?

Who had Shammah pass by (verse 9)?

How many of Jesse’s sons passed in front of Samuel (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why was David “tending the sheep” (verse 11)?

How was David described (verse 12)?

What did the Lord tell Samuel to do (verse 12)?

When did “the Spirit of the Lord” come powerfully upon David (verse 13)?

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

John 1:29-34 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

What does John say that Jesus “takes away” (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what does John mean when he says that Jesus “was before me” (verse 30)?

Why did John come “baptizing with water” (verse 31)?

What did John see (verse 32)?

What will the one “on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain” do (verse 33)?

Who does John testify that Jesus is (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, what do the anointing of David in 1 Samuel 16:4-13 and the baptism of Jesus in John 1:29-34 have in common?

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Who does Paul not want to be uninformed about the “gifts of the Spirit” (verse 1)?

When were they “influenced and led astray to mute idols” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why is it that “no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed”” (verse 3)?

What do the “different kinds of gifts” have in common (verse 4)?

Who is in all the different kinds of working and in everyone (verse 6)?

Why does each person receive “the manifestation of the Spirit” (verse 7)?

What are the different gifts the Spirit gives (verses 8, 9 and 10)?

How does the Spirit distribute each gift (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 help us understand about the Holy Spirit that John the Baptist says that Jesus will baptize with in John 1:29-34?

In your opinion, how is the “Spirit of the Lord” who came powerfully on David in 1 Samuel 16:4-13 similar to the Spirit who manifests gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11?

1 John 3:1-3 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

What is the result of the great love has the Father “lavished on us” (verse 1)?

Why does the world not know us (verse 1)?

What are we (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why is what we will be not yet known (verse 4)?

Who will we be like (verse 2)?

What do “all who have the hope” do (verse 3)?

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

In your opinion, how does it make you feel to know that the “brothers and sisters” who receive manifestations of the Spirit for the common good in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 are called “children of God” who will be like Christ He appears in 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, what does it mean to you that the “Lamb of God who takes away” our sins and baptizes with the Spirit in John 1:29-34 has a Father who lavishes great love on us and calls us His children in 1 John 3:1-13?

In your opinion, how does the “Spirit of the Lord” coming powerfully on David after he was anointed in 1 Samuel 16:4-13 help us begin to understand how we will be like Christ when He appears according to 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, how do these passages from 1 Samuel, John, 1 Corinthians, and 1 John help us understand the blessing of today’s passage “Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over”?

In your opinion, how do these passages help us grow more comfortable with the anointing that we receive from the Holy Spirit as Christians, and the “great love the Father has lavished on us” following that anointing?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)