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)

March 11, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Called

-            The

Called

Joshua 5:2-12 - New International Version (NIV)             

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

⁴ Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt. ⁵ All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not. ⁶ The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. ⁸ And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰ On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. ¹¹ The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹² The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.

Why was Joshua to “make flint knives” (verse 2)?

Who had died in the wilderness (verse 4)?

What had not happened to all the people born in the wilderness “during the journey from Egypt” (verse 5)?

Who had promised to give the “land flowing with milk and honey” to their ancestors (verse 6)?

Why were the sons still uncircumcised (verse 7)?

How long did they remain “where they were” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what did the Lord mean by “today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you” (verse 9)?

What did the Israelites do on the “evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal” (verse 10)?

When did the Israelites eat “some of the produce of the land” (verse 11)?

What changed after “they ate this food from the land” (verse 12)?

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

Mark 1:16-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹ When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰ Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

What were “Simon and his brother Andrew” doing (verse 16)?

Who invited Simon and Andrew to follow (verse 17)?

What would Simon and Andrew be sent to do (verse 17)?

How did Simon and Andrew react to the invitation (verse 18)?

What were “James son of Zebedee and his brother John” doing (verse 19)?

How did James and John react when they were called (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, how is the circumcision of the Israelites in the promised land in Joshua 5:2-12 similar to the response of Simon, Andrew, James and John to Jesus in Mark 1:16-20?

Acts 2:37-41 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

How did the people respond to after feeling “cut to the heart” by the words of Peter (verse 37)?

What did Peter tell them to do (verse 38)?

What “gift” will they receive (verse 38)?

Who is the promise for (verse 39)?

How did Peter warn them (verse 40)?

What did Peter plead for them to do (verse 40)?

How many “accepted his message” that day (verse 41)?

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

In your opinion, how is the circumcision of the Israelites and God rolling “away the reproach of Egypt” in Joshua 5:2-12 similar to those who were escaping “from this corrupt generation” through repenting and being baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” in Acts 2:37-41?

In your opinion, how are Peter’s call to “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins” in Acts 2:37-41 and Jesus’ call to Simon, Andrew, James and John to follow Him in Mark 1:16-20 the same?

Philippians 3:3-14 – New International Version (NIV)

³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Who puts no confidence in the flesh (verse 3)?

How could Paul’s confidence in the flesh compare with other people’s (verse 4)?

What does Paul list that would give him confidence in the flesh (verses 5 and 6)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (verses 7 and 8)?

What “comes from God on the basis of faith” (verse 9)?

What does Paul want to attain through knowing Christ (verses 10 and 11)?

Why does Paul “press on” (verse 12)?

What “one thing” does Paul do (verse 13)?

Where has God called Paul (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, how are the Israelites, who celebrated their first Passover in the promised land and then started eating the food of the land instead of the manna in Joshua 5:2-12, similar to Paul who is “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” in Philippians 3:3-14?

In your opinion, how is the magnitude of what Simon, Andrew, James and John gave up when Jesus called them in Mark 1:16-20 illustrated for us by Paul as he lists the things that he could have had confidence in in Philippians 3:3-14?

In your opinion, how is Peter’s call to “save yourselves from this corrupt generation” by repenting and being baptized in Acts 2:37-41 echoed by Paul in Philippians 3:3-14?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and Philippians reveal to us about the difference between those who are of the “corrupt generation” and those who are pressing on to win the prize that God has called then heavenward in Jesus Christ for?

In your opinion, how do we react to God calling us today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)