The December 1, 2019 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Stiff-necked to Saved

Stiff-necked to Saved


Psalm 51:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

What does David ask God to have on him (verse 1)?

How does David ask God to treat his iniquity (verse 2)?

Where is David’s sin (verse 3)?

Who has David sinned against (verse 4)?

When did David become sinful (verse 5)?

Where was David taught wisdom by God (verse 6)?

How does David believe he will be “whiter than snow” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does David mean by “let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (verse 8)?

What does David ask God to do with his iniquity (verse 9)?

How does David believe he can have a “pure heart” (verse 10)?

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

Mark 2:13-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Where did Jesus go (verse 13)?

Why did Jesus begin to teach (verse 13)?

What did Jesus tell Levi the son of Alphaeus (verse 14)?

What did Levi do (verse 14)?

Who was eating dinner with Jesus at Levi’s house (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why did the “teachers of the law who were Pharisees” ask “why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners” (verse 16)?

How did Jesus answer the question (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how would you contrast David’s view of sinfulness in Psalm 51:1-10 with that of the “teachers of the law who were Pharisees” from Mark 2:13-17?

Acts 7:51-60 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

⁵⁴ When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Who does Stephen say the members of the Sanhedrin always resisted (verse 51)?

In your opinion, who had the members of the Sanhedrin “betrayed and murdered” (verse 52)?

What had the members of the Sanhedrin not obeyed (verse 53)?

How did the members of the Sanhedrin react to the accusations of Stephen (verse 54)?

How was Stephen able to see Jesus (verse 55)?

Where did Stephen say Jesus was (verse 56)?

In your opinion, why did the members of the Sanhedrin cover their ears and yell at the top of their voices as they rushed Stephen (verse 57)?

Where did the witnesses lay their coats (verse 58)?

What did Stephen pray (verse 59)?

What did Stephen cry out (verse 60)?

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

In your opinion, how did the members of the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:51-60, who would have considered themselves to be children of David, reveal that they had different attitudes than David when he wrote Psalm 51:1-10?

In your opinion, how does the question asked by the teachers of the law who are Pharisees in Mark 2:13-17 prove them to be similar to the members of the Sanhedrin who stoned Stephen in Acts 7:51-60?

1 Timothy 1:12-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. ¹³ Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴ The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What does Paul thank Christ Jesus for (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why does Paul call himself “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violet man” (verse 13)?

What was Paul shown (verse 13)?

How was the “grace of our Lord” poured out on Paul (verse 14)?

What did Christ Jesus come into the world to do (verse 15)?

Why was Paul shown mercy (verse 16)?

What does Paul pray for “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God” (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how are David, who wrote Psalm 51:1-10, and Paul, who wrote 1 Timothy 1:12-17, similar?  What does the fact that David prayed for mercy and Paul said he had received mercy reveal to us?

In your opinion, what does Paul’s statement that he was the worst of sinners in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 reveal about how he would have reacted to Jesus statement in Mark 2:13-17 that “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”?  How should we react?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that Saul, who witnesses laid their coats at the feet of in Acts 7:51-60 as Stephen was stoned for saying he saw Jesus in heaven is the very same person who says in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am thre worst”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Psalms, Mark, Acts and 1 Timothy teach us about stiff-necked people and saved people today?

In your opinion, what should we who were once sinners but now are saved do today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 7, 2019 – Learning from James – Mist to Meaning

Mist to Meaning


Ecclesiastes 12:8-14 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
    “Everything is meaningless!”

⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. ¹² Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

What was “Meaningless” (verse 8)?

Who “imparted knowledge to the people” (verse 9)?

What did the Teacher search for (verse 10)?

What are ”the words of the wise” like (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why should we be warned of “anything in addition to them” (verse 12)?

What is the “duty of all mankind” (verse 13)?

Who will “bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing” (verse 14)?

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

Mark 2:13-17 - New International Version (NIV)                

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Who came to Jesus that “he began to teach” (verse 13)?

What did Jesus tell Levi son of Alphaeus (verse 14)?

What did Levi do (verse 14)?

Who was with Jesus at the dinner in Levi’s house (verse 15)?

In your opinion, were the teachers of the law eating with Jesus also (verse 16)?

What did the “teachers of the law who were Pharisees” ask the disciples (verse 16)?


How did Jesus answer the question (verse 17)?


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


In your opinion, who, in the events portrayed in Mark 2:13-17, do you think was being obedient to the instruction of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 12:8-14 to “fear God and keep his commandments”?


Romans 14:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. ³ The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

How are we to “accept the one whose faith is weak” (verse 1)?

How must the “one who eats everything” not treat the “one who does not” (verses 2 and 3)?

What must the “one who does not eat everything” not do to “the one who does” (verses 2 and 3)?

Why will they stand (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why should the one who considers one day special and the one who considers all days alike both “be fully convinced in their own minds” (verses 5 and 6)?

What do none of us do for “ourselves alone” (verse 7)?

Who do we belong to “whether we live or die” (verse 8)?

Why did Christ die and return to life (verse 9)?

Where will we all stand (verse 10)?

What will every tongue do (verse 11)?

What will each give to God (verse 12)?

What should each of us make up our minds to not do (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between fearing God and keeping His commandments as instructed by Ecclesiastes 12:8-14 and eating meat to the Lord or abstaining from eating meat to the Lord as Paul discusses in Romans 14:1-13?

In your opinion, what part of Paul’s instruction in Romans 14:1-13 are the “teachers of the law who were Pharisees” in Mark 2:13-17 violating? 


James 4:11-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

What does someone who “speaks against a brother or sister or judges them” speak against (verse 11)?

How many can “save and destroy” (verse 12)?


In your opinion, why is it wrong to say “today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money” (verses 13 and 14)?


What should we say instead (verse 15)?


What kind of boasting is evil (verse 16)?


What is it if anyone “knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it” (verse 17)?


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


In your opinion, how is the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 12:8-14 saying that “everything is meaningless” but then saying that fearing God and keeping His commands is our duty similar to James saying that we “are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” but then adding that we should say “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” in James 4:11-17?  How are they different?


In your opinion, how can we who recognize our sinfulness be comforted by the fact that the one that James 4:11-17 says is the only “Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy” is the one who says in Mark 2:13-17 that ”I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”?


In your opinion, how does Paul’s progression from condemning contempt or judging others to recognizing that “Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living” in Romans 14:1-13 and James’ shift from condemning judging and boasting to saying “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” in James 4:11-17 give us examples of the transformation we should make in ourselves today?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Ecclesiastes, Mark, Romans and James teach us about the parts of our lives that are meaningless and how to move on from meaningless to belonging to the Lord whether we live or die?


In your opinion, how can we move from the mist to a life of meaning?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 8, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Devotion and Grace

Devotion and Grace

Joshua 7:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)                

¹ But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.

² Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

³ When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” ⁴ So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, ⁵ who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.

⁶ Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸ Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? ⁹ The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. ¹² That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

¹³ “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

How did the Lord react to Achan son of Karmi taking some of the devoted things (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what were the devoted things (verse 1)?

Where were men to go to “spy out the region” (verse 2)?

Why were only “two or three thousand men” needed (verse 3)?

What happened to the three thousand men that went up (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the rout of the Israelites cause the hearts of the people to melt in fear and become like water (verse 5)?

How did Joshua and the elders of Israel react to the rout (verse 6)?

Who did Joshua think had delivered the Israelites “into the hands of the Amorites” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why did Joshua say “pardon your servant, Lord” (verse 8)?

What will the Canaanites and other people do when they hear about the rout (verse 9)?

Who told Joshua to “stand up” (verse 10)?

What had Israel done (verse 11)?

What did Israel need to do before the Lord could be with them (verse 12)?

Who was to be consecrated (verse 13)?

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

Mark 2:13-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Where did Jesus go (verse 13)?

What did Jesus do when the large crowd came to him (verse 13)?

Where was Levi son of Alphaeus when Jesus said “follow me” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why had the tax collectors and sinners gathered at Levi’s house to eat with Jesus (verse 15)?

Who ask Jesus’s disciples “why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners” (verse 16)?

Who did Jesus say needs a doctor (verse 17)?

Who did Jesus come to call (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how might Achan son of Karmi from Joshua 7:1-13 and Levi son of Alphaeus from Mark 2:13-17 be similar?

Acts 5:1-12a – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.

What did Ananias and Sapphira do (verse 1)?

What did Ananias do with Sapphira’s “full knowledge” (verse 2)?

Who did Peter say Ananias had lied to (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what does Peter mean when he says “wasn’t the money at your disposal” (verse 4)?

How did Ananias react to Peter’s statement (verse 5)?

What did the young men do (verse 6)?

When did Sapphira come in (verse 7)?

How did Sapphira respond when Peter asked her “is this the price you and Ananias got for the land” (verse 8)?

What will the men who buried Ananias do (verse 9)?

What happened to Sapphira (verse 10)?

Who was seized by “great fear” (verse 11)?

Where were “signs and wonders” performed (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, how is Achan’s action in Joshua 7:1-13 similar to the actions of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-12a?

In your opinion, how are Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-12a different from Levi and the tax collectors and sinners from Mark 2:13-17?

1 Corinthians 15:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

What have the Corinthian Christians done with the gospel that Paul preached to them (verse 1)?

What does the gospel do (verse 2)?

What did Christ do (verse 3)?

When did Christ rise from being buried (verse 4)?

Who did Christ appear to (verses 5, 6, 7 and 8)?

Why does Paul say he does not “deserve to be called an apostle” (verse 9)?

Why is Paul what he is (verse 10)?

Who “worked harder than all of them” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the Corinthian Christians that Paul is talking to in 1 Corinthians 15:1-10 and Achan son of Karmi in Joshua 7:1-13?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the Corinthian Christians that Paul is talking to in 1 Corinthians 15:1-10 and Levi, the tax collectors and the sinners who were dining with Jesus in Mark 2:13-17?

In your opinion, what do the actions and words of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-12a reveal about their attitude concerning what Paul told the Corinthian Christians in 1 Corinthians 15:1-10 was “of first importance”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 Corinthians teach us about who Jesus is calling?

How does our devotion change when we move from being sinners to being the recipients of God’s grace?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)