February 9, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – This Little Light of Mine

This Little Light of Mine

Isaiah 30:18-26 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
    Blessed are all who wait for him!

¹⁹ People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. ²⁰ Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. ²¹ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” ²² Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

²³ He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. ²⁴ The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. ²⁵ In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. ²⁶ The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

Why will the Lord “rise up to show you compassion” (verse 18)?

Who is blessed (verse 18)?

When will the Lord be gracious (verse 19)?

What “will be hidden no more” (verse 20)?

What will the voice from behind say (verse 21)?

What will they say when “idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold” are desecrated (verse 22)?

What will be “rich and plentiful” (verse 23)?

How will the fodder and mash that the oxen and donkeys eat be spread out (verse 24)?

Where will the streams of water flow (verse 25)?

How bright with the sunlight shine (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living in light?

Matthew 5:13-16 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

What are “you” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, “if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again” (verse 13)?

What is salt that loses saltiness good for (verse 13)?

What are “you” (verse 14)?

What cannot be hidden (verse 14)?

Where do people not put a lamp that is lit (verse 15)?

What will the lamp do when it is “put on its stand” (verse 15)?

Where should our light shine (verse 16)?

When do others glorify our “Father in heaven” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living in light?

In your opinion, how does God’s graciousness, that includes bringing bright light, in Isaiah 30:18-26 relate to the light that Matthew 5:13-16 says we are to let “shine before others”?

Philippians 2:12-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

What does Paul want the Philippian Christians to “continue to work out” (verse 12)?

Who “works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (verse 13)?

What should Christians do “without grumbling or arguing” (verse 14)?

How does Paul describe the generation in which he wants Christians to be “children of God without fault” (verse 15)?

Where will Christians shine as they “hold firmly to the word of life” (verses 15 and 16)?

What will Paul be able to boast “on the day of Christ” (verse 16)?

What is Paul able to do with Christians even if he “is being poured out like a drink offering” (verse 17)?

How should Christians react with Paul (verse 18)?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living in light?

In your opinion, what does Philippians 2:12-18 reveal about how people should respond to God’s graciousness when they cry for help as described in Isaiah 30:18-26?

In your opinion, how does Philippians 2:12-18 help us understand how Christians can let our “light shine before others” as commanded in Matthew 5:13-16?

Revelation 21:22-27 – New International Version (NIV)

²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Why did John “not see a temple in the city” (verse 22)?

What is the light of the city (verse 23)?

What is the city’s lamp (verse 23)?

Who will walk by the city’s light (verse 24)?

Why will the gates never be shut (verse 25)?

What will be brought to the city (verse 26)?

Who will enter the city (verse 27)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living in light?

In your opinion, how does the light and healing in Isaiah 30:18-26 anticipate the magnificent light of the city in Revelation 21:22-27?

In your opinion, how do those whose “names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” in Revelation 21:22-27 letting their “light shine before others” as commanded in Matthew 5:13-16 glorify the One whose glory lights the city of Revelation 21:22-27?

In your opinion, how can the city described in Revelation 21:22-27 be a source of inspiration for those who are struggling to work out their “salvation with fear and trembling” in the “warped and crooked generation” in Philippians 2:12-18?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Isaiah, Matthew, Philippians and Revelation teach us about the source of light?

In your opinion, how do we let our lights shine today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 23, 2023 – John’s Writings – Loved into Glory

Loved into Glory

Exodus 40:21-35 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commanded him.

²² Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain ²³ and set out the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

²⁴ He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle ²⁵ and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

²⁶ Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain ²⁷ and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded him.

²⁸ Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹ He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the Lord commanded him.

³⁰ He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, ³¹ and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. ³² They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³³ Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

What did Moses do after he “brought the ark into the tabernacle” (verse 21)?

Where was the table placed in relation to the curtain (verse 22)?

What did Moses set out on the table (verse 23)?

Where did Moses place the lampstand (verse 24)?

Where did Moses place the “gold alter” (verse 26)?

What did Moses burn on the alter (verse 27)?

Where did Moses place the next curtain (verse 28)?

What did Moses set up “near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting” (verse 29)?

Why did Moses do these things (verses 21, 23, 25, 27 and 29)?

When did Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons wash their hands and feet (verses 30 through 32)?

What did Moses finish (verse 33)?

What filled the tabernacle (verse 34)?

Why could Moses not enter the tent of meeting (verse 35)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about entering God’s glory?

John 12:20-28 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 

Who was “among those who went up to worship at the festival” (verse 20)?

What did they request of Philip (verse 21)?

What hour did Jesus say has come (verse 23)?

How can a kernel of wheat produce many seeds (verse 24)?

Who will lose their life (verse 25)?

Who will keep their life for eternal life (verse 26)?

How was Jesus’s soul (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what was the reason that Jesus “came to this hour” (verse 27)?

How did the voice from heaven respond to Jesus saying “Father, glorify your name” (verse 28)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about entering God’s glory?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the reason that Jesus came to this hour in John 12:20-28 and the fact that the glory of God kept everyone, including Moses, from entering the tabernacle in Exodus 40:21-35?

1 John 4:7-15 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 

Who is John writing to (verse 7)?

What does John instruct (verse 7)?

Where does love come from (verse 7)?

Who does not know God (verse 8)?

How did God show “his love among us” (verse 9)?

What is love (verse 10)?

Why should we “love one another” (verse 11)?

When does God live in us (verse 12)?

How do “we know that we live in him and he in us” (verse 13)?

What has John seen and testifies to (verse 14)?

When does God live in people (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about entering God’s glory?

In your opinion, what is shown by the fact that in Exodus 40:21-35 no one could enter the tabernacle when “the glory of God filled” it but 1 John 4:7-15 says ” If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God”?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 4:7-15 help us understand about what Jesus meant in John 12:20-28 when He said “, it was for this very reason I came to this hour”?

Revelation 21:22-27 – New International Version (NIV)

²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

What didn’t John see in the city (verse 22)?

Who is the temple (verse 22)?

Why does the city “not need the sun or the moon to shine on it” (verse 23)?

What will walk by the light of the city (verse 24)?

Why will the gates never be shut (verse 25)?

What will be brought into the city (verse 26)?

What will never enter the city (verse 27)?

Who will never enter the city (verse 27)?

Who will enter the city (verse 27)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about entering God’s glory?

In your opinion, how do the differences between the tabernacle in Exodus 40:21-35 and the city of God in Revelation 21:22-27 illustrate what Jesus has done?

In your opinion, what does Jesus’s statement in John 12:20-28 that “anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” help us understand about “those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”?

In your opinion, how is God’s love for us revealed in 1 John 4:7-15 related to the names that are written in the Lamb’s book of life, the list of people that can enter into the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21:22-27? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how we can be transformed from people excluded from God’s glory to people whose lives are lit up by God’s glory?

In your opinion, how can we glorify God’s name?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 13, 2016 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – From Darkness to Perfect Light

From Darkness to Perfect Light

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

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

What was the earth (verse 2)?

What was “over the surface of the deep” (verse 2)?

Where was the Spirit of God (verse 2)?

Who said “let there be light” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why was the light “good” (verse 4)?

What was the evening and the morning (verse 5)?

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

John 3:16-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Why did God give “his one and only Son” (verse 16)?

Who will not perish (verse 16)?

Why did God “send his Son into the world” (verse 17)?

Who is not condemned (verse 18)?

Why are those who do not believe condemned (verse 18)?

Where has light come (verse 19)?

Why do people love the darkness (verse 19)?

Who hates the light (verse 20)?

Why won’t those who hate the light come into the light (verse 20)?

Who comes into the light (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how does John 3:16-21 help us understand why God said that the light was good in Genesis 1:2-5?

Ephesians 5:8-20 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “you once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (verse 8)?

What does the fruit of the light consist in (verse 9)?

How should we treat “fruitless deeds of darkness” (verse 11)?

What does Paul say about what “the disobedient do in secret” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say that “everything exposed by the light becomes visible” (verse 13)?

What does everything that is illuminated become (verse 13)?

Who will shine on the sleeper who wakes up and rises from the dead (verse 14)?

How should we be careful to live (verse 15)?

Why should we make the most of every opportunity (verse 16)?

What should we understand (verse 17)?

What leads to debauchery (verse 18)?

How do we speak to each other when we are filled with the Spirit (verses 18 and 19)?

What should we always give thanks to God the Father for (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about the people Paul said are now “light in the Lord” although they “were once darkness” in Ephesians from John, who said “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” in John 3:16-21?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion of the fruit of the light and the fruitless deeds of darkness in Ephesians 5:8-20 help us understand why God in Genesis 1:2-5 considered the light good?

Revelation 21:22-27 – New International Version (NIV)

²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Why is there no temple in the city (verse 22)?

What gives the city light (verse 23)?

Who is the lamp for that light (verse 23)?

Who will walk in the light of the city (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what is the significance of “on no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there” (verse 25)?

What glory and honor will be “brought into it” (verse 26)?

What will never enter the city (verse 27)?

Who will enter the city (verse 27)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn if we consider Paul’s statement In Ephesians 5:5-20 “For you were once darkness” and John’s statement in Revelation 21:22-27 that “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” both to be true?

What does John’s discussion in John 3:16-21 about who is condemned and who is not condemned teach us about the ones who in Revelation 21:22-27 John says will enter the Holy City that came down from heaven because their “names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”?

In your opinion, what does it mean that in Genesis 1:2-5 the first thing created was light and it was separated from the darkness and then in Revelation 21:22-27 we find out that there will no longer be darkness?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Ephesians and Revelation help us understand about light and darkness and how to live today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)