May 23, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Giving and Receiving for God’s Glory

Giving and Receiving for God’s Glory

Amos 5:4-15 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek me and live;
⁵     do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
    do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
⁶ Seek the Lord and live,
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;
it will devour them,
    and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

⁷ There are those who turn justice into bitterness
    and cast righteousness to the ground.

⁸ He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    who turns midnight into dawn
    and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.
⁹ With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.

¹⁰ There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
    and detest the one who tells the truth.

¹¹ You levy a straw tax on the poor
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
    you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.
¹² For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
¹³ Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
    for the times are evil.

¹⁴ Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵ Hate evil, love good;
    maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
    on the remnant of Joseph.

Who does Israel need to seek in order to live (verse 4)?

What will happen to Bethel (verse 5)?

What will Bethel not have (verse 6)?

Who “made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why would someone “hate the one who upholds justice in court” (verse 10)?

Who will not live in the stone mansions they have built (verse 11)?

What does the Lord know (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why would the prudent “keep quiet in such times” (verse 13)?

What is to be loved (verse 15)?

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

Mark 12:38-44 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Where did Jesus sit (verse 41)?

What did He watch (verse 41)?

Who “threw in large amounts” (verse 41)?

What did the poor widow put in (verse 42)?

How did Jesus compare what the poor widow put in to “all the others” (verse 43)?

What did the poor widow put in (verse 44)?

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

In your opinion, how is the poor widow of Mark 12:38-44 living out the command of God to Israel given in Amos 5:4-15?    

Acts 20:32-38 – New International Version (NIV)

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

What can God and “the word of his grace” do (verse 32)?

In your opinion, why did Paul say “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing” (verse 33)?

How were the needs of Paul and his companions supplied (verse 34)?

Who said “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (verse 35)?

When did Paul knell down with them and pray (verse 36)?

How did they respond to Paul (verse 37)?

Why were they most grieved (verse 38)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the rich people of Israel who “levy a straw tax on the poor” in Amos 5:4-15 and Paul in Acts 20:32-38?

In your opinion, what can the poor woman in Mark 12:38-44 who gave “all she had to live on” teach us about the quote of Jesus by Paul in Acts 20:32-38, “it is more blessed to give than to receive”?

Philippians 4:10-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. ¹⁵ Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; ¹⁶ for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. ¹⁷ Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. ¹⁸ I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰ To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What did Paul rejoice “greatly in the Lord” about (verse 10)?

How does Paul’s circumstances affect his contentment (verse 11)?

What secret has Paul learned (verse 12)?

How can Paul do this (verse 13)?

What did the Philippians share with Paul (verse 14)?

What did the Philippian church do that no other church did (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says he desires “that more is being credited to your account” (verse 17)?

How does Paul feel about the gifts that the Philippian church sent to him (verse 18)?

How will God meet the needs of the Philippian church (verse 19)?

Who does Paul give the glory to (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between what the poor in Amos 5:4-15 gave and what the Philippian church in Philippians 4:10-20 gave?

In your opinion, how are Philippian church in Philippians 4:10-20 and the poor woman of Mark 12:38-44 similar? 

In your opinion, why did Paul emphasize in Acts 20:32-38 that he had not accepted anything from the church at Ephesus, but in Philippians 4:10-20 he “greatly rejoiced” in the fact that he had received a gift from the Philippian church? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Amos, Mark, Acts and Philippians teach us about giving and receiving?

In your opinion, how can we apply these passages to understanding ways in which we can bring “glory” to our God and Father today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 16, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Permanent Priesthood

 Permanent Priesthood

Psalm 110 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ The Lord says to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”

² The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
    “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
³ Your troops will be willing
    on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
    your young men will come to you
    like dew from the morning’s womb.

⁴ The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
    in the order of Melchizedek.”

⁵ The Lord is at your right hand;
    he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
⁶ He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
    and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
⁷ He will drink from a brook along the way,
    and so he will lift his head high.

What is the Lord going to do for “my lord” (verse 1)?

From where is the Lord extending the “mighty scepter” (verse 2)?

How will “your young men” be arrayed (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a priest “in the order of Melchizedek” (verse 4)?

Who will “crush kings on the day of his wrath” (verse 5)?

What will the Lord judge (verse 6)?

How will the Lord lift His head (verse 7)?

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

Mark 12:35-37 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
    under your feet.”’

³⁷ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

Where was Jesus teaching (verse 35)?

What question did Jesus ask (verse 35)?

How was David speaking (verse 36)?

In your opinion, in the quote “the Lord said to my Lord” who is the first Lord?  And who is the second Lord? (verse 36)?

How was the large crowd listening (verse 37)?

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

In your opinion, what would the already disgruntled “teachers of the law” of Mark 12:35-37 have thought about what Jesus was implying or claiming when He quoted the first verse of Psalm 110 in Mark 12:35-37?    

Acts 24:1-16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. ² When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. ³ Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. ⁴ But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.

⁵ “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect ⁶ and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him.  ⁸ By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.”

⁹ The other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.

¹⁰ When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. ¹¹ You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. ¹² My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. ¹³ And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. ¹⁴ However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, ¹⁵ and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁶ So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

Who went to Caesarea to bring “charges against Paul before the governor” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why did Tertullus begin his presentation with “we have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation” (verse 2)?  Was it true?

How did Tertullus “acknowledge this” (verse 3)?

What did Tertullus want Felix to do “briefly” (verse 4)?

How did Tertullus describe Paul (verse 5)? 

What was Paul accused of doing (verse 6)?

How is Felix to “learn the truth about all these charges” (verse 8)?

What did the other Jews assert (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why is Paul’s beginning “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation” so much different that Tertullus’s in verse 2 (verse 10)?

When did Paul say he went “up to Jerusalem to worship” (verse 11)?

How did Paul respond to the charges Tertullus made against him in verse 6 (verse 12)?

How did Paul respond to the charges Tertullus made against him in verse 5 (verse 14)?

What did Paul claim to believe (verse 14)?

What did Paul hope for (verse 15)?

What does Paul strive for (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, how does Psalm 110’s discussion of God’s troops being arrayed “in holy splendor” enrich our understanding of the meeting of Paul the prisoner (and Christian warrior) meeting with Felix in Acts 24:1-16?

In your opinion, what part does Paul in Acts 24:1-16 play in the fulfillment of the prophecy of David’s Psalm that Jesus quotes in Mark 12:35-37?

Hebrews 7:11-28 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³ He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵ And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is declared:

“You are a priest forever,
    in the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸ The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless ¹⁹ (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

²⁰ And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹ but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind:
    ‘You are a priest forever.’”

²² Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

What are the two orders of priesthood that Paul lists (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why must the law change if the priesthood changes (verse 12)?

What has no one from the tribe of the person being discussed ever done (verse 13)?

Where has “our Lord” descended from (verse 14)?

What do the two orders of priests become priests “on the basis of” (verse 16)?

Why was the “former regulation” set aside (verse 18)?

How do we “draw near to God” (verse 19)?

What has the Lord sworn (verse 21)?

What has Jesus become (verse 22)?

Why have there been many priests (verse 23)?

Why does Jesus have a “permanent priesthood” (verse 24)?

Who is Jesus able to “save completely” (verse 25)?

How is Jesus “unlike the other high priests” (verse 27)?

Who does the law appoint as high priests (verse 28)?

Who has been “made perfect forever” (verse 28)?

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

In your opinion, how is the image of Jesus as the perfect high priest as presented by Paul in Hebrews 7:11-28 enhanced by the prophecy of Psalm 110?

In your opinion, why does Jesus, as He taught in the temple courts in Mark 12:35-37 discuss the part of Psalm 110’s prophecy that deals with ruling instead of the part that deals with priesthood while when Paul quotes from the same Psalm in Hebrews 7:11-28 he quotes the part about priesthood and not the part that deals with ruling? 

In your opinion, how do you think Ananias, the high priest who went to Paul’s trial in Caesarea in Acts 24:1-16, would have responded to what Paul said about the priesthood in Hebrews 7:11-28?  How does Ananias being there before Felix prove the differences between the priesthood of those appointed by the law and the priesthood of the One appointed by the oath? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Psalms, Mark, Acts and Hebrews teach us about how truly different Jesus is from what we in the world normally expect of a leader?

In your opinion, how should we respond today to the One who is sitting at the right hand of the Father until makes His enemies “a footstool for your feet”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 9, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – A Command to Love

 

A Command to Love

Hosea 6:4-11 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.
⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth—
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.
⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
⁷ As at Adam, they have broken the covenant;
    they were unfaithful to me there.
⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers,
    stained with footprints of blood.
⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
    so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.
¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.

¹¹ “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

What is the love of Ephraim and Judah like (verse 4)?

How were Ephraim and Judah cut “in pieces” (verse 5)?

What does God desire instead of sacrifice (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why would God desire “acknowledgement” more than “burnt offerings” (verse 6)?

What have Ephraim and Judah broken (verse 7)?

How is the city of Gilead described (verse 8)?

Who are “bands of priests” compared with (verse 9)?

Where was a “horrible thing” seen (verse 10)?

What is appointed for Judah (verse 11)?

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

Mark 12:13-34 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ¹⁹ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Who was sent to catch Jesus “in his words” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how is the question “is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not” a trap (verse 14)?

What did Jesus know (verse 15)?

How did Jesus return the question to the Pharisees and Herodians (verses 15 and 16)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (verse 17)?

What did the Sadducees say (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why did the Sadducees ask Jesus a complicated question about resurrection (verses 19 through 23)?

Why were the Sadducees in error (verse 24)?

What will the dead be like when they rise (verse 25)?

What did God say to Moses at the burning bush (verse 26)?

Who ask Jesus “of all the commandments, which is the most important” (verse 27)?

What did Jesus say was the most important commandment (verse 30)?

What did Jesus say was the second commandment (verse 31)?

How did Jesus view the man who stated “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (verses 33 and 34)?

What did no one dare to do after these discussions (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, how are the religious leaders who confront Jesus in Mark 12:13-24 similar to the nations of Ephraim and Judah in Hosea 6:4-11?  Has what God wants changed?    

Acts 9:19b-26 – New International Version (NIV)

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³ After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, ²⁴ but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵ But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶ When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 

Where did Saul spend days with the disciples (verse 19b)?

Where did Saul begin to preach “that Jesus is the Son of God” (verse 20)?

Why were those who heard him astonished (verse 21)?

How did Saul baffle “the Jews living in Damascus” (verse 22)?

What did the Jews conspire to do (verse 23)? 

Where did the Jews watch for Saul (verse 24)?

What did Saul’s followers do (verse 25)?

Why were the disciples afraid of Saul in Jerusalem (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, how are the Jews in Damascus in Acts 9:19b through 26 similar to the bands of priests in Hosea 6:4-11?

In your opinion, how is obedience to the two commandments that Jesus claims are the most important in Mark 12:13-34 displayed in Acts 9:19b-26?

James 2:8-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

When does James say “you are doing right” (verse 8)?

What is a sin (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why does stumbling at one point of the law make one “guilty of breaking all of it” (verses 10 and 11)?

How are believers to “speak and act” (verse 12)?

What will be shown to “anyone who has not been merciful” (verse 13)?

What “triumphs over judgment” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, how are God’s statement in Hosea 6:4-11 that He desires “mercy, not sacrifice” and the royal law that James 2:8-13 says is found in the Scripture to “love your neighbor as yourself” related?

In your opinion, what does Jesus reveal in Mark 12:13-34 about the “law that gives freedom” which James 2:8-13 commands us to “speak and act” as though we will be judged by? 

In your opinion, how does the transformation of Saul in Acts 9:19b-26 from one who came to take Christians prisoner to one who “grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah” an example of what James 2:8-13 calls speaking and acting as “those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom”? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Hosea, Mark, Acts and James teach us about what God desires?

In your opinion, how can we demonstrate obedience to Jesus’s command to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and His commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself” today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)