Saturday, May 7, 2016

May 15, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Rebuking or Redeeming


 
Rebuking or Redeeming

Ruth 4:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.”
“I will redeem it,” he said.
Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”
At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”
(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.
Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!”

Who did Boaz invite to “sit down” at the town gate (verse 1)?

Who else did Boaz ask to sit at the town gate (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why did Boaz begin by saying that Naomi was selling the “piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek” (verse 3)?

Does the guardian-redeemer say that he will redeem the property (verse 4)?

What would the guardian-redeemer also acquire when he buys the land (verse 5)?

Why did the guardian-redeemer then tell Boaz “You redeem it yourself.  I cannot do it.” (verse 6)?

How were transactions legalized in Israel in earlier times (verse 7)?

What did the guardian-redeemer do (verse 8)?

Who is Boaz buying “all the property of Elimelek, Kilion, and Mahlon” from (verse 9)?

Why did Boaz also acquire “Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow” (verse 10)?

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

Matthew 16:21-27 - New International Version (NIV)
21 “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.”

Who had to “go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law” (verse 21)?
What was going to happen on the third day after He was killed (verse 21)?
Who began to rebuke Jesus (verse 22)?
In your opinion, why did Jesus call Peter “Satan” (verse 23)?
Why was Peter a “stumbling block” to Jesus (verse 23)?
Who must “deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (verse 24)?
What will happen to those who want to “save their life” (verse 25)?
In your opinion, why will whoever loses their life for Jesus “find it” (verse 25)?
How would you answer the question “what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul” (verse 26)?
How will the “Son of Man” come (verse 27)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how do Boaz and the guardian-redeemer in Ruth 4:1-10 illustrate the difference between the “concerns of God” and the “merely human concerns” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16:21-27?

Romans 5:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)
1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

What do those who are “justified through faith” have with God through Jesus Christ (verse 1)?
How do we gain access to the “grace in which we now stand” (verse 2)?
What do we do glory in (verse 3)?
In your opinion, how does suffering produce perseverance, and perseverance produce character, and character produce hope (verses 3 and 4)?
What was “poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (verse 5)?
When did Christ die for the ungodly (verse 6)?
How often will someone “die for a righteous person” (verse 7)?
When did Christ die for us (verse 8)?
How have we been justified (verse 9)?
How are we saved (verse 10)?
Who do we boast in (verse 11)?
What have we received “through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does Romans 5:1-11 show us about the “concerns of God” that Jesus told Peter he did not have in mind in Matthew 16:21-27?
In your opinion, how does the guardian-redeemer in his refusal to redeem the property and the widow Ruth in Ruth 4:1-10 provide an example of Paul’s statement very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die” in Romans 5:1-11?

1 Peter 1:17-25 – New International Version (NIV)
17 “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.”

How does the Father that we call on judge each person’s work (verse 17)?
In your opinion, why does Peter say that we should live out our time here as foreigners (verse 17)?
What were we redeemed from (verse 18)?
What redeemed us (verse 19)?
When was Christ chosen to redeem us (verse 20)?
How do we believe in God (verse 21)?
What are our “faith and hope” in (verse 21)?
In your opinion, why does Peter say that purifying ourselves by obeying the truth causes us to have a sincere love for each other (verse 22)?
What kind of seed are we born again through (verse 23)?
How are all people like grass (verse 24)?
What endures forever (verse 25)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does Paul in Romans 5:1-11 help us to better understand how to live out our “time as foreigners here in reverent fear” as instructed by Peter in 1 Peter 1:17-25?
In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 1:17-25 show us that Peter, who rebuked Jesus in Matthew 16:21-27 for saying that He would be killed and on the third day be raised to life” has learned about the mind of God and what God wanted to happen?

In your opinion, how is Boaz’s redemption of Ruth in Ruth 4:1-10 similar to Jesus redemption of people from the “empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors” that Peter describes in 1 Peter 1:17-25?
In your opinion, what do these passages, from Ruth, Matthew, Romans and 1 Peter show us about ourselves today?


Next, back to Peter 2:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

Saturday, April 30, 2016

May 8, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Snakes or the Pole


  
Snakes or the Pole

Numbers 21:4-9 – New International Version (NIV)
“They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”

Why did they leave Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea (verse 4)?

What did the people do when they grew impatient (verses 4and 5)?

In your opinion, why would the people have complained about the manna, “miserable food” (verse 5)?

Why did many Israelites die (verse 6)?

What sin did the people confess to Moses (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why did the people ask Moses to pray that the Lord would take the snakes away instead of praying themselves (verse 7)?

Who told Moses to make a snake and put it on a pole so that “anyone who is bitten can look at it and live” (verse 8)?

What happened when people who had been bitten by snakes looked at the bronze snake (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why did God have Moses put the bronze snake on the pole instead of removing the snakes?

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

Mark 9:2-10 - New International Version (NIV)
“After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.”

Who did Jesus take up a high mountain (verse 2)?
What happened to Jesus there (verse 2)?
What happened to Jesus’s clothes (verse 3)?
Who appeared before them (verse 4)?
What did Peter want to do (verse 5)?
In your opinion, why were they frightened (verse 6)?
Where did the voice come from that said “This is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to him!” (verse 7)?
What did Jesus order them not to tell (verse 9)?
What did they discuss among themselves (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what might have Moses, who put the bronze snake up for people to look at and be saved in Numbers 21:4-9, told Jesus when He was transfigured in Mark 9:2-10?

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)
1 “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

What did the ancestors pass through (verse 1)?
How were they baptized into Moses (verse 2)?
What did they eat (verse 3)?
In your opinion, what did Paul mean that they drank from the “spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ” (verse 4)?
Where were the bodies of most of them scattered (verse 5)?
Why did these things occur (verse 6)?
What did the people do that caused Paul to call them idolaters (verse 7)?
How many died in one day because of sexual immorality (verse 8)?
In your opinion, how did the Israelites who were killed by snakes “test Christ” (verse 9)?
What happened to “some of them” who grumbled (verse 10)?
What has come upon us (verse 11)?
When should we be careful that we don’t fall (verse 12)?
What kind of temptation has overtaken us (verse 13)?
How far will God let us be tempted (verse 13)?
What will God provide so that we can endure temptation (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does it mean that Moses, who joined Jesus when He was transfigured in Mark 9:2-10, was one of the people whose body was “scattered in the wilderness” as stated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13?
In your opinion, do you think that the people of Numbers 21:4-9 who grew impatient and who “spoke against God and against Moses” thought that they were “standing firm” as Paul warned about in 1 Corinthians 10:13?

1 Peter 1:10-16 – New International Version (NIV)
10 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

What did the prophets search for “intently and with the greatest care” (verse 10)?
Who pointed out the “sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow” (verse 11)?
What was revealed to the prophets (verse 12)?
In your opinion, why would the angels “long to look into these things” (verse 12)?
How should our minds be when we set our “hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (verse 13)?
What should we “as obedient children” not do (verse 14)?
What should we be in all we do (verse 15)?
Why should we “be holy” (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how do the examples and warnings Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 help us to understand about how to follow Peter’s instruction in 1 Peter 1:10-16 to “be holy” and to “be holy in all you do”?
In your opinion, how do you think the appearance of Jesus when He was transfigured in Mark 9:2-10 will compare to the appearance of Jesus when He “is revealed at His coming” in 1 Peter 1:10-16?

In your opinion, how was Moses putting up the bronze snake on the pole so that the sinners who were bitten by a snake could look at it and live in Numbers 21:4-9 anticipate the “sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow” that Peter talks about in 1 Peter 1:10-16?
In your opinion, what do these passages, from Numbers, Mark, 1 Corinthians and 1 Peter show us about ourselves today?


Next, back to Peter 1:17 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

Saturday, April 23, 2016

May 1, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Suffering and Salvation


 Suffering and Salvation

Genesis 45:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’”

What could Joseph “no longer” do (verse 1)?

Who did Joseph make himself known to (verse 1)?

How loudly did Joseph weep (verse 2)?

What question did Joseph ask his brothers (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why were Joseph’s brothers “terrified at his presence” (verse 3)?

How did Joseph describe himself to his brothers (verse 4)?

Why did Joseph tell his brothers “do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here” (verse 5)?

What has been in the land for two years and will be there for five more years (verse 6)?

Who sent Joseph ahead “to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does Joseph say “it was not you who sent me here, but God” (verse 8)?

Who does Joseph want to come quickly to Egypt (verse 9)?

Where will Joseph’s father and his family live (verse 10)?

Who will provide for Joseph’s father and his family (verse 11)?

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

Matthew 14:22-33 - New International Version (NIV)
22 “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

What did Jesus make his disciples do (verse 22)?
Where did Jesus go to be by himself and pray (verse 23)?
Why was the boat “buffeted by the waves” (verse 24)?
How did Jesus go out to them (verse 25)?
In your opinion, why were the disciples terrified when they saw Jesus “walking on the lake” (verse 26)?
How did Jesus respond to their fear (verse 27)?
In your opinion, why would Peter, who was just terrified, ask Jesus to tell him to “come to you on the water” (verse 28)?
What did Peter do when Jesus said “come” (verse 29)?
Why did Peter begin to sink (verse 30)?
How did Jesus respond to Peter’s cry for help when he began to sink (verse 31)?
When did the wind die down (verse 32)?
How did those in the boat respond (verse 33)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Jesus pulling Peter from the water after he was afraid of the wind in Matthew 14:22-33 similar to God saving the brothers of Joseph who sold him into slavery through Joseph in Genesis 45:1-11?

Romans 8:18-28 - New International Version (NIV)
18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
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.”

What is not worth comparing “with the glory that will be revealed in us” (verse 18)?
Who does the creation wait “in eager expectation” for (verse 19)?
What was the creation subjected to (verse 20)?
What is creation to be brought into if it is liberated from it bondage to decay (verse 21)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that the “whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth” (verse 22)?
Who groans inwardly while waiting eagerly for “our adoption to sonship, the redemption of bodies” (verse 23)?
What is “no hope at all” (verse 24)?
How do we wait if we “hope for what we do not yet have” (verse 25)?
Who helps us “in our weakness” (verse 26)?
How does the Spirit intercede for us when we don’t know what to pray for (verse 26)?
How does the Spirit intercede for “God’s people” (verse 27)?
In what things does God work for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (verse 28)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Peter asking Jesus to call him out onto the water in Matthew 14:22-33 an example of how the Spirit intercedes as Paul talks about in Romans 8:18-28?
In your opinion, how does the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 45:1-11 anticipate Paul’s statement that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” in Romans 8:18-28?

1 Peter 1:1-9 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Who is Peter writing to (verse 1)?
What does God the Father have about the elect that were chosen (verse 2)?
How does the Spirit work in the chosen (verse 2)?
Whose blood are the chosen to be sprinkled with (verse 2)?
Through what has God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (verse 3)?
Where is the “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” kept (verse 4)?
How are the chosen “shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (verse 5)?
In your opinion, how can the chosen “greatly rejoice” even though “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?
Why have the trials come (verse 7)?
How do the chosen respond to Jesus, even though they have not seen Him (verse 8)?
What is the end result of the faith of the chosen (verse 9)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how are Paul, in Romans 8:18-28, and Peter, in 1 Peter 1:1-9, (who were very different in personality and background) similar in their teachings about sufferings and joy?
In your opinion, how does Jesus reaching down to pull Peter from the water in Matthew 14:22-33 even though he had “little faith” add richness and strength to what Peter says about being shielded by God’s power through faith in 1 Peter 1:1-9?

In your opinion, how does God’s preparation to save the brothers of Joseph in Genesis 45:1-11 help us to understand the foreknowledge and saving work of God that Peter talks about in 1 Peter 1:1-9?
In your opinion, what do these passages, from Genesis, Matthew, Romans and 1 Peter show us about ourselves today?
Next, back to Peter 1:10 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)