Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Majoring on the Minors


Lesson 26 – Majoring on the Minors

What meant the most to you from this chapter or helped you think more accurately about God’s character and the truth of His Word?  What offered you the greatest challenge or blessing, and why?

Focusing on God
Read Romans 11:33.  How do you interpret what God’s Word describes these “majors” about God:  His wisdom, knowledge, judgments, and ways?
His wisdom is to save people by grace, and not by their works.  He intended to establish a glorious system that should present his mercy as the prominent attribute, standing out in living colors in all the scheme of salvation.

His knowledge is foreknowledge, or omniscience.  When compared to the changes in human affairs, the obstacles to the gospel, the difficulties to be overcome, and the vast work yet to be done…it is amazing the knowledge that is adapted to such a scheme to people and which can certainly predict its complete and final spread among all the families of man.

His judgments are all plain, and may be easily searched out in his word.  This word in this place evidently means his arrangement, his plan, or proceeding.

His ways denotes a path, or road on which one travels.  This reference directs us to the course or manner of life in which we move; His principles, or morals; His doctrine or teaching, etc.

Using a dictionary, give simple definitions for the following words:

  •   unsearchable - Unable to be clearly understood
  •   unfathomable - Difficult or impossible to understand
  •   inexhaustible - Unable to be used up because existing in abundance
  •   inscrutable - Impossible to understand or interpret
  •   impossible - Not able to occur, exist, or be done

In five to ten words, describe these terms as a whole.  It is impossible to understand; therefore, His wisdom calls us to faith.

Acknowledging the Wisdom of God
When you need wisdom, where or to whom do you generally go? My husband, my dad, my mother, close friends, and God.  This could even include: going to school, obtaining licenses, earning a degree, or conducting experiments, and using computers and the internet.

What do these scriptures say about wisdom?
  •   Proverbs 2:6 – The Lord gives it.
  •   Proverbs 9:10 – Fear is the beginning of wisdom; knowledge of the holy is understanding.
  •   James 1:5 – If you lack it; ask God for it and God will provide it.
What do you normally do when you run up against something in the Bible that you don’t agree with or understand?

How does God’s wisdom call you to exercise your faith in Him?

Acknowledging the Knowledge of God
Read Psalm 139.  According to the psalmist, what does God know about you as revealed in these verses?
  •   Verse 1 – “O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.”
  •   Verse 2 – “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”
  •   Verse 3 – “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.”
  •   Verse 4 – “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.”
  •   Verse 13 (When?) – “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.”
  •   Verse 15 (When?) – “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”
  •   Verse 16 (When?) – “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
  •   Verse 23 – “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:”
What does the psalmist say in verse 6 about God’s knowledge?
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” – Psalm 139:6

Realizing God Knows All About Us
Reflect on the truth that God knows all the details of your life.

How does the fact of God’s knowledge enable you to accept your circumstances?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Lesson 25 - Responding to Life's Turning Points


Lesson 25 – Responding to Life’s Turning Points

What meant the most to you from this chapter or helped you think more accurately about God’s character and the truth of His Word?  What offered you the greatest challenge or blessing, and why?

Turning Points
Can you think of any “turning points” in your life?  What happened, and how has your life changed as a result?


Accepting God’s Will
Read Luke 1:26-38.  Describe Mary’s turning point.

Why did God choose to use Mary’s life in this way?


What was Mary’s one-and-only question?

How did the angel Gabriel ultimately answer Marys’ question and address the miracle of Elizabeth’s pregnancy?


How did Mary indicate her acceptance of God’s will for her life?


The Mentality of a Handmaiden
Write out Mary’s reply to Gabriel’s announcement in verse 38.

What impresses you most about it?


Describe the role and attitude of a handmaiden as pictured in Psalm 123:2.


Is yours the heart and mind of a handmaiden?  Have you ever uttered something like Mary’s incredible words of acceptance in Luke 1:38 when a turning point arrived?  Why or why not?


A Knowledge of God
Read Luke 1:46-55, and list some of the facts about God that Mary articulated.


To learn even more about the person and character of God, read Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.  List some additional facts about God that Hannah expressed.


How does Mary’s knowledge of God speak to you and your own mysterious life situations?


The Depth of the Riches of God
Read Romans 11:33-36.  List some of the facts about “the riches of God” contained in Paul’s glorious “doxology.”



Loving God…Even More
Read this section in your book again.  As you consider the contents of this chapter and God’s amazing love for you, what can you do this week, in obedience to Christ…

…to live out God’s plan?         …to trust God’s promise?        …to love God with all your mind?

God has a destiny and a hope for you..