Author: Tom

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2 Samuel: Lesson 11 — Out Of Order

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 2 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

A Man After God’s Own Heart:
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A Study of the Book of 2 Samuel

Lesson 11 (Out Of Order)
2 Samuel 11
November 14, 2012

The Text:

  1. What was the usual custom of nations in the spring of the year?  What does David do?  
      
  2. What does David do on an evening he can’t sleep?  What does he notice?  What does he have done?  What information does he find out?  What does he do about that information?  What happens?
      
  3. What message does Bathsheba send to David?  Who does David send for?  What instructions was he given?  What did he do?  What is David told?  What reason is given by Uriah for his actions?  How did David respond?  Did his plan work?
      
  4. Who does David write to?  What did he write?  Who did he send the letter with?  What happens?  What seems to be Joab’s concern in sending a message back to David regarding the battle?
      
  5. What report is given to David?  What message did David send back?  Why?  What did Bathsheba do about what had happened to Uriah?  What does David do?  How did God feel?

   

 The Application:

  1. What are some expectations, or customs, associated with who you are, what you do, etc.?  Are these good, bad, or some combination of both?  Do you ever not do them, or feel like not doing them?  Why?
      
  2. What do you do when you find yourself with time and nothing you need to do?  Are there things you notice that maybe you shouldn’t?  How do you handle that?  At what point does it become a problem?  How hard is it to stop once you’ve begun a process in the wrong direction? 
      
  3. Do you like the feeling of getting special treatment?  Have you ever been singled out in a good way and not know why?  How much concern do you have for your brothers and sisters who live with less comfort than you do?
      
  4. Have you ever delivered a message and not know what was in it?  What does it take to do such a thing?  Have you ever followed instructions only to have something turn out poorly?  How did you feel? 
      
  5. How do you feel when a bad plan of yours succeeds?  How do you feel when it appears your sin may be noticed by others?  How does God feel?

Next Week: You’re The Man
2 Samuel 12

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Giving THANKS — Give ACTS

This is part three of  the “Giving THANKS” sermon series that I am preaching on Sunday evenings at the Deer Run Church of Christ. So far we have looked at messages of “Give TIME” and “Give HONOR”.  The third message was, “Give ACTS”.

God gave me the framework for this sermon series on the drive to work a few weeks ago and now He is giving me the opportunity to preach it!  Paul writes in second Thessalonians 4:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  We are never told to be thankful for all circumstances, but we are told to be thankful in all circumstances.  As we approach a season of Thanksgiving followed by the Christmas holiday, many people turn to thoughts of thankfulness and giving.  This series will give you some great tips on being thankful and some great gift ideas as you give thanks not only to God, but also to the people in your life!

Jesus gave us what we often call the Golden Rule, “do unto others what you would have them do unto you”.  At the heart of this command is the little word “do”!  Good intentions are of little good when it comes to giving thanks — we show our thanks when we give of ourself in the acts we do.  When we consider how to give thanks, we can begin by looking at the acts we would like to receive from others.

We give thanks to God and to the people around us when we give acts of Acceptance!  Think about it . . . you want and long for people to accept you, right?  Do unto others . . . ?  But how do we do that when we don’t necessarily agree with the actions, attitudes, or opinions of others?  The basic question still applies, “Do I want accepted even when people don’t agree with me?”.  Paul explains the criteria for this, particularly for within the church body, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”  So,  how has Christ accepted me . . . and you?  He knows how to accept us as valuable and desirable all while refusing to accept the sin in us as normal or acceptable.  Loving the sinner but not the sin can sound like a trite statement, but it is exactly the manner in which Christ accepts us!

We also give thanks when we give acts of Comfort.  We all face times of hurt, tragedy, and sadness and look for something or someone to comfort us.  Do unto others . . . ?  Have you ever received comfort?  Do you know someone going through something who needs to be comforted?  Paul tells us, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  Our comfort in time of need is not just for our benefit.  It is given so that we would know how to comfort others in their time of need.

As we grow in Christ, we continually learn how to live in relationship with God.  We can give thanks when we give acts of Teaching.  When our teaching is founded in the lessons we have learned from God through His Word and His Spirit, we have much to offer.  I think of the great gift that was given by Priscilla and Aquila when they took Apollos aside and taught him the way of Christ more accurately.  Sometimes we think we have nothing to teach or no ability to teach and fail to give thanks in this way.  However Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom”.  While there are special giftings of the Spirit in the area of teaching, we all have the ability, and the obligation, to teach with our life in both words and actions.

Foundational to giving thanks is the giving of acts of Service!  When we place ourself in the position of serving others, we are able to give thanks through our actions to them.  The hard part is that we are so enamored with our rights and freedoms that we begin to think everything is all about me and what I want.  Yes, Christ has set me free but what has He set me free for?  Paul says, “do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”  My thankfulness to God, and to others, shows when I set aside my wants, desires, and freedom to serve someone else.  John tells us that Jesus knew where he had come from and knew where he was going yet he took off his outer garment and took up the basin and towel and washed the feet of his disciples.  His reason?  To set for us an example that we too ought to serve one another.

So, what ACTS are God calling you to do in giving thanks to Him and to the people in your life?  Are there people in your life that he is calling you to accept just as he has accepted you?  Has he put people in your life that need the comfort that he has comforted you with?  Have you learned lessons at the feet of Jesus that he is calling you to teach to others?  Who specifically is he calling you to serve?

I pray that you and I are living lives that give of our actions to God and to others!  I pray that our thanks is expressed as we give acts through our giving  of Acceptance, Comfort, Teaching, and Service!

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2 Samuel: Lesson 10 — Extending Kindness

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 2 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

A Man After God’s Own Heart:
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A Study of the Book of 2 Samuel

Lesson 10 (Extending Kindness)
2 Samuel 9 & 10
November 7, 2012

The Text:

  1. Who does David look for?  What is his purpose?  Who was Ziba?  What information does he share with David?  What does David to with this information?  
     
  2. What does Mephibosheth do when he meets David?  How does David respond?  Why would David respond in such a way?  How does Mephibosheth view himself?
     
  3. What instruction does David give Ziba?  What was the purpose?  How does Ziba respond to David?  What honor is given to Mephibosheth?
     
  4. What does David intend to do when he hears of the death of the king of the Ammonites?  What do the Ammonite nobles convince the new king of about David’s intent?  What does Hanun do with David’s delegation?  How does David respond?
     
  5. What did the Ammonites do when they realized how offensive they had become to Israel?  What was Joab’s strategy?  What did he plan to do?  What did he expect God to do?  What happened in the battle? 

  

The Application:

  1. Is there anyone from your past that God would have you show kindness to?  What efforts could you, would you, take to find such a person?  Are there people you should extend kindness to for the sake of a friendship you had with someone else?
     
  2. How does it feel to be called in to see someone and not know why?  Are there people who would feel threatened in your presence?  How can you reassure someone that you are not a threat to them?  How hard is it to have a proper view of yourself? 
     
  3. What role do you have in caring for people?  How does that compare to what you believe God might want it to be?  What things make serving others difficult?
     
  4. How often do you show kindness, or extend sympathy, to someone because you believe it is the right thing to do — not necessarily because you want to?  Are your expressions of kindness ever misunderstood?  What role do others have in that misunderstanding? 
     
  5. When you’ve done something to offend someone, how do you typically respond when you realize it?  What are the disadvantages to defending your actions when your actions weren’t honorable to begin with?  What should be done instead?

  

Next Week: Out Of Order
2 Samuel 11

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Giving THANKS — Give HONOR

This is part two of  the “Giving THANKS” sermon series that I am preaching on Sunday evenings at the Deer Run Church of Christ.  I began the series last week with “Give TIME” and this week we focused on a message entitled, “Give HONOR”.

God gave me the framework for this sermon series on the drive to work a few weeks ago and now He is giving me the opportunity to preach it!  Paul writes in second Thessalonians 4:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  We are never told to be thankful for all circumstances, but we are told to be thankful in all circumstances.  As we approach a season of Thanksgiving followed by the Christmas holiday, many people turn to thoughts of thankfulness and giving.  This series will give you some great tips on being thankful and some great gift ideas as you give thanks not only to God, but also to the people in your life!

Giving honor can be a very confusing and complicated topic among Christians.  On one hand, most would readily acknowledge a need to give God honor yet may struggle to know what that really looks like.  On the other hand, we struggle with the idea of giving honor to a person because there is often something that just doesn’t sound right about doing that.  Much of that tension comes because we are more likely to want honor given to us than to give it to others.  When we do give honor, it is difficult to do so impartially and without expecting to somehow benefit from doing so.  The Bible tells us to “honor one another above yourselves” and to “give everyone what you owe him . . . if honor, then honor”.  (Romans 12:10 & 13:7)  So, how do we give this kind of honor to the people in or life and that we cross paths with?

When we give this type of honor to people, with no strings attached, we give Hope!  Many people live, work, and serve under the radar — unsure if their efforts make a difference to anyone.  When we give them honor, we instill within them a confident hope that they matter and their life has a purpose.  The greatest honor we can give a person is to share with them “the reason for the hope that you have”.  We give honor to God when we live out loud the hope that we have in Jesus!  Hope is central in the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it ought to be central in the story of our life as we give thanks and give honor to the “others” around us.

We also give honor to people when we give them opportunity.  Just prior to Paul writing to the Romans to honor one another above themselves, he addresses a variety of gifts God has given individuals in His church.  “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”  (Romans 12:6-8)  The key to this passage, other than the obvious that these gifts are given by the grace or God, is the little phrase, “let him”.  We give honor to a person, and to God, when we give that person the opportunity to use the gifts God has put in their life.

One of the more common ways of giving honor is to give notice to a person’s use of the gifts that they have.  When we notice a person living, serving, and giving with no regard for themselves and seeking the best for the other person, that is a person that deserves honor for their faithfulness.  Before we begin to question if that is even appropriate, it is probably good to point out that Paul would often name names in the public letters he would write to the churches.  He had no problem pointing out the sacrificial service of people and ask that they, and people like them, be honored.  It should not be a problem to be noticed for doing good and having that recognized either publicly or privately.  The problem comes when being noticed becomes our sole or primary reason for serving others with the gifts God has given us.  We ought to be careful, but we must not let the potential of wrong motives keep us from honoring people by noticing their use of the gifting of God in their life.

When it comes to giving honor, one of the more difficult means for many is through giving obedience.  The Bible makes it clear that we honor God through our acts of obedience to his Word and his will.  Isaiah spoke about the nation of Israel in his time, and Jesus quoted it to describe the “religious” people of his day, that “they honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from him.”  The context of both Isaiah and the words of Jesus is that this is not real honor at all — real honor requires obedience.  When we consider honoring people with our obedience, it brings up the often scary topic of submitting to one another.  When we honor others above ourselves, we become obedient to their preferences and desires over our own.  Obviously, our true allegiance and obedience is to God and the truth of His word but when it comes to matters of opinion, we give honor to a person when we yield our opinion in obedience to theirs.

Probably the most common element of honor is respect.  This really ties together the other components I’ve written about.  While we often demand that respect is earned before it is given, giving honor says we give respect because of who the person is in Christ rather than because of what they can do, or have done, for me.  Our respect for a person gives hope.  True respect allows a person to use their gifts, giving them ample opportunity to shine for Jesus.  Respect notices the achievement, effort, and person in front of us and gives them honor for who they are.  It is respect that places my opinions and desires beneath theirs and lives in obedience to the command to submit to one another.  When we respect a person for who they are in God’s view, we give them honor.

I pray that you and I are living lives that give honor to God and to others!  I pray that our thanks is expressed as we give honor through our giving  of Hope, Opportunity, Notice, Obedience, and Respect!

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2 Samuel: Lesson 9 — Victory and Honor

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 2 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

A Man After God’s Own Heart:
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A Study of the Book of 2 Samuel

Lesson 9 (Victory and Honor)
2 Samuel 8
October 31, 2012

The Text:

  1. What takes place over the course of time regarding David and the Philistines?  What does David do when he defeats the Moabites?  What do the Moabites who are allowed to live do?
    –
  2. What takes place over control of the area along the Euphrates River?  What does David gain?  Who comes to the aid of Hadadezer?  Does it help?
    –
  3. What happens in Damascus?  What becomes of the Arameans?  What do they do?  Where did David’s success come from?
    –
  4. What did David gain from Hadadezer?  What did the king of Hamath do when he heard of David’s victories?  What did David do with the tribute and plunder he was gaining from his battle victories?  Why would/did he do this?
    –
  5. What was at the heart of David’s reign over Israel?  How much of the nation did he try to please?  Who got special treatment?  Did he do it alone?

–

The Application:

  1. How does the phrase, “in the course of time”, make you feel?  How do you manage with things that take time?  How hard is it to remember God is in something when it takes longer than you think it should?  What is your response to God’s mercy in your life?
    –
  2. How important is control to you?  How often are you involved in battles over areas that the enemy wants to regain control of?  Are you ever surprised at who the enemy uses to join him in the battle for control of your thoughts and actions?
    –
  3. How do you respond to the surprise attacks that come against you?  How can you maintain victory?
    –
  4. How do you benefit from gaining victory in the battles you face?  What do you do with the benefits you receive?
    –
  5. How important is it to you to do what is just and right?  Are there certain people or groups that you’re more concerned about that with?  How much do you involve others in what God is doing through you life?

–

Next Week: Extending Kindness
2 Samuel 9

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Giving THANKS — Give TIME

This could get interesting — I’m working on two different writing series as well as blogging my Wednesday night lesson questions here on Tom’s Treasure. 🙂  This “Giving THANKS” series will follow a sermon series that I am preaching on Sunday evenings at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

God gave me the framework for this sermon series on the drive to work a couple of weeks ago and now He is giving me the opportunity to preach it!  Paul writes in second Thessalonians 4:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  We are never told to be thankful for all circumstances, but we are told to be thankful in all circumstances.  As we approach a season of Thanksgiving followed by the Christmas holiday, many people turn to thoughts of thankfulness and giving.  This series will give you some great tips on being thankful and some great gift ideas as you give thanks not only to God, but also to the people in your life!

We begin the series by looking at giving thanks by giving time.  We can give thanks to God, and to people, by giving of our time.  I know, there are some readers that may believe that is not possible — they don’t have any time to give.  Unfortunately, that’s not true — we all have the same amount of time each day.  How we fill it and how much we make available for God and the people around us may be variable and we may not feel we have as much control over it as we like, but the time we start with is the same.  So, how do we give time?

We start by giving the time of today!  The writer of Hebrews tell us to “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”  The longer we put off giving thanks and doing the things God has called us to do, the more likely we won’t ever do them.  Procrastination leads to a hardness of heart and convinces us that there is always tomorrow.  The best way, and only sure way, of giving time to God or anyone is to give them time today.

Secondly, we need to give time intentionally.  James says that “anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”  That statement should be an incredible incentive to be intentional about giving of our time to God and to the people He calls us to share with.  One of the main reasons that we don’t give the time of today is that we don’t make plans to do so.  I believe that James would say that “good intentions” are grossly misnamed because there is nothing good about unkept intentions.  If we’re going to give thanks by giving time, we must be intentional about doing so or it will likely never get done.

We also give time by giving moments.  Paul instructs us to “be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”  Often in our giving to God, and to people, we become convinced that they measure value by size or quantity rather than by the heart.  We pass up opportunities to give moments because we don’t put enough value on them and consider them unimportant.  While today is all we live in, it can also be narrowed down to all we really live in is the moment.  I’m not saying there is no place for planning, but don’t get so focused on a time yet to come that you miss the opportunity of the moment.  When we give thanks by giving time, we must give value to the moment.

The ultimate giving of time is the giving of eternity!  Not that eternity is ours to give — particularly to God, but we can share with people the way of eternal life through Jesus Christ and we can commit to maintaining our journey with Jesus as we live eternally with, and for, Him.  There is no better way to spend our time, and give our time, than to share with someone how Jesus has changed our life and given us the assured hope of eternity with Him.  We give thanks when we give our time sharing with someone the opportunity they have to experience eternal life through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I pray that you and I are living lives that give thanks!  I pray that our thanks is expressed as we give time through our giving Today, Intentionally, Moments, and Eternity!

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2 Samuel: Lesson 8 — A Godly Conversation

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 2 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

A Man After God’s Own Heart:
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A Study of the Book of 2 Samuel

Lesson 8 (A Godly Conversation)
2 Samuel 7
October 24, 2012

 

The Text:

  1. How is David’s life described as chapter 7 opens?  What concern does he have that he expresses to Nathan?  Who is Nathan?  What response does Nathan give to David?
    –
  2. What happens that night following Nathan’s and David’s conversation?  What question does God have?  How does God describe the dwelling arrangements He has had to this point?  Had He ever requested anything different?
    –
  3. What does God remind David of?  What does God promise to do?  What does God tell David about the future?  What are His promises and warnings?
    –
  4. What does David do after Nathan reports to him all the words of God?  How does he respond about himself?  How does he respond about God?
    –
  5. What request does David have concerning the promise God has made?  What does David see as the outcome of God’s promise?  What does David realize about his own house?
    –

The Application:

  1. If you have had times in life of peace and contentment, how does it make you feel?  Is your mind drawn to God, and your treatment of Him, when you recognize your blessings?  What do you do with concerns you may have regarding your relationship with God?
    –
  2. Have you ever said or done something you thought was right only to find out God wasn’t in favor of it?  How can you reduce the chances of that?  Do you ever want more for God than what He’s even wanted Himself?  How often do we think God is like us?
    –
  3. How have you received any good that you have?  How does God lift you, your name, before others?  What things keep that from happening?  When things seem to be against you, how often do you consider the possibility of God’s discipline?
    –
  4. How do you respond to God speaking to you through His word and spirit?  When focused on the presence of God, how do you feel about what He’s done for you?  How would you describe God and His presence and actions in your life?
    –
  5. How do you respond to God’s promise of blessing?  What is your motivation for wanting God to keep His promises?  Who has established your household and every good thing that you have?  How often do you remember, and talk about, that?
    –

Next Week: Victory and Honor
2 Samuel 8

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Pure In Eyes

This is part of a series of writings I am working on to expand the post I published last week, Pure In HEART.  This series will be taking a more detailed look at each point of that post.  Today I look at part two, Pure in Eyes.

Again, the seeds for this series came from God through a song that took up residence in my mind for the better part of a week.  🙂   I think the song may be titled, “Highway To Heaven”, but the line that stuck with me is, “it’s a highway to heaven . . . none can go up there . . . but the pure in heart . . . well, it’s a highway to heaven . . . walking on the King’s highway!”

The phrase that continually jumped out at me was the idea of “pure in heart“.  I believe God has given me another acrostic to provide the framework for a sermon He has been giving me — and thus a series of writings.  What does it mean to be pure in heart?  I want to look at five areas that should help lead us toward being pure in heart and I begin with this post focused on what we take in through our eyes.

Remember the old church preschool song?  “Oh, be careful little eyes what you see . . .”.   The Bible has much to say about the seriousness of what we take in through our eyes.  The Psalmist writes, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.  Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”  (Psalm 119:36-37)  Jesus tells us, “And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”  (Matthew 18:9)  The Psalmist also tells us to “set no worthless thing before my eyes” and indicates that some have fallen away because of the things they have allowed their eyes to dwell on.

We live in a visually bombarded society with images constantly coming at us varying from that of great wholesome beauty to that of intense evil.  Could you imagine if there were a filter for our eyes that would automatically block out any unwholesome view?  How much of your favorite TV show would you end up actually seeing?  How much of your on-line computer time would be dark because the visual is blocked?  I hope it is obvious that if we are intentionally filling our eyes with worthless things then we have a serious problem.

For most of us though, the purity of our eyes is more often contaminated by what we unintentionally observe than by what we seek out.  In some ways this is even more dangerous to us because it ends up filling our eyes, and our mind, in a way that we hardly recognize the influence it has over us.  What we see over and over, whether intentionally or not, influences what we believe is normal and right.  This visual influence will attack your area of greatest weakness and you won’t even realize why you’re unhappy with your looks, your body size and image, your car, your home, your relationships, or whatever it is that you’ve continually seen that looks better to you.

So how do we maintain a life that is pure in eyes?  Sometimes we have to go to the extreme of cutting out, or blocking, images that are constant stumbling blocks to us.  This “gouging out of our eyes” to images that we cannot gain mastery over is preferrable to allowing what we see to draw us away from our relationship with Christ.  Sometimes we just need a reminder, some accountability, to not let our eyes dwell on that which is impure.  It is bad enough to see certain things but to have our eyes return to them a second, third, fourth, . . . time probably means we are not all that serious about being pure in eyes.

If the eyes are indeed the windows to the soul, what amount of light are you allowing into yours?  Are you maintaining a pure heart through a deliberate approach to maintaining purity in what you allow before your eyes?

I pray that you and I would pursue God faithfully and be found “pure in HEART” because we have paid attention to purity in our Humor, Eyes, Attitude, Relationships, and Teaching!