Life can be so good at times, but it can also be hard, cruel, and unfair. This year you may have struggled with unemployment, financial pressure, chronic back pain, your marriage may be struggling, you may be hurting from a recent divorce, or maybe you have gone through heartache with your children. Life can be tough! In Psalm 13, God speaks powerfully about suffering, pain, and heartache.
Psalms are songs that were meant to be sung. This one in particular was written by David when he was hurting. It does not tell us the exact circumstances David was in; whether he was being chased by Saul, Absalom, or a foreign army. All we do know is that at one point he fled to En Gedi, and he hid in the caves in the Judean Desert, which was a bleak and barren land.
Read Psalm 13. David goes from the depths to the heights in six short verses. In the first part David questions God and complains to him. He feels abandoned and forgotten by God. The sense of closeness that David had to the Lord was gone, he feels God has gone silent. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions. You may not get answers but you will meet him in the questions.
Sometimes we feel that our suffering is due to our sin, but that is an unbiblical point of view. We don't and will never understand all that God does. A.W. Tozer once said "It is doubtful that God can ever use any man greatly until he has hurt him deeply." In verse 2, David is restless and weary. He admits that he is helpless and needs God's intervention. He is surrendered to God and not striving. Read Psalm 55:22. David is honest and tells God how he feels abandoned. He brings to God what he actually feels, not what he ought to feel. So often we can be less than honest with God, but its a mistake. God wants us to be real, honest, and authentic with him. He is big enough to handle our honesty. Be honest with God.
Read vs. 3-4, now David transitions from hurting to hopeful. When we are suffering there is simply no substitute for prayer, call out to God. At times, we pray but get no answer. At least not the answer we want, and God seems hidden from us or we feel abandoned and it can be terrifying. David felt it. One of the greatest men of God in the Bible felt it. Maybe, if David felt it, it's not so bad if we feel it too. So, what do we do when we feel like God is not answering or we feel abandoned by him? For one, we need to keep talking to him. Pour your heart out to God, don't withdraw and turn your back on him. Keep talking. Praying scripture is vital, it is life-giving and refocusing our mind.
Read vs. 5-6, David has gone from hurting to hopeful and now to a healthy trust in the Lord. Trusting in God's steadfast love, unfailing love, loyal love, a love that never forgets us or abandons us. The point is not our trust by the God we are trusting in. It is not our faith, but the object of our faith. Practical things to bolster faith. First, we must choose joy we must choose to rejoice in all circumstances. One way of doing that is by giving thanks, another way is to sing to the Lord or praise his name. When we do that, we take the focus off of ourselves and move it to God. But the foundation is to continually recall the goodness of God in your life. God has been good to us despite all our sufferings, he is a gracious God. Rejoice. Give thanks. Sing to him.
Discussion Questions
1. Describe a burden that you are currently wrestling with. To what extent do you feel like you have surrendered this burden to the Lord?
2. To what extent would you say you are honest with God in prayer? Why is it so important for us to be honest with God?
3. What are the indictations that you are trusting in the Lord?
4. List 10-15 ways that God has been good to you and share with the group.
2 Timothy
2 Timothy is the warmest most personal letter and it is the final letter from Paul as well. Just imagine the aging Apostle Paul in a dungeon in Rome, he knows the end is near, for 3 decades he has given his life for the gospel, God has used him greatly, there are churches all over the empire, he has suffered greatly, wrote much of the new testament and now it is time for his departure. He is expressing his heart to Timothy in this letter; he charges, reminds, and warns him. He is writing this letter to his 'son in the faith' and we can see Paul's clear father's heart in this letter. There are 5 marks of a father in 2 Timothy.
1. Freely express love for your kids. Paul freely expresses his love for Timothy. Read 2 Timothy 1:1-2. He calls Timothy "my beloved child", in the NIV it says "my dear son." Those are both terms of endearment and love. It expresses the way Paul saw Timothy in how he addressed him. In vs. 3-4, Paul freely expresses his love for his son in the faith. "Long to see you, that I may be filled with joy." In 2 Timothy 4:9-13; 21 he is telling Timothy to come and see him to come soon. As we read that passage you can almost hear Paul's voice to Timothy.
2. Prayer is a priceless gift you can give your kids. Read 2 Timothy 1:3. We can see Paul's heart as he basically says "Timonthy you are on my heart. I'm always praying for you. All the time." Can you imagine how encouraging that would be to Timothy? This is no more valuable a gift than the gift of intercession; to bring God's power, his love, his hand down. Paul modeled this out.
3. Live the life you want to see in your kids. The way Paul lived his life is the way he wanted to see Timothy live his. He modeled what it means to walk with God. Read 2 Timothy 1:13; 3:10, 14. There is something to be said about the power of modeling and how that example can impact a person. Abraham Lincoln once said "There is just one way to bring up a child in the way he should go, and this is to travel that way yourself."
4. Point your kids to Christ, not yourself. Throughout this letter we can see Paul pointing Timothy to Christ, not to himself. The hero is not Paul, it is Christ; all the focus was on Jesus. Read 2 Timonthy 1:1, 8; 2:1, 8. It was all about Jesus! There is no need to pretend we are perfect. Christ is the Savior, not us.
5. Every child needs to hear this message from their father. "I believe in you. I am confident in you. I am proud of you. By God's grace, you can do it." The whole premise of the letter was based on Paul's belief "Timothy, you're the pastor of the church in Ephesus. You're the leader. Lead on." Read 2 Timothy 4:1-5. Paul is telling his that he is the man and that God has equipped him for the task.
Discussion Questions
1. Think about this quote and discuss. "As a child I watched with fascination as my Dad prayed in church. His prayers were different from so many others. They were real. He seemed to believe he was really talking to someone. That made an enduring impression on me. I didn't want to settle for shallow pleasure when contact with God was possible. I could imagine reality because I tasted it in Dad's relationship with God." - Larry Crabb.
2. How often to you encourage or edify your children? Do they hear you say "I'm proud of you. I believe in you." Are there hurts in your own life from not hearing those words from your own father?
3. What kind of life do you want your kids to live as they grow older? Are you modeling that for them today?
1. Freely express love for your kids. Paul freely expresses his love for Timothy. Read 2 Timothy 1:1-2. He calls Timothy "my beloved child", in the NIV it says "my dear son." Those are both terms of endearment and love. It expresses the way Paul saw Timothy in how he addressed him. In vs. 3-4, Paul freely expresses his love for his son in the faith. "Long to see you, that I may be filled with joy." In 2 Timothy 4:9-13; 21 he is telling Timothy to come and see him to come soon. As we read that passage you can almost hear Paul's voice to Timothy.
2. Prayer is a priceless gift you can give your kids. Read 2 Timothy 1:3. We can see Paul's heart as he basically says "Timonthy you are on my heart. I'm always praying for you. All the time." Can you imagine how encouraging that would be to Timothy? This is no more valuable a gift than the gift of intercession; to bring God's power, his love, his hand down. Paul modeled this out.
3. Live the life you want to see in your kids. The way Paul lived his life is the way he wanted to see Timothy live his. He modeled what it means to walk with God. Read 2 Timothy 1:13; 3:10, 14. There is something to be said about the power of modeling and how that example can impact a person. Abraham Lincoln once said "There is just one way to bring up a child in the way he should go, and this is to travel that way yourself."
4. Point your kids to Christ, not yourself. Throughout this letter we can see Paul pointing Timothy to Christ, not to himself. The hero is not Paul, it is Christ; all the focus was on Jesus. Read 2 Timonthy 1:1, 8; 2:1, 8. It was all about Jesus! There is no need to pretend we are perfect. Christ is the Savior, not us.
5. Every child needs to hear this message from their father. "I believe in you. I am confident in you. I am proud of you. By God's grace, you can do it." The whole premise of the letter was based on Paul's belief "Timothy, you're the pastor of the church in Ephesus. You're the leader. Lead on." Read 2 Timothy 4:1-5. Paul is telling his that he is the man and that God has equipped him for the task.
Discussion Questions
1. Think about this quote and discuss. "As a child I watched with fascination as my Dad prayed in church. His prayers were different from so many others. They were real. He seemed to believe he was really talking to someone. That made an enduring impression on me. I didn't want to settle for shallow pleasure when contact with God was possible. I could imagine reality because I tasted it in Dad's relationship with God." - Larry Crabb.
2. How often to you encourage or edify your children? Do they hear you say "I'm proud of you. I believe in you." Are there hurts in your own life from not hearing those words from your own father?
3. What kind of life do you want your kids to live as they grow older? Are you modeling that for them today?
Romans 7:14-25
In Romans, we have learned who we are in Christ. We are joined to Christ. We died with Christ and are raised with him. We are new people, with new hearts. We are dead to sin, sin has no power over us we are alive in Christ. We are under grace, not law. We live by the power of the spirit, not the old written code. The end of Romans 7 talks about the battle or struggle with sin and the only way to win that battle.
Read Romans 7:14. Paul says "I am of the flesh...", the flesh he is talking about is the unredeemed sinful selfish tendency we have in us. All of us have it. It is not you but it is in you. Kind of like a sea creature that has a shell. The shell is not part of the creature, it can leave the shell and go to another, but it has the shell while it is alive.
Read Romans 7:15-17. We completely understand his struggle, make sure to note the distinction in vs. 17. It is not really me that sins, but the sin in me. We are responsible for the sin that we do but the distinction here matters, it is not really me who sins but the sin in me. Read Romans 7:18-20. Paul basically restates what he said in vs. 15-17. He then clarifies in vs. 18 that it is the unredeemed sinful tendency that is opposed to God, we have the desire to do what is good but the flesh does not. He carries it further and says that he does not have the power to carry out what his desires are. Paul admits that he is powerless to win the battle against sin, the only way he can win is with God. He is needs God's help to overcome. We can relate to this!
Paul makes the point twice in this passage that he struggles with sin, but the sin is not part of him, it is not what he desires, instead the sin is part of the flesh in him and he lacks the power to overcome. He needs God's strength to overcome the pull of sin/flesh. Read Romans 7:21-25. Isn't it true? Sin is not eradicated completely, instead it sits close at hand, waiting. In our inner beings we desire to please the Lord and delight in God's law. But there is and will always be a battle raging in our body and minds with the flesh and the spirit, sin and holiness. These two things drastically oppose one another and will constantly be at war within us. In desperation Paul exclaims in vs. 24 "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" He is desperate, he needs help, he cannot wage the battle on his own he needs God's help, he is at the end of his own strength. But this is a great place to be, even though it is hard. That is right where God wants us; desperate for him.
When you reach the end of yourself and cannot fix, solve, or handle the problem you need to depend on Christ. That is where your strength is, it is not from yourself, it is from God. The word is: Surrender. You need to completely surrender, be depend on Christ, and desperate for his guidance. "My power is made perfect in your weakness."
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you identify with Paul's struggle in Romans 7? Have you felt this way? When?
2. Would you be willing to talk about a specific sin that you are struggling with these days? Have you come to the place of surrender - you cannot take care of this problem, only Christ can?
3. Does it make any difference for you if you see the problem not as you, but as sin in you?
4. As we finish up Romans for this season what are some of the truths that you learned about your identity and God? What are some practical ways that you can "write these truths on your heart" so as not to forget?
Read Romans 7:14. Paul says "I am of the flesh...", the flesh he is talking about is the unredeemed sinful selfish tendency we have in us. All of us have it. It is not you but it is in you. Kind of like a sea creature that has a shell. The shell is not part of the creature, it can leave the shell and go to another, but it has the shell while it is alive.
Read Romans 7:15-17. We completely understand his struggle, make sure to note the distinction in vs. 17. It is not really me that sins, but the sin in me. We are responsible for the sin that we do but the distinction here matters, it is not really me who sins but the sin in me. Read Romans 7:18-20. Paul basically restates what he said in vs. 15-17. He then clarifies in vs. 18 that it is the unredeemed sinful tendency that is opposed to God, we have the desire to do what is good but the flesh does not. He carries it further and says that he does not have the power to carry out what his desires are. Paul admits that he is powerless to win the battle against sin, the only way he can win is with God. He is needs God's help to overcome. We can relate to this!
Paul makes the point twice in this passage that he struggles with sin, but the sin is not part of him, it is not what he desires, instead the sin is part of the flesh in him and he lacks the power to overcome. He needs God's strength to overcome the pull of sin/flesh. Read Romans 7:21-25. Isn't it true? Sin is not eradicated completely, instead it sits close at hand, waiting. In our inner beings we desire to please the Lord and delight in God's law. But there is and will always be a battle raging in our body and minds with the flesh and the spirit, sin and holiness. These two things drastically oppose one another and will constantly be at war within us. In desperation Paul exclaims in vs. 24 "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" He is desperate, he needs help, he cannot wage the battle on his own he needs God's help, he is at the end of his own strength. But this is a great place to be, even though it is hard. That is right where God wants us; desperate for him.
When you reach the end of yourself and cannot fix, solve, or handle the problem you need to depend on Christ. That is where your strength is, it is not from yourself, it is from God. The word is: Surrender. You need to completely surrender, be depend on Christ, and desperate for his guidance. "My power is made perfect in your weakness."
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you identify with Paul's struggle in Romans 7? Have you felt this way? When?
2. Would you be willing to talk about a specific sin that you are struggling with these days? Have you come to the place of surrender - you cannot take care of this problem, only Christ can?
3. Does it make any difference for you if you see the problem not as you, but as sin in you?
4. As we finish up Romans for this season what are some of the truths that you learned about your identity and God? What are some practical ways that you can "write these truths on your heart" so as not to forget?
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