We are asking the question, what does the blood of Jesus have to do with my life?  This week we are considering questions about anger and rage.

Thus far we have seen that that anger is the weak person’s imitation of strength; and, that anger separates us from God.

Today we will consider a third truth:  the end of anger is this - the price of sin has already been paid.  In weakness David has chosen to appear strong before his men by responding in anger to the wrong Nabal has done.  David’s anger has brought him to the brink of doing a great wrong.  That wrong, seeking vengeance by the shedding of much innocent blood, would take David far away from the destiny of greatness that God had called him to.  At the last moment, however, Nabal’s wife, a wise and courageous woman named Abigail, meets David and his men on the road.  She speaks truth to David and she brings to him a gift - the food that Nabal had wrongly withheld from David’s men.  A price is paid for Nabal’s sin, and David at last wisely turns away from his anger.

The price for all sin has been paid.  The precious blood of Christ has been shed for the sin of all the world.  In anger, in rage, in resentments, in unforgiveness, etc., we seek to exact from persons the price of wrongs done to us.  That is not our job, it is God’s; AND, the price of all wrongs, all sins, has already been paid.  There are consequences persons must face for doing wrong; and none of what I say here means that we are to shield persons from facing consequences or that we are not to enforce consequences when that is our responsibility.  None of that, however, is rightly done in anger.  So, if by my angry words, or by my stony, silent resentments, I seek to make someone pay for what they’ve done to me; I am in reality saying that I don’t believe that Christ has already paid for that person’s sin.  In addition, if, in anger, I seek to make someone else pay for their sins, when Christ has shed His blood for my sins, I am exceedingly self-centered and ungrateful. 

In the end, the cure for our weak and foolish anger is the cross of Christ.  Fix your heart and your mind on what He did for you, and for all the world, on that cross.

Questions:  1.)  In what ways have you tried to make people pay for their sins through your anger?  2.)   What is the difference between making people pay for their sins in anger, and the the enforcement of consequences?  3.)  Has your faith in what Christ paid on the cross helped you to let go of anger?  Why, or why not?

We are asking the question, what does the blood of Jesus have to do with my life?  This week we are considering questions about anger and rage.

Yesterday we saw that anger is the weak person’s imitation of strength.  Today we will consider a second truth: anger separates you from God.

As David and his men approached Nabal’s home, David’s anger intensified to the point that he had made up his mind that they would slaughter all the males of Nabal’s household.  He was about to take a huge step away from the destiny of greatness that God had set before him.  David didn’t think he was strong enough to do the right thing, he settled for the weak imitation of strength - anger, and that anger was about to lead him to a very dark place far from the God who was calling him to greatness. 

Though God has a righteous anger, human beings do not.  James makes it very clear, “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  This is why the Apostle Paul writes, “do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”  Do not act or speak out of anger.  Get rid of anger quickly.  Deal with the root causes of anger in your life (fear, self-loathing, lack of faith).  It’s not really an option if you want to be connected to the God who will give you the strength, wisdom, courage, etc., to grab hold of the destiny of greatness He’s set before you.  Anger builds such a huge wall between us and God. 

Are these things possible?  Can I really avoid acting or speaking out of anger?  Can I really learn how to get rid of anger quickly?  Can I really deal with the root causes of anger in my life?  The Scripture tells us that all things are possible to those who believe.  Tomorrow we will look at what that belief is all about.

Questions:  1.)  In what ways has anger separated you from God?  2.)  Why does it so often seem as if our anger is righteous?  3.)  What is it about our  human anger that, ”does not produce the righteousness of God”?

We are asking the question, what does the blood of Jesus have to do with my life?  This week we are considering questions about anger and rage.

Like each and every one of us, David had a destiny of greatness ahead of him.  God had established His plans for David, and was very ready to give David the wisdom, the strength, the courage, etc., necessary to live out that destiny.  The question was, would David grab hold of his destiny or let it slip through his fingers?  Would he travel the road of greatness or take a different path?  The chief obstacle between David and his destiny was anger.  If David were to fail to get control of his anger he would most certainly miss the greatness God was calling him to.

The first truth about anger to consider is this, anger is the weak person’s imitation of strength.   When Nabal did David and his men wrong, David did not have the strength to stand up and do the right thing.  Instead, he responded in anger - a weak imitation of strength.  The right thing to do would have been to trust God to make the situation right, but David was intimidated by the expectations of his men; and thus he responded in anger so as to appear strong to his men.

Anger is always an indication of weakness, fear, inadequacy, etc.  The thing is, God had given David, just as He gives each one of us, a destiny of greatness.  The problem was David didn’t believe it.  He didn’t believe God had given him strength, courage, wisdom, etc., and so he chose anger; heading down a road that could take him very far away from his destiny.

Questions:  1.)  In what ways can you see anger in your life as a weak imitation of strength?  2.)  What fears, weaknesses, inadequacies, have caused you to respond to situations in anger rather than to respond by doing the right thing?  3.)  Do you believe God has given you a destiny of greatness? Why, or  why not?  4.)  Do you believe God has equipped you with the courage, wisdom, strength, etc., to live out your destiny?  Why, or why not?

We are asking the question, what does Jesus’ blood have to do with my life?  This week we are considering questions concerning sex.

Thus far:  1.)  we have looked at the warnings Scripture gives concerning those who falsely use the name of Jesus for the purpose of taking sexual advantage of others;  2.)  we have looked at the truth that God has made sexual intimacy to be so powerful that it make two persons to become more than partners, more than significant others, more than friends with benefits; it makes two persons to become one; and, 3.) we have seen that sex is too powerful for any relationship other than the marriage of one man and one woman.

Today we will consider this truth - though sex is powerful, the blood of Jesus is more powerful.  Anything powerful can result in great good or great harm; and so it is with sex.  Sexual intimacy outside the marriage of one man and one woman causes a deep tearing of the soul.  The pain caused by adultery, promiscuity, sexual abuse, pornography, etc., sometimes comes quickly, and sometimes comes much later; but it always comes.  Any pastor, therapist, or counselor knows the deep pain and suffering so many persons experience because of sexual sin. 

There is, however, good news in all of this.  The Apostle Paul writes, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  Whatever pain, guilt, shame, remorse, trauma, etc., clings to our souls as a result of sexual sin, the blood of Jesus is more than able to cleanse, heal, and remove.  As we put our faith in what Christ has done for us on the cross, we find this healing, cleansing power.  As Paul states, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.”  Indeed, a huge price has been paid for us.  A husband and wife I know discovered their young son had a rare cancer.  Naturally, they did whatever they needed to do, and spent whatever they needed to spend; going to every doctor’s appointment, every hospital treatment, etc., so that their son would be well.  Our God does no less.  He spares no expense for our sakes.  Our souls can be well because our God has paid a huge price for our healing.  That huge price is the loving, sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus.  Remember you were bought with a price.  Believe it, and you will be well.

Questions:  1.)  Have you seen or experienced the power of Jesus’ blood to forgive, cleanse, and heal the damage done by sexual sin?  Describe how that happened.  2.)   Do you believe that Jesus is able to heal even the deepest hurts, guilt, etc.?  Why, or why not?  3.)  Why is it sometimes so hard to believe what Jeus’ has done for us?

We are asking the question, what does Jesus’ blood have to do with my life?  This week we are considering questions concerning sex.

Thus far we have looked at the warnings Scripture gives concerning those who falsely use the name of Jesus for the purpose of taking sexual advantage of others; and, we have looked at the truth that God has made sexual intimacy to be so powerful that it make two persons to become more than partners, more than significant others, more than friends with benefits; it makes two persons to become one.

Today we will consider this truth - sex is too powerful for any relationship other than the marriage of one man and one woman.  The power of sexual intimacy to make two persons to become one is a vey good thing in the marriage of a man and a woman who have the calling of God on them to live their life as husband and wife, staying together as one and showing the love of that “oneness” to their children and to all the world.  At the same time, that same power becomes very destructive outside of marriage.  Persons who should not have their souls being knit together, nevertheless do have their souls knit together when they are sexually intimate.  This is why, speaking of those who went to the prostitutes in the pagan Roman temples, the Apostle Paul said, “Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?” 

If two persons are sexually intimate and then the relationship is broken, two souls that had become one are now torn apart.  The pain of that tearing might come soon, or might come much, much later; but it will come.  This is why Paul says, “Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”  Even pornography brings a tearing of the soul.  With each click of the mouse, there is another tear, so that the soul experiences death by a thousand cuts.  The “oneness” that sexual intimacy produces also causes persons to think as one when they shouldn’t be thinking as one.  For example, persons will end up marrying when they shouldn’t have married, or continuing to date someone who they shouldn’t have continued to date, but their sexual intimacy had clouded clear thinking about their relationship.  For these reasons, and many others, Paul writes to the Corinthians that he will mourn over those who, “have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.”

Tomorrow we will look at the connection of Jesus’ death to all of this.

Questions:  1.)  In what ways have you seen or experienced the tearing of the soul that comes with sexual intimacy outside of marriage?  2.)  In what ways have you seen or experienced the wrong thinking that comes with sexual intimacy outside of marriage?

We are asking the question, what does Jesus’ blood have to do with my life?  This week we are considering questions concerning sex.

Yesterday we saw that Scripture warns us that there will always be persons who falsely use the name of Jesus to take sexual advantage of others; and therefore those who do truly love the Lord and desire to truly bring His goodness to this broken world must commit themselves all the more to being extremely diligent in obeying God in all things to do with sex.

Today we will consider this truth - God has made human sexual intimacy to be so powerful that it makes two persons to be more than partners, more than significant others, more than friends with benefits; it makes two persons to become one.  Sex is like putting a 747 engine in a Volkswagen body. Why so powerful?  The answer is right there in Genesis, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  A male tiger and a female tiger need only to reproduce and seek to ensure the baby tiger’s survival.   Human beings, however, have been created in the image of God; and thus a father and a mother not only have the responsibility to seek to ensure their child’s survival, but they also must seek to raise that child in the image of God.  That is, they must teach their child to love as God loves, to forgive as God forgives, to do good as God does good, etc.  This is an incredibly huge, virtually impossible task for us sinful human beings.  Thus, God has designed human sexual intimacy to be so powerful that it makes two persons to become one for the sake of staying together for this daunting task of raising children in God’s image; and, that in the parents’ “oneness” the children will see modeled for them the love, forgiveness, goodness, etc., that they are being called to themselves.

It is often said today that sex is no more significant than breathing, or eating, or any other function of our human bodies.  That simply is not so.  Sex is far more than a benefit for friends.  It is far more than just something that partners or significant others share.  The Apostle Paul reminds husbands to, “love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.”  The power of sexual intimacy has been designed by God to create this kind of “oneness” that can foster the kind of love Paul is speaking of.

Anything powerful can be used for great good or great harm.  Tomorrow we will look at the misuse of sex.

Questions:  1.)  Do you agree or disagree that sexual intimacy makes two persons to become one?  Why? 2.)  Do you agree that sexual intimacy is as powerful as this study indicates?  Why, or why not?  3.)  What emotional response do  you have to the study today?  Why?

We are asking the question, what does Jesus’ blood have to do with my life?  This week we are considering questions concerning sex.

If we were to do random polling, asking the question - what does Jesus have to do with sex? - we would find that many pesons would very quickly answer, “That’s easy; adulterous preachers, pedophile priests, lecherous deacons, etc.”  Surprisingly, although actually it’s not a surprise at all, the Bible speaks of this exact reality.  Again and again the Scripture warns us that there will always be, until the Day of Judgment, those who will falsely use the name of the Lord to take sexual advantage of others.  Peter warns of false teachers, false preachers, etc., who, “have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin…they entice by sensual pleasures of the flesh.”  Jude warns of false teachers, false preachers, etc., who, “pervert the grace of our God into sensuality.”

How are we to respond to this sad reality?  Jude encourages us to, “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”  In other words, in as much as there are those who bring such disrepute to the name of Jesus by their sexually immoral behavior; those who do love Jesus and want with everything in them to represent Jesus well to this world must “contend for the faith” by diligently obeying God in all things concerning sex.  Impressionable children, broken sisters and brothers, a watching world all around us, need to see in us pure speech, pure conduct, pure touch.  If we are lustful, if we are lecherous, if we are hypocritical; we heap more shame, more ridicule, more disrepute on the Name of the One whose precious blood was shed for us and for all this broken world.  Jesus gave a very dire warning to, “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin.”  Heed that warning.  Live a transparently pure life, so that a world that is increasingly devestated by sexual sin can find the loving, healing power of Jesus.

Questions:  1.)  In what ways have you seen the sexual hypocrisy of false preachers,  false teachers, etc. do damage, even grave damage, to those Christ is seeking to reach?  2.)  Does the sexually immoral behavior of persons who falsely claim to represent Christ discourage you, or does it encourage you to be all the more diligent in living a morally pure life?  Why?  3.)  Does the way you live your life with regard to sex bring persons closer to the true loving, healing power of Jesus; or does it add one more brick to the wall that keeps people away from that love?  Why?

Read: 1 Peter 1:18-19

We are asking the question, what does the blood of Jesus have to do with my life?   This week we are considering questions about money.

Thus far we have seen: 1.)  Jesus warned us that there will always be those who falsely use His name as a means of making lots of money; 2.)  We are to work hard at obeying God and trust that He will provide for us; 3.)  We are to work hard at being generous and trust that God will provide for us.

Today we will consider this - we are to work hard at believing in what Jesus has done for us on the cross, and trust that God will provide the strength we need to obey Him in every way.  In knowing the depth of God’s incredible love for us that we see in Jesus’ love-filled, sacrificial death on the cross; we find the strength, courage, motivation, confidence, etc., to obey our God.  Obedience doesn’t come naturally to us.  Peter wrote, “you were ransomed from the futile ways of your forefathers.”  The things that come naturally to us are those futile ways Peter speaks of.  Laziness comes naturally to us.  Greed comes naturally to us.  Dishonesty comes naturally to us.  To obey God, then, requires change - deep change.  That deep change can happen if we know that God’s got our back.  That is, if we know that God will never fail us then we can find the confidence to obey Him  when He says be generous to the needy.  If we know that God will never fail us then we can find the motivation to obey God and push past laziness.  If we know that God will never fail us then we can find the courage to obey Him when He says to be completely honest in all things.

That kind of faith does not come easy.  It takes hard work to truly believe.  Peter indicates we can do what’s necessary to truly believe if we remember we are ransomed, “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.”  In other words if Jesus has made such an incredibly costly sacrifice for us, then we will do whatever it takes to believe in that love; and in believing we will be able to obey.

Questions:  1.)  Is it hard or easy for you to believe in the depth of God’s love for you?  Why is that so?  2.)  What about your life, and particularly concerning the things of money, shows whether it’s hard or easy for you to believe?  3.)  Does believing in Jesus’ death on the cross give you the strength, courage, etc. to obey God in things concerning money?  Why, or why not?  4.)  Do you have an abiding awareness within you of how precious Jesus’ blood truly is?  Why, or why not?  And, if you have that awareness does it motivate you to work hard at believing?

We are asking the question, what does the blood of Jesus have to do with my life?   This week we are considering questions about money.

Thus far this week we have seen how Jesus warned us that there would be many false prophets, false preachers, false teachers, etc., who would misuse His name for their own purposes; that is, to make a lot of money; and therefore it is all the more important for those who truly know Jesus and love Him to be very diligent in the things regarding money to show the world true integrity, honesty, and goodness.  We have also seen this week that Jesus tells us to work hard at obeying God, and to trust that God will provide.

Today we are considering this truth - we are to work hard at being generous, and to trust that God will provide.  Money, and the security that it seems to bring to our lives, feels so much like God that we soon come to treat money as our god, often without realizing it.  The rich fool in Jesus’ parable says to himself, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”  He feels no need to work hard at obeying God.  He seems to have a “god” that will provide him security.  He could have obeyed God’s command in Deuteronomy 15:11, “For there will never cease to be poor in your land.  Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’”  Instead, the rich fool decides to tear down his barns and build larger ones, hoarding all his wealth for himself. 

It’s not easy, of course, to be generous when it feels like you are giving away your security.  Yet Jesus commands it, and with good reason.  “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.  Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.”  Money will do us no good the minute we die; but if we work hard now at being generous, God will provide us with a treasure that will do us great good beyond this life.  If you give generously now so that orphans, widows, the homeless, and the hungry are cared for; those persons will be your treasure, standing beside you on the Day of Judgment.  If you give generously now so that lost persons can come to know Jesus; those persons will be your treasure, standing beside you on the Day of Judgment. (See Luke 16:9)

Questions:  1.)  Does money feel like a god to you?  Why, or why not?   2.)  What kind of decisions about money do you make that shows that money is or is not your god?  3.)  Is it easy or difficult for you to be generous?  Why is that so?  4.)  What treasure will you have on the Day of Judgment?

Throughout this series of teachings we are asking the question, What does the blood of Jesus have to do with my life? This week we are focusing on questions surrounding money.

We saw yesterday that God commands us to work hard at obeying Him, and to trust that He will provide for us.  In the Scripture passage we are studying today Jesus tells us clearly to not have the acquisition of money, or the things money buys, as the goal of our working.  “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.”  Our goal in working hard is to obey God, who commands us to work hard.  This understanding of work lifts us above the daily grind of the rat race.  I’m not working just to get a paycheck, or just to get straight A’s at school, or just to impress people with who I am and what I can do.  I am working hard to obey God, and thus to bring glory to Him in all that I do.  Thats a work ethic that will inspire you to do your best on a job, in school, in your family, in your relationship with God etc. 

Here’s how Jesus said it, “seek first His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”  My goal is to work hard at obeying my King, the Lord, and then to trust that He will provide for all my needs.  When I believe that I have to provide for myself, and therefore that the goal of my life must be the acquisition of money, then life in this uncertain world will inevitably be filled with anxiety.  How much better to know that God is my provider.  All He asks me to do is to work hard. 

Questions:  1.)  To what degree are you able to trust that God, and not you yourself, is your provider?  Why?  2.)  In what areas of your life are you working hard to obey God?  In what areas of your life are you not working hard to obey God?  Why is that so?  3.)  How would you describe the work ethic you were taught growing up?  How does that work ethic line up with the work ethic taught in the words of Jesus we have been studying?  4.)  Are you able to apply this passage to your life?  Why, or why not?