Promises of God Part 13
I Will Give You ALL Good Things
December 6-12, 2020
Texts: Isaiah 11:1-10 / Psalm 85 / James 1:2-18 / Matthew 7:7-11
- Read Isaiah 11:1-5. Who is this passage speaking of? What is unique about the person mentioned in this passage? What in this passage encourages and enlightens you?
- Read James: 1:2-15. What does it mean to have your faith tested? Is God testing you to judge you, or testing you so that you might know the depth of your faith? If you feel so led, tell your group about a time of testing you have gone through and what you learned about yourself and your relationship to God.
- What does James mean that “the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea…” Is he saying that we should never doubt? In Mark’s Gospel (chapter 9), a father asks Jesus to cast a demon out of his son and exclaims, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). What is the father actually saying to and asking of Jesus?
- What is honest as opposed to dishonest doubt? Where are you in your faith and along this spectrum of honest to dishonest doubt?
- When James claims that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” what is he truly saying? Does that mean that art, and theater, and music, and science, and sports, when they are at their best are gifts from God? How could you tell if something in this world was actually a “good” gift from God? (Reading Philippians 4:8-9 might help you to answer this question).
What is the greatest gift that God has given you? - Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 7:7-11) claims that God “your Father who is heaven” wants to give us good things…all we need do is ask! What “good things” is Matthew talking about? Financial independence? Prosperity? Long life? A pain-free existence? Then what “good things” is James speaking of? And how would we appropriate these good things?
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