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This week we follow on from a similar theme to last week.

1. God’s ways and thoughts

Read Isaiah 55:8-9. What does Isaiah say are the differences between God’s and man’s thoughts and ways? Discuss how extremely different Isaiah says they are!
What does Paul say regarding these and God’s reason in 1 Corinthians 1:25-29, 3:18-20?

2. God’s people choose between faith in God or ways of the Flesh

a. Read 1 Samuel 8:4-22.

  • What were the Israelite’s reasons for wanting a king?
  • What were God’s thoughts about this?

Read 1 Samuel 15:1-26. Discuss Saul’s disobedience to God’s command and his reason esp. v 24. How should have Saul responded and pleased the Lord?

Read 1 Samuel 17:1-51

  • Discuss the difference between Saul and David as to how each one responded to the threat of Goliath against God’s people especially David’s in 1 Samuel 17:45-47.
  • Discuss God’s choice of how he through David chose to destroy His enemy. How different was it to the way man in his flesh (eg: Saul) would handle it. Revisit 1 Corinthians 1:25-29.

Read 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 and discuss God’s plan for mankind and what is true wisdom and what is foolish? How does God require people to respond in order to be saved?

3. Application

Read and discuss the following by John W. Ritenbaugh and how you respond to things that happen in your life:

The fundamental difference between the person of faith and the unbeliever is revealed by the way they judge things. The unbeliever, of the world, judges things by worldly standards, by his senses, and by time. The person learning to think like God brings God into everything, viewing things from His perspective, by His values. He ascertains how the activity, event, or thing looks in terms of eternity. He seriously meditates on God’s sovereignty over all things. At times, doing this puts the screws to his trust because the Bible says that God’s judgments are “unsearchable . . . and his ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33). Faith holds a person steady.

Because we often do not think like Him, and because we do not have His perfect perspective, we often do not exactly know what God is doing. Only in hindsight do we understand what is occurring in our personal life, to the church, or in the world in the outworking of prophecy. So we must trust Him, and in the meantime weigh what is happening and its possible outcome.

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