LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Wednesday Night, December 6, 2006 “The Judge of All Things”
5 Minutes - Welcome / Prayer
5 Minutes - OPEN
Under normal circumstances, which one of the various ways listed below would you use to best characterize the way you view life:
( ) Optimistically;
( ) Pessimistically;
( ) Suspiciously;
( ) Fatalistically.
What would you identify as the weakness of each of these perspectives?
How does your view of life intersect with your understanding of the sovereignty of God?
15 Minutes - DIG
Do you believe this is our Father’s world? Do you believe that He is in charge?
It is so difficult for finite minds to grasp the greatness of God, especially His sovereignty. We tend to limit God’s knowledge and control because of our own limitations and therefore we forevermore struggle with having an objective point of view of things that happen around us.
Read Ecclesiastes 9:11-12.
Here is one of Job’s prayers to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).
Even though we don’t read about God’s sovereignty in the daily news, He is at work. In the final analysis His time and His plan wins out. Things don’t just happen (Psalm 135:6; 2 Kings 19:25; Numbers 23:19; Proverbs 21:1).
Especially consider these words: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should love. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring”(Acts 17:26-28).
Let’s address this matter of time. We move along on a time line that consists of the past, present, and future. However, God created time and He exists outside of time. Thus all the events on this earth, whether past, present, or future, are in the present with Him. In Moses prayer recorded in Psalm 90:4, he said, “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
The Bible reveals the fact that God is outside of time and space. The day of your birth and the day of your death and every moment in between are before God’s eyes this moment (see Isaiah 46:9-10).
How does this knowledge affect how you approach both life and death?
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).
Imagine coming to a point in your life when you must choose between three decisions. God knows before the choice is made what decision you will make. God also knows what the outcome of that decision will be as well as the outcome of the other two possible choices.
The amazing part of all this is God can take my decision and make that decision a part of His eternal plan for my life.
Describe in your own words how we maintain a proper balance with regard to God’s sovereignty and man’s free will?
How involved do you think God is in the affairs of your life this week?
15 Minutes - REFLECT
Getting the right perspective is important for fully appreciating the purpose of our existence and in turn for setting priorities. Changed lives are our greatest legacy!
How does this perspective of God’s sovereignty give you hope and provide the incentive for you to live a radically different kind of life?
If we don’t take God seriously, then there’s no need to take your marriage seriously . . . or the rearing of your children . . . or such character traits as submission, faithfulness, sexual purity, humility, repentance, and honesty.
Reflect on Paul’s words, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son . . .” (Rom 8:28-29).
We are God’s personal projects. He is committed to the task of working in us, developing us, rearranging, firming up, and deepening us so that the character traits of His Son begin to take shape.
What changes is He trying to bring about in your life?
Someone once said, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” That’s our quandary, isn’t it? Are we heaven-bound, or earth-bound?
5 Minutes - CLOSING PRAYER
What is the proper place of prayer as it relates to these matters?
The prayer time you enjoy as a LIFE Group each week is a powerful source of bonding your group together as you share your personal prayer request(s) and bow together in prayer to submit these matters to Jehovah God.
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