Isaiah 26:3 | You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

• Think back over all you’ve learned this week. How does a person “keep their eyes on Jesus?”

• How does keeping your eyes on Jesus lead to your thoughts being “fixed” (glued, focused) on Jesus? 

• Why does a mind fixed on Jesus lead to peace? 

• Reflect on your thought life. Does it reflect being fixed on Jesus (peace and contentment)? 

• If not, what do your thoughts gravitate to (or what do you think about the most)? 

• Do your thoughts bring peace? If not, what do they bring instead? 

• How can you put “fixing your thoughts” on the Lord into practice today?

Read More

Proverbs 4:25-27 | Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

• Why does Proverbs 4 warn God’s followers to stay on the straight path without getting distracted? What do our feet run to when we take our eyes of Jesus? 

• What are some things that sidetrack or distract you so that your attention is taken off Jesus?

• How can you guard against these distractions? 

• Can any of these distractions be removed from your life?

• Are you putting Proverbs 4:25-27 into practice? In what ways or why not? What could you do to live out these verses better?

Read More

Colossians 3:1-3 | Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

• According to Colossians 3, where should we set our sights? 

• How can setting our eyes, minds, and hearts on Heaven change –

• The way we think? 

• What we care about?

• What does and does not matter?

• How we spend our time?

• Are you living as if your “real life” (what matters) is in Heaven or here on Earth? 

• In what ways? 

• What, if anything, needs to change so that you’re focused on what matters and will last for eternity?

Read More

Hebrews 12:1-4 | Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

• What is the race that Hebrews 12 says we’re running? 

• How does keeping your eyes on Jesus help as you run your race? 

• How can a person “keep their eyes on Jesus” as they run their race, or live their life? How is that actually done since we can’t physically see Him? 

• How can remembering Jesus’ example help you not give up when the race gets hard? 

Read More

Colossians 1:20b-22 | He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

• Who is Colossians 1:20 talking about? Who made a way for peace and how? 

• How is sin the opposite of peace? How does sin make your life chaotic, anxious, or at war with God? 

Read More

Romans 5:9-11 | And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

• In the account of Moses and the 10th plague/first passover, how was blood part of being deemed “right” in God’s sight? 

• How did the blood over the doorposts point the Israelites to Jesus, or the coming Savior? 

• Why was Jesus’ blood needed for us to be made right in God’s sight? 

• Do you have a new relationship with God because of Jesus? When did you go from God’s enemy to God’s friend? How did that occur? 

Read More

We left off last week after the ninth plague in Egypt. Pharoah rejects God one last time and God will no longer wait for Pharaoh to give in. 

Exodus 11:1 | Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will strike Pharaoh and the land of Egypt with one more blow. After that, Pharaoh will let you leave this country. In fact, he will be so eager to get rid of you that he will force you all to leave.”

The final plague is severe and despite Pharoah’s threat the last time they met, Moses has to face Pharoah again to deliver the news-

Read More

Hebrews 3:12-15 | Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

• According to today’s reading, when should a person turn away from sin? 

• Why is it important not to wait? 

• Pharaoh didn’t listen to God’s warnings - why not? What was the result? 

• Have you ever known someone who was ‘hardened’ against the things of God? What can you do for this person?  

• Have you allowed yourself to become hardened against God or the conviction of sin? Why? What should you do today, according to Hebrews 3?

Read More