Bible Study Guide

Purpose of This Bible Study Lesson

This lesson will guide the participants to understand that the goal of every Christian is to become like Christ.

Learning Goals

This lesson will guide the participants to:-

1. Learn to think the thoughts of Christ
2. Challenge the learners to become Christ-like in thinking

The overall goal will be to guide the participants to develop and cultivate a deeper intimacy with God in prayer and in His Word.

Introduction

The lessons on this topic are based on a study guide book entitled The Mind of Christ by T.W. Hunt and Claude V. King (2001). The authors say that it is the Holy Spirit who will enable the participants to grasp the significance of becoming like Christ as a Christian, because that is why God created us. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29Rom 8:29
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
29 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:  

). So even as you begin this series, pray and ask God to reveal the truths about this subject to you, because God’s desire is that you be like Christ.

The authors also encourage the participants to approach this course practically as it is intended to be more practical than theoretical; it should be studied with a view to immediate application i.e. applying the word in our lives as James 1:22James 1:22
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.  

exhorts us saying “Keep on being doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves”. Another aspect of this series is that there are more activities included to make it practical. For example, you will discover the Name of Christ and make a prayer before starting the lesson in order to reinforce your Bible study.

Begin Today’s Lesson by reading: Romans 12:2Romans 12:2
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
2 And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  

and John 12:2John 12:2
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
2 So they made him a supper there: and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at meat with him.  

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and memorize Phil 2:5-8Phil 2:5-8
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
5 Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶ who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; ⁸ and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross.  

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Name of Christ for Today: The Bread of Life

Prayer to Begin the Lesson: Jesus, I am hungry and thirsty after your righteousness. I do want to be like you. You are the Bread of Life itself. Fill me with yourself so that I may experience the abundant life you came to give. Amen.

The Personality Test

One of the aspects of your personality that God will measure constantly for Christlikeness is your mind. Becoming like Christ is a lifelong process and it will not be finished this side of heaven, because God is continually molding and shaping your life into the image of Christ. We need to allow God to work with us day by day, and the only way we will do this effectively is by spending time with God in prayer and in His Word daily.
Six times the New Testament describes or implies what the Christian’s mind is be like. In each case, the word mind is mentioned. From these we can derive six adjectives that describe God’s ideal for your mind. These characteristics are as follows:

1. Alive-”the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6Rom 8:6
   English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
   6 For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace:  
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2. Single-minded- “I am afraid, lest . . . your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor 11:32 Cor 11:3
   English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
   3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.  
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   ).
3. Lowly-”in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves (Phil 2:3Phil 2:3
   English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
   3 [doing] nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;  
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4. Pure- “Unto the pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled” (Tit 1:15Tit 1:15
   English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
   15 To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.  
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   ).
5. Responsive- “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Lk 24:45Lk 24:45
   English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
   45 Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures;  
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6. Peaceful-”The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6Rom 8:6
   English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
   6 For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace:  
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   ).

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Bible Study Questions For Discussion - Week 22

Let us begin our lesson by looking at the first and last characteristic “alive” and “peaceful”. Paul tells us, “the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). Without Christ we are dead (Eph 2:1Eph 2:1
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
2 ¹ And you [did he make alive,] when ye were dead through your trepasses and sins,  

). In Christ we have everlasting life (John 3:36John 3:36
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
36 He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.  

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). Jesus went further than saying we live. Jesus said that He came in order that we might have abundant life (John 10:10John 10:10
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
10 The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have [it] abundantly.  

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). You demonstrate this life (or death) constantly by the choices you make. When you set your mind on the Spirit, you experience life.

Name of Christ for Today’s Lesson: The Bread of life

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit”. (Zech 4:6Zech 4:6
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts.  

)

When we feast on the word of God during our fasts,
We are able to accomplish great Spiritual feats.

Amen.

Tags: Bible study, Bible study guide, christian, Jesus Christ, mind of Christ

Purpose of This Bible Study Lesson

This lesson will guide the participants to know and understand that fasting results in spiritual benefits. A true fast that pleases God will not go un-noticed, because God keeps His word.

Lesson Objective:

This lesson will guide the participants to:-

1. Understand the spiritual benefits of fasting
2. Understand how God moves during fasting
3. Understand the secret of fasting as a sacrifice

Introduction

Begin Today’s lesson by reading: 2 Chron 33:1-202 Chron 33:1-20
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
33 ¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. ² And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. ³ For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. ⁴ And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah. ⁶ He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practised augury, and used enchantments, and practised sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. ⁷ And he set the graven image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: ⁸ neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances [given] by Moses. ⁹ And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel. ¹⁰ And Jehovah spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed. ¹¹ Wherefore Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. ¹² And when he was in distress, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. ¹³ And he prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God. ¹⁴ Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he compassed Ophel about [with it], and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵ And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. ¹⁶ And he built up the altar of Jehovah, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ His prayer also, and how [God] was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai. ²⁰ So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.  

, Est 4:1-17Est 4:1-17
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
4 ¹ Now when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; ² and he came even before the king's gate: for none might enter within the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ And Esther's maidens and her chamberlains came and told it her; and the queen was exceedingly grieved: and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take his sackcloth from off him; but he received it not. ⁵ Then called Esther for Hathach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and charged him to go to Mordecai, to know what this was, and why it was. ⁶ So Hathach went forth to Mordecai unto the broad place of the city, which was before the king's gate. ⁷ And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. ⁸ Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him, for her people. ⁹ And Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. ¹⁰ Then Esther spake unto Hathach, and gave him a message unto Mordecai [saying]: ¹¹ All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. ¹² And they told to Mordecai Esther's words. ¹³ Then Mordecai bade them return answer unto Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. ¹⁴ For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? ¹⁵ Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai, ¹⁶ Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. ¹⁷ So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.  

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and Jonah 3:1-10Jonah 3:1-10
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
3 ¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time, saying, ² Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. ³ So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey. ⁴ And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. ⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. ⁶ And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; ⁸ but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. ⁹ Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? ¹⁰ And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.  

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A Sacrifice of Broken Hearts

Fasting is never about ourselves, but always about God, as the psalmist David duly wrote when he had sinned against God by killing his servant Uriah; “a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” David had reached the realization that God could actually recant (take back) His Holy Spirit from him (David) as He had done with Saul when Saul had also sinned against God. But the difference between David and Saul is that David repented in tears and ashes and acknowledged his sin before God whereas Saul did not show remorse. Our God is a God who is moved by our sorrow and repentance just as we have read in the above passages; God does not take delight in punishing His people, and when we come to God with genuinely broken hearts, God is moved into action and He withdraws His wrath from us.

Fasting is one way that reveals that we are seeking God’s face during severe periods of trouble akin to what Queen Esther experienced even as she faced the possible extinction of the Jewish race by evil Haman. When one is more acutely in tune with God through fasting, God then answers in his compassionate and generous ways (Isaiah 58:8-14Isaiah 58:8-14
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall by thy rearward. ⁹ Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly; ¹⁰ and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thine obscurity be as the noonday; ¹¹ and Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. ¹² And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. ¹³ If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, [and] the holy of Jehovah honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words: ¹⁴ then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.  

). Imagine, God pronouncing upon one of Judah’s most wicked kings, Manasseh, severe punishment for leading the people in detestable idolatries. But when he showed the slightest sign of turning from sin as he humbled himself through fasting, God was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea and restored him to his kingdom.

Fasting is therefore an ancient tradition that has been proven and used even by kings. Why did Manasseh, Esther and the king of Nineveh succeed in moving God into action? The secret is that they showed self-denial and complete dependence on God and not on their strategic plans! May God help us to discover their secret and act as they did as we seek to live victorious Christian lives, “For we live, move, and exist because of him” (Acts 17:28Acts 17:28
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
28 for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.  

)

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Bible Study Questions For Discussion - Week 21

1. After reading the story of King Manasseh in 2 Chron 33 and the king of Nineveh, please list three things that you think made God listen to them.
   a)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
   b)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
   c)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Do you think these things can apply to you as a Christian living in the 21st century? Please explain
   ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. What do you think happened in Esther’s case? How did God move on behalf of queen Esther?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Reflection 1 Kings 19:121 Kings 19:12
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
12 and after the earthquake a fire; but Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.  

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: God Speaks Softly

“After the earthquake there was a fire—but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice”. Let’s try not to miss God when He speaks; only when we are listening quietly will we hear Him.
Amen

Tags: Bible study, Bible study guide, christian, fasting, prayer