Books

Slow To Anger • What makes you angry?• How do you react when you get really angry?But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.Psalm 86:15If you want proof that God is slow to anger, you need only look at Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18-19. When God told Abraham that he was going to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham had the nerve to ask him to reconsider. Abraham was afraid that righteous people in the cities would be destroyed along with…

By His Grace • Have you ever gotten something good that you didn’t deserve?• How would you explain God’s grace to someone who knows nothing about it?For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.Ephesians 2:8-9Some people use an acronym to help them remember what the word grace means: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. As acronyms go, it’s not bad, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.We need grace because our sin separates…

Warning: Poison Envy • Describe a time when not getting something you wanted made you angry. How long did you stay angry?• When you feel jealous of someone, what other emotions do you feel towards them?“Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.”Job 5:2When you feel resentment, you feel anger and ill will towards someone else because things haven’t gone as you wished. When you feel envy, you want something that someone else has. These two emotions often go hand in hand. We often feel resentment because we don’t…

Rotten Bones? No Thank You! • How does being envious affect a person?• What does it mean to be at peace?A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.Proverbs 14:30Does envy rot our bones? That’s horrible! Now, envy probably won’t literally rot your bones, but King Solomon chose these words to convey just how much damage envy can do to a person. Envy causes pain and suffering. Envy can eat away at our spiritual life.But there’s good news too. A heart at peace gives life. And as believers, our hearts can…

Watch Your Step! • What do you think of when you hear the word “prosperity”?• Describe a time when you saw someone rewarded for bad behavior. How did that make you feel?But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.Psalm 73:2-3It’s easy to be jealous of someone else’s wealth. It can make us angry to know that someone has acquired wealth through wickedness. We might wonder why, when we work so hard to live the way God wants us to,…

Put Envy Behind You • How might your life be different if you didn’t know God? How would you behave?• Describe a time when you were envious of someone. Why did you envy them?At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.Titus 3:3In this verse, the apostle Paul refers to what life is like before people come to know God. He essentially means, “Don’t forget that at one time, we didn’t know anything…

Envying The Wrong People • Describe a time when you saw someone “getting away with” their sin. How did this make you feel?• Why do you think God gave us his commandments?Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong.Psalm 37:1In this psalm, King David tells us not to be jealous of people who sin. David writes later in the psalm that “their day is coming” (v. 13), meaning that we will all be judged one day, and that God will judge these evil people in due time. Thankfully, we don’t have to…

Ask The Elders • Share a time when an older person gave you some good advice. What was it?• Think of an older person you look up to. What makes you respect him or her?Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked … But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him … The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said…

If You Want To Be Wise • Share a time when you ignored someone’s advice. Why did you?• Share a time when you followed someone’s advice and were glad that you did. What was the outcome?The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.Proverbs 12:15Sometimes people ask for advice simply because they want their own ideas to be validated. Sometimes people will continue to ask for advice from different people until they find someone who tells them what they want to hear. This is foolishness.God blesses us…

Through Many Advisers • Who helps the president make decisions?• When you need advice, do you ask just one person or several? Why?For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.Proverbs 11:14The president of a country does not make decisions alone. He or she has a cabinet of experts. In the United States, we have the secretary of state, the secretary of education, the secretary of defense, the attorney general, and the list goes on. Why all the help? It just seems kind of silly—and maybe…

The Ultimate Source Of Advice • How does God give advice?• Who is the wisest person you know?You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.Psalm 73:24What if you knew someone who was unbelievably wise, with the ability to give perfect advice, exactly right for each and every individual? What if this someone could see into the future and base the advice on what was truly best for you? Wouldn’t you go to great lengths to get that advice?You do know this someone. You have access to this kind of…

The Discerning Get Guidance • Do you consider yourself to be a wise person? Why or why not?• What are some of the steps you take when you make a decision?Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.Proverbs 1:5One of the biggest decisions we have to make in life is what to do after high school. And because this decision is such a difficult one, schools have guidance counselors. Schools don’t expect students to make these decisions on their own.We face many difficult decisions in…

Some Advice On Asking For Advice • What are some things people ask advice about?• When you need advice, who do you ask?Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.Psalm 1:1Violet really wanted to go to a concert with some friends. Her parents had already told her she couldn’t go because the concert was too far away and it was on a school night.Violet’s friends offered her lots of advice on the subject. One thought she should just sneak…

Don’t Fall For It! • How do you feel about money?• How do you think God feels about money?Now the overseer is to be above reproach … not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.1 Timothy 3:2-3In these verses from Timothy, Paul is describing how leaders of the church should behave: They should not become drunk, violent, or quarrelsome, or love money.Many Christians struggle with this money part. The world tries to teach us that money is everything, that money makes us happy and…

So Should We • How do you feel when you do something generous?• How do you feel when someone shares with you?They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer … All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.Acts 2:42,44-45These verses from Acts describe the way that Christians lived in the early church. They devoted themselves to learning about God and each other. They spent time…

Never, Ever, Ever! • How does a person who loves money behave?• How does a content person behave?Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”Hebrews 13:5Contentment is an important part of the Christian walk. Contentment shows that we trust God to provide for us, that we know God is in control and that we are happy to live within God’s will for our lives.A big part of contentment is knowing and believing that God…

Taking God At His Word • What does it mean to doubt something?• What are some things that you are absolutely sure about?But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.James 1:6This verse was written by Jesus’ brother James. Can you imagine how much James knew about Jesus?James tells us in this verse that when we ask God for what he has promised to give us, we should not doubt that he can do so. This makes sense. Doubting God’s promises…

Why Do You Want What You Want? • Can you share a time when you asked God for something, but he did not give it to you?• What are some reasons why God might not give you what you ask for?When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.James 4:3Sometimes God does not give us what we ask for. According to this verse from James, this may happen because we are not asking for the right reasons. Have you ever stopped to think about why you want what you…

Why Pray? • What are some things that you have been praying about recently?• Why does God want you to pray?Be pleased to save me, LORD; come quickly, LORD, to help me.Psalm 40:13God loves to answer the prayers of his people. Many times in the Bible, he tells us to pray to him, to ask him for things, and to call out to him. He even tells us that there are some things that we do not have simply because we have not asked him for them.God wants us to pray to him because he enjoys helping us. He cares for us deeply and knows…

Patience Vs. Pride • What does it mean to be patient?• What does it mean to be prideful?The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.Ecclesiastes 7:8Two girls wanted to join their church’s worship team, but their pastor said, “Not yet. Keep practicing, and when you’re a little older, you can audition.”One of the girls got mad. She decided that she was “too good” for the worship team. She told everyone who would listen how talented she was and that someone on the worship team must…