Grace of God the Father (Cont’d) – For Discussion on December 4th, 2013

Here is a link to the podcast from the Bible Lesson

Verses for Lesson 10
ADJ Pages 46b-56

God’s Underserved Love and Favor Towards Man

Psalms 5:12
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Psalms 17:7-8
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,  you who save by your right hand
    those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

Psalms 26:3
for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

Psalms 30:5
for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

Psalms 36:5,7,10
5  Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
 your faithfulness to the skies.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.

Psalms 40:11
Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
 may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

Psalms 48:9
Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.

Psalms 51:1
Have mercy on me, O God,  according to your unfailing love;
 according to your great compassion  blot out my transgressions.

Psalms 63:3
Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.

Psalms 69:16
Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;
    in your great mercy turn to me.

Psalms 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Psalms 103:4
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

Psalms 107:43
Let the one who is wise heed these things
and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord

Psalms 119:88
In your unfailing love preserve my life,
 that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

Psalms 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,  for I have put my trust in you.
 Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.

 

God as Friend of the Broken-Hearted

Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Psalms 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted,  and binds up their wounds.

Psalms 27:10
Though my father and mother forsake me,
  the Lord will receive me.

 

God as Restorer of Losses

Exodus 20:4-6
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 34:7
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

 

God as Father in Heaven

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
 to us a son is given,
 and the government will be on his shoulders.
 And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Psalms 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

Matthew 6:9
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

God as Father in Heaven,
Knows us and Loves Us Completely

Psalms 139
1 You have searched me, Lord,  and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;  you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,  and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,  too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
 Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,  if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
 and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,
 when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;  all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
 they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
  Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
 your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
 and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
 I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,  and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Our Father’s Loving Heart

Matt 10:29-30
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Deut 33:12
About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,  for he shields him all day long,  and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”

1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Galatians 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

John 10:3
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Romans 8:15
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love;
  I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 17:23
23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Our Heavenly Father is Always Present:

Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
 Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,  your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Our Father’s Present and Attentive Heart

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Deut 31:6
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

John 10:29
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

Psalms 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
    is God in his holy dwelling.

Psalms 27:10
Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.

1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Matt 6:8, 25-32
8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

2 Corinthians 1:3
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

 

Our Father Has Created Us Uniquely with Purpose

Psalms 139:13-18
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
  How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,  they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.

 

Our Father’s Giving Heart

Matt 7:11
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Hebrews 12:7-13
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[a] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

1 Peter 1:17
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

Psalms 37:3-5
3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,  and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
 trust in him and he will do this:

Gal 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[b] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Isaiah 64:8
Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
 We are the clay, you are the potter;
 we are all the work of your hand.

Psalms 139:24
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

John 14:23
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

God’s Enabling Power

Power to Change Hearts

Amos 7:7-9
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb linein his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. 9“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 23:7
for he is the kind of person  who is always thinking about the cost.“Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

Proverbs 27:19
As water reflects the face,
 so one’s life reflects the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
 and examine the mind,
 to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Ezekiel 36:26,27
26 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
  Who can understand it?
27 “I the Lord search the heart, and examine the mind,
 to reward each person according to their conduct,
 according to what their deeds deserve.”

Hebrews 8:10
This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
 after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
 and they will be my people.

Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Romans 6:14
14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

James 4:6
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:“God opposes the proud
 but shows favor to the humble.”

John 15:5
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Ephesians 4:29
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Romans 12:6
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

1 Peter 4:10
10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

1 Peter 5:8
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Hebrews 12:14-15
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Colossians 4:5-6
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Acts 14:3
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

 

Candidates for Grace

The Sinner

Romans 3:23-24
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:20-21
20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

The Powerless

Romans 5:6, 8
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

The Weak

2 Corinthians 12:9,10
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

The Needy

Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

The Humble

James 4:5
5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?

1 Peter 5:5,6
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.