Bible Study Notes 3/19/2024

Word Alive! Bible Study ©2024

Winter Series: God Never Gives Up On You!

Concord Baptist Church of Boston in Milton

Conley Hughes, Jr., Senior Pastor

Tues., 19 Mar. Lesson 12, Part 1

Max Lucado, God Never Gives Up On You © 2024

Quiet Time: Max Lucado, God Never Gives Up, Pages 135-144

It’s All About Grace – The divine persistence of God working on our behalf, is nothing less that His grace. God’s grace is an unceasing love He has for all who come into a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Even before Christ came to earth, God’s grace was manifested and operative in the lives of His people. We are loved by God, along with, and in spite of our faults. David said whether in sadness or shame, “He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:3a, NKJV). We could only imagine David thought of the “refreshment” or “renewal” God gave him following the death of an earlier son he fathered with Bathsheba; and, the violent death of his older son, Absalom. In each instance David’s heart was broken. It was God’s redeeming love – His grace – that met David in those desolate places.  Because God never gives up on us, we don’t have to seek His grace. God’s redeeming love will inevitably come to us. David further said, “Surely, your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalm 23:6a, NIV).  The great Hebrew word hesed is used here to mean “abundance of love.” God’s mercy and grace are acts of His abiding presence in our lives, and on our behalf. There is nothing we could ever do to cause God to accept us. Our faith alone (trust) in God, will cause us to experience His gift of love, which is grace. (Read, Ephesians 2:8-10, NIV). No amount of deeds or heavy lifting on our part, will bring salvation. God comes to us through our faith in His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul’s turning-point in life came when He had inexperience with the risen Christ. Paul was aware that his previous life made him feel far less than the other believers. But the apostle passionately confessed, that it was God’s grace that changed the direction and entire demeanor of His life. Others gave up on Paul, but God did not! (Read, I Corinthians 15:9-11, NIV). We note also that Paul’s zeal and work ethic for Christ was a result of grace. The apostle was not attempting to impress the other apostles and disciples; but to engage assertively for the cause of Christ. Grace will cause us to do what is not expected of us by the estimation of others. The prophet Amos’ response to the High Priest in Jerusalem, was that he was the least person to be called by God as a prophet. Amos made it clear his mission was directed by God, and was not for personal enrichment. God called Amos from a humble background. (Read, Amos 7:12-15, NIV). The wonderful act of grace, is that we are enlisted by God; not for where we have been; but for what He can do through us. The story of Joseph has many episodic turns. However, fundamental to his life-narrative is how God’s grace sustained him through an ordeal, that ultimately placed him in a position of authority over his oppressors. The place to which God commissions us, is where He will inevitably come. (Read, Psalm 105:17, NIV). Joseph told his distraught brothers, “It was to save lives, God sent me [to Egypt] ahead of you.” (Gen. 45:5b, NLT). Grace!

Key Idea:

What We Believe!

1. “God’s grace never quits.” – Max Lucado

Key Verses:

Ephesians 2:8-10, NIV

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from ourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

1 Corinthians 15:9-11, NIV

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then, it is I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you believed.”

Amos 7:12-15, NIV

“Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, “Go prophesy to my people Israel.”

Psalm 105:17, NIV

And He sent a man before them – Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was put in iron, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true. The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed. To instruct the princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.”