QT 31 Jan 18, Matt 17:5-6, Our God is an awesome God

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
15	1/31	Matt 17:1-7	Matthew 17:5–6 (ESV) — 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.	In this passage, we see proof of the distinction in persons between the Father and the Son. Jesus is not just a son, but has special significance, "my beloved Son," special status, "with whom I am well pleased," and special instructions, "listen to him."	The disciples were terrified when they heard the Father speak. It is hard to imagine a voice so loud, authoritative, and terrifying, that it drives a person to the ground just by the sound. It also highlights another difference, at least in the ministry of the Son in his first coming, he was gentle, like a lamb.	Father, thank you for sending the Son to save me. Thank you Jesus for giving yourself for my sins. Thank you Holy Spirit for changing me, and also reminding me of how much I have been given. I want to say "in debt," but my debt is completely paid for by Jesus. I owe nothing. But I do owe my worship and thankfulness. That is only right.

QT 29 Jan 18, Rev 1:17-18, Jesus is the only person with a body that lives forever right now

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
15	1/29	Rev 1:9-20	Revelation 1:17–18 (ESV) — 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.	A person calls himself "the living one. I died and behold I am alive forevermore, …" There is no doubt on the identity of this person. It is Jesus.	Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades. We think those keys are within our technological reach, but they are not. God is in control of life. Jesus' life, miracles, and resurrection attest to his supernatural claims. One cannot put their head in the sand and pretend it did not happen. That is just wishful thinking.	Father, thank you not only for my salvation but the testimony in my heart that you are alive. You are at work. And you are bringing the world to a conclusion.

QT 25 Jan 18, 1 Pet 4:17, Suffering today is a believer's judgment. Wrath in the future is not.

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
NA	1/25	1 Pet 4	1 Pet 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?	We, believers, are being judged in this life. And God is using the suffering to make us stronger. There is another judgment coming for the world and it is distinctly for those who refuse to believe.	Life is not the way God intended. Evil rules. Sin destroys. I am part of this mess called Adam's seed (or the human race). But I have been redeemed and my reward is in heaven, not here on earth.	Father, thank you for the pain. It has been good, but I still would never choose it. Thank you too for the good things that you give. Be merciful to me. I am undeserving of your grace.

QT 24 Jan 18, Rev 1:7, A Time of Wailing is Coming upon the Earth

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
15	1/24	Rev 1:1-8	Revelation 1:7 (ESV) — Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.	There are two major points in this verse. The first is that every eye will see him. The reference to "even those who pierced him" is obviously not dead people from the first century, but rather people who don't believe him, and have crucified him in their hearts. The second point is that people will wail. The second coming is a time of tears, great fear, and judgment.	Jesus' return is a serious thing. And while it probably won't affect me personally, it may affect friends, family, and co-workers of mine. I must not shrink back in my defense of the gospel or my acknowledgment of the end times. It may be the factor that saves someone in the future.	Father, thank you that as a believer we are not destined to wrath. We will be fetched and saved from this time of wailing. Lord give me strength and courage to stand up to what is right and to share your message with courage.

QT 22 Jan 18, John 14:1-3, We need a new home, this world is becoming less and less of a home

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
15	1/22	John 14:1-14	John 14:1–3 (ESV) — 1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.	This is the Jewish wedding motif. The son goes to prepare a place for the bride. He will come again to take the bride to the place he has prepared. Jesus was very firm on this point. If he goes to prepare a place, he will come again to take him to that place.	Jesus' words are clear and they cannot be dismissed. He has none of the characteristics of a madman or a liar. He always spoke the truth. His resurrection proves that everything he said was true. He will come again. He will take us to him. He is worthy of our allegiance and worship.	Lord, I believe that someday you will return and take us away from what is rapidly becoming a hell-hole of evil thoughts and ideas. We are tossing logic and wisdom away for feelings, experiences, and cute sayings. We no longer think. We no longer obey your word. Oh God, have mercy on us I pray.

QT 18 Jan 18, John 5:28-29, The sting of death is gone. Death died.

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
15	11/18	John 5:18-29	John 5:28–29 (ESV) — 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.	When Jesus descended into Hades and preached, he brought the dead out, and took them to heaven. But they were not give their new bodies. That will not occur to the resurrection of the dead that seems to occur in phases. Jesus was the first. The rapture will be the second phase, church believers (alive and dead), and the third phase occurs after the tribulation OT believers and tribulation saints. A later resurrection will be the final great throne judgment when unbelievers are resurrected.	By believing in Christ, death has no hold on him. The last enemy to be put to death was death. By Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection, death has lost its sting. Someday, we will have new material bodies and live in a new heaven and earth, no polluted by sin. We will live forever and we will enjoy creation as God intended.	Thank you Lord for the provision of life. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for putting to death, death. Thank you!

QT 17 Jan 18, John 16:20-22, The world thought it won

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
14	1/17	John 16:16-24	John 16:20–22 (ESV) — 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.	Jesus death on the cross would bring great sorrow at first, although for some it was a time of rejoicing. Later, three days to be exact, their sorrow would turn to great joy as they witnessed the resurrected Christ.	I've always wondered about the relationship between sorrow and joy. It seems that they are inseparable. True joy often follows times of great sorrow. Can you really have one without the other? And if so, what does that mean for heaven? Jesus says that heaven will be a time of no tears, but what kind of tears? I don't know the answers but I can trust that God's plan is perfect.	Father, the world and Satan thought they had defeated you that day on Golgotha. But you won the victory and defeated death. Because of you victory, I have eternal life with you in heaven. Thank you.

QT 15 Jan 18, John 16:2, Jesus' example is the true mean of Christianity, not the religions out there

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
14	1/15	John 16:1-15	John 16:2 (ESV) — 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.	People, out of deception and ignorance, will put believers to death, thinking that they are serving God.	There is so much wrong with this way of thinking. First of all, Jesus never advocated a kingdom ruled by force or growing by force. This is religious thinking. Religion is whenever you think your work or service is a way to gain God's favor. Christianity is a relationship gained as a result of a gift and only a gift.	Father, protect me from my flesh who wants to earn salvation. It can never be earned. It can only be received by faith.

QT 11 Jan 18, John 14:30, Satan no longer has any claim on those who believe in Jesus

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
14	1/11	John 14:25-31	John 14:30 (ESV) — 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,	The ruler of this world had no claim on Jesus. He does have a claim on us because we rebelled against God's rule. In a sense, we are part of his family, his domain, not Gods, until we repent and believe.	Jesus chose to undergo death for us. There was no legal requirement for his death, as we have. In a sense, since that day, there is no longer any legal requirement for our death. God has chosen to let us die, the result of sin's impact on the body. But technically, the real reason for death is sin, not decay. Someday, this earthly body will be changed into a heavenly body, and we will no longer struggle with sin.	Father, thank you for my new status in your family. Death will come, but it is death for my body, not for my soul. Death has no hold on me. Satan has no claim on me. I am yours now, a child of God. Thank you.

QT 10 Jan 18, John 14:22-24, We are not children of God by birth or creation

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
14	1/10	John 14:15-24	John 14:22–24 (ESV) — 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.	Judas' question is a good one. It does not appear to be answered, but it wouldn't be included if it wasn't important, and in this case if it wasn't answered. The answer to Judas' question is that God is only revealing himself to his children, those that love him, keep his word, and believe in his Son. He does not reveal himself to the whole world, and the whole world are not his children.	We so desperately want to think of ourselves as God's children. The danger is that then we can believe that what we do with Jesus is not important. If we are God's children, then God's love will save us in the end. The reality is that we are not God's children but God's creation. God showed his love for the world by sending his son to die for our sins. But we must believe by faith to become (have the right) to be a child of God. We are then adopted into the family of God, and God's love can never be removed from us.	Lord, thank you that you have manifested yourself to me. Thank you for the gospel and the recognition of my own sin that caused me to turn to Jesus and believe. Thank you for my new life in Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And thank you most of all, that I am now a child of yours.

QT 8 Jan 18, Gen 1:26, Made in the image of God means we are to care for the creation

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
14	1/8	Gen 1:26-31 (key: 26-27)	Genesis 1:26 (ESV) — 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”	We are made in the image of God. An important questions is "what does it mean to be made in God's image?" And "what does it mean to have dominion?"	The dominion discussion is interesting and partly answered in the text. Dominion did not extend to killing since food was only plants and fruits. Although, it would have included sacrifice (in the case of Abel) and clothing (as exemplified by God's actions during the expulsion from the garden). But primarily dominion would mean to care. So one answer to what does it mean to be made in the image of God, is that we are to care for and about the creation.	Lord, Help me to take the care of the creation seriously. I can not change the whole world, but I can do what is right myself.

QT 3 Jan 18, Col 1:13, You are either in the domain of darkness or the kingdom of Jesus Christ

Wk	Date	Passage	Key Verses(s) [Optional]	Basic Thing(s) Taught	Personal Insight(s) & Application(s)	Prayer Response
13	1/3	Col 1:9-18	Colossians 1:13 (ESV) — 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,	We are not children of God but rather God's creation who are part of the domain of darkness. Domain means that another authority owns us. So we are no longer God's possession, but darkness' possession.	But God through his Son delivers us from the domain of darkness. He nullifies the ownership of Satan, and he transfers us to the kingdom of his son. In other passage, it says that we are adopted. And so now we truly are children of God. I don't know why I am so focused on this truth that not everyone is a child of God, but only those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, but I hear it a lot, and I don't think it is well understood.	Father, thank you again that I am a part of the family of God. It is not because of creation, but it is based on Jesus' work on the cross.