Totally Devoted

Theme: Honoring God with our devotion

Scriptures:

• James 4:1-4
• Luke 14:26-27
• Acts 12:20-23
• Matthew 22:34-40

Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)

Know: Our devotion to God is to be the priority of our lives.

Think: I desire more than anything to please God in everything I do.

Do: Do every day what will help me grow in my love and devotion to God.

Notes and questions:

B1 Devoted

C1 What does the word devoted mean?

D1 “To give or apply (One’s time, attention, or self, for example) entirely to a particular activity, pursuit, cause, or person.” Free Dictionary (Farlex)

D2 In 2 Chronicles 31:4, during the reign of King Hezekiah, commanded people to contribute to the priests, so that they could use their time in study of the Law and application of it. It reads, 2 Chronicles 31:4 NKJV  Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support for the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.

C2 How do we show we are devoted?

C3 How do we decide what to devote our time and effort?

C4 What are some things people get devoted to?

C5 Consider

D1 John 4:34 NKJV  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

D2 Matthew 6:33 NKJV  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

C6 Some things to be in training for, devoted to

D1 1 Timothy 4:7 NRSV  Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives' tales. Train yourself in godliness,

D2 Hebrews 5:14 NRSV  But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

D3 Hebrews 12:11 NRSV  Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

C7 There are two kingdoms—the kingdom of satan and the Kingdom of God. They have different rulers, different rules, different desires. We need to remind ourselves to seek God’s kingdom, God’s rules, and God’s desires. We need to be devoted to these. This is what we are as Christians. May God help us (He will). Matthew 5:14-16 NRSV  "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  (15)  No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  (16)  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

B2 James 4:1-4,

C1 James 4:1-4 NRSV  Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?  (2)  You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.  (3)  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.  (4)  Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

C2 What kingdom is this?

C3 Why is just wanting something wrong?

C4 Why are these type people termed adulterers?

C5 What is a friend of this world?

C6 How do we avoid being this kind of person in our daily life?

B3 Luke 14:26-27,

C1 Passage

D1 Translation 1: Luke 14:26-27 NRSV  "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.  (27)  Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

D2 Translation 2: Luke 14:26-27 GNB  "Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.  (27)  Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.

C2 Why is God and His kingdom more important than parents? What about the Law of God which states: Exodus 20:12 NRSV  Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

C3 What is carrying our cross, and why do have to carry it to be a disciple?

B4 Acts 12:20-23,

C1 Acts 12:20-23 NKJV  Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king's country.  (21)  So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.  (22)  And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"  (23)  Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.

C2 Why is not giving God the glory a potentially dangerous deed?

C3 What had King Herod been seeking first in his life?

B5 Matthew 22:34-40,

C1 Matthew 22:34-40 NKJV  But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  (35)  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,  (36)  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  (37)  Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  (38)  This is the first and great commandment.  (39)  And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  (40)  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

C2 Love is the word agape.

C3 What is the difference between heart, soul, and mind, or are they synonyms with the emphasis on all?

D1 Heart is the foundation of all we are. Everything we are is on that foundation. It is our core being.

D2 Soul is our life. Are we willing to give up our desires, even die for God?

D3 Mind is our rational thought, our thinking.

C4 How do we love God in these three areas?

C5 How do we love our neighbor?

C6 How do we respond if something or someone demands our first and highest devotion, say in a job or personal attention?

C7 If our total devotion is to God, can it be so that our family or others are neglected? How do we balance all this?

D1 The Scripture also states, “...and your neighbor as yourself.”

D2 Loving my family can be loving the Lord God in obedience to God who says to do this and minister to them.

E1 John 14:23-24 NKJV  Jesus answered and said to 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)  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

E2 Ephesians 5:28 NKJV  So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

C8 How do we set goals in life as education, marriage, children, occupation, retirement, etc.?