VIEWPOINT IS MOST IMPORTANT

(How you think and view things – yourself, others, God, circumstances – will determine who you are)

Prov. 3:5, 6 How should we trust in the Lord?

Are you trusting the Lord with your whole being or just emotionally?

What should we not lean on?

[Since our understanding is finite/limited and easily wrong/deceived, we shouldn’t lean on it.].

In what should we acknowledge the Lord?

Are you acknowledging the Lord by seeking His help (16:3) and wisdom? How?

What will the result be?

[“make … straight” – bring us to our appointed goal].

Prov. 23:7 How does what a person thinks within himself affect him?

Why is this so?

Matt. 12:33-35 What is a tree known by?

What is the source of the words we speak?

How can we be sure that we are speaking that which is good (Eph. 5:18, 19; Psa. 119:11)?

Matt. 16:21-23 For what did Jesus rebuke Peter?

Are you ever guilty of this?

What are man’s interests (1 Jn. 2:15, 16)?

[“lusts of the flesh” – gluttony, drunkenness, immorality, illicit drugs; “lust of the eyes” – covetousness (materialism, greed, etc.); “pride of life” – position, power, wealth, fame, etc.].

What can you do to not be guilty of this (Col. 3:1, 2; Psa. 1:2)?

What are God’s interests (e.g., Matt. 6:33; Lk. 19:10; Eph. 4:11-13)?

Matt. 19:23-26 From a human viewpoint certain things may appear impossible, but what about with God?

From whose viewpoint do you look at difficult circumstances or questions, and why?

Matt. 22:37 How are we to love God?

[“heart” – full sincerity of will/choice; “soul” – intensity of feeling; “mind” – thoughtfully].

Are you loving God in this way each day, and why?

Mk. 7:18-23 What defiles a person?

Are you more concerned about the externals of your life (i.e., keeping certain man-made religious rules and laws or taboos) or about the real you (i.e., your inward character, motives, thought-life, and attitudes)? Why?

Rom. 3:10-12; 7:18 What can’t a person who doesn’t have Christ in control of his life do?

Does the fact that there isn’t one good thing you can do apart from Christ, bother you (Jn. 15:5), and why?

Rom. 8:5-9 What will happen to the person whose mind is set on (controlled or dominated by) the flesh (the human-earthly nature of man)?

Are you spiritually dead right now or most of the time, and why?

What should our minds be set on?

Is your mind fixed on the Spirit, what God’s Spirit thinks (i.e., doing God’s will)?

Rom. 9:10-24 In your thinking, does it seem fair that God chose Esau to serve Jacob even before they were born?

Or that God has mercy on some while hardening others?

Why does God have the right to do whatever He wants to and still be fair?

Do you limit the sovereign, infinite God because of your finite understanding of what makes sense to you (read Isa. 55:8, 9)?

Why?

Rom. 12:2 What are we not to be conformed to?

[The “world” is all that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world … the spirit of the world of men who are living alienated and apart from God” – Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, “Romans,” p. 207.].

How are we to be transformed?

How does a person reprogram his mind (Phil. 4:8; Psa. 119:11, 97-101)?

Why is dwelling on these things the key to reprogramming our mind (Prov. 23:7)?

Rom. 12:3 How should we think about ourselves?

Do you think more highly of yourself than you should, and why?

What does Paul say about himself (Rom. 7:24; Gal. 6:14)?

Is this the way you feel about yourself, and why?

What does the Psalmist think about himself (Psa. 139:13-16)?

Rom. 12:16 What should our attitude/view toward people be regardless of their position, prestige, or power in life?

Do you think about people in this way, and why?

What are we not to be wise in or conceited about, and why (1 Cor. 13:4, 5)?

Gal. 6:2-4 Who deceives himself?

Do you ever think you are “big/great stuff”, and why?

1 Cor. 3:18-20 What should the person who thinks he is wise in this age do, and why?

What is the “wisdom of this world” (vs. 19)?

Are you majoring in these things, and why?

1 Cor. 13:4-7 How does “agape” love think and behave?

When you say that you love someone, is this how you are thinking and acting toward that person?

What should our love be channeled through or based upon (Phil. 1:9)?

Is your love just a mere emotional feeling or an attitude based on a practical knowledge of what is best for an individual according to God’s value system, and why?

Eph. 3:20 How capable of doing things is God compared to our thinking?

Do you ever limit God? If so, in what areas?

What can you do to correct this?

Eph. 4:22-24 How should we view our old self (unconverted self)?

What should we do instead?

How does a person do this?

Are you doing this?

Phil. 2:2-8 What should our attitude or thinking be about other Christians in contrast to ourselves?

Do you have a hard time doing this?

How does a person begin to think and act this way?

Col. 3:1-3 On what should the focus of our attention be?

Are you actively focusing and seeking eternal, spiritual qualities, as in 2 Tim. 2:22; Rom. 14:17; Col. 3:12 and Gal. 5:22, 23?

2 Tim. 2:2-4 What was Timothy told not to get entangled in?

List examples of everyday affairs that we shouldn’t get entangled in.

Are you entangled in any of these, and why?

2 Pet. 3:1, 2 How can we help each other to think right?

Are you involved this way in your relationship to other believers?