Daily Lesson for Tuesday 14th of January 2025

How could it be that the God of the universe takes delight in mere humans, fleeting blobs of protoplasm on one tiny planet amid what is probably an infinite universe? How could it be possible that humans could matter so much to the Supreme Being, who is all-powerful and who needs nothing? These questions can be parsed into two aspects. First, how could God Himself be delighted? Second, how could humans bring Him delight, particularly given our sinfulness? The first aspect of these questions is the topic for today and the second for tomorrow.

Image © Review and Herald Publishing Assn. Goodsalt.com

As we partially saw yesterday, God can be pleased by humans because God loves people in a way that takes account of their best interests, as would anyone who loved and cared for others.

Conversely, God is displeased by His people when they do evil. Indeed, Proverbs 15:8-9 teaches that, while the “sacrifice” and the “way” of the wicked are each an “abomination to the Lord,” the “prayer of the upright is His delight” and “He loves [the one] who follows righteousness” (NKJV). This passage shows not only that is God displeased by evil but also that He delights in goodness. It also puts divine delight and love in direct relationship with one another, showing the deep connection between God’s love and His delight, which appears throughout Scripture.

According to Psalms 146:8, “The Lord loves the righteous” (NKJV). 2 Corinthians 9:7 adds, “God loves a cheerful giver” (NKJV). Notice, first, what these texts do not say. They do not say that God loves only the righteous or that God loves only the cheerful giver. God loves everyone. Yet, for these texts to convey anything at all, they must mean that God loves the “righteous” and the “cheerful giver” in some special sense. What we have seen in Proverbs 15:8-9 provides the clue: God loves these and others in the sense of being pleased with them.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-03-pleasing-god/

The studies in this quarters pamphlet encourage us to see God’s Love and Justice, just as we may sing in 
Hymn 79 – O Love of God, How Strong and True! which is a beautiful theme hymn for our studies.

 Our themr hymn rings throughout this weeks’ study time, as do
Hymn 77 – O Love Of God Most Full and 
Hymn 76 – O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.

Our gracious God, and our Lord Jesus are so full of compassion for us, as was the father of the prodigal son. We can sing about this in 
Hymn 363 – Lord, Whose Love In Humble Service.

God’s 
Marvelous Grace – Hymn 109 is brought to us again on Wednesday, and finalizes in reminding us that “God’s redeeming work is not for us but in us”: 
Hymn 179 – The Wonders Of Redeeming Love, 
Hymn 337/338 – Redeemed, 
Hymn 402 – By Christ Redeemed and then 
I Will Sing Of My Redeemer – Hymn 343.

 Thursday encourages to have faith in our wonderful God and His Son, Jesus Christ so we have victory over the evil one: 
Hymn 608 – Faith Is The Victory.

Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed, and to bless others.

 To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-t/

Key Thought: God’s pleasure with His creation shows how valued we are in His eyes and how much He treasures us. How can we value the worth of each person?
January 18, 2025

1. Have a volunteer read Luke 15:11-32.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What does this reveal about God’s compassion and love?
3. Personal Application: How do we deal with fairness in our lives? Have you seen unfair treatment in your family? Workplace? Society? How do we balance our personal sense of justice with love and compassion for others? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “What was the problem of the older son? I don’t see that he did anything wrong in this story. He was faithful. He stayed and worked with his dad. He didn’t go off and do stupid things like his brother. And yet there seems to be a warning about the older son here.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 43:4, Psalms 149:4, Proverbs 15:8,9.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts tell us about God taking delight in His people?
3. Personal Application: Does knowing God can be so intimately involved with us help when you are going through a difficult time? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “I see a lot of Christians that despise the dignity and value of others in their words and interactions. How should our Christian love override our social and political viewpoints and actions?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Romans 8:1, 5:8, I Peter 2:4-6, Hebrews 11:6.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts teach us about our standing with God?
3. Personal Application: Why is the idea of Christ mediating as your defense attorney and mediator in heaven for you encouraging? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “Can we get people’s attention and share the gospel with them if we have no care or concern for them? If we don’t value a person’s life, is there any way God could use us to help them in their salvation?.” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Mark 9:17-29.

1. Ask class members to share their thoughts on the most important point in this text.
2. How does God respond to the man in this story? How much faith is enough faith?
3. Personal Application: How well do we follow the adage to treat people how you want to be treated and love your neighbor as yourself? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared. ”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-to-be-pleasing-to-god-teaching-plan/

Daily Lesson for Monday 13th of January 2025

Hard as it is for us to imagine, God considers each person of incalculable value, which is why He rejoices over the salvation of even one soul.

Image © Educational Concepts Collection at Goodsalt.com

Zephaniah 3:17 emphatically displays the delight of God over His redeemed people. Just about every word for joy and delight in the Hebrew language is packed into this single verse, descriptive of God’s delight over His redeemed people. It’s almost as if no one of the terms by itself is sufficient to describe the magnitude of God’s delight on that day.

Notice, too, where God is according to this verse—in the “midst” of His people. The reconciliation that arises from the relationship of love comes with the immediate presence of God. Just like the father—when he sees the son afar off, he comes running—here God is in the midst of His people.

In Isaiah 62:4, similar imagery is couched with a marriage analogy. According to Isaiah 62:4 (NKJV), God’s people will “be called Hephzibah,” which means “My delight is in her,” and the land will be called “Beulah,” which means “married.” Why? Because, the text says, “The Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.” The very pinnacle of God’s joy is reserved for the day of restoration, when He will receive His people and rejoice over us, even as the father rejoiced over his prodigal son.

This passage exhorts husbands to love their wives “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” and to love their wives “as their own bodies” (Ephesians 5:25,28, NKJV). These texts not only highlight the kind of unselfish and sacrificial love a husband is to have for his wife but also show that Christ Himself loves His people (the church) as part of Himself.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-03-rejoicing-with-gladness/

Daily Lesson for Sunday 12th of January 2025

As we saw in an earlier lesson, there is no one—even the worst sinner or worst evildoer—whom God does not love. And because God values people more than we could possibly imagine, He is displeased by sin because He loves us and knows what sin does to us, as well.

Image © Pacific Press at Goodsalt.com

In this story that Jesus tells, the man’s son requested his inheritance early, effectively rejecting his father and his father’s household. The prodigal son then goes on to squander his inheritance and is reduced to poverty and hunger, envying pigs that eat from a trough. Realizing that the servants in his father’s house have more than enough food, he decides to return home in hopes of becoming a servant.

What follows is powerful. Some fathers would turn such a son away upon his return. “You took your inheritance and cut yourself off from my house. You no longer have a home here.” That would be a logical, even reasonable, attitude, would it not? In the eyes of some human parents, the son had gone too far to be accepted back home, especially as a son.

But, in the parable, the father (representing God Himself) does not respond in any of these ways. Rather, “ ‘when [the prodigal son] was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him’ ” (Luke 15:20, NKJV). Even though it was considered less than dignified in such times for the master of the house to run out to meet someone, the father in his great compassion ran out to meet his son and, more astonishingly, restored him to his household, even throwing a celebration in his behalf, signify­ing the great compassion of God for each wayward person and the delight He takes in even a single person returning home. What a picture of God!

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-03-more-valuable-than-you-can-imagine/