Digging Deeper
AS YOU READ CHAPTER 24
Journal your answers to these questions as you read through the chapter this week. You may wish to read one day and journal the next, or spread the questions over the whole week. Bible readings that correspond with this week’s reading can be found at log.org/resources/ the-story
1. Review the story of the soils (p. 335-336). At what points of your life has your faith been each kind of soil? Where
is your faith right now? (And, no matter what, take heart, because God relentlessly sows into all types over and over.)
2. Who do the shepherd and the woman in the lost sheep and lost coin parables represent? What do they value
(p. 337)? Compare what God values in these parables to what the Pharisees value (Luke 11:42-43, 16:14). Has your heart aligned more with God’s or with the Pharisees’ in the past week?
3. Jesus’ miracles were not random; they showed his power over different forces in this world. What forces did he conquer? What areas of your life do you need to surrender to Jesus’ care and victory?
4. Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day were NOT on friendly terms. What does Jesus do by using a Samaritan to demonstrate the ideal neighbor? What type of people are hard for you to imagine God using to demonstrate his love?
5. Jesus tells parable after parable to teach about the Kingdom of God and how participants in the Kingdom are supposed to live. Why does Jesus tell stories to teach instead of simply explaining in black-and-white terms? Which parable is most meaningful to you? What does it say to you?
6. What does The Lord’s Prayer mean to you?
Prayer
Lord God,
In Jesus you spoke words that weren’t always received well or were misunderstood. Help me to tune my ears and my heart to hear you speak in my life, both in the places where I need to change and hear your hard truth, and in the places where you speak encouragement and unconditional love. Open my eyes and my ears to you always. Amen.
Journal your answers to these questions as you read through the chapter this week. You may wish to read one day and journal the next, or spread the questions over the whole week. Bible readings that correspond with this week’s reading can be found at log.org/resources/ the-story
1. Review the story of the soils (p. 335-336). At what points of your life has your faith been each kind of soil? Where
is your faith right now? (And, no matter what, take heart, because God relentlessly sows into all types over and over.)
2. Who do the shepherd and the woman in the lost sheep and lost coin parables represent? What do they value
(p. 337)? Compare what God values in these parables to what the Pharisees value (Luke 11:42-43, 16:14). Has your heart aligned more with God’s or with the Pharisees’ in the past week?
3. Jesus’ miracles were not random; they showed his power over different forces in this world. What forces did he conquer? What areas of your life do you need to surrender to Jesus’ care and victory?
4. Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day were NOT on friendly terms. What does Jesus do by using a Samaritan to demonstrate the ideal neighbor? What type of people are hard for you to imagine God using to demonstrate his love?
5. Jesus tells parable after parable to teach about the Kingdom of God and how participants in the Kingdom are supposed to live. Why does Jesus tell stories to teach instead of simply explaining in black-and-white terms? Which parable is most meaningful to you? What does it say to you?
6. What does The Lord’s Prayer mean to you?
Prayer
Lord God,
In Jesus you spoke words that weren’t always received well or were misunderstood. Help me to tune my ears and my heart to hear you speak in my life, both in the places where I need to change and hear your hard truth, and in the places where you speak encouragement and unconditional love. Open my eyes and my ears to you always. Amen.