What will have the last word in your life?

Satan wants nothing more than to drown out God’s voice in our lives. From insecurities, to fear, shame, temptation, confusion, and more, his purpose is to thwart God’s perfect purpose in and through our lives. Will we allow our sinful nature, the opinion of others, or those foolish mind games from the enemy to get the best of us? Will we fall for his lies?

What about temptation and sin? Satan certainly knows our weaknesses, and he is relentless. Will we allow the consequences of our sin to bury us in a pit of despair and separate us from an intimate relationship with God? Satan would like to make us think that we are hopeless to ever change. Or, he may try to convince us that we need to work to earn God’s favor. He tries to ensnare is in the bondage of legalism, addiction, fear, and shame.

We allow Satan’s lies to intimidate us and keep us in bondage, or we can choose to allow God’s truths to trump anything Satan throws at us. When we allow God to have the last word in our lives, his grace saves us, protects us, and preserves us, just as we have seen in the example of Noah’s story.

I can imagine some of the messages going through Noah’s head during all those years of constructing this enormous ark that God commanded him to build. Perhaps his mind was flooded with doubts concerning his ability to hear clearly from God in the first place, or his possible lack of skill for following through with God’s instructions, the fear of how his actions would affect his family, perhaps replaying his own faults, or trying to shut out the ridicule of the neighbors who mocked and jeered as he continued this momentous task.

As we begin to make the many connections between Noah’s story and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be able to plug in our own stories and change the rhetoric in our minds. We can be free and walk in newness of life.

Here are a few brief examples:

• We will see how the foolishness of the ark to the bystanders who would perish in the storm is a mere shadow of the foolishness of the cross to “those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 cor. 1:18).
• Just as the ark was provided by God to protect those who believed God’s Word (Noah’s family) from the flood, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
• “Just as the ark was the only refuge for those who wanted to survive the storm, so ‘there is salvation in no one else’ but Jesus” (Acts 4:12).
• Just as those who had hidden within the ark experienced absolute safety and security through the storm, there is also absolute security for those lives who are “hidden with Christ in  God” (Col. 3:3)
• “Just as all those outside the ark perished because they refused to believe the truth and be saved, so will all those outside of Christ perish ‘because they refused to love the truth and so be saved'” (2 Thess. 2:10).

We have an exciting week of discussion in our small groups this week, and I hope this story becomes so much more profound and relevant to your life than ever before. May God’s Word be the word that ultimately prevails in our lives!

Week 4 Discussion Questions

Here is a preview of what we will be talking about in our small groups from WEEK 4.

ICE BREAKER:  Since we will be discussing the story of Noah’s Ark this week, imagine what it would have been like to live on the ark during the world-wide flood. What do you think would have been the most difficult part of living on the ark? Are there any animals you wish would have missed the ship?

QUESTION 1:  We read in the teaching chapter this week that Noah was a sinner saved by grace, protected by grace, and preserved by grace, much like what Christ has provided for us. Has it always been your understanding that God initiated and provided Noah’s righteousness, or like Nancy described as her own past understanding, have you thought that Noah was the only righteous one and, because of that, he found favor with God? What difference does it make?

 QUESTION 2: As we see Noah, his family, and the animals protected inside the ark, we discover an Old Testament picture of the saving work of Jesus Christ. All who “hide” in Christ will be protected from judgment. As you made the connections between the ark and how it pictures Christ in the Personal Bible study section, which aspects were most meaningful to you?

QUESTION 3: As Nancy describes, we tend to turn this into a cute children’s story, and even as adults we are pained to face up to the stark reality of the divine judgment and gruesome death in this story. Why do you think we are so uncomfortable with it, and why is it important that we not conveniently delete it from the story?

 QUESTION 4: Though Noah was a righteous man in that he embraced God’s covenant from the heart, he was still a sinner. What were the signs of that when he emerged from the ark and began to build a new life on dry land?

QUESTION 5: The big question of this week was, “What will have the last word in your life?” Though Noah inherited a sin nature and was surrounded by wicked sinners, sin did not have the last word in his life. Would you be willing to share how you dealt with this question personally this week? Is there anything other than the grace provided to you in Jesus Christ that threatens to have the last word I your life?

QUESTION 6: What impacted you most from this week’s study?

Week 5 Assignments

LEVEL 1:

1. The Tower of Babel, Genesis 10:1-12:3
2. Personal Bible Study, pp. 119-121
3. Teaching Chapter: “How Genesis Points to What Is Yet to Come,” pp. 138-140
4. Participate in a small group. (Discussing Week 4)

 LEVEL 2:

1. Look for daily activities in the Heart to Heart Facebook group.
2. Watch “Quick Study” video from Genesis 10-13, “The Language of Mankind”
3. Video and article by John Piper, “The Pride of Babel and the Praise of Christ”

LEVEL 3:

1. Scripture memory of the week: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:2-3 NIV
2. SOAP Scriptures: See here for instructions and examples.
   1. Monday: Read Genesis 11:1-9, SOAP verse 6
   2. Tuesday: Read Genesis 11:10-12:1, SOAP 12:1
   3. Wednesday: Read Genesis 12:1-9, SOAP verses 2-3
   4. Thursday: Read Genesis 12:10-20, SOAP verse 17
   5. Friday: Read Genesis 13, SOAP verse 8
3. (Optional): Watch Video, Week 5

 LEVEL 4:

1. Read Genesis, chapters 1-25
2. Daily journaling or blogging about how God speaks to you through His Word
3. Articles:
   1. “Was the Dispersion at Babel a Real Event?”
   2. “More Than PIE: Babel Explains Distinct Language Families”

How This Works

1. If you have not done so already, please register by leaving your name and email address in a comment below.
2. Purchase the book, The Promised One: Seeing Jesus in Genesis, by Nancy Guthrie. You can find it at one of these sites:

Nancy Guthrie’s website

Amazon: Paperback, Kindle

Christianbook.com: Paperback, ebook

Barnes and Noble: Paperback Click “View all available formats and editions” for link to purchase Nook book.

LifeWay: This book is no longer available at Lifeway.com. If you would like to pick it up at your local LifeWay store, you may need to request a special order, but they should be able to get it for you.

1. Subscribe to this site to receive future updates by email. Enter your email address in the field to the right, and then click the subscribe button.
2. Join our closed Facebook group, Heart to Heart Women’s Bible Study, for weekly interaction, activities, videos, and small group sessions. Closed means that no one will be able to see our posts unless they are members of the group. This is for your safety and privacy.
3. Small Groups: See the pinned post at the top of the Facebook group, Heart to Heart Women’s Bible Study, for the schedule and instructions. All you need to do is show up at the scheduled day and time, and the discussion will take place underneath the group photo. 
4. Follow my ministry page on Facebook, Shari Lewis Ministries, to stay up-to-date on ministry events and for daily prayers, nuggets of wisdom and encouragement for your life, photos that you are welcome to share, and faith building blog posts to strengthen you in your walk with Christ.

Well, that’s it! A full week of resources to explore and study! I look forward to seeing you in a small group this week, and I pray that this will be an extremely blessed, eye-opening, and heart-transforming week of Bible study!