"In What Direction are You Heading?" by Gale Nelson
Date: Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Tags: #Direction #Focus #Sodom #Gomorrah #Lot

This lesson hearkens back to one's focus: are you looking AHEAD, or are you looking BACK?

KEY SCRIPTURES
Luke 17:32-33
Genesis 19:1-26

KEY TERMS

• Angel: a messenger of God.
• Press (dioko): to pursue; put to flight.
• Mark (skopos): to fix the eye on a mark/target like a telescope.

KEY LESSON QUESTIONS

• What does Jesus mean by losing one's life? (see Galatians 2:20)
• Why do we hesitate when God is so clear?
• How does a double-minded person behave? (see James 1:8)
• How should we walk today?

LESSON AT A GLANCE

• The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were doomed to destruction because of the inhabitants vile and sinful lifestyles.

• Genesis 19:12-14… Lot is instructed by two angels to get anyone out of the city that belongs to him: his son-in-laws he was joking.

• Genesis 19:15-16… Even knowing the judgment that waited Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot hesitated, but the Lord was merciful that the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters, and led them out.

• Genesis 19:17-19… The messenger gave clear instructions for Lot and family to get out, and not look back.

• Genesis 19:20-22… Lot and his family ultimately fled to a small town called Zoar.
○ Zoar means "little one or smallness" in the Greek, or "insignificant" in the Hebrew.

• Genesis 19:23-26… Once the family reached Zoar, God sent burning fire out of heaven, utterly destroying the entire cities. His wife disobeyed the command of the Lord, and looked back, perishing with the city.

• What lessons can be extracted from Genesis 19?

○ Lot's wife was warned of the danger (v. 17) and made an effort to be saved.

○ Lot's wife was lost because her heart was still in Sodom. She was convinced, but not converted. She was double-minded.

○ Lot's wife committed one sin--she was guilty of the sin of unbelief.
(Example: "I know what the bible says, but...")

• We please God by walking by faith, walking soberly, or walking in the light (see 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 1:7; Galatians 5:17)

• When we walk by the Spirit (see Romans 8:1), we are living by the word of God (see Ephesians 6:17).

• Where are we going?
The work and our salvation is before us, not behind us… Philippians 3:12-14

○ 1) Understand where you are now as you seek to move forward.
○ 2) Keep the past in the past.
○ 3) Press toward the mark.


CALL TO ACTION:
* Look ahead.…Luke 9:62
* God's Plan of Salvation... https://miamigardenscoc.net/salvation.php
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RECOMMENDED LINKS
* Reflections…What Do You See? https://youtu.be/oPkC14s8IsQ
* Paying Attention to the Pattern: https://youtu.be/dooG6SU6tto
* Missing the Mark: https://youtu.be/dViFvu_bmUs
* The Messy Mark: https://youtu.be/MDvORKoKDBM
* Website: https://www.miamigardenscoc.net