gentle and lowly • study guide

LESSON 8
My heart yearns for him.
Jeremiah 31:20

Chapters 17 & 18 Teaching Video 8

What is the most extravagant way that you show you care about them/ they
show theycare about you?

Show that they love you.

1)Husband doing house chores.

2) Said yes to proposal.

Think about how we express love to other people/ how other express love to
you. We will come back to that later.
Jer 31, 1 to 29 is abt judgement , refusing god goodness. 34 to rest of book
is about god judgement and abomination .

Taken from the video

God draws near and make the main point . he is going to pour his own heart.
Look at 31: 20 . justice and judgment, I do rmb him still. He is
omniscience . Rmb is a covenant term. He is recalling his mercy. I do rmb
him still. Then we read. Therefore my heart yearns for huim. I will; surely
on mercy on him. I will most certainly on mercy on him. My heart is not the
most common Hebrews heart. My deepest, myra (heart and intestine ). Is
this miserabl not only repent of your ins, Repent of your small thoughts of
God’s heart.

Watch a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFlT0NQCmqc
Q: isa 55: 6-9
Speaking abt something abt God.
Language of abandon. Why should we return to him ? for his thought. His
intention and plan , purposes. Neither are your ways . the way we naturally
think abt others is different from god think. That not only mean he
providentially rule . he abandonly pardon, embrace us . he is very deeply
different from us . let the god of isa 55 surprise you with goodness.

1. Have you ever said to someone, in the wake of a

mysterious providence in life, “God’s ways are not our
ways”? What did you mean by that?

First 5 ques focus on providence, last 5 is abt god most yearning love .
M; I mean maybe a circumstance happen differently from what I think. Will
God work in mysterious way, more in the framework I could not imagine
this way, God imagine this way .
Y: that is usually we think abt providence and god sovereignty.

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 LESSON 8

(pp. 155–57)
2. In light of Isaiah 55:6–9, what is the specific meaning of the Bible when
it says that God’s ways are not our ways?

Y; what does that mean ?

E: god will have mercy and will freely pardon, which is usually not our
usual thought.
Y: look at what comes before , we turn to the lord and he may have
compassion him and god will pardon. I think in pg 157 of the book. God.
Even we understand god will understand god will pardon us, we don’t fully
believe, question god heart of pardoning us . God is quite decisive. He will
abandon pardon us and frewely pardon us . ofc he will pardon.

3. We know intuitively that God is not like us. But what do

we learn from Isaiah 55 and Psalm 103 about the deepest
way in which God is not like us, and what does this tell us
about the way we fallen humans are hardwired? (pp. 157–58)

E: Refer to ps 103: 11, 12

M: he forgice ppl graciously, abdundantly. Scripture said human don’t. now
the ques if we look at ourselves that we are far less forgiving than god . I
think the ans is yes
Y; what abt when someone abundantly forgive us ?
J: are you setting any condition ?
Y: what happened when you see this in parents when go to dinner?
Everyone jumps to pay the biull. There is true generosity . there is kinda
face . it is afce involved and does not come from good place. Let me let me .
it is so hard to accept someone abundance grace for you. I guess the author
trying to say we are not hardwired to take God grace at afce value.
M: if you argue with somebody , and you don’t think you are
wrong .someone said they forgive you. To accept forgiveness is to say that
we are wrong . to know that we go against god , to understand that , that put
you to the place of lowly , humble and recoignise that y ou r wrong . then
the response is relief.
H: I guess God steadfast love is unchanging . we will love diff one in varied
amount. It is comforting to know that his love is unimaginable.
Y: read one from the book : receive 7 year old . What would we say to a seven-
year-old who, upon being
given a birthday gift by his loving father, immediately scrambled
to reach for his piggy bank to try to pay his dad back? How painful
to a father’s heart. That child needs to change his very view of who
his father is and what his father delights to do.
The natural flow of the fallen human heart is toward reciprocity,
tit-for-tat payback, equanimity, balancing of the scales. We are far
more intractably law-ish than we realize. There . you have been forgiven .

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 g e n t l e a n d low ly • s t u d y g u i d e

4. “He isn’t like you. Even the most intense of human love is
but the faintest echo of heaven’s cascading abundance.” Do
you believe this? How does this affect the way you live
your Christian life today? (p. 160)

In a breakout room in 5 mins .

J: we know in the head that god loves us , sometimes we get too distracted to love others, it
is in our head, but not in our heart . ??

R: what I notice , it is compare egg to elephant. The size diff is way too big. Cant even
compare 100 eggs to 1 elephant :

M: we all said yes to first part. We have various responses. To be fully know and fully love,
( keller quotw from meaning of marriage ) . how do help us to be more forgiving people . to
be forgiving people . and not to hold on to grudge. We talk abt recriprol love. If god loves
us so much , we need to recriorocate God love . we see how god treat us, recriprocal love
that helps us as Christians.

Y; how is the cross the epitome of God love .?

Jhe will call isarel back to himself . the cross said to us. Both. God is not his is more
wrathful , and vice versa.

5. Where are the two places God most loves to dwell,

according to Isaiah 57:15? How does this connect with
Matthew 11:29 and with your own life? (pp. 161–62)

In high and low . the high is the holy place. In the lowly place to revive us .
Y: he is not like us , his way is not our way. But at the same time, I am lowly. How does
that connect to matt 11: 29?

V: self disclosure that he is v humble . he is very gentle and lowly. He is trying to be… in v
25 , all things forgiven by me by the father. He is saying that he is lowly. David son . …
Y; I have this unique rs with the father. Im gentle and lowly . that is precisely is 55 talking
abt

M: high and holy, he comes to us sinner. High there diff, coming to us unclean. When he
said that he is holwy , he is not saying that he is not unclean .

Y; before we move on to next chapter .

H; the physical manifestation of isa 57. Showing who god is . he comes from . showing it to
the ppl around .

M: there is no progressive link to there. In christ . connect the same thing . christ is not
cointradicting

Y; author is not claiming . you cant spearte the son from Gid , a reflkectrion of God in Nt .
god is not divisive,

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 LESSON 8

6. Given the thrust of the first twenty-nine chapters of

Jeremiah, what would you expect to find in chapters 30–33,
as God gives his response to the first twenty-nine chapters?
What do we in fact discover? (pp. 163–65)

Y:

J; god is pointing out what is wrong . I expect the judgement in chap 30 .

Y: boss is calling you into the meeting room and you expect the judgement . another longer
judging other nation . we find Ephraim , very decisive language .

7. What is the exact Hebrew word for “heart” as used in

Jeremiah 31:20? How would you put into your own words
what we are being told about who God is? (p. 165)

Y: God cant wait to show mercy to Hebrews . that’s where the word feeling comes from .

Y: I guess to put not very coherently , gut , bowel, yearn. His love is not cerebral love. Not
his heart is out for you, his depp cmotion is for you. If you say I love you to neighbour.
That what the ord trying to express./ all of him will love you.
M: I went thru a funeral recently at the age of 39. And seeing the father , feel like my limb
is cut off. That is this kind of love trying to express. Completely bodily express, you gut is
turned out and your limb is cut off. The illustration is abit too somber.

Y: do you think god is yearning for you ? we think abt that sort of yearning love.
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8. Do you think of God as yearning for you? What does this

do for you as you ponder this truth? (pp. 165–67)

Y; if you know that there is a persistent sin in your live, since god yearn for you, what does
that do for you ?

E: changes the way I approach God in my prayer. It feels like god is far away . if I don’t
think that goid years for you, I really need to pray more, be a really good Christians. He
also wants me to approach him . he wants me to walk with him ,

Y: we will approach God very differently , he does yearn to commune with us ..

9. What is the point of Thomas Goodwin’s statement on page 167?

How would you put it into your own words?

Y: pity sins, anger , child and father . what doo you understand of this. I guess thia ia a bit
too abstract. In our fight against sin , where would jesus stand ? I gues that is more
abstract ? if jesus stand aginstr us , he is not standing against us, he is standing with us
against the sin.

He is not standing afar . he is our advocate . the bible use the whole range , jesus is for us.
M: use chatgpt to answer. Find answer in chatgpt.
Y: it does admitting that you sick, thank you that you are with me.

M: what he is not saying that God forgive you without repentane. If we come repentantly
towards him . I don’t afraid in my repentance I will be rejected. He desires us to do so .

Y: just curious , did you have any issue with the language throughout these chapters? You
wan come

H: I come from the church that only talks about justice and judegment . I never thought of
god in this way . will god forgive if I am not repent

You are repented and you don’t believe god will forgive . in mark 6 ..???

M; he compares our justifaction with our adoption. We have been made right with god. My
question if somebody declare you just and free, would you be satisfied with that ? you wont
expect the judge to adopt you . we don’t expect judge. Forgeting the adoption. He does not
forgive you, adopt you into his family and writes you a will. Ppacker said that adoption is
more than justification. That is what this chapter reminds us . he adopts us as sons and
daugthers many of us

Y: adoption is higher privilege according to packer. We are so easily satisfied with our
justification .

Matt papa: talk about sanctification , as the bible argues, if we know him who is holy, we
will wants to holy , will naturally yearn for sanctification.

M; you cant be justified without being adopted. We don’t make ourselves aware of it .

Y: I struggle with the language of . I never say that I love you with all my bowel.
Thatispretty mushy. That is not adequate . that does not make him more wrath/love towards

M; reminds us of the song how depp the father loves for us .

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 LESSON 8

10. Have you considered the possibility that one of the most
griev-ous errors in your life is deflecting rather than letting
in the oceanic love of God? Do you feel reluctant to let him
love you? Why or why not? (pp. 168–70)

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