Sunday Scripture

 

Time for another Sunday Scripture!  This is part of an ongoing series on my simple study of Rachel Wojo's Everything Beautiful.  You can read about the plan here if you are interested in it for yourself: Everything Beautiful Bible reading plan. My answers and input on this series are a combination of what I learned back in 2018, and what I found in looking over the Scriptures now, six years later.  I'm attempting to SOAP the passages too, though some of them are longer. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Today's study is from 1 Peter 1:20-25.  

S= "[Christ] was verily foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
"Who by Him do believe in God, who raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.
"Seeing that ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit with unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently,
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
"For all flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man like the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and its flower falleth away,
"But the word of the Lord endureth forever.  And this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you."  (1 Peter 1:20-25)

O= "Foreordained" (verse 20) literally means "foreknown".  It is the Greek PROGINOSKO, "to know before", used in this case of Divine knowledge concerning Christ, according to Vine's Dictionary of New Testament Words.

Cross-reference for "foreordained" is Acts 2:23 -- "Him [Jesus] being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."

Cross-references for "believe" (v. 21) -- "And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ."  (1 John 3:23)

"Wherefore, also, it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.
"Unto you, therefore, who believe He is precious; but unto them who are disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner."  (1 Peter 2:6-7)

In relation to "believe", Scofield offers this summary of faith: "The essence of faith consists in believing and receiving what God has revealed, and may be defined as that trust in the God of the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ whom He has sent, which receives Him as Lord and Savior and impels to loving obedience and good works."

Cross-reference for "Spirit" (v. 23) -- "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit."  (1 Peter 3:18)

Cross-references for "love of the brethren" and "love one another" (v. 23) -- "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another; love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous."  (1 Peter 3:8)

"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another;  as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."  (John 13:34)

"And now I beseech thee ... not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another."  (2 John 5)

Cross-references for "Word of God" (v. 23) -- "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which you heard of us, ye received it, not as the word of men but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh in you that believe."  (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

"Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures."  (James 1:18)

Cross-reference for "all flesh is like grass" (v. 24) -- "The voice said, Cry.  And he said, What shall I cry?  All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of the LORD bloweth upon it; surely the people are grass.
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever."  (Isaiah 40:6-8)

"Word" (v. 25) literally means "saying".  This is the Greek noun RHEMA, used twice in this verse to refer to "a statement, command, instruction", etc.  

Cross-reference for "gospel" -- 1 Peter 1:12 refers to "them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into."

A= For this Scripture, there were a number of ways to apply it as prompted in the journal.  

"Place today's hope where it lasts beyond tomorrow.  Then do it again." -- Rachel Wojo

Warren Wiersbe wrote in With the Word, Men's hopes are dead hopes.  Like cut flowers, they bloom awhile and then fade and die.  The Christian's hope is fresh and fruitful because it is a 'living hope', purchased by the living Christ and promised in the living Word."

Rachel also shares a "focus word" in each of the devotional pages.  I hadn't previously paid much attention to these for the Sunday Scripture posts, but have decided to do so now.

For this lesson the focus word is "repetition".  In thinking of this word, I set a goal for myself: Begin to intentionally practice gratitude on a daily basis.  Morning by morning.  Day after day.

The question was asked: How can I realign the eyes of my heart to see the Father's present of everyday elegance?

My response in 2018: Remember that God's Word lives and abides forever.  I can trust it!  His Word will always be truer than my own thoughts and feelings.

Answering this same question in 2024: Adjust my attitude to one of praise and gratitude at the beginning of each day, before I even get out of bed. 

This prompt was given, along with a list: Today I will keep my eyes open for God's beauty in one or more of these places.

These are the places I circled: The words I read; the places I go; the air I breathe; the weather I experience; the rest I receive.

In 2024 I can note that for the places I go, we took a day trip to York, Maine and saw some glorious sights -- Old white and purple lilacs beside the sea; a white wooden arbor overhung with cascades of lavender wisteria.  I wish we had taken more photos that day, but we didn't.

For the weather I experience, I can say we've been experiencing some beautifully sunny, though breezy, weather.

 
For the rest I receive, I didn't really note it that day, but the following day I realized how re-energized I was feeling just to have had a day away with no responsibilities.  It made a good bridge between our work at The Wilds of New England and the busyness of summer, which kicked off the following Monday as we hosted friends and family at our cottage.

A journaling prompt was this:  List one or more ideas to remind myself to intentionally look for God's beauty throughout the day.

My response in 2018: Look out the window often.  Get out and walk on the porch if at all possible.  Soak up any sunshine that may come my way.  Admire God's beauty in the colors of everyday objects.

For my response in 2024, I added: Make a habit of thanking and praising God when I first wake up.  Make a habit of seeing His hand in everything.

P= "Lord, I do thank and praise You for Your Word, which lives and abides forever.  I praise You that this is the Word by which the Gospel was preached to me and by which I understood my need for salvation.  Now I need to obey its truths and trust its promises every day.  I praise You for how You'll help me to do that,  in Jesus' name , Amen."

 And there is this week's Sunday Scripture!  I pray it's a blessing to someone.