Time for another Sunday Scripture! As I explained several weeks ago, I've made some changes in my Sunday posts, using the Daily Grace Co. book Fix Your Focus, which is really not a Bible study as such, but more of a guide to help you fix your focus on God, His Word, prayer, gratitude, and spiritual growth, every week for 52 weeks. I encourage you to follow along with us as we journal, look at Scripture, pray, and face the challenges of our weeks with our focus on Him. I truly hope that others are finding this as helpful as I am.
This week's lesson was actually done by me the week of May 19, but I will be working ahead of you readers. So here goes!
🌿 WEEK-AT-A-GLANCE CHECKLIST is further on in each week's section. But since I am working on Fix Your Focus all week long, I find it works best for me to do this checklist first. This checklist offers us four points:
* To make a plan for reading our Bibles and praying.
* To add any upcoming events to our calendars.
* To jot down a to-do list of tasks that must be completed this week.
* To make a note of our top three priorities for this week.
This last point is one that I need to pay special attention to every week. I've been finding it so helpful. (The other three points are things that I'm consistently doing.)
For this week, my top three priorities are:
1) Ministry at my volunteer job-- cleaning, organizing, helping to prepare for staff training week. Also ministry to other women as I write blog posts and do Sunday School prep, as well as teaching my ladies' Sunday School class.
2) Time at home and at our cottage -- cleaning, reorganizing, rearranging some furniture at the cottage
3) Health -- for the second half of the week, prioritizing rest, exercise, sleep, healthy eating.
[If you are following along with our study, this is the place to make a Week-at-a-Glance checklist and/or priority list for yourself!]
🌿 The first actual prompt for each week is JOURNAL. We are encouraged to take a few minutes to journal about our fears, joys, worries, desires and stressors concerning the week ahead. [If you are following along with us, take a moment in a journal or notebook to do just that.]. Here's what I wrote on Monday, breaking it down into the suggested categories:
Fears: No real fears going into this week. Maybe a concern for a "plain pine box" that my hubby agreed to build for a friend and that he may not complete it in time.
Joys: It's always a joy to serve at TWNE and at church, and by blogging. I look forward to the joy of spending time at our cottage and just relaxing for a couple of weeks.
Worries: Not really worries, just concerns for my husband's health. Trying to be sure we're doing what's best for him.
Desires: For God to ge glorified in the events of this week. To be the maximum amount of help in the first half of the week at TWNE. For both of us the take a break and get some rest in the second half of the week.
Stressors: Time constraints, things left undone at home, limitations of aging, and my hubby's skin condition.
🌿 The next prompt is PRAYER. It was suggested that we use several prayer prompts to have a conversation with God about the week ahead. [You can do the same. Use the very same prompts for your own prayer.]
* Lord, You are ... the great Physician, and I praise You that we are seeing some small signs of healing. You are in control of all that this week will hold, and You are sovereign over its events.
* Lord, I feel ... tired and unready for this week, as if I didn't get enough rest over the weekend. I feel a little bit overwhelmed by all that there is to do both here at TWNE and at home. I feel sad over some events in the lives of extended family.
* Lord, help me with ... all the cleaning that I have to do this week. I can only do this in Your strength and with the energy that You provide.
* Lord, forgive me for ... the times when I complain or sigh about being tired. Forgive me for worry or fear regarding my husband's skin condition. I want to be supportive and encouraging to him.
Make a note of four or five people you are praying for. I listed a dear friend who has just lost his wife; a young couple seeking God's direction; a middle-aged couple facing many life changes; and an older friend who needs God's comfort and encouragement.
🌿 The next section in this helpful guide is SCRIPTURE MEDITATION. I chose to first meditate on this week's Scripture, Matthew 9:37-38, using the SOAP method, and then answered several suggested questions. [You can use your own preferred method to meditate on this verse, and answer the questions below for yourself.]
S= "Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into the harvest. (Matthew 9:37-38)
O= The first word we see is "Then". The question that should logically spring to our minds is "When?" To answer this question we must look back to the preceding verses. If we look back to verse 35 we see that Jesus had gone about all the cities and villages, teaching in synagogues, preaching the gospel, and healing sickness and disease among the people. Verse 36 begins with "But", indicating a change of direction. It says "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."
So, upon seeing the great need of the multitudes and being moved with compassion toward them, Jesus spoke to His disciples and called their attention to the plenteous harvest field and the scarcity of laborers. Then He asked them to pray. Because the harvest was plenteous and the laborers were few, He asked them to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth more laborers.
Spurgeon wrote, "His heavy heart sought solace among 'his disciples', and he spake to them. He mourned the scantiness of workers. Pretenders were many, but real “labourers” in the harvest were few. The sheaves were spoiling. The crowds were ready to be taught, even as ripe wheat is ready for the sickle; but there were few to instruct them, and where could more teaching men be found?"
The ESV says "pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest". "Pray" here is the Greek deomai, meaning to ask for something with the sense of beseeching or pleading.
Cross-reference for "pray the Lord of harvest" -- "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you." (2 Thessalonians 3:1)
Cross-references for "send forth laborers" (v.38) -- "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20)
"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-12)
A= To help with my application of these verses, I answered the three questions from Fix your Focus:
* Reflect on what this verse tells you about who God is.
He is a God who speaks to and directs His servants. He is the Lord of the harvest.
* Think about what this verse tells you about who you are.
I'm a servant and disciple of Christ -- and, to a small extent, a laborer in His harvest field.
* Throughout the week, consider how these verses should affect the way you live.
I should be praying that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into His harvest fields. I should be willing, as He directs, to labor in the "corners of His vineyard" where He places me.
"The harvest is plentiful (polus = large, great), but the workers are few - This was true then and is sadly true today. How many sit in church on Sunday and live the other 6 days almost completely unconcerned and/or indifferent to the the eternal destiny of those souls they encounter?" -- Adrian Rogers
Haddon W. Robinson wrote in Our Daily Bread, "The harvest has never been greater. But Jesus noted, “The laborers are few.” Why? How come there aren’t enough workers to gather in the crop? There are certainly enough professing Christians to make a dent in the harvest, but we don’t seem to want to go. Is it a fear that we may fail? Are we afraid that people will reject us and our message?
Don’t let fear stop you. Go out into the “fields” of your neighborhood, your worksite, your school. You can’t control the response—but you can preach the message."
P= "Lord, I praise You for how you speak to and direct Your people. I thank You for the amazing privilege of being Your child and a servant of yours. I pray that You will send forth laborers into Your harvest field. Thank You for the opportunities You give me to be a testimony to others and to impact their lives. I pray that You will help me to share Your Word and Gospel message with those in my life who need to hear. I praise You for all You will do, in Jesus' name, Amen."
🌿 GRATITUDE is the next prompt. We were to reflect on the way God has shown His faithfulness to you over the past week and list five things we are thankful for. [If you are following along with us, be sure to make your own list of five things!]. Here is my list:
1) A couple of days at home last week.
2) Strength for serving at TWNE and the wisdom to pace myself in my tasks.
3) God's provision to help me prepare a backup message for Saturday's brunch when it looked as if our speaker might have to cancel.
4) The ladies' brunch that our hospitality team put together for last Saturday. Such a delightful, encouraging time!
5) A short but sweet phone conversation with my young friend Jennifer.
🌿 SPIRITUAL GROWTH is the next prompt, and this week there's an emphasis on FELLOWSHIP. We were to plan a time to fellowship with friends this week. [And again, if you are following along, please think about this for yourself.]
We've had some great times of fellowship around the staff table in the dining hall at TWNE this week. Good fellowship with church family at prayer meeting and certainly planning for more at church on Sunday. We're also planning a get-together with friends for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.
🌿 Lastly is a GOSPEL-CENTERED AFFIRMATION:
I will engage in spreading the Gospel message.
We can take this challenging thought into the coming week and watch for opportunities to share the Gospel with others!
There's the Sunday Scripture for this week!
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