Sunday Scripture

Time for another Sunday Scripture!  As previously mentioned, I'm 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 August 25,  but I am 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) Health -- walking, exercise, healthy eating, water/salt, early light, staycation day, research dental issues.

2) Homemaking -- a 7-day home reset, zone missions, decluttering.

3) Ministry -- SS lesson prep and teaching, blogging, make a meal for a new mom, note to friends, host ladies meeting at our cottage, share devotional, cleaning the church.

[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 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.  

Joys: It's a joy to consider a simple but effective home reset, but as the week wore on it became evident I won't accomplish that this week or next.  Our Ladies of Grace meetings are always a joy, and it's been awhile since we've had one.  A staycation day at a museum will be a joy.

Worries: No real worries.  I try not to worry because Jesus says believers are not to worry.  

Desires: To glorify God in the events of this week.  I sincerely desire to do this 7-day reset of our home, as I think it would be so effective and a blessing.

Stressors: Time and energy constraints are the big ones.  If I find time for a walk, for example, there is something else important that ends up being left undone.  The home reset I so desired to do barely got started.  My hubby's diet for his skin condition has been a bit stressful also.  He's always hungry and I'm working hard to make sure he gets enough protein.

🌿 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 ... in full control of every detail of this week.  You are aware of how stressed I am getting regarding time.  My times are in Your hand.  You are more than able to provide the time and energy for things that are truly important.

* Lord, I feel ... discouraged.  I try so hard to use my time wisely and make every moment count, but I feel I am constantly behind.

* Lord, help me with ... these feelings of discouragement.  Help me with meal planning to accommodate the diet.  Help me with figuring out a series of seven days that will work for a home reset.  

* Lord, forgive me for ... times when I get stressed about all I have to do and how far behind I seem to be.  Forgive me for the times when I allow people and circumstances to irritate me.  Forgive me for times when I am unwise in my use of time.

Make a note of four or five people you are praying for.  I listed  a young mom and her kids in a heartrending situation, and also a couple dealing with several difficult  life transitions.

🌿 The next section in this helpful guide is SCRIPTURE MEDITATION.  I chose to first meditate on this week's Scripture, Hebrews 13:8, 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= "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever."  (Hebrews 13:8)

O= Scofield titles Hebrews 13:1-9 "The changeless Christ."

Cross-references for "the same" "They shall perish, but Thou remainest; and they all shall become old as doth a garment, And as a vesture shall Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same and Thy years shall not fail."  (Hebrews 1:11-12)

 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."  (John 8:58)

In Revelation 1:4 John describes Jesus as "Him who is, and who was, and who is to come." 

And in Revelation 1:8 Jesus says of Himself, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

A= To help with my application of this verse, I answered the three questions from Fix your Focus:

* Reflect on what this verse tells you about who God is.

He is Jesus Christ.  He is changeless.  He is always the same:

* yesterday

* today

* forever.

* Think about what this verse tells you about who you are.

I am blessed to be a person who has a personal relationship with this almighty, unchangeable God..

* Throughout the week, consider how this verse should affect the way you live.

 It's an incredible blessing to know that Jesus is always the same.  He is consistent and can always be depended upon.  I can know that His Word will always be true and that He will always keep His promises.

One writer has broken it down this way:

 Yesterday - The day of the apostles

Today - The day of the writing of the letter to the Hebrews

Forever - Throughout eternity (this includes yesterday and today!).

" Christ the Immutable One is our sure anchor amid waves of suffering, affliction and uncertainty." -- Author Unknown 

"Jesus Christ is the same now as He was in times gone by. He is the same today as He was from old eternity. Before all worlds, He planned our salvation; He entered into covenant with His Father to undertake it. His delights were with the sons of men in prospect, and now today He is as steadfast to that covenant as ever. He will not lose those who were then given to Him, nor will He fail or be discouraged until every stipulation of that covenant shall be fulfilled. Whatever was in the heart of Christ before the stars began to shine, that same infinite love is there today." -- Charles Spurgeon 

Vernon C. Grounds noted in Our Daily Bread, "Change is the one certainty in our world. Henry Lyte’s melancholy line in his hymn “Abide With Me” is true: “Change and decay in all around I see.” But the hymn immediately adds, “O Thou who changest not, abide with me!”

"By faith in Jesus Christ we can have a relationship with the unchanging God, who says of Himself in Malachi 3:6, 'I am the Lord, I do not change.' We can depend on God to be the same forever, as the psalmist says (Psalm 102:27). Hebrews 13:8 adds this reassuring testimony: 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.' He is our firm foundation, who can give us confidence and security in this changing world."

P= "Lord, how very thankful I am that You are the same yesterday, and today, and forever.  I am incredibly blessed to have a personal relationship with You, the almighty, unchangeable God of the universe.  I praise You that every one of Your words is true from the beginning and that Your promises will always be kept.

    "I pray that You will help me every day to rest in Your unchanging truths and character.  You can always be trusted!  I thank and praise You for this  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) Strength and energy for a very busy weekend.

2) The tremendous blessing of a baptism on Sunday in a beautiful lake.

3) The way God orchestrated every detail of that baptism to give the couple being baptized the desire of their heart at a location deeply meaningful to them.

4) Being able to chat with my young friend Rebekah, now living in another state, by phone.

5) A lovely staycation day at a quiet mountain lake.

🌿 SPIRITUAL GROWTH is the next prompt, and this week there's an emphasis on REST. We were make a plan to intentionally rest this week.  [And again, if you are following along, please think about this for yourself.]

We're trying to incorporate rest every week by making Monday a staycation day and also by spending Sunday afternoons at our camp whenever possible.

🌿 Lastly is a GOSPEL-CENTERED AFFIRMATION: 

There is nothing and no one as reliable as Jesus; He never changes.

We can take this comforting, encouraging thought into the coming week as we seek to live every day to God's glory.

And there's the Sunday Scripture for this week!