Sunday Scripture

 

 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 September 15,  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 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) Friends and fellowship -- We have some great times of fellowship planned with friends several days this week.

2) Refreshment --  a ladies' retreat this weekend, and lovely time in God's creation planned for Tuesday.

3) Ministry --  Blogging,  Sunday School lesson prep, house and animal sitting, tea and discipleship time on Wednesday.

[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, although we did have a frightening national event last week that could have ramifications going into this one.  

Joys: Lots of joys to look forward to this week!  Time with friends in different settings nearly every day this week, plus a ladies' retreat for the weekend.

Worries: I try not to worry, knowing that anxiety can accomplish nothing, but to leave each concern in God's loving, capable hands.  That said, I do have some concerns about an unsettling situation.

Desires: Always, that God would be glorified in the events of this week.  That a situation I've prayed about for months and even years might be satisfactorily resolved.  To accomplish some things at home despite so much time out of the house.  To be a blessing to my teatime friends on Wednesday.  To learn and grow through my time at the retreat.

Stressors: Social media.  Loud, vociferous, opposing viewpoints.  Limitations of time and energy.  

🌿 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 ... so good to provide us with dear Christian friends.  You are so kind to give us time together in Your creation.  You are in full control of every aspect of this week.

* Lord, I feel ... very thankful for Christian friendship, fellowship, and opportunities to minister.  I feel very blessed with so many opportunities this week to spend time in Your creation and with friends, time for a retreat also.  I feel tired from the past 10 days of staying at our cottage and not getting much done at home.  

* Lord, help me with ... wise use of my time during the hours I am able to be at home.  Help me to stay warm enough at the retreat.  Help me to learn all that I can there, and to apply it to my life.

* Lord, forgive me for ... times when I don't use time wisely or take proper care of myself.

Make a note of four or five people you are praying for.  I listed a young friend;  a family experiencing serious turmoil; and a friend trying to manage severe pain.

🌿 The next section in this helpful guide is SCRIPTURE MEDITATION.  I chose to first meditate on this week's Scripture, Isaiah 64:8, 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= "But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we are all the work of Thine hand."  (Isaiah 64:8)

O=  Cross-references for "father" -- "Doubtless Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not; Thou, O LORD, art our Father, our redeemer; Thy name is from everlasting."  (Isaiah 63:16)

 "Thus saith the LORD, Israel is My son, even my first-born."  (Exodus 4:22)

Cross-references for "potter" -- "Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay; for shall the work say of him who made it, He made me not?  or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, He had no understanding?."  (Isaiah 29:16)

"Woe unto him that striveth with his maker!  Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.  Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?.  (Isaiah 45:4)

'O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?  saith the LORD.  Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."  (Jeremiah 18:6)

"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?  Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? "  (Romans 9:20-21)

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 the LORD, the self-existent One.  He is the Potter who has created each of us.  He is our Heavenly Father.

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

I'm a child of God; I'm His creation; I'm the clay in the hands of the Master Potter.

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

 Because God is my Father, and because He is working in my life, I should yield to His will for my life every day.  I should be living out His purposes on a daily basis..

 One retired pastor wrote, "The picture of a potter and His clay has several principles with it, but the main one is that of the Potter having the ability to make from the clay whatever He wants.  Are you willing to let God do whatever He wants in your life? God isn’t just any old potter.  He’s the Master Potter.  Would you entrust your paintbrush and canvas to Leonardo Da Vinci if he walked into your art studio?  Let God take your life and do what He wants.  He only makes masterpieces."

Warren Wiersbe says in Be Comforted, his study of Isaiah, "God is a forgiving Father and a patient Potter.  He can cleanse us and make us anew if we will let Him have His way."

P= "Lord,  I praise You for the astounding truth that You, the self-existent One, are also my Father since my adoption into Your family.  I praise You that as the Master Potter, You have a plan and purpose in mind for my life.   

    "I pray that You will help me to yield to Your plan for my life, every day of life.  Help me to remain aware of Your purposes for my life, and to live out Your purposes for me every day.  I praise You for how You will work, 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 wonderful staycation day with our friend Leslie, out in God's creation at Cannon Mountain and Echo Lake.

2) A lovely time with Jennifer and Deanna over tea and refreshments, on Wednesday.

3) A phone call from Rebekah.  Also chatting with Joanna and Jenn by phone.

4) Strength and wisdom in caring for the ducks, chickens, and cat.

5) A wonderful time celebrating Jennifer's birthday at their home..

🌿 SPIRITUAL GROWTH is the next prompt, and this week there's an emphasis on SERVING. We were to think about our available resources and to  consider how we could serve those in need  this week.  [And again, if you are following along, please think about this for yourself.]

I used time and energy to be available and enable my husband's caring for someone's ducks, chickens, and cat.  I used time, energy, and ingredients to prepare a teatime ministry for friends on Wednesday

🌿 Lastly is a GOSPEL-CENTERED AFFIRMATION: 

I am clay in the hand of God; He shapes my life with fatherly care..

We can take this encouraging thought into the coming week as we submit to God's shaping of our lives.

And there's the Sunday Scripture for this week!