Sunday Scripture

 It's time for another Sunday Scripture!

This week's lesson was actually done by me the week of November 10.

🌿 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) Revival meetings at church this week

2) Friendships -- time with friends from Vermont on Veterans Day, and with friends from Indiana on Thursday

3) Ministry --  planning, packing, and food prep for next week's ministry at TWNE.

[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.  A few concerns.   

Joys: Hosting friends at our camp is always a joy, especially friends we seldom see. 

Worries: Jesus said not to worry, and I seek not to.  But I have a few concerns, mostly about a vehicle that's supposed to arrive here and hasn't yet.  We have a lot to do this week and can't be bothered waiting around for it.  I'm sure it will arrive in God's timing, so I'm trying not to worry.

Desires: That God will be glorified in the events of this week.  To experience personal revival and be encouraged in my walk with God.  To be an encouragement to friends going through hard times.  To be a blessing to friends we visit with.  To plan and prepare well for next week's ministry.

Stressors: A lot of non-communication concerning a vehicle delivery.  The limitations of aging.  Energy and time constraints.  The stress of trying to get to church for revival meetings every evening.  Trying to make sure we are around when this vehicle arrives and yet having a very busy schedule to try and work around.

🌿 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 this week and all that it will hold. You are aware of my limitations and of all the stressors present in this week.  You are the One who will orchestrate this week as You see best.  You are able to give strength and You promise that Your strength will be made perfect in my weakness.  You are able to expand my time and I praise You that I've so often seen You do this.  You are fully aware of the location of this vehicle and we will trust Your timing and omnipotence in getting it safely to us.  You are so good to give us Christian friends and times of fellowship and revival!

* Lord, I feel ... a bit overwhelmed by all of the planning and details to keep straight.  A bit unsettled as we continue to wait for this vehicle to arrive.  I feel tired as it's been a busy week between revival services and hosting friends.  I feel a bit disorganized and not ready to leave on Sunday night for a week of ministry.  I feel completely inadequate to do any of this on my own -- and I guess that's actually a very good thing.

* Lord, help me with ... "just everything", as one of my girls used to say.  Help me with prioritizing, with knowing what must be done and in what order, and what can be left undone for now.    Help me to think clearly as I prepare for next week's ministry at TWNE.  Help me to have the energy needed to do all that must be done.

* Lord, forgive me for ... attitudes that don't please You; any time when I try to act in my own wisdom or strength; any lack of trust on my part.

* Make a note of 4 or 5 people you are specifically praying for.  I listed a friend dealing with severe pain; his wife as she tries to help and encourage him; and two widows in their 80s who are traveling (one by car, one by plane) this week.

🌿 The next section in this helpful guide is SCRIPTURE MEDITATION.  I chose to first meditate on this week's Scripture, Ecclesiastes 7:9, 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= "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools."  (Ecclesiastes 7:9)

O=   This is a very simple directive: 

Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry.

WHY?

Because anger rests in the bosom of fools.

"Hasty" implies impatience, hastiness, or readiness to become angry.  The picture is of a person who is easily provoked or lacking restraint.   This is not just about external outbursts, explains one scholar, but the inner posture of a person.  This calls for Spirit-enabled self-control, slowness to anger, and inner calmness.

 "For" explains why you should not be eager to be angry.  The reason: because anger rests, or resides,  in the bosom of fools.  This thought gives us the picture of fools making their home with anger.  Anger is welcome in their home and they allow it to reside there undisturbed.  Fools keep their anger close, nurturing it, and acting out of it.  Anger here is not righteous indignation, but irrational, self-centered, destructive emotion.  Fools are driven by their emotions, but the wise exercise restraint.

Michael Eaton explains that the Hebrew word translated anger here  (ka'as) is "anger tinged with exasperation."

Cross-references  -- "He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly, and a man of wicked devices is hated."  (Proverbs 14:17)

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city."  (Proverbs 16:22) 

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."  (James 1:19)

Cross-references for "anger resteth" -- "Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath."  (Ephesians 4:26)

A= The upshot is that those who are quick to anger reveal a foolish heart.  True wisdom involves controlling your temper and refusing to let anger live in you.

Precept Austin points out that this verse "forces us to ask: Is anger merely a guest in your heart -- or a resident?  Solomon doesn't deny that we all experience anger.  But he warns against eager anger -- the kind that is ready to flare, rooted in pride or control.  Anger is not always sinful, but harboring it [or] nurturing it ... is the path of the fool.  Am I prone to quick irritation, defensiveness, or range?  Do I entertain anger or do I release it to God?  Am I living like a wise person -- or a fool with a seething heart?"

The same source, Precept Austin, also offers such practical tips for applying this verse that I simply must pass them on to you. 

🌿 Be slow to anger.  We can do this by the power of the Holy Spirit and God's Word.  "Practice pausing, praying, and breathing when irritation rises."  In my prayer journal, I encourage myself to stop, think, and even pray before speaking.  I have seen firsthand the damage done by speaking before thinking.

🌿 Refuse to host anger in your heart.  Instead we must confess it and cast it aside.  Don't let bitterness take root.

🌿 Be alert to "eager anger".  Do you find that certain situations or people trigger a quick, angry response from you?  [Confession: I do!]  "Ask God to supernaturally transform your reactions through the Spirit."

🌿 Choose your words carefully.  "Fools explode.  The wise speak with measured grace."

🌿 Pursue reconciliation right away if anger has lingered in your heart toward someone.
 

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

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

Although this verse does not specifically mention God, it is in His Word, so He inspired it.  I can infer that He is a God who cares about how His people live life, and who gives clear and practical instruction to that end.

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

I'm a person who needs to learn how God wants me to live life.  I'm a finite human and I don't have the wisdom or strength in myself to live this life in a God-honoring way.  I'm also a person who is prone to quick anger, springing from irritating people and irksome situations,  and so I am deeply in need of God's instruction and His Spirit's empowerment to help me do right.

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

 I should be slow to anger.  I should stop and think and even pray before responding to a difficult person or situation.  When quick anger does spring up, I should quickly confess it and ask God to help me cast it aside, rather than allowing any root of bitterness to develop or allowing anger to make a home in my heart.  If I have hurt someone with quick, angry words, I should seek to get it right with God and with that person as quickly as possible.

P= "Lord, I'm so thankful that You give clear instructions in the Bible for how You want your people to live.  I praise You for the important principles in this one little verse from Ecclesiastes -- principles that are relatively easy to read and to agree with, but that may be difficult to apply in real-life situations.  I know this is certainly true for me.

    "I pray that You will help me to pay attention to this every day.  Help me to be slow to anger in difficult situations or with difficult people.  Help me to stop and take a deep breath, to think and weigh my words before responding, even praying for the right words.  Help me to cast quick anger aside as soon as it springs up.  If those times come when someone is hurt by my hasty words, I pray that you will help me to quickly make things right with them.   I thank You for how You will help me,  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) Time up north with our widowed friend Charlotte.

2) Getting to attend a ladies' Bible study with Charlotte and her two friends.

3) A delightful teatime with Deanna, Jenn, and children.

4) Wisdom in planning meals for a week of ministry at TWNE.

5) Guidance in planning Sunday Scripture posts for November and December.

🌿 SPIRITUAL GROWTH is the next prompt, and this week there's an emphasis on FASTING.  We were to consider fasting from something this week and to make a plan for how we'll replace our fasted item with the pursuit of God.  [And again, if you are following along, please think about this for yourself.]

My plan for fasting: We do intermittent fasting every day, usually about 17 hours.  This practice always opens up extra time to spend in God's Word and in prayer.  

🌿 Lastly is a GOSPEL-CENTERED AFFIRMATION: 

I will not rush into anger but will act in wisdom.

We can take this thought into the coming week as we purpose not to respond to challenging situations and people with quick anger, but instead to respond wisely.

And there's the Sunday Scripture for this week!