First Peter Bible Study - Day Three

A continuation of my study following the Love God Greatly study of 1 and 2 Peter.

We read 1 Peter 1:13-16 and SOAPed 13, 15.



13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.

It's Passover season! So the reference to girding up loins immediately took me back to the first use of this phrase in the Bible, when the Israelites were to eat that last meal in Egypt in haste, with their clothing girded up about their loins - ready to move in response to whatever the Lord would have them to do. I see many parallels between that story and this passage of 1 Peter.

I can't imagine that night. Knowing what was necessarily happening in the homes of the Egyptians around them, there must have been a dreadful sense of unease. I wonder if they knew what was going to come next. I need to re-read that text... The whole country has been through the most bizarre series of events in all of history, and if recollection serves, I don't think the Israelites had been told what was happening next. Can you imagine the instructions given to the children? "Kids, let's eat quickly. Keep your shoes on and be ready to MOVE if I tell you to." They've seen the power of God, and surely they knew He would free them, but they didn't know HOW or exactly WHEN.

God knew he was about to pull them out of a lifestyle that had become part of who they were over the last 400 years they had lived in Egypt. He was about to set them apart in a big way. They would be given guidelines for how to live directly from the hand of God. Yet, many times along the way, they would grumble and whine to Moses about wishing they were back in Egypt, living as they had while they were there. Likewise, in this passage, God calls us to separate ourselves, "not conforming" ourselves to the former lusts. He uses the word "holy" four times. Holy means to be sanctified or set apart to God. God called the Israelites to be set apart, and he repeats the call to holiness to us in this passage.

Later in this chapter (verse 19), we are reminded that we have been redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot" to complete the picture of the Passover. My family will be celebrating a Passover Seder in our home this Friday, a tradition that we started a few years ago. As every year, I cannot wait to celebrate this time of "telling the story" of what Jehovah did for the Israelites, and what Messiah Y'shua has done for us!

First Peter Bible Study - Day Two

A continuation of my study following the Love God Greatly study of 1 and 2 Peter.

We read 1 Peter 1:6-12 and SOAPed 6-7.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen[a] you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us[b] they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

I hope y'all are having a great day! I'm feeling a bit anxious and overwhelmed by an over-busy schedule that just tends to happen at this time of the year! Trying to settle, be still, quiet my soul, and sit in His presence for a few minutes...

Observations/Applications for today:

"In this..." In what? Somebody who knows writing better than me, help me to answer! Is "this" referring back to what was said previously (a living hope and an incorruptible inheritance, our assurance based on the power of God) or what will be said in verse 7? Either way, it makes sense, because both should be cause for rejoicing...

So - in "this", whatever it is... we should GREATLY rejoice! The girls and I are studying joy this week. I don't think this is one of the passages that we referenced, but if you highlighted every reference to joy or rejoicing in your Bible, it would be covered up with highlighter!

We are to rejoice even though right now we may be in heaviness through trials. Isn't it great that God isn't all sunshine and lollipops? He knows we will have trials. The fact that he knows is comfort in itself. He reminds us that it's for a season. Don't you hate it when you're in the middle of a major emotional meltdown about something (usually parenting), and somebody with a little more experience than you tells you, "It's just a season!" Those can be exasperating words to hear, but lo and behold, if you allow a little time to pass, that thing that was making you insane was, indeed, a season. The person who advised you simply had a little longer perspective than you did at the time. God has an infinite perspective, and if He tells us that our trials are for a season, we must trust Him!

In verse 7, I don't know if I've ever read that the trial of our faith is more precious than gold! (Or is it saying that our faith is more precious than gold?) I really should have paid better attention in sentence structure lessons. What do you think? Does far more precious than gold refer to the trial of our faith or to our faith itself?

I pray that any trials I'm called to endure "might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." I want my life to honor Him, and the times when people see that most clearly is when we are in the midst of suffering. I can't tell you how many times I observed this in my sister's walk through Cole's cancer. His diagnosis sort of thrust her into a more public life than she was accustomed to. And people watched to see how she would respond. I'm so proud that she brought glory to God throughout her journey! We're still praying hard that their journey is OVER! Glad to bring glory to Christ through it, but would just as soon not do it another time! Praise God for healing so far - and let that cancer be completely obliterated!!!

First Peter Bible Study - Day One

I'm starting a study of First Peter with a group of ladies from my church. We are following along with the Love God Greatly eight week study of First and Second Peter.

In this study, we will be walking through these two books chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse. Each day, we will read a passage. Then we will focus in on one or two verses from that passage and SOAP it! (S - write out the scripture, O - make observations of what you see in the text, A - write applications from the verses, P - pray about what you've learned).

I'm going to copy my observations from the study here. I know it won't read like a blog. I'm not really writing it for an audience. Forgive! If you get something out of it, I'm pleased! But I'm just really recording my thoughts here.

The first day we read 1 Peter 1:1-5 and SOAPed verses 3 and 4. Here are my thoughts.

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Observations:

First, from verse 1 (not technically in our SOAP passage), this book is written to the elect sojourners. If I apply this description to me, I must remember that I am a traveler, a stranger in this world. I am not at home. I tried to think of traveling and what that's like. I just returned from a short vacation, so I thought about what it felt like to be a traveler, unfamiliar with the surroundings, etc., but I don't think it really captures what Peter is talking about here. In "olden times," travel wasn't typically a "vacation." Most people probably never traveled far from home. And if they did, it was a harsh necessity. They didn't run down to the Bahamas for a week of relaxation. They may have had to emigrate as a result of famine or persecution. They may have had to travel for trade. But it probably wasn't a fun-filled adventure. It probably wasn't brief either. When I travel, it's usually a short trip away from "real life." We stop working, stop doing school, stop our other normal routines for a short time in order to enjoy time with family in a new environment. In those days, they would have lived life along the way. Cooking still had to be done. Livelihoods still had to be earned. Children had to be born! (um... Mary, anyone???) And it was likely a very hard, comfortless thing to be a sojourner. But they would have been sustained by thoughts of home - assuming they were headed back there ultimately.

From verse 3:

according to his abundant mercy - had me thinking of Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy, he saved us..."

begotten definition - (1) to procreate or generate (offspring) (2) to cause; produce an effect

The way I read this sentence, it appears that we are begotten to two things: (1) to a living hope and (2) to an incorruptible inheritance

Living hope - I want to think more on these beautiful words. There is more here that I'm not fully grasping... But to continue... The cause for our living hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Inheritance - It is perfect, permanent, reserved, ENSURED for me.

Verse 5 (not in our SOAP passage) gives us the reason we can rest assured that we can count on our living hope and our incorruptible inheritance: the power of God!

Application: I must live life here on earth, fully, abundantly, but with the knowledge that I'm passing through. Life here is uncertain (corruptible, defiled, and fading away). But my mind should be set on that INcorruptible, UNdefiled, and UNfading inheritance that is waiting for me, kept and ensured by the power of God.

Our Virtue Training Bible

Here's our newest homeschool adventure! We're going to put together a Virtue Training Bible. It's a kit that allows you to transform any Bible into a topical reference guide about 42 different virtues. Here's the index page that shows all the virtues:

I don't know how others use this tool, but here's what we're planning to do: Each week, I'll let the girls choose one of the virtues to study. This week they chose joy. Each day, we will look up several of the verses referenced under that virtue's tab. We find the verse, read it aloud, highlight it in the matching color and add a page tab in the matching color. Over the course of the week, we will have a pretty good sampling of scriptures which discuss joy or rejoicing.

I think perhaps others may make their Virtue Training Bibles FOR their kids, but I am finding that it is a learning experience for the girls to look them up on their own. And getting to use the highlighter is, well, a highlight... I'm going to tell myself it's good that my girls can still be impressed by something as simple as playing with a highlighter... I think what it really means is that they have been deprived of arts and crafts experiences by their decidedly non-artsy-craftsy mother.

Oh Great. Another blog attempt.

So. I'm starting a blog. Again. For the third time. I'm fairly certain that this one will meet with the same sad fate as the previous two. If this blog is still going years from now, I invite you to ridicule me for my short sightedness. I'm also just trying out the name. We'll see.

What might you expect to find here? I haven't the foggiest. You'll probably see some homeschooling, likely some Bible study, a dab of general nuttiness that occurs around here. If I need to throw some information up for some of my science classes, you might get a bit of that too.

Will it be worth reading? Who knows. Sometimes my writing is inspired! Sometimes it's junk. Roll the dice and see which you get.