Strength

Beauty Day 7
Strong: Digging Deeper

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Curious as to why we Dig Deeper?
Here’s Why! 

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s Journey Post? Check out Strong!

1 Peter 2:9-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

My Questions

1) What does the word “but” indicate in verse 9?

2) What does Peter mean by a “chosen race” and a “royal priesthood”?

3) What does this passage say is the reason we’ve been called out and set apart?

The Tools

A trip to www.studylight.org is in order here.
We will get super cozy with this site as we study Scripture together!
Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom!
It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse?
Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage?
Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Findings for Original Intent

1) The word “but” is a linking word that indicates a contrast between what comes before and what comes after. We need to look back to the previous verses to find out what is being contrasted. In verses 7 and 8, Peter describes those who do not believe (i.e. non-Christians) as a people who stumble because they rejected Christ and they disobey the word. Then we see the contrast between nonbelievers and us—a chosen race, a royal priesthood, holy, a people for his own possession.

2) When we hear the term “chosen race” we might assume Peter is talking about the Jews, since we know that they were God’s chosen people, and 1 Peter was written to Jewish people who had been scattered throughout the Roman world. However, in verse 7, Peter mentions that it was Jews who rejected Christ. So now, a chosen race has a new meaning—all believers, Jew and Gentile, who have put their faith in Christ. This new “race” isn’t based on bloodlines, but on a common faith. Likewise, the Jewish audience would have understood what it meant to be a priesthood (check out Exodus 19:6), but now this term applies not to Jews based on birth, but to believers based on faith. We are royal because our Father is the king, and we are priests because we have been granted direct access to His presence and are all called to a life of sacrifice and worship!

3) Verse 9 tells us who we are—a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession—and then it tells us our purpose. We are set apart from nonbelievers so that “we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The reason God saved us is to bring glory to Him by proclaiming all He has done for us! We were made to be God’s people, we have received mercy, therefore let us praise Him and proclaim Him!

Some Applications for Our Everyday Lives

1) There is a contrast between nonbelievers and believers. We are to be set apart! Does my life look different from the non-Christians around me? This is more than just legalistic dos and don’ts. Am I different in terms of my affections, my priorities, where my hope lies, my motivations, and as a result, my behavior?

2) The kingdom of God transcends race, family, and nation. Am I seeing all I have in common with other believers, regardless of their skin color, their socioeconomic status, their background, or what language they speak?

3) Lord, you have given me so much that I don’t deserve. You have called me out of darkness and into marvelous light. Please help me to be what I am—holy. And may I never neglect to proclaim your excellencies to the dark world around me!

We’d love to hear how God challenged you through today’s Journey Study!
Share your thoughts, comments, and questions with the GT Community!
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Want To Try It For Yourself?!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers.
Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes
(click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and
embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

Share Your Thoughts with the GT Community!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Beauty Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme? See all past studies in Beauty!

Beauty Day 6
Strong

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Proverbs 31:10-31
1 Peter 2
Ephesians 6:10-18
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

strongA massacre.
Scores of people murdered.  Even more wounded.
Horror.  Anger.  Outrage.  Fear. Isolation.

Small words that do little justice to the ocean of virulent emotions gripping so many in the United States after a violent nightmare unfolded in Orlando in June. Regardless of differing perspectives, world-views, and political lines, a few truths stand alone in the wake of tragedies like the Orlando shooting, like September 11th, and other acts of violence across our nation.

Lives were taken.  Cut short.
Hearts left beating are now broken and bleeding.  Stuttering along, they will feel out their new, grief-colored cadence, as they attempt to reconcile with a new reality that does not include a loved one.
Regardless of location, color, creed or lifestyle, we are all affected by human tragedy.
As we should be. But does beauty play a role here?

In studying Proverbs 31 and the traits of a godly woman, I keep returning to this question:
What do strength and dignity look like in the face of violence and ugliness?

I know what they don’t look like.
They don’t look like judgment.
They definitely don’t look like apathy.
They don’t look like an advantage in a political chess game.  

But what do they look like? Tangibly, what do strength and dignity look like in the face of tragedy when values are also at play? How do we put on Christ’s beauty when we strongly disagree, when our prejudices rise up?

Strength and dignity look like love and respect.
They look like empathy.
They look like compassion for the hurting and broken.
They look like Jesus, Almighty with skin on, because that’s Who we follow.

Easy to say, but in practice, it’s not always so simple, especially when emotions run high and battle lines are drawn. Whether it’s between groups of people or individual relationships around us, we as Christ-followers, are called to love beautifully and genuinely as we are clothed in His dignity and strength.

I am struck by the psalmist’s wording, “…she dresses herself with strength…”, and am drawn to Ephesians 6, where I am reminded that our struggle is not against flesh and blood (other than perhaps our own), but against the spiritual forces of evil.  We aren’t required to be strong on our own because He is strong for us.  Instructions for clothing ourselves in His strength are clearly outlined:

Put on the full armor of God, that we might stand firm.
Pray at all times in the Spirit.

We don’t have to feel helpless to love others, to put on beauty, or to respect people we don’t agree with, when we remember these words and put His instructions into practice.  When we are wearing His armor of truth, righteousness, peace, salvation and His Word, we will act and speak as ambassadors for our Jesus.
His Word will be in us, and His love will be our language.
Now more than ever, we must press in, drinking His words and cultivating our relationships with Him
so we can wear His beauty with bold love!

As we begin to walk in His strength and acknowledge our identity as one of His chosen people, dignity becomes a natural byproduct of that obedience.  Often the idea of having dignity is mistaken for being prideful or arrogant of oneself, when in reality, dignity is acknowledging who we are and respecting that identity.  When we acknowledge who we are (a chosen people, a royal priesthood, charged with carrying the love and Word of our Father to all) and begin to walk in that identity, we begin to respect ourselves (and those around us) through our words, actions and lives.

As we’ve walked through tragedies and witnessed hate crimes and random shootings… we must remember that these are the opportunities for beauty and grace to be made known in us! Not in our power, but in the One who makes us Beautiful in His Strength!

Lord, help us to put on your full armor every day.  Help us to pray continually, and to remember that no matter the name or face man pins to the evil we see, our battle is not with flesh and blood.
Father, heal our land.
Heal our relationships.
Heal our hearts.
Make us live out Beauty in a world of Broken, as we rely on Your Strength!

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Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Beauty Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme? Here’s a link to all past studies in Beauty!