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Nations Day 14 Created To Participate: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions

1) How does giving greater honor to the less honorable prevent division in the body of Christ? (verse 24b)

2) What does it mean to desire the greater gifts? (verse 31)

3) Why is having love more important than having any of the other gifts mentioned in this passage? (verses 1-3)

1 Corinthians 12:24b-13:7

24 (…) Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

13:1 If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Original Intent

1) How does giving greater honor to the less honorable prevent division in the body of Christ? (verse 24b)
Paul writes, “God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable.” (1 Corinthians 12:24b) Paul has been comparing the members of Christ’s church to the parts of a physical body. He says in 1 Corinthians 12:23, “those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect,  which our respectable parts do not need.” Author, Thomas Constable, explains, “When dealing with our human bodies we bestow more honor on our less honorable parts by covering them up. This makes our unseemly members more seemly. . . On the other hand, the more honorable parts, such as our faces, do not require special covering.” Paul suggests we do the same kind of thing with all members of the body of Christ, whether they are considered important or unremarkable. If the less honorable, or the less visible, members of the body of Christ are given honor, then those on the platform in high-profile positions won’t seem like their work is more important or that they are more valuable than the guy who does the necessary but more mundane tasks. As David Guzik describes, “The pride of the honorable member is checked, as is the shame of the less honorable member.” When the behind-the-scenes person is viewed as just as essential to the Church as the folks in the spotlight, then the church is working together in unison, able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the world.

2) What does it mean to desire the greater gifts? (verse 31)
In 1 Corinthians 12:31, Paul exhorted the church to “desire the greater gifts.” He admonished them to work together, using their gifts to build Christ’s church. In 1 Corinthians 12:28 he described God’s gifts to the church, “first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues.” This seems to set up a hierarchy of gifts, with those listed first as having greater importance, but in the preceding verses, Paul emphasized that all the members of the body are equally important to the functioning of the church. “But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.  And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?” (1 Corinthians 12:18-19) Instead, Paul told the Corinthians there was an even better way. (1 Corinthians 12:31) He then explained that love is greater than all the gifts. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) The ICC New Testament Commentary explains, “The Corinthians coveted the greater gifts, but they had formed a wrong estimate as to which were the greater. The Hymn of Love, which follows, is to guide them to a better decision: not those which make most show, but those which do most good, are the better.” Paul wanted the church to know that God’s gifts, no matter how dazzling or powerful, were of no value if they were not exercised in love. Even sacrificing your body would gain you nothing if it were done for show and not love. (1 Corinthians 13:3) Because love is so important to God and the functioning of His church, He pours it out freely on His children through His Holy Spirit. (1 John 3:1) Let’s use the greatest gift, God’s love, to reach out to others on His behalf today!

3) Why is having love more important than having any of the other gifts mentioned in this passage? (verses 1-3)
Paul professes to the Corinthians that the greatest thing, beyond the gifts of prophecy or healing, even beyond faith and hope, is the gift of love. (1 Corinthians 13:13) He describes love as “patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) The Bible tells us God Himself is love (1 John 4:16) Because God is love, showing other people His love is the most important thing we can do on His behalf. If we prophesy or speak in tongues or even give all our stuff away, but don’t have God’s love in our hearts, we gain nothing. When we use God’s gifts without being empowered by His love, we may make a lot of noise, but we don’t do any eternal good. To be God’s Church, we are required to love people with the love of God while moving in the gifts He has given us. David Guzik suggests, “The gifts are merely ways we can express and receive love from God and love to one another. They are the ‘containers,’ and what is in the container – love – is far more important.” The gifts we have from God are important only because they help us give away the love of God. When we are all serving God using the gifts He has bestowed on us, we radiate God’s love to those around us.

Everyday Application

1) How does giving greater honor to the less honorable prevent division in the body of Christ? (verse 24b)
A “mega-church” came to town and needed a temporary worship venue, so our church offered our building. One Sunday, their pastor spoke at a joint service. Their ushers limited movement as a safety measure for the platform team, and the pastor was escorted in and out by a small entourage. They obviously faced many more security issues than our smaller church, yet the “super star” treatment of the pastor and worship team bothered me. Growing up a preacher’s kid, I knew several pastors who sometimes also served as janitor, secretary, and worship leader. Those pastors recognized how all members of the church play an important role in sharing the Gospel. The church is a team, working together to ensure people are reached with the Good News. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:23-25, “And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.” God’s plan is for all members of the church to work together as one, recognizing that a victory for one is a victory for all, and that pain for one means that all hurt. The Bible Study New Testament suggests, “the strong members of the church ought to work for the good of the weak, and the weak should get rid of all jealousy and envy, to work for the good of the strong. When you help the other person, you are helping yourself, since you are part of the body.”  May we each recognize how important our part is in the body of Christ, and not think too highly or too lowly of ourselves as we use our gifts to share God’s love.

2) What does it mean to desire the greater gifts? (verse 31)
One of my favorite news stories last year was about a company that had their best year ever and decided to share the profits with their employees in the form of a whopping $25,000,000 in bonuses for all the team members. This included a weekend beach resort trip for the whole organization, stock in the company, prizes for those who went above and beyond, and cash for everyone. The CEO could have kept the profits for the business or himself, but he wanted to show his appreciation for his loyal, hard-working team who put the business over the top. More than profits or investments, he valued the service and devotion of his team. This reminds me of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:31 to “desire the greater gifts”, which Christ says is love. (1 Corinthians 13) The greater gifts turn out not to be the ones gaining the most attention or notoriety. God wants us to love each other and those around us because this is how we express that God is love. Author, John Piper, asserts, “The Spirit doesn’t give us gifts in order that each of us gets our self-important moment in the spotlight. He gives us gifts so that for the greater glory of Christ we are able to pursue love through serving one another.” When we use our diverse gifts to love God and love others, we are working together in unity, the way God intended the church to function. God is not a CEO handing out cash and tropical vacations, but He is well-pleased when His church comes together in love to serve one another and share Him with a hurting world.

3) Why is having love more important than having any of the other gifts mentioned in this passage? (verses 1-3)
In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul describes possessing Christ’s love as greater than any other gift from God. He even says all other gifts don’t matter if we don’t first have His love. (1 Corinthians 13) Author, Jon Bloom, explains, “Love is the aim of the spiritual gifts. It is possible to possess and exercise impressive spiritual gifts without love. If we do, we are ‘nothing.’” You have probably experienced someone moving in a spiritual gift without the love of God. Maybe you encountered a preacher who was more impressed with his insights and eloquence than sharing God’s love in his message. Or maybe you have seen someone with so much faith that God will act through their prayer that she blames others when things don’t happen as she believed they would. Perhaps you had a teacher so intent on getting through all the points of her excellent lesson that she overlooked the teachable moments right in front of her. People often get caught up in the gifts God has given them and forget the purpose of the gifts, which is to extend God’s love to others. Quite likely, you have been blessed by a Christ-follower gifted by God who also moves in the love of Christ to minister to your heart. When Christians reach out in love, they are actively being the hands and feet of Jesus, sharing His love and grace with those who need to know Him or be reminded that God is for them. Let’s reach out in love today to those who need Him.

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
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!

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

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. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? 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 :-))

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Follow Day 14 Faith To Stay: Digging Deeper

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Follow Day 14 Faith To Stay: Digging Deeper

Rebecca Adams

January 21, 2021

Cross,Digging Deeper,Faith,Follow,God,Good,Grace,Holy Spirit,Jesus,Joy,Love,Power,Truth

Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

This DD Connects With "Faith To Stay"
Why Dig Deeper?

Read His Words Before Ours!

Matthew 16:24-28

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. 26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?

27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Read More Of His Words

The Original Intent

1) What does it mean to lose our lives because of Jesus? (verse 25)

We often have the wrong idea about who God is at His core. We might see Him as vengeful, waiting for us to mess up so He can mock us, condemn us, or ruin our lives. Some view Him as disengaged and entirely uninterested in the affairs of humanity.

In transparency, I struggled for years with the idea that just because God “made us”, doesn’t mean He actually “loved us”. He is infinite while we are finite mortals, what could we bring to the God of all to cause Him to love us?! Before we can talk about “losing our lives because of Jesus”, it’s absolutely imperative we know exactly Who this Jesus really is.

If I surrender to Him, am I giving Him free reign to be a dictator? If I lose my life to Him, will I hate my life and become strapped into stringent lists of “holy performance”? Who is the Jesus we are surrendering to?

The disciple John answered this concisely for us in three words, “…God is love…”. (1 John 4:8) Preacher Paul helps us define what love looks like in everyday life as he penned a letter to the church in Corinth, “Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) 

When we realize the God who is calling for our surrender to Him is good, kind, loving, and trustworthy, we can “lose our lives” to Him with full confidence that He is for us and not against us. (Romans 8:31-32)

The Everyday Application

1) What does it mean to lose our lives because of Jesus? (verse 25)

We can lose ourselves easily to a myriad of important and worthwhile pursuits. Family. Raising children. Higher education. Career. Being the best version of ourselves. None of these, however noble, will save us from the consequence we have rightfully earned because of our sinfulness.

Only faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross to crucify our sin nature and pay the penalty required for our sin will save us from an eternity of endless death, shame, and condemnation. To lose our lives for Jesus is to “lose ourselves” to the law of love. The simplest description of God is that He IS Love. (1 John 4:8)

Every other aspect of His character and every action He takes is deeply anchored in radical, divine love. Therefore, to surrender ourselves fully over to Him, to lose our lives to Him, is to be ruled by Love. Every word we speak, action we take, body language we give off, or thought we think is to be ruled by this same radical, divine love of the God who broke our bondage to sin through His own death and resurrection. This is surely an impossible feat to accomplish on our own!

Ask anyone who has “tried hard” to simply be consistently loving in only one instance of everyday life! Yet, because of His love, God graciously gives us His Own Power to live out His kind of radical, divine love every moment of every day through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we surrender our everything to Jesus, agreeing with Him that yes, the only way to save our lives is in giving them up to Him, then He gives us His Holy Spirit to live inside each of us for eternity. Living everyday lives governed by the law of love is precipitated by losing ourselves entirely within the love of Jesus. Who rules you?

The Original Intent

2) In honesty, I can think of many benefits to not losing my life to Jesus, what is His point in these questions? (verse 26)

“For what will it benefit someone if they gain the whole world….”, Jesus asks His audience. (verse 26) Perhaps like them, and me, I imagine His voice trailing off and my own mind running away with just this snippet of conversation.

I quickly build reasons I feel are worth “gaining the whole world”. Wealth. Fame. Power. The allure for more, the lie that I don’t have enough, and the sick temptation to only satiate self, fuels me into reasoning away why I just can’t follow Jesus. At least not right now. I have things I want to do. I have my kingdom to build.

Ladies, that isn’t just a collection of words right there, they are lies I have purchased and owned and fought hard to protect, even after I surrendered to Jesus. But this poignant question from the Lord isn’t a snippet in an overheard conversation. He doesn’t leave us to our imaginative interpretations. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.” (verse 25)

Not perhaps.
Not ‘by chance’ if the odds are against you.
It’s a dead certain guarantee. If you want to save your life by yourself, live it your way, and build your own kingdom, you will lose it in the end. Jesus said it like this to a man who visited him under the cover of nightfall so no one would see him stepping outside the kosher norm, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6)

There are not countless ways to “get to God”. There is one. Total surrender to Him, allowing Him to kill and remove our sin nature and ushering us into a new birth as new creations, born with His righteous DNA in place of our sinful set.

Only here, in the sacred space of surrender, do we find the deeply radical truth fleshed out in real life, “…whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.” (verse 25)

The Everyday Application

2) In honesty, I can think of many benefits to not losing my life to Jesus, what is His point in these questions? (verse 26)

I have the gift of 3 teenagers living together with us in our current parenting season, and more on the way as time seems to move faster and faster. We have always encouraged our kids to “own their own faith”, whatever that looks like. Sometimes it means deciding to save up and pay their own way to attend summer church camp because they see the value of investing in their faith walk. Sometimes it means having random conversations about the inner workings, and honest messiness, of church, marriage, and real life through the lens of a good God who redeems. And sometimes, it means letting our kids wrestle with, and push against, the faith we have taught them since they were small.

Being a millennial teenager certainly gives ample reason to ask hard questions. Ones that punch my gut, making me ache for weeks at their depth and heavy implications. “I want to follow Jesus, but I don’t want Him to, you know, take me to Africa and make me poor.” Or “I just don’t think there actually is a God, or if there is, we can each choose our own way to make Him happy.” Or, “There’s just a lot of ‘fun’ things I want to do that God wouldn’t approve of, so I’ll wait to follow Him until I’m older.”

Each of these are real statements from my kids at varying stages, and they break my heart because they have missed the deep, unshakeable, utterly complete goodness of God. We have the conversation, and I praise God for the safety of our relationship that allows the “push back”. I listen compassionately, permitting their words to flow unhindered, knowing I do exactly the same to God in different scenarios and with different words, but I still wrestle against Him. Here’s the incredible thing, He always allows my wrestling.

I cannot say the right words to “force” my children to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, but God is the author of every story. He will keep pursuing them, just as He has faithfully pursued me.

Go ahead, girl, ask the big uncomfortable questions. Lay them out there. Know the Lord God is listening, attentive, and is pursuing you with love!

The Original Intent

3) How are rewards tied in to Jesus’ questions? (verse 27)

Jesus asks another question to help us think through the value of surrendering to Him and the rewards only He can offer, “What will anyone give in exchange for his life?”.

Even if we had the whole world given on a silver platter and somehow achieved “it all”, when the blinking vapor of our life is over and all of eternity begins, what could we possibly give in exchange to the God of the Universe to “buy back” our souls? All of our wealth, knowledge, and possessions?

What a mockery that would be to the God who owns all, knows all, and sees all.

Jesus’ point is for His audience to fully understand how inescapable it is for us to save ourselves from the coming wrath we deserve because of our sin. No, the only possible way we can “earn” the rewards Jesus speaks of in verses 27-28 are by acknowledging that we truly are impoverished.

We have absolutely nothing of value to buy back our souls, except one thing. Our soul itself. Our souls were crafted with tenderness, masterful creativity, divine love, and abundant joy, then given to us, in the hope we would surrender them back to the Lord God that we might experience life to the fullest. (John 10:10)

Is there a grander dichotomy?! In laying down our life, we find it. In keeping it to ourselves, we lose it. Only in its surrender are we freed to live our lives in adoring love to the God who unshackled us from our sin. It’s these acts of love that are divinely rewarded.

The Everyday Application

3) How are rewards tied in to Jesus’ questions? (verse 27)

Following Jesus comes at a high cost, total surrender. This kind of following guarantees discomfort, struggle, and persecution, but Jesus wants to remind us the benefit far outweighs the cost.

In yesterday’s Journey Study, the man Jesus healed begged to follow Jesus far away from his hometown, but Jesus told him to stay and share what Jesus had done for him.

Following Jesus is often unexpected, and when we face trial in the unexpected, we can begin to lose heart and become tempted to “go back” to living our own lives instead of continuing to daily surrender to Christ. Jesus’ words press in on our hearts, urging us to stay focused on truth.

Christ will come again, and He will bring judgement with Him for all of us. No amount of our actionable effort to “do good works” will matter one bit if we have not first surrendered the whole of ourselves to Him for safekeeping.

When we remember that our surrender is earning for us a life that cannot be lost and eternal rewards, we are encouraged to keep the running the race ahead of us in this life, difficult as it is, because our “momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (1 Corinthians 4:17-18)

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Beloved Day 12 Seasons Of Love: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Seasons Of Love!

The Questions

1) Why might the woman have paused before opening the door to her loved one (verse 3)?

2) Why did the man not continue to wait for her to open the door (verse 6)?

3) Verse 7 seems to indicate abuse of the woman. What might be the significance of this being included in the passage?

4) How does the woman express her disappointment of not finding her loved one? (verse 8)

Song of Solomon 5:3-8

3 I have taken off my clothing. How can I put it back on? I have washed my feet. How can I get them dirty? 4 My love thrust his hand through the opening, and my feelings were stirred for him. 5 I rose to open for my love. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt. 6 I opened to my love, but my love had turned and gone away. My heart sank because he had left. I sought him, but did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer.

7 The guards who go about the city found me. They beat and wounded me; they took my cloak from me—the guardians of the walls. 8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, if you find my love, tell him that I am lovesick.

Original Intent

1) Why might the woman have paused before opening the door to her loved one (verse 3)?
Since this book is not a chronological account of the events between Solomon and his beloved, there are some difficult passages to unravel. This one is no exception. In verse 2 of the chapter, we read the bride’s words, “I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.” As in chapter 3 verse 1, we are left with questions about the sequence and the reality of the couple’s actions in this scene. Is the young woman dreaming, or is she at the drowsy verge of being awakened? Since many Bible commentators have come to different conclusions, it seems unnecessary to dwell too long in a discussion about this. More importantly is the big picture. In these verses we encounter a scenario of a real-life relationship which included human responses. The young woman knows her loved one is at the door, but she is either too tired or too lazy to get up, get dressed, and open the door for him. David Guzik says, “her problem was not that she didn’t go to the door; but that she did it so slowly and reluctantly, making excuses all along the way. [This reveals she was] thinking only about her comfort and not at all about Solomon’s desires or her relationship with him.” (enduringword.com)

2) Why did the man not continue to wait for her to open the door (verse 6)?
The woman’s lover reminded her that he was standing on the outside waiting. “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is drenched with dew, my hair with droplets of the night.” (verse 2) Whether or not the terms in verse 4 are explicit references regarding sexual intimacy, the scene certainly portrays an active pursuit of one lover desiring to be with the other, but being met with rejection. I think the best interpretation is to read this within the framework Guzik describes as a “missed connection” between the bride and groom, and therefore we should apply it literally rather than symbolically. (enduringword.com) The groom has been waiting patiently outside the door of the bride’s room. As he was leaving, he likely placed myrrh on the door handle as was customary in ancient settings. We are not given the reasons why the woman paused, but the delay causes her beloved to leave. It does not appear he was angry with her, and the emphasis again seems to be on the passion of the bride once she realizes his loving gesture. The bride’s emotions are awakened and she has legitimate feelings of despair because her loved one can’t be found.

3) Verse 7 seems to indicate abuse of the woman. What might be the significance of this being included in the passage?
In chapter 3 we read how the watchmen were helpful to the woman as she frantically sought her beloved. But now verse 7 seems so out of place. What is happening? In then-current day, there were two sorts of watchmen in a city. One guarded from the inside of a city wall to ensure all those within were safe and secure. The others were placed on the walls themselves to watch and give notice of an enemy approaching. (Bible Study Tools, David Gill) The watchmen on the wall would be aware that the only women who would be on the streets at night were prostitutes. Not realizing who she is, they treat her with inappropriate disregard, even abusing her. Whether a dream or reality, we surely feel the stab to our hearts as we read what the bride endured as she runs out into the night. She so desires to find the one she loves that she risks her wellbeing to search for him. Nothing is mentioned about her response to what she experiences, but we share her anguish over not finding her groom. These verses are communicating unrelenting passion and desire between a bride and her groom at all costs.

4) How does the woman express her disappointment of not finding her loved one? (verse 8)
We have read in the previous chapters how the couple speaks to one another with words describing their longing for, and their satisfaction in, one another. Here in verse 8, the bride begins to plead with the women of the town to help her find her groom. It appears she has deep regret over her rejection of his advances, and she now wants to let him know how much she longs for him.  In Song of Solomon 2:4-6, the bride expresses her soul’s desire toward her new groom in those pleasant moments of marital intimacy and passion. She was overwhelmed by the presence of love and the joy of lovemaking. Here in chapter 5, the young woman aches over the distance she has created with her beloved. She has become physically and emotionally ill due to her yearning love for him. She asks the city’s women to “tell him that I am lovesick.” The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT) uses the verb titrosko which means inflicted with a wound, injured, damaged. The Shulamite woman is emotionally and physically overwrought. (preceptaustin.org) Within the context, we can surmise she is craving more moments with the groom. She grieves the way she let him slip away due to her unwillingness to respond when he came to her.

Everyday Application

1) Why might the woman have paused before opening the door to her loved one (verse 3)?
We don’t know all the motives behind why the bride doesn’t go to the door. She expresses it would be somewhat of a hassle since she has already changed clothes, whether it is weariness or laziness, we are not sure. What we discover as we read further in the passage, though, is that she regrets her inaction to open the door to her beloved. While there will be times in marriage that one person lacks a desire to make much effort toward intimacy (due to fatigue or distress), we should not make it a habit to neglect our spouse’s need for sexual and physical closeness. This will likely require ongoing conversation and work in our relationships as we strive for a healthy marriage. As we think about this in spiritual terms, we can also pray for our hearts to be receptive to our Beloved Savior. Bible teacher Harry Ironside says this is a great picture of our own callousness toward Divine Love. “When [Christ] comes to the heart’s door we practically say, ‘No; it is inconvenient. I do not want to drop things right now.’” What an even greater tragedy to reject God’s perfect love. (John 3:16-19)

2) Why did the man not continue to wait for her to open the door (verse 6)?
The bottom line of this verse is how the groom was demonstrating his desire for his bride. He was patient. He did not force his way in, nor did he demand her to meet his expectations. Instead, he waited and then quietly slipped away, but not before leaving a symbol of his love. What beautiful restraint and gentleness was shown by this man. Although his loved one did not receive him in the way he expected, he chose kindness. Putting a fragrance on the bolt handles would have been akin to leaving flowers by the door. Sometimes in marriage we don’t feel the emotional attachment to our husband. When that happens, we can begin by praying for God to stir passion in us. Years ago, I heard a woman Bible teacher talk about how she prayed for her marriage. She said one of her prayers was that she would “always thrill to her husband’s touch.” That is a good start! Whether we are the initiator or the one waiting, our goal should be to demonstrate unrelenting love. Friend, maybe you feel that any sign of promising light is so far in the distance you are unable to see it. I pray you will not lose hope. God will be faithful as you pursue a passionate and lasting marriage.

3) Verse 7 seems to indicate abuse of the woman. What might be the significance of this being included in the passage?
The picture of the beloved bride of the king being assaulted by his own watchmen is appalling! Whether she is dreaming or is in fact walking around at night like a prostitute, she is a desperate woman in search of the one her heart longs to be near. She has felt the pangs of dismissing her lover’s kind and patient pursuit. It has been said that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I doubt that is always true as I have seen absence push people apart. But one of the ways we can create a healthy kind of distance that inspires desire is to rehearse the benefits of being married to our husband. When marriages are struggling, it is hard to find the good in the other person. Our human tendency is to rehearse our weariness with it all. As we do, we only add to our growing list of reasons not to make efforts. However, when alone with our thoughts, considering the good things of our marriage and the positive characteristics of our husbands helps stir our emotions toward desire. As the bride longed to find her beloved groom, God can restore our passions as we pray and work to bridge the gap we may or may not have caused.

4) How does the woman express her disappointment of not finding her loved one? (verse 8)
The Shulamite woman had gone from being “too tired” to being “lovesick.” She desperately went searching for the one her heart so deeply loved. She called those around her to join her in her search. Sister, enlist your own army of women to support you in your marriage. No, I’m not asking you to find friends to whom you can badmouth your husband. I am encouraging you to gather those around you who will remind you to “love your husbands … so God’s word will not be slandered.” (Titus 2:4) It is not an easy journey, this thing called marriage. But with God’s help, and with friends pointing us to Christ, we can pursue the kind of passionate relationship we read of in Song of Solomon!

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Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
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!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
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Our Current Study Theme!

This is Beloved Week Three!
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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

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. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? 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 :-))

Memorize It!

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Kaleidoscope Day 2 Patient Father: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Patient Father!

The Questions

1) Who is the audience of this letter?

2) What is the promise referred to in these verses?

3) Why do these verses emphasize God’s delay?

2 Peter 3:8-12

8 Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. 11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. 13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Original Intent

1) Who is the audience of this letter?
Unlike other letters written in the New Testament, Peter writes this letter to a broad audience of believers.  2 Peter 1:1 introduces the letter to “those who have received a faith” instead of to a specific church. There are many scholars who believe this letter was written to the churches in Asia Minor. These churches were undergoing both persecution and false teaching and Peter is writing to warn them. Peter wants to remind them to cling to their faith and the promises God has made. He wants them to stand firm and not waiver in the face of outside influence.

2) What is the promise referred to in these verses?
These verses center around a promise the audience is waiting to be fulfilled. The promise is seen in verses 12-13. It is the promise Jesus left His disciples with when He ascended to the right hand of the Father. Acts 1:10-11 promises that just as Jesus left, He will return. When He does, Revelation promises the establishment of a new heaven and a new earth where everything is as it was supposed to be. A coming redemption where there is freedom from sin and death for all who have placed their faith in Jesus and received the gift of salvation. The promise Peter speaks of is the fulfilled promise of the redemption for all creation!

3) Why do these verses emphasize God’s delay?
When Jesus ascended to Heaven and promised to return, He did not give a time frame for His return. He simply promised to return. Since Peter died during the reign of Nero, we know his death occurred before 68 A.D. This letter would have been written before then, but scholars assume it was towards the end of his life. This is important because it means it had been over 30 years since Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and ascended. There were believers who lived during Jesus’ life and those born after Jesus’ time on earth. Yet, they are still waiting on the fulfillment of the promise made to them. These verses emphasize God has a timing and His timing is perfect, even when it doesn’t align with mankind’s timing. Believers are being reminded God will not delay in fulfilling the promise made to them, even though it may have seemed like He has. They are also reminded God’s delay is intentional. He is providing an opportunity for others to accept Jesus and receive the gift of salvation before His return. Once Christ returns, the time for choosing His offered salvation will be over.

Everyday Application

1) Who is the audience of this letter?
The broad audience of this letter should remind us that, as believers, we too are included in these warnings and encouragement to hold tight to the faith. Just as the believers in the early church faced persecution and false teaching, believers today face it as well. We are not exempt from any of this. Peter writes to the early believers and warns them of false teachers and we too need to know there are false teachers and be prepared. We too need to cling tight to Scripture, to what we know is true, and to not be swayed when the false teachings arise. Even Jesus, in Matthew 7:15, warned there would be false teachers and they would come as wolves disguised in sheep’s clothing. The encouragement, however, is found in that when we know the fruit to look for, we know if it is truth being shared. We know this fruit when we spend time knowing Jesus and reading His Word.

2) What is the promise referred to in these verses?
The promise in these verses is the promise we are still waiting for the complete fulfillment of. As believers, we have assurance of what is yet to come. Revelation 21:3-4 promises a time when God will dwell with us, when there will be no more death, no more tears, and no more pain. What an incredible promise! When we place our faith in Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, this is the certain hope we look forward to. God doesn’t promise we will be free from pain, temptation, death, or persecution while on this earth, but He does promise there is something so much better coming, something we can only imagine! The promise the disciples and early followers of Jesus clung to is the same promise we cling to. The promised day is coming, we just don’t know when.

3) Why do these verses emphasize God’s delay?
Two thousand years after Christ’s ascension to Heaven and we are still waiting on the fulfillment of God’s promise. Patience is hard on the best of days, but when circumstances are tough and life doesn’t make sense, patience is even harder. Yet, just as the early believers are reminded God does not delay, so are we. God is faithful and His promise will see fulfillment, however, it will be in His perfect timing… not ours. That tension isn’t always easy to live in. These verses remind us, just as much as they did early believers, that God is providing an opportunity for lost people to receive the Good News and share in the promise made. We can cling tight to this promise knowing that in God’s perfect timing, Jesus will return and His Kingdom will reign forever!  It is a promise we can cling tight to on both good days and hard days, and it will never fail. Patience is hard, but as someone I know and love says, “God is never late, but He is always on time.” His delay is intentional and means our work of sharing the Good News is not complete. The delay will end in God’s ultimate and perfect timing!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Groom &His Bride!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
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!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Kaleidoscope Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

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. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? 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 :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Kaleidoscope Day 1 Patient Father

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Exodus 16:1-20
2 Peter 3:8-13
Joel 2:12-13

Kaleidoscope, Day 1

“Be patient, be patient,
Don’t be in such a hurry!
When you get,
Impatient,
You only start to worry.
Remember, remember,
God is patient, too!
And think of all the times that others
Had to wait on you!”

My mama is a singer; as such, my entire life has been like one big musical. The little song above was just another little ditty my mom used to sing when impatience filled the scripts of our lives. This song can be found in scenes when we were stuck in Las Vegas traffic in 100-degree weather, or when I was anxiously waiting for my cousins’ arrival to play.
Now, in an entirely new act, I sing this song to my daughters.

But sometimes, even as I sing, I don’t feel so patient.
Sometimes I sing with gritted teeth, or after biting my cheeks to keep from saying something I shouldn’t. Sometimes, I begrudgingly sing it to my daughters with a cheery smile plastered on my face, my forced enthusiasm convincing my heart to actually be patient.

Patience, I’ve learned, isn’t just “waiting for the pot roast to be done” or “for your nails to dry” (although both have definitely grown my patience massively).
It also means long-suffering.
Excruciating “waiting for your adult child to come to Jesus”, or even
“persevering and fervently praying in the midst of turmoil and grief”.

Patience looks much like waiting on the Lord and His timing.

Maybe He’s called you to do something….
become a missionary,
start a ministry,
find a new job,
adopt,
or move,
and then He told you to wait.

Patience.
Long-suffering, nail-biting, gut-wrenching patience.

Because our God is gracious, never asking us to do what He would not, we find His loving patience everywhere.

The Old Testament speaks often of God being slow to anger like in Exodus 34:6-7 when God reminded Moses of His patience towards stubborn Israel and her disobedience.

Before saying, “Enough!” and nearly wiping out all of humanity with a flood, God literally waited over 4,000 years for hearts to repent!

In Numbers 14:18, Moses recounted again how Israel was saved from utter destruction, even though she clearly deserved it, because of the Lord’s long-suffering patience.

When Israel, freed from slavery in Egypt by the mighty hand of the Lord, grumbled and complained, “But, Yaweh! We’re hungry and starving and it would’ve been better for us to just be slaves!”

God lavishly poured out heaps of patience and love by giving them fresh, flakey bread (manna) and quail (what a delicacy!) every single day! Through the waiting, He taught them dependency on Him, teaching them to trust His daily provision.
They grumbled and complained and His response was gracious patience and provision!

When David, the young boy appointed King of the Israelites was finally made King, he had an affair and then murdered that woman’s husband!
The Lord’s response?
Loving Patience.
God had every just right to kill David, or at least remove him from the throne, for his grievous sin, but because God is lovingly patient, He sent a prophet to come alongside David, reveal his sin to him and allow David to repent!
God’s patience brought loving discipline to King David, one God called “a man after God’s own heart.”

From the moment sin entered this world through Eve and Adam, God’s great plan for redeeming mankind through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was already set in place. For its fullness to be completed, the Lord w a i t e d with long-suffering patience

And Oh!
The patience displayed by our Savior as He allowed Himself to be tortured beyond recognition then hung on a cross to die a long and excruciating death where He slowly suffocated hour by hour.
His shredded back scraped the rough wood of the cross each time He raised Himself up to catch a breath. His head throbbed from the thorns piercing into His skull.
He spent hours dying by the worst form of death in human history, intentionally allowing Himself to fully feel the agony, not hurrying His death sentence as He, the Author of life and death itself, could easily have done. He gave His life for you and me.
Patience even in death.

Astonishing.

I took a nap with my daughters this afternoon, praying as I fell asleep for Lord to speak to me about a situation in my life. Instead, I heard Him talking to me about His patience in a way I’d never considered.
God’s love for me is individualized.
It is a passionate love uniquely for me, just as His love for you is uniquely crafted to meet you. His love cannot be measured, it looks different for every person.
The love I have for my three daughters is special and intimate for each of them. Similarly, God’s love for us is just as individualized and special.
God delights in you and in me and He loves having a personal relationship with us where He loves us each in our own, special way. How great His love for us that He would patiently wait millennia for us to choose to know Him intimately! His heart is for all to choose Him! (2 Peter 3:9)

Love is patient.
Because God is patient.

Patient Love weaves together 4,000 years of events, inspiring 40 different authors to write words that all point to One Redeeming Savior.

Patient Love teaches disciples, followers, curious onlookers, and malicious people about the Father and His redemption while delivering people from sin and disease and performing miraculous wonders along the way.

Patient Love endures grotesque abuse, taking a guilty punishment of death, though innocent, in order to rescue beloved children who rightly deserve wrath.

Patient Love rises from the dead, forever defeating Sin and Death by His victorious life!

Patient Love walks with me in the most dire of circumstances when I’m being pushed, stretched, and pruned, even when it all feels out of my control.

Love is patient.
And God is love.

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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 Kaleidoscope Week One! 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 Kaleidoscope!

Prodigal Day 10
The Patient Father

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Luke 15:11-32
Ephesians 3:14-19
1 John 3:1-3patientfather

“Now, just ease your left foot off the clutch and slowly push your right foot against the accelerator. Easy, easy…” my dad cautioned. The car bucked forward and my teeth snapped together across my tongue as the engine died…again. A metallic taste filled my mouth and I blinked back a couple of tears. An impatient-sounding car horn blared behind us and I glanced at my dad.

He smiled. “It’s okay, they’ll wait.  Try again.”

When you are sixteen and learning to drive, stoplights seem to last for an eternity. (Remember sixteen? Everything seems to last for an eternity at that age.) Eternity seems even longer when you are forced to stop while traveling uphill and proceed to kill the manual transmission over…and over…and over again.

I gritted my teeth and put the car back in first. I took a breath, checked to make sure my feet were in the correct position and turned the key. The engine hummed to life. The light turned green and I slowly raised my left foot while lowering my right. The heavy white car jolted forward and I grimaced, but the transmission didn’t falter and we sailed through the intersection.

My dad didn’t have to be patient or kind as I struggled to learn an uphill start in the old white Volvo. He had given me clear instructions numerous times. He had shown me how to slowly trade the clutch for the gas with his own feet. While teaching me to drive, he had risked his very life several times and spent countless hours riding shotgun with me as I drove us down every back road we could find.

He could have pointed out that I was just not getting the hang of the manual transmission… and likely never would.
He could have laughed at my mistake.
He could have humiliated me by angrily ordering me out of the car and taking my place behind the wheel.

But he didn’t.

We can all remember instances when we have messed up. We may have received pointed feedback or correction. We may have been on the receiving end of cutting words or actions. No one responds well to harsh criticism…even when it is deserved. My father could have responded in any number of negative ways.
Instead, he sat calmly beside me, waiting for me to realize what I was getting wrong and how to get it right.

Jesus once spoke of another patient father. A father with two sons.

One son was eager to shed the shackles of responsibility and throw caution to the wind.
The other was determined to follow the letter of the law and prove his loyalty through actions.
Neither was right.

The first son received his inheritance early. Upon receiving the money, he moved far away. He lived it up, partying and living recklessly. He spent money on frivolities and luxuries, never once giving thought to savings or even his own survival. Suddenly and not-so-suddenly, the son found himself completely destitute and scrounging for food among the filthiest livestock.
Desperate, he returned to his father, expecting to be treated as a servant.

The other son stayed behind, determined to earn his father’s love. He worked. He helped his father with the family land. He never squandered a dime of his portion of the inheritance. While his actions seem pure, his heart posture was lacking.

The father could have ignored the first son’s pleas.
He could have allowed his son a place among the servants while withholding his affection.
He could have responded to either son with indignation, anger or frustration.
He could have berated the second son for his pride, calling into question his motives.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he ran to his long-lost son. He embraced him joyfully and called for all to join in a huge celebration to welcome his son home. He was sincere in his jubilance that his long-lost son had returned!

Instead, he gently and lovingly corrected the son who remained behind. With a soft response, he steered his proud son toward humility.

In each picture, we see an incredible portrayal of God’s Father-love for His children. We have all sinned.
Not one of us is perfect.
We all mess up, but when we return to Him and ask forgiveness,
He joyously gives it! He doesn’t withhold His affections or blessings from us because of our sin. No!
He welcomes us with open arms.
Rejoicing, He calls us new.
Clean. Beautiful. Forgiven.

Through Jesus’s sacrifice, the filth that once clung to our robes is gone and we are free to dance and twirl in His presence.

We may not all share the memory of a patient father in the earthly realm, but in the parable of the prodigal son Jesus depicts the Father-heart of God for us.
We see that His heart is welcoming, giving, rejoicing and forgiving.
He does not wait with judging eyes and furrowed brow.
He waits for us with joy, love, compassion and forgiveness.
We have only to return to Him.

The patient Father is waiting for us, ready to sweep us off our feet and celebrate our return with wild abandon.

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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!

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