Originally sent out September 18, 2022
So, I’m doing a Bible Study through the book of 1 Peter with some incredible, godly women. Women who challenge me with their love, understanding and remembrance of God’s Word. Two ladies join us online from tribal locations and nine of us are meeting in my house, but it seems like we’re never all here at once. Our group is from Germany, the US, South Africa, Canada and Mexico!
It’s a pretty in-depth study, and at the end of each lesson you’re meant to write down a plan of how you’re going to implement what you’ve learned. But I can never figure out what to plan on changing within the next week. I do all the study of the passages, and then I have to leave the application portion blank.
Well I was especially challenged with our study of 1 Peter 1:13-25. Verse 17 in the New Living Translation (NLT) says, “He will judge or reward you according to what you do” (this is not about salvation, to be clear, we’re saved through trust in Christ alone, not by our actions). My friend pointed out that we’re judged not by our knowledge or our good intentions, but by what we do with them. And verse 13 says, “prepare your minds for action.”
So all the study of God’s Word I do, should be to prepare me to act . . . act in this new life that God has given me as I have trusted in Christ and placed my faith and hope in God. We talked a lot about what that means. How do we prepare our minds for battle? Because we are in a spiritual battle if we’re believers, no matter where we live. How do we prepare our minds to “fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (NASB95).
For me, I can get so stuck on the little frustrations of this world and the things I can’t control: a rat, cockroaches, maggots in my bananas and the disappointments of ministry when things aren’t necessarily going the way I thought they should and it feels out of control. How can I remember in those moments where my hope is and who is in control?
How do I prepare my mind to remember those things? The ladies had some good ideas, and that is why we need each other in the study of God’s Word for our growth into maturity:
- Listen to worship music to remind you of truth.
- When something is coming up that you know is frustrating to you, plan ahead to redirect your thinking with scripture.
- At the beginning of the day, ask the Lord to prepare your mind.
- Bring situations you know are coming to the Lord
- Memorize scripture and post it places where you’ll look at and read it.
