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Take Root Day #1

  Take Root  B e | What should I be because of what I read? O wn | What truth does this verse show me that I need to own? L ove | The goal of instruction is love. (1 Timothy 1:5) D o | Now, w hat can I do to better Be, Own, and Love. Applying scripture boldly will allow it to take root in your life but being surrounded by other sequoias will better prepare you for the storms ahead. Be BOLD is seeking to surround yourself with likeminded men. Go over these scriptures with your group or journal alone until you recruit some comrades – if you need help getting connected let us know! Take Root Day 1  1 Peter 1:1-5 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as strangers, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, [a]to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of

Take Root Day #2

  1 Peter 1: 6-10 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and [d]full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, Salvation is the “this” that they are talking about rejoicing greatly in….do I do that? Peter makes a cursory nod toward the trials of this world but says we greatly rejoice in the salvation that comes through faith  - and that is the most precious thing we possess.  I am afraid at times I may g

Take Root Day #3

  Day 3  1 Peter 1: 11-21 11  seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.  12  It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. 13  Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober  in spirit , set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  14  As obedient children, do not ] be conformed to the former lusts  which were yours  in your ignorance,  15  but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all  your  behavior;  16  because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17  If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of

Take Root Day #4

Day 4 – 1 Peter 1: 22-25 22  Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers  and  sisters, fervently love one another from the heart,  23  for you have been born again not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable,  that is , through the living and enduring word of God.  24  For,“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, 25  But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you. Here Peter assumes we have followed through on verses 13 and 14:   “ 13  Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  14  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,” Verse 22 picks up right there.   Since we have done this our hearts are free to love as God intended them to lo

Take Root Day #5

 Day 5 1 Peter 2: 1-3 T herefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Peter gives us a pretty tall order to start this chapter.  He says take out the trash of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. I looked them up and here are the definitions: - Malice is the intention or desire to do evil. - Deceit is lying…whether it is by what I say or what I don’t say or just the way I act…if I am misrepresenting the truth, I am practicing deceit.   - Hypocrisy is defined as the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform.   - Envy  is a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck. - Slander is making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation

Take Root Day #6

  Day 6 1 Peter 2: 4-8 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”  7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, “A stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief cornerstone,”8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed. The point that jumps out at me from this passage is that there is no neutral ground here…. This stone demands a reaction.  You either build with it – or face plant.   God is a choice that changes trajectories we must o

Take Root Day #7

  Day 7 1 Peter 2:9-12 9  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for  God’s  own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  10  for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11  Beloved, I urge  you  as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.  12  Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe  them , glorify God on the day of visitation. Chosen, royal, holy…does that describe the way I live? Peter says that is what I am.   I am someone who once lived in darkness but have been called out into the light. Simply based on mercy…. nothing I did to deserve it.   Jonathan Edwards said “You contribute nothing to your salvation ex