Deliver

Relentless Day 10 The Lord’s Victory

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Judges 7:3-23
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Ephesians 6:10-12

Relentless, Day 10

“I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the one who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. I was the lion who you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that I came to shore where a man sat wakeful at midnight, to receive you.” 

My eyes began to water as I read (and by read, I mean listened to, because I absolutely listened to this in audio-book form) this paragraph Aslan spoke to Shasta, the hero of this story.

That realization that rushes over each new reader of “The Horse and His Boy”, is the same realization that rushed over me just a few months ago, when God gave me a revelation that altered my perspective on the last ten months of my life.

As I’ve been in my own kind of battle for months, I’ve been amazed every time I’ve seen God’s fingerprint show up in an unexpected way, just like the lion for Shasta. I imagined myself climbing this exhausting mountain with God occasionally choosing to reach out and touch me to give me a push along the way. But one day, God showed me the reason I kept seeing His fingerprints around my life isn’t because He was choosing to reach for me here and help me there…

It was because He was holding me.
And when things are held, fingerprints naturally end up everywhere.

I wasn’t being lightly touched.
I was being tightly held.
Ah-Ha Moment! 

Shasta, the presumed-to-be orphan boy, who was journeying from the land of slavery to the land of freedom on the back of a talking-horse, could see, at last, that he wasn’t the most unfortunate boy, with his continual run-ins with lions and life as the son of a cruel fisherman. Shasta’s life was held by Aslan; the great Lion of Love.

There was love amidst every battle. 

Oh, how I’ve seen God’s love amidst my own battles!

Not-so-coincidentally (thanks to God, who always seems to make things like this happen), the writing of this journey coincided with my reading of C. S. Lewis’ third book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. So, it is easy to compare this book and battles fought and won with Gideon, the prophet of old who defeated a 120,000 army with only 300 men.

In Judges chapter six, we read about God calling Gideon, and Gideon testing God… several times. Our ever-patient Father responded to Gideon’s tests each time, displaying how God would indeed deliver Israel by Gideon’s hand.

Gideon felt small.
Inadequate.
The odds were stacked against him.
He could hardly believe that God would use little ol’ him to bring victory to the Israelites.

I’ve felt that way, too.
Small.
Inadequate.
Stupid and weak.
I’ve felt like the odds were completely stacked against me.
I’ve believed that there was no way God could use me to bring glory to His name.

And yet.

God chose to use Gideon…
God chooses to use me.
And you.

So there Gideon was…
Feeling like he was already a lost cause.

The troupes gathered together, 32,000 in number, significantly smaller than the 120,000-member opposing army. Still, God told Gideon he had too many.
If God handed Midian over to Israel, Israel would only praise themselves and their own strength. Victory must obviously belong to the Lord God.

22,000 men left for home when Gideon commanded only the fearless to remain, and his small army dwindled even smaller to 10,000.

Still not small enough for God.
He needed to be sure that it all pointed back to Him. There could be no way anyone could ever assume victory was won by human strength. 10,000 turned to 300.

300 men.

Against 120,000.
Ridiculous odds.

Remember, God had already promised Gideon Israel would win this battle…
But oh how Gideon must have quaked inside. He’d already doubted God calling him into the battle, and now he entered with a 1 to 400 soldier ratio.

Gideon and all 300 of his men were upheld by God.
He used the weakness of their numbers to showcase God’s magnificent strength.

Sisters, God uses us when we are at our weakest.
He will use that season of feeling small and weak to demonstrate how He is our strength, which ultimately brings Him glory because our story….it really points to HIM!

We’ll never be “strong enough”, if we were, we wouldn’t need Jesus to save us,
and that’s the whole point of the Gospel right there!

Jesus + nothing = salvation.
God + a measly army = victory.

He is the lion pushing us towards our calling,
bringing comfort when we are trembling,
strengthening and upholding us to be all He has called us to be.
His mighty strength surrounds us, holds us, and chooses to use our woeful weakness to make His name known!

He is the God who doesn’t look at odds being in our favor,
– because there are no “odds” with Him –
He just always wins.

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Relentless Day 7 Faith Or Fear: 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 Faith Or Fear?

The Questions

1) How can I wait quietly for the Lord when I am desperate for help?

2) What does it mean that “the Lord is my portion?”

3) Why should God’s love and mercy give me hope?

Lamentations 3:21-26

Yet I call this to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!
24 I say, “The Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in him.”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the person who seeks him.
26 It is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.

Original Intent

1) How can I wait quietly for the Lord when I am desperate for help?
The original Hebrew title of the book of Lamentations, ekah, means Alas!  But, according to John McArthur, “rabbis began early to call the book “loud cries” or “lamentations.”  The author, Jeremiah, weeps for the calamity that God’s people have brought upon themselves because of their love affair with sin.  Even in this tragic time, though, the Lord brings hope.  Charles Swindoll notes, “at the center of this lament over the effects of sin in the world, sit a few verses devoted to hope in the Lord (Lamentations 3:22–25). This statement of faith standing strong in the midst of surrounding darkness shines as a beacon to all those suffering under the consequences of their own sin and disobedience.”  Jeremiah determines to wait quietly for the Lord’s salvation.  According to Ellicott’s Commentary, waiting quietly means “wait in silence: i.e. abstain from murmurs and complaints.”  Jeremiah understands that waiting on God without complaining brings him closer to His rescue.  Matthew Henry notes that quietly waiting is “not quarrelling with God nor making ourselves uneasy, but acquiescing in the divine disposals.”  Quietly waiting on God is yielding to His will and trusting He is in control, even when we don’t understand His plans. It is only possible if we love and trust God and acknowledge that His plans for us are for our good, even if it’s a “good” we don’t yet understand. God told Israel in Jeremiah 29:11 that His plans for them included a hope and a future.  Likewise, He promises us in Romans 8:28 that He is working all things out for our good. God promises He has destined true believers for eternal salvation and not for wrath in 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10. We can wait quietly for God’s help, even when we are in distress, because we trust His plan for us.

2) What does it mean that “the Lord is my portion?”
The book of Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah at a time when the great city of Jerusalem was devastated by the Babylonian invasion of 586 B.C.  The book is full of Jeremiah’s descriptions of the pain and desolation around him, but it also contains the hope Jeremiah finds in God. That hope was found in Jeremiah recognizing God as his portion and satisfaction. Author David Guzik points out, “Jeremiah found the key to satisfaction—finding one’s portion in the LORD. Whatever measure he was to receive, whatever inheritance, whatever future, it would all be found in Yahweh.” Having the Lord as our portion means recognizing God as our ultimate source for every need. Bible commentator John Gill says this about the Lord as our portion: ”All he [God] is, and has, is theirs; they are heirs of him, and shall enjoy him forever, and therefore shall not be consumed; he is a portion large and full, inexpressibly rich and great, a soul satisfying one, and will last forever.” Matthew Henry, another theologian, states, “It is our duty to make God the portion of our souls, and then to make use of him as our portion and to take the comfort of it in the midst of our lamentations.” Recognizing the Lord as our portion is important if we are to make it through hardships in life.  With the Lord as our portion, we can always find comfort and hope.

3) Why should God’s love and mercy give me hope?
Some scholars find in the Jeremiah of Lamentations a picture of Christ.  Author Ray Stedman notes, “As you read through this book, you will find many foreshadowings of our Lord weeping over the city of Jerusalem.”   Author John J. Parsons points out that “in many profound ways, Jeremiah pre-figured the prophetic ministry of Yeshua (Jesus).”  Jeremiah also prophesies and previews some of Christ’s main teachings, including salvation and our hope in His unfailing love and endless mercy.  Jeremiah reminds himself that the Lord is always loving and always merciful, which gives him hope knowing God would be with him and help him in the terrible situation the Jewish people were in after the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem.  Jeremiah also prophesies about Jesus’ coming, when God will make a new covenant with His people.  God will forgive their sins and write His law in their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34).  Author Tim Mackie asserts that Jesus’s life and death announced “the dawn of Jeremiah’s “new covenant.” Jesus would die for the sins of his own people, and simultaneously bring about that great act of forgiveness anticipated by Jeremiah.”  How amazing to see God’s plan for a Savior revealed to His people to give them hope even in their darkest days.  His love and mercy are truly remarkable!

Everyday Application

1) How can I wait quietly for the Lord when I am desperate for help?
Several years ago, I experienced unexplained vertigo.  I was anxious, wondering how I would care for my family if I couldn’t even stand without the room spinning.  I needed to get better fast, not wait on the Lord.  Yet waiting is what Jeremiah recommends in Lamentations 3:26 where he proclaims, “It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” Waiting did not seem good to me. But since I was dizzy just lying in bed, there wasn’t much else to do but call on God and wait for His intervention.  I began to understand Andrew Murray’s assertion that God “will never disappoint us.  In waiting on Him we shall find rest and joy and strength, and the supply of every need.”  Quietly waiting on God helped me determine that a prescribed medication was the cause of my vertigo, and I quickly improved.  But waiting on God also taught me I can trust Him with everything.  God showed me that is purpose in the waiting.  Andrew Murray says, “The waiting is to teach us our absolute dependence on God’s mighty working, and to make us in perfect patience place ourselves at His disposal.”  While I waited, my panic abated, and I recognized God was in control and watching over me.  It is not easy to wait when we want the answer NOW, but sometimes it is part of God’s plan.  In Psalm 33:20, David resolves to “wait for the Lord; He is our help and shield.”  In Micah 7:7, Micah vows he “will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.”  Once I calmed down and waited patiently for the Lord, He came to my rescue and became my Refuge.

2) What does it mean that “the Lord is my portion?”
I grew up spending summers with my sister and seven cousins at my grandma’s house.  We had lots of fun, but there were inevitable squabbles, usually over who got to drink out of the favorite green cup or who got the biggest slice of apple pie.  We each wanted ours to be the biggest and the best.  I think of that mindset when I consider the idea of the Lord as my portion.  If I want the best for my life, it is most definitely found in the Lord.  Charles Spurgeon called God’s portion the “infinite possession.”  He said, “It is better to have our good God than all the goods in the world: it is better to have God for our all than to have all and be without him.”  To have the Lord as my portion is to have the hope of eternal salvation and the hope of present refuge in God (Psalm 142:5).  To have the Lord as my portion is to have blessings found only in Christ and hope for an eternal future (Psalm 16:5). When I have God, even when I am weak, He makes me strong (Psalm 73:26). When you accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior from your sin, He becomes your portion.  He takes all of you and gives you all of Him; a trade that works infinitely in your favor!  When God is the Lord of your life, He promises to “supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  In Matthew 7:8, God promises “everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  To have the Lord as your portion is to have all that you need . . . the infinite possession indeed!

3) Why should God’s love and mercy give me hope?
In Lamentations 3:21-22, Jeremiah says he has reason to hope because he is reminded of God’s faithful love and his never ending mercies.  We can find hope in God’s love and mercy, too.  Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!”  God, through His grace, extends salvation to us through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, who took our sins on the cross so we could be forgiven and have eternal life if we believe in Him.  When we have Christ in our lives, we have great hope.  1 Peter 1:3 tells us God has caused us to be “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”  We have the hope of life eternal with Jesus, but we also have the hope of friendship with God while we are living this life here on earth.  Jesus tells us in John 15:14-15, “You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.”  This communion with God is a wonderful way God provides hope to His children!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Faith Or Fear?

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 Relentless Week Two!
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.

The GT Weekend! ~ Focus Week 1

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1)  Brianna noted on Monday, “God’s wisdom, while promoting His peace, does not promote a pain free life.” So we are left with the lingering question over our hearts, “do we really want to follow Jesus?”. This isn’t a one-time answer and finished for life. When the relationships get complicated and messy, will we follow? When it’s much easier to twist the truth and save ourselves, will we still follow? What are you walking through right now where you are need to ask, “Do I really want to follow Jesus?”. Remember, Sister, what’s at stake is for eternity. There is only One sure-footed place to walk the ups and downs of this life, and that’s following Jesus! Saying yes to Him will always be worth it, guaranteed.

2)  Quick, Slow, Slow. Three wise words waving like a white flag on repeat in my mind when I find myself in a scenario where my relational temperature is quickly on the rise. God’s wisdom, intended for everyday life application in big ways and small ones, will always bring life that causes flourishing. Quick to listen. Slow to speak. Slow to become angry. Listening brings life. Speaking should be only a small percentage of our relationships and anger…well, James says our anger does not accomplish the righteous purposes of God. Plain. Simple. Straight up wisdom. Practice raising the white flag in your relationships with those three words. Quick. Slow. Slow. Begin this weekend! As you slow, take those seconds, or minutes, to pray for the one you’re in conflict with.

3) We all have difficult seasons of our lives where we feel like the ground beneath us is swaying, shaking, and we aren’t sure we will make it to the other side. Pause for a few minutes and recall one or two of those times for you. What were the feelings you wrestled with?  What sustained you? When we feel like we are drowning, we need an anchor we can trust, no matter what. Relationships are amazing gifts, but they will always let us down in one fashion or another. What are your anchors? How do you know they will sustain you in your storms?

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from James 1:22-25 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Prayer Journal
Lord, Your presence is everywhere at every moment, just as You are incessantly pursuing each of us that we might turn to You and discover the love we’ve longed for. In the same way, Your wisdom never ceases, and You urgently desire for us to walk in it. Not because You’re a dictator, but because You are love and You know we will have the richest, most fulfilling life when we walk wisely.
As we study You, Lord, make us wise. May we not just accumulate good sayings and nice thoughts, but teach us to live out Your wisdom daily. Spirit, this is impossible without Your power. May we surrender more of ourselves to You every day!

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Gospel Day 7 That He Gave: 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 That He Gave!

The Questions

1) What is being compared or connected in verse 25 with the word “neither”?

2) What important doctrine is taught in the phrase “God who made the world”?

3) Why is Paul reminding the people of Athens God doesn’t need anything or anyone?

Acts 17:24-25

“The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. 25 Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.”

Original Intent

1) What is being compared or connected in verse 25 with the word “neither”?
The context for this passage of Scripture places Paul in Athens. While waiting for Timothy and Silas to join him, he engages in continual dialogue with the Jewish leaders and many of the people in the city. Disturbed by the number of idols he has noticed, Paul feels compelled to tell them the truth about Jehovah, the One True God. The gods the Athenians worshipped were made with human hands and had limitations. But the God unknown to them, the One who had delivered them and was worthy of their worship, was in reality the Creator God. This God was “neither” confined to an earthly temple “nor” was He dependent on humans to provide Him with anything. He has no needs. God is the Provider. In fact, He is the ultimate giver of everything.  Romans 11:33 reminds us, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid?”
The word “neither” places emphasis on the fact that God wasn’t needy of anything, and therefore was uniquely worthy of their worship.

2) What important doctrine is taught in the phrase “God who made the world”?
Some people in Athens didn’t know the One they were honoring was indeed the One True God. There are Bible scholars who believe the verses regarding this specific altar (verses 22-23) are possibly referencing a time in Athenian history when the people believed they were rescued from pestilence and plague. They constructed the altar/idol out of their gratitude. Paul wanted them to understand the altar they had erected to their “unknown God” (verse 23) was not just to a god. He was in fact The God. He was their Deliverer. He was the One who had rescued them.
He was also their Creator. In their ignorance, they were celebrating the God of the universe without realizing it. In the following verses, Paul revealed how this God was also their Savior through the work of Christ Jesus. Paul’s message to the people declared the God who created them, and the God who had rescued them from disease, was the very same God who would save their souls. (Acts 17.30-31) Paul’s gospel was this: From creation to this very moment, this is the same God. The only God.

3) Why is Paul reminding the people of Athens God doesn’t need anything or anyone?
The people who worshiped in this day were accustomed to their religious practices (verse 22). They mostly likely served their gods “religiously”. Paul used this opportunity to teach them that the God he was speaking of did not need their service. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine.” Psalm 50:12
In fact, this God was the giver of all things, not the receiver. Through the prophet Isaiah, God reminded His people of this truth. Reminding them of the inadequacy of idols, He said, “Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. I will be the same until your old age, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and rescue you. Who will you compare me or make me equal to? Who will you measure me with, so that we should be like each other?” (Isaiah 46:3-5)
Just like foreign gods could not save the people of old, neither were the present gods able to deliver them. Only an all-powerful and all-sufficient God was worthy of genuine worship.

Everyday Application

1) What is being compared or connected in verse 25 with the word “neither”?
We must keep in mind we worship a God much higher than us. “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8)
Paul was burdened that the people of Athens were missing the true God of salvation. The One True God of whom Moses proclaimed, “For I will proclaim the Lord’s name. Declare the greatness of our God! The Rock—his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true. The Lord declares, ‘See now that I alone am he; there is no God but me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from my power.’” (Deuteronomy 32:3-4, 39)
This God is able to accomplish anything. He created the universe and He sustains it. We do well to humbly acknowledge our relation as humans to Him, the LORD of all.

2) What important doctrine is taught in the phrase “God who made the world”?
In John 3:16, we learn that God loved the world and He gave us His only Son. In Acts 17 we learn God created the world and gives us life and breath … and ALL things. What an amazing thought: The creator of the universe is a giver. He did not just create a world and then leave us alone. He isn’t some distant deity, uninterested in our lives.
We understand this because we are made in His image.
Those in Athens had heard their own poets refer to themselves as God’s offspring (17:29). Paul used this familiar concept to communicate how God was more than a figure made of wood or stone. Humans were created to live in relationship with the Creator. He has given us life and has also given us the power to live and breathe. He demonstrated this life through the resurrection of Jesus, the Son He gave. THE God, who created everything wants a forever relationship with us. Peter preached the same message that Paul preached, “By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water… [This] 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.” (2 Peter 3:5, 9) We were created by God and we are loved by God. He is a life-breathing, life-giving God!

3) Why is Paul reminding the people of Athens God doesn’t need anything or anyone?
When we worship the One True God, we are the beneficiaries. He doesn’t need our worship, He deserves our worship. We must recognize that we remain a receiver and God is always the giver, yet even so, He finds delight in relationship with us. We are the beneficiary and He is the benefactor. Everything we have was given to us by God. (1 Corinthians 4:7 ) When we pray, we are confessing our dependence on Him to even desire to pray. When we serve, we aren’t working for a weak God who can’t accomplish a task without us. We are simply vessels God created to be His human hands and feet on earth. When we ‘count our blessings’, we aren’t tallying what we owe God. We could never repay Him. Nor should we see it that way. God doesn’t give because He needs a return. God gives because He is a giving God. In Isaiah 41:10, God says “I’ll help you, and I’ll hold you.”
John Piper said, “Trust this God, and every day pray as a helpless, empty recipient of this promise. And when you pray and when you trust as a helpless little kid, God will work for you. And He will get the glory, and you’ll get the joy.”

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with That He Gave!

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 Gospel Week Two!
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.

Awaken Day 9 Song In The Night: 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 Song In The Night!

The Questions

1) What is the psalmist’s circumstances and emotional state?

2) What is the tone of the psalmist’s questions in verses 7-9?

3) What is the transition point for the psalmist? What is he remembering?

Psalm 77

I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.
My hands were continually lifted up
all night long;
I refused to be comforted.
3 I think of God; I groan;
I meditate; my spirit becomes weak. Selah

4 You have kept me from closing my eyes;
I am troubled and cannot speak.
5 I consider days of old,
years long past.
6 At night I remember my music;
I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.

7 “Will the Lord reject forever
and never again show favor?
8 Has his faithful love ceased forever?
Is his promise at an end for all generations?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Selah

10 So I say, “I am grieved
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I will remember the Lord’s works;
yes, I will remember your ancient wonders.
12 I will reflect on all you have done
and meditate on your actions.

13 God, your way is holy.
What god is great like God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
you revealed your strength among the peoples.
15 With power you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 The water saw you, God.
The water saw you; it trembled.
Even the depths shook.
17 The clouds poured down water.
The storm clouds thundered;
your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
lightning lit up the world.
The earth shook and quaked.
19 Your way went through the sea
and your path through the vast water,
but your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Original Intent

1) What is the psalmist’s circumstances and emotional state?
Asaph, the author of this psalm, was one of three Levites whom David had assigned to be a singer in the Tabernacle. Our modern-day correlation might be a worship leader. Despite his leadership position, Asaph wrestled heavily for an extended period with a heaviness that sapped his delight and joy. Depression had settled around Asaph, wearying him with chronic emptiness, wracking his mental, emotional, and physical state. He couldn’t find comfort, even though he called on the Lord for relief. His spirit was weak within him, even though Asaph meditated on God. We have no reason to believe that Asaph was only “going through the motions” of seeking after God, but that his heart truly was seeking after God. This was a time of true desperation for Asaph, he found solace in nothing.

2) What is the tone of the psalmist’s questions in verses 7-9?
Hurt and painful circumstances weigh down heavily on our souls having a blinding effect on our perspective. Sometimes the ache runs so deeply, we simply cannot see anything else. The past looks enchantingly better and the future feels impossible, this is the seedbed for doubt and anger. Here is where we find Asaph. “Will the Lord spurn forever? Has His steadfast love ceased? Have His promises ended? Has God forgotten how to be gracious?” (verses 7-9) Asaph’s intention isn’t mockery, it’s honesty. His persistent pain has driven him, the esteemed worship leader, to question his God, his faith, and all the beliefs he has held dear.

3) What is the transition point for the psalmist? What is he remembering?
Verse 9 ends with the mysterious Hebrew word “Selah”, which most theologians agree gives some nod towards “intentional pause for peace and stillness”. Asaph’s grief has not instantly disappeared, but he has made an intentional choice to pause and be still, assessing himself and His God. Verse 10 continues with this subtle shift as Asaph has made a clear decision, he admits his grieved feeling that the Lord has changed, but he plods forward insistently determined to remember and reflect on the Lord and all He has done. Asaph acknowledges the reality of his feelings, and then chooses to set them aside that he might intentionally remember the works and character of God. Remarkably, the shift alters the rest of the psalm. At the beginning, Asaph spoke of himself, his feelings, his grief, and his pain, but following his decision to gaze at the Lord, the poem continues with words that focus on God, His power, His redemption, His gentleness, His strength, His protection. With a perspective shift, Asaph no longer feels the need to grieve, but rather to rejoice!

Everyday Application

1) What is the psalmist’s circumstances and emotional state?

Asaph’s brutal, open honesty both frightens and comforts us. Scripture makes no attempt to airbrush the reality of real grief, genuine heartache, and pain running far deeper than some nice words can cover or even a few days can soothe away. But Asaph’s honesty brings me such comfort because, Sisters, I have been in his shoes. The days of loneliness have bled into months and years and into a season of sadness for me at points in my journey. Asaph reminds me I’m not the only one! Some of you sitting on the other side of this screen today need to hear that truth too. You’re not the only one.

2) What is the tone of the psalmist’s questions in verses 7-9?
Hear this, Beloved Daughter, the Lord is not afraid of your doubt. He will not sit in condemning judgment over you for your fearful grappling with faith questions. As you walk through the storm you don’t know how or if you’ll survive, His heart can handle your honest questions, so ask them. Write them down, weep over them as you scream them aloud as Asaph did (verse 1), and surround yourself with truths that are true even if you don’t feel them as Asaph did. “Steadfast love” was his description for a love he felt had run dry. “Faithful promises” was his depiction of a God who had run out on him. “Gracious”, “compassionate”, both truths of God’s character, even though he clearly felt like these had been replaced with anger. Truth will always win over lies, Sister. Wrap yourself in it when lies threaten to have full sway. Fight back with truth.

3) What is the transition point for the psalmist? What is he remembering?
At the beginning of the Asaph’s song, he tried to remember God and His actions in his own life. He recalled previous “songs in the night” from other times in his life, but he could not be comforted. At the end, after Asaph’s focus shifted, he intentionally chose an action fully outside of himself to meditate on and remind himself of unshakeable truths concerning God’s steadfast character. He focused on the biggest event in all of Old Testament history, the mega-event that was sung about and chronicled all throughout Old Testament poetry, song, and story. The parting of the Red Sea where God rescued His people from slavery and certain death. For us, even when we can’t be comforted by God’s actions in our own lives because depression or hurt has blinded us, we can do what Asaph did and focus on the one event that changed all of history. The crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ where He laid Himself down giving His life in exchange for ours that we might be freed from slavery to sin and its damning effect of eternal death. Here, with this perspective, we will always find life-giving, unshakeable hope!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Song In The Night!

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 Awaken Week Two!
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.

Awaken Day 7 Still, Small Voice: 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 Still, Small Voice!

The Questions

1) Why is Elijah in the cave?

2) Why does God choose to speak in “a soft whisper”?

3) Why does God leave 7,000 in Israel?

1 Kings 19:9-18

He entered a cave there and spent the night.
Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.”

11 Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.”

At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies,” he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life.”

15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 You are to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. 18 But I will leave seven thousand in Israel—every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Original Intent

1) Why is Elijah in the cave?
Beginning in 1 Kings 18:20 we see the set up for why Elijah ended up in a cave. Elijah was the only faithful prophet to God and he challenged Ahab and all the others who were worshipping the false god Baal. More specifically, Elijah attacked the beliefs of the worshippers of Baal, set up an impossible-to-win stand-off to prove Baal had no power while the One True God was all-powerful. God, of course, defeats the prophets of Baal. However, this action brings about a threat on the life of Elijah from Queen Jezebel. Upon receiving the threat Elijah is afraid and runs for his life. God remains faithful to Elijah, providing for his basic needs and, after 40 days, he eventually ends up in the cave.  Elijah is in a cave as a direct result of his decision to run away.

2) Why does God choose to speak in “a soft whisper”?
In 1 Kings 19:11-12 God displays His power over creation. There is a great, destructive wind, an earthquake, and a fire that all take place before God finally chooses to speak. God could have shown up and spoken to Elijah in any of those moments, instead He chooses to wait. God displays His power for Elijah once more and then, in the small whisper, God finally speaks. God waits for the intimate moment when He has Elijah’s full attention to speak, and when He speaks, He asks a question reminding us of the question God asked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:9 quickly following Adam and Eve’s decision to sin, God comes into the Garden and asks, “Where are you?”. God doesn’t ask this because is ignorant, He asks to re-establish the relationship that once was. In a similar way God comes to Elijah in the quiet whisper and asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”. Again, God doesn’t ask because He doesn’t know the why, He asks because He is restoring the relationship God and His prophet Elijah have had.

3) Why does God leave 7,000 in Israel?
During the intimate conversation between God and Elijah we learn Elijah feels alone. He feels there is no one left who is faithful to God. He essentially wonders why the Israelites are still God’s people despite their unfaithfulness. God chooses to show Elijah that he is not alone and there are 7,000 believers who had never abandoned the faith. In these same verses we see the consequences of those who have been unfaithful, as well as the love of God in sparing those who remained faithful to the covenant between God and Israel. God encourages Elijah there would be another prophet to follow in his footsteps when He instructs Elijah to anoint his replacement, Elisha. Even though Elijah felt alone God showed him he has never really been alone.

Everyday Application

1) Why is Elijah in the cave?
It has always amazed me that in one moment Elijah displays such faith in God that he stands up to Baal without fear knowing his God will be victorious and in almost the next breath Elijah is running away fearing his life from a human queen. Just like Elijah, there are times in our lives where we will fear the circumstances in our lives. The decision before us in those moments is whether we will lean in and trust God, or run in fear of what might happen. While the decision to ask God into our lives is a one-time decision, the decision to trust God in all circumstances and situations is one made moment by moment, day by day.

2) Why does God choose to speak in “a soft whisper”?
God is a God of power who controls all of creation. He can choose to show Himself and speak through anything. Yet, many times in our lives God does not speak to us through big huge billboards we can’t miss. No, instead, He comes to us in the quiet moments when we choose to set the noise of the world aside and draw near to Him. It is in the moments of intimate relationship that God often speaks to our hearts. You see, above all God prioritizes our relationship with Him. He wants us to draw near, to sit and be still, to lean in ready to hear what He has to say. The question is, will we be still long enough to hear the soft whisper?

3) Why does God leave 7,000 in Israel?
Just like Elijah felt alone, how many times in our lives do we struggle with the same feeling of loneliness. There will be times in our lives we look around and may be tempted to think there are no faithful believers around us or there is no one left to keep the faith when we are gone. However, just as in the life of Elijah, we are never truly alone. If we look hard enough, there are those around us who are clinging to faithfulness and living their lives devoted to the One True God. There are those being raised up in the faith that will continue to grow in faithfulness and who will carry on the faith once God calls us home. No matter how hopeless circumstances may look, we must remember that just as Elijah wasn’t alone in his faithfulness neither are we. Like Elijah, we serve not only a faithful God, but also a just God and those who are faithless will one day have to answer for that faithlessness. However, we must also remember that faithfulness does not equal perfection. As believers, God is continuously at work in our lives to make us more like Him as we choose to cling to Him in faith.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Still, Small Voice!

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 Awaken Week Two!
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.

Awaken Day 2 A Prayer For Mercy: 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 A Prayer For Mercy!

The Questions

1) Who is the writer and what qualifies him to write on this topic?

2) How is one’s affliction related to someone else’s salvation?

3) Verse 5 seems to assert that it is because of Jesus Christ that we have both affliction and comfort. How is this possible?

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.

Original Intent

1) Who is the writer and what qualifies him to write on this topic?
Paul the apostle wrote this letter to the church at Corinth. There were many false teachers attempting to exert influence on the new Christ-followers and lead them astray. Much like things we hear today, the false teachers likely mocked the believers for their faith and said, “If you have been saved by Jesus Christ, why are you going through so many hard times? Your life should be easy!”
The false teachers were smooth-talkers (I’m sure you’ve heard some) who told people what made them feel good. In so doing, they “preach[ed] a different Jesus…a different kind of Spirit…a different kind of gospel.” (2 Corinthians 11:4)
But Paul knew from experience that a life dedicated to Christ does not equal a life of relaxation. Quite the opposite: 2 Corinthians 11:23b-27 is a laundry list of hardships and adversities! From beatings and prison to shipwrecks and hunger, Paul had lived through many sufferings.

2) How is one’s affliction related to someone else’s salvation?
Paul wrote this second letter to the Corinthians partly because he had heard reports of their deplorable behavior. He was distressed to know that these believers were allowing the smooth words of false teachers to tickle their ears and draw them away from pure devotion to Jesus. In this sense, Paul’s distress (affliction) resulted in a letter that brought about their repentance, which brought them closer to the Lord (2 Corinthians 7:11). Paul suffered significantly for the cause of Christ in his lifetime, but it wasn’t without purpose. God used Paul’s sufferings to bring about salvation for many as they heard his preaching and witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit at work in his life.

3) Verse 5 seems to assert that it is because of Jesus Christ that we have both affliction and comfort. How is this possible?
Sisters, do we deceive ourselves to think that we will be accepted by society even as we live out our faith in Jesus? He specifically stated the world would hate us because it hated Him first (John 15:18-19). This is the reason that we have affliction – because we identify with Christ.

But He also sent the Holy Spirit upon His ascension to everyone who genuinely believes and trusts in Him (Acts1:9-11; 2:1-4). The Spirit of God is with us even during our tribulations and hardships, bringing us comfort.

Everyday Application

1) Who is the writer and what qualifies him to write on this topic?
Paul could write about sufferings because he endured many. Every event in each of our lives has the potential to bring glory to God. Even the hard times. Especially the hard times. What have you experienced in your life that only Our Good Father could have brought you through in His mercy? Have you shared it with anyone?

2) How is one’s affliction related to someone else’s salvation?
We have seen the many hardships that Paul endured on his missionary journeys. Imagine if he had given up his calling at the first hint of trouble. Think of how many people would never have heard about Jesus Christ.
Living out the calling placed on our lives by Our Lord is not easy. Not only will we be mocked and ridiculed by people, but the enemy, Satan, will do his best to keep us from fulfilling our purpose. We don’t give up, because the Holy Spirit is with us to sustain us and to comfort us. We can trust that God knows best, lean into Him (especially when suffering) and experience His mercy. Then we share that with others for their salvation…either justification salvation (a one-time experience) or sanctification salvation (a daily transformation into the likeness of Christ).

3) Verse 5 seems to assert that it is because of Jesus Christ that we have both affliction and comfort. How is this possible?
Think for a moment about the sufferings you have endured as a Christian. Now reflect: Did you receive comfort during those times, either from fellow Christians or from the Lord Himself? If you had the choice (which, of course, you do) to suffer for Jesus knowing you’ll be comforted or to live an easy life with no suffering, but also no promise of heaven, which would you choose? My choice is Jesus. A little trouble now in this world…but a glorious life with Him for eternity.

*If you have chosen Jesus for the first time in your life, please contact a pastor to learn what your next step should be or share it with us at Gracefully Truthful!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with A Prayer For Mercy

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 Awaken 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.

Glimmers Day 13 Hope In The Manger: 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 Hope In A Manger!

The Questions

1) What is this registration and why is it important?

2) Who is this baby lying in a manger?

3) What do we learn from shepherds being the first to learn of this baby’s birth?

Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to people he favors!

15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.

Original Intent

1) What is this registration and why is it important?
The registration Luke writes about is a census for tax purposes. The Roman Emperor called for this census, requiring everyone to travel back to their hometown.  Joseph came from the line of David and therefore he and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem (the City of David). Mary was nine months pregnant and about to deliver her son, which is important because through this specific travelling, God places Mary and Joseph exactly where they needed to be in order for prophecies regarding Jesus’ birth to be fulfilled. Micah 5:2 declares the Messiah will come out of Bethlehem. 2 Samuel 7:12-13 says the Messiah will come from the line of David. Through this census, God shows the Israelites, who would have known these prophecies, this baby is the baby who has been promised.

2) Who is this baby lying in a manger?
In the narrative of Christ’s birth Luke never mentions the name of the baby born. In verse 11 Luke does tell readers the baby is “The Messiah, the Lord”, but He is not specifically named. Luke provides other basic details of the birth and tells of the announcement to the shepherds and their visit to the manger, but never His name. We must look further in the narrative to discover ‘this baby’ is Jesus. In Luke 2:21 Jesus is named on His eighth day according to Jewish custom. This baby is the long-awaited Messiah God had been promising to His people for generations. After 400 years of silence from God, He is finally heard from again in the form of a baby crying in a manger.

3) What do we learn from shepherds being the first to learn of this baby’s birth?
After 400 years of silence a baby cries and God is heard again. However, God first announced this miracle to shepherds in a field. God chooses a group of people who are probably the most unlikely group imaginable to announce His Son’s birth.
Luke doesn’t provide much information about these shepherds, but we know the angels visit them and they are afraid. Their fear quickly changes to action as they visit and worship this baby in a manger. Immediately, they left their sheep traveling to find this baby, their Messiah, and worship Him.

Everyday Application

1) What is this registration and why is it important?
This registration (census) is the means by which God divinely moved Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecies that told of the Messiah’s coming. God will take any steps necessary in order to accomplish His will. From the beginning, God knew humanity would need a Savior, a Messiah (a promised coming deliverer). God foretold of Christ’s coming so when He arrived, the Israelites would recognize Him as the One who had been Promised. I am certain this trip was anything but comfortable for Mary, yet God took her on it to accomplish His plan. For believers today, God spares no expense to fulfill His ultimate plan and purpose in our lives. We can rest assured knowing that God will use all situations and circumstances we journey through to accomplish His ultimate plan of restoring humanity to Himself just as He did with Mary.

2) Who is this baby lying in a manger?
This baby lying in the manger is the long-awaited Messiah God promised to His people for generations. Today, believers are God’s people, therefore this is the Messiah or Savior we need. Jesus is the answer to sin, He is the answer God promised at the fall to redeem His creation to Himself. This baby is God Himself who chose to put on human flesh for us. We cannot leave Him in the manger though. This baby grew up, lived a perfect life, performed many miracles, and then chose to take on the punishment for every sin of every person taking them to the Cross and bearing the consequence for those sins… death. He then conquered Death and the grave providing redemption from our sin and eternal hope for all who place their trust in Him alone. If we leave Jesus as a baby in the manger, we fail to see the entire picture of who this baby truly is… our everyday Savior!

3) What do we learn from shepherds being the first to learn of this baby’s birth?
The most unlikely group of people first heard of the birth of the Messiah. One would probably expect God to announce His Son to the royal or religious leaders, but instead He chooses to announce His Son’s birth to shepherds in a field. This isn’t a massive amount of people but a few lowly shepherds. Jesus didn’t come only for the rich and royal or the religious leaders, but for all. No matter who we are, where we come from, or what we have done, the gift of Jesus’ birth is for us. The shepherds immediately leave their sheep to seek out Jesus and worship Him. This is the response God is looking for. He came for all, but simply wants those who are willing to set aside everything and worship Him. He will accept you into His family no matter who your circumstance or your past baggage, as long as you are willing to open your life to Him to full worship through surrender!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Hope In A Manger!

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

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Our Current Study Theme!

This is Glimmers 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!

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

The GT Weekend! Glimmers, Week 2

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) Do you struggle with feeling like you aren’t enough, buried under a load of “shoulds”? Do you ever find yourself expecting more of others and frustrated when they don’t follow through on the “shoulds”? Think through these areas and the people who could be affected by unfair expectations. Each of us long for freedom found in unconditional love. Pray through some specific actions you can begin implementing towards others and yourself in showing grace and love that doesn’t let go.

2) Consider Sara’s words on allowing hope to grow within us, “I don’t know the full pictures of my life, but just like the prophets of old, I am to obey regardless.” How have you seen hope grow as you have intentionally chosen to trust and obey the Lord who knows you and leads you, even when it feels dark and terrifying? If you haven’t experienced that, what current circumstance are you walking in where you could desperately use some hope? Decide to seek the Lord’s wisdom and be transparent in biblical community, ask Him to show you where to trust and follow in obedience.

3) Christmas is supposed to be a wonderful time of hope and joy and delight, but when it brings pain and strong reminders of loss, the God of all comfort is eternally present in the midst of our everyday. Give yourself the freedom to identify your hurts or sadness or needs this weekend. Instead of shoving those feelings aside, instead journal and pray through surrendering those, and welcoming the comfort the God who loves you and pursues you that He might fill you with Himself!

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Isaiah 40:1-2 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Prayer Journal
Father, Your intimacies are sweet and precious, life-giving, and richly deep. Abba, I praise You for being my comforting embrace regardless of the contents of my everyday life. I surrender my sadness, my weariness, my ‘not enough’, my lack, knowing that You never intended those burdens to define me. You came to comfort. You came to carry me. The deep, solid joy that truth brings is indescribable! My heart will sing of Your goodness!

Give me the opportunity to declare Your joy to others. This joy was meant to shared and declared with boldness. Spirit, give me that boldness!

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music