Generous

Gospel Day 6 That He Gave

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Read His Words Before Ours!

John 3:16-21
Romans 6:15-23
James 1:16-18
Acts 17:25

Gospel, Day 6

As a kid, I never tired of giving gifts. Each Christmas I would make a list of everyone in my family and begin brainstorming ideas for Christmas gifts. We’re talking grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone!

Naturally, the result of this was that I spent all the money I made throughout the year from my lemonade stand and bake sales on my family at Christmas. I loved doing this!
On occasion, my mom tried to remind me that as a kid, I was not expected to get every single person in our entire family a Christmas gift.
Because I loved giving gifts, I kept at it year after year.

Sadly, though, somewhere along the way, whether it was during my teen years or as an adult, I began losing my fervor for giving.
Rather, I turned my focus to tasting the delight of receiving.

It wasn’t that I’d never enjoyed receiving gifts, but giving had always been more enjoyable for me.
No longer!
I started dreaming of all I wanted to receive for Christmas, or what I wanted to buy myself. Eventually, I began feeling as if I just didn’t have enough money to go around anymore. Over time, I began believing that in order for me to receive everything I wanted, I would need to hold back money for myself.

I’m delighted to share that, although the shift from giver to receiver was a big one in my life, our great God is nothing like me!
He delights to give.
And give.
And give some more.
He, who did not withhold His only begotten Son; how will He not, along with Him, graciously hold nothing back?! (Romans 8:32)
He, the great God of love, freely and fully bestows upon His children lavish love and magnificent grace! (Romans 5:1-5)

This unrestrained generosity is what I am most reminded of when reading the beautiful words of John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 6:23 further elaborates,
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What do these passages tell us about the giving heart of God?
Consider with me for a moment what it requires to give a gift:

You Give Something Up
When you give, inherently, you are not keeping it for yourself. When God the Father gave us Christ the Son, He was giving Him
up on our behalf. He sent Him to earth as the only possible perfect sacrifice, paying our penalty for sin which is death. While God the Son took our sin upon Himself, it was necessary for God the Father in His holiness to turn His face away, forsaking the Son. Imagine the pain! The broken unity which had eternally existed!

Still, He gave.

You Pay A Price
Gifts always come with a price tag. Sometimes it’s giving up what we own, but often it means parting with our money in order to give a special little something. God the Father paid a heavy price in order to give us the gift of His Son. He paid the price of fellowship with His much-loved Son, that we might benefit from His sacrifice for all eternity.

You Demonstrate Selflessness
True generosity, always puts someone before self.
God as Father, Spirit, and Son collectively counted the cost of breaking their unity and taking on the consequence of sin for us. God cared more for us, our opportunity to spend eternity with Him, and our freedom from sin and death, than He cared for Himself. What a powerful representation of the depth of His love for us!

Why Don’t We?
That which stands in the way of us living out sacrificial generosity in everyday life to others as Jesus modeled is pride.
Pride says it’s all about me, my happiness, my needs, and my recognition by others.
All throughout the Bible we read of the destruction that pride and selfishness brings.

David went after another man’s wife.
Judas betrayed Christ in exchange for 30 pieces of silver.
Jonah desperately attempted to flee from God to avoid preaching redemptive forgiveness to his enemies.

Pride is nothing more than the complete opposite of love.
To shower upon others the love of Christ just as it has been lavished upon us requires a willingness to lay down our dark, disgusting sin of pride that we might take on the posture of humility, love, and sacrificial generosity.

Plain and simple, we don’t deserve the gift of Christ.
Not in the least.
But our Lord God loves us so incredibly much that, in the midst of our not deserving Him, He still chose to give us the gift of Christ.

If that won’t fire you up to give the gift of love to someone today, I don’t know what will!

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Glimmers Day 14 Hope For Life (because of death)

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Read His Words Before Ours!

John 15:9-17
Matthew 27:27-56
1 Corinthians 13
Luke 6:27-35

Glimmers, Day 14

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

In a country where poverty and homelessness is prevalent and visible.
Most of the homeless people in the Bahamas are men, but sometimes they are mothers with babies, asking for money. The five dollars in my wallet could be the way of provision for a family’s dinner.
Yet, I find myself rolling up my windows while I am at a stop.
Avoiding eye contact with the person knocking on my car window.
I justify it with thoughts on their choices leading them here or concern for my safety.

Love each other like Christ loved us.
How?

Unlike myself, where I am caught between loving myself and loving another, the Godhead was never at a loss for how to love.
He demonstrated it plainly.
He loved clearly.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Christ Died – Surrendering His all, giving up everything, holding nothing back and coming towards us in radical love.
For Us  – Not for unknown strangers, but for His beloved ones, those crafted in His image. He cane for you and me.
While – Progressive, continuous, perpetual.
We Were Still Sinners – Us, the beloved of God, perpetually stuck in our own sin, utterly incapable of saving ourselves. In sin, we were eternally separated from the God who crafted us for relationship with Himself.

We deserved death, yet He took our place and bore our sins upon Himself. (1 Peter 2:24)
We hated Him, while He loved us.

He became our sin offering, taking our rightful punishment upon Himself as only the perfect God-man could do. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

He was separated from His Father, in our rightful place, that we might never again experience separation because of sin if we ask Him to forever save us.

And then, after enduring a great amount of physical pain, He intentionally, with full control, gave His spirit into the hands of the Almighty, Righteous, God and Judge.
Wiping our slates clean, He allowed us access to God as a result of His sacrifice,
all while we still hated Him, dead set against Him,
because we loved our Sin more than the Savior.

And there is the glimmer of hope.
Us, in our inky, black sin, impossibly, eternally removed from the glorious goodness of a God of love.
But Hope.
But God.

Watching the movie, The Passion of Christ, painted images in my mind for what Jesus’ suffering would have entailed as a human being, with flesh and blood.

I watched as Jesus was scourged with the cat o’ nine tails.
I watched as they mocked Him and spit on Him.
I watched as they push the crown of thorns onto his head.
I watched as they ridiculed His great name.
I watched as they dislocated His shoulders to drive the nails through His hands.
I watched as they raised the cross and lowered it into the ground.
I watched as they pierced His side, to declare Him dead.
I watched the blood run out of His body.

And I cried I witnessed the most beautiful acts of love I’d ever seen.

But Jesus’ crucifixion wasn’t only about His humanity,
it was about His equality with God the Father.
Christ’s death was about relationship.

I watched as He asked the Father to forgive those torturing Him, including me.
I watched as He accepted the thief into the kingdom as a beloved son.
I watched as He took care of His mom, naming John, as her son, protector, and provider.

I watched as He held the world’s sin, crying out to His Father with a heart-wrenching pain that went far, far beyond any physical wound, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?!” Forsaken because of sin. My sin. Your sin.

I saw a love so amazing, it was beyond comprehension or description.

Jesus willingly took on the punishment of death
for crimes He did not commit,
for people that did not love Him,
including me. (Isaiah 53:5)

Love each other like Christ loved us.
How?

If we’re honest, we often fail to love others like Christ loved us.
We forget that others are just as sinful as us.
We love conditionally, looking for what we can gain.
We respond as if Jesus did not die for others, calling them beloved, just as He calls us.
We are judgmental and hurtful to people who truly need Jesus’ love, just like us.  

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love,
I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

We can give much.
Serve often.
Start ministries.

But if there is no love, we have nothing.

Christ’s death, and victorious resurrection, give us the ability to love as He did because of the life found through the Spirit of God who dwells within every believer.
The Spirit makes us one with God, while prompting us to extend His love to people around us.

Christ’s death itself was the glimmer of Hope.
Hope for resurrection.
Hope for restoration.
Hope to love a lost world.

The more we learn of this radiant, unconditional love, the deeper our hearts are shifted from death to life through the Holy Spirit. Gradually, His pattern of loving, becomes our own. We learn to love well, because we have been well loved.

May God be glorified and may the nations, and our neighbors, be forever changed because we love like Jesus!
Love well, Sisters.

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

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Glimmers Day 3 Hope In Surrender

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 22:1-19
Philippians 4:11-13
Philippians 2:8-11

Glimmers, Day 3

You can do hard things.

Ugh.
These words are not always the easiest to embrace.
However, they are truth-filled ones, especially since Jesus is our source of strength and our hope to press on.

You.
Can.
Do.
Hard.
Things.

A few years ago, I would have read those words and been tempted to throw myself a pity party complete with confetti, a box of tissues, and a large mocha with whipped cream. I didn’t want to do hard things. I simply didn’t want to do “hard”.

However, when I recently read these words, they resonated not as a directive but as an invitation. I can do hard things. No longer did the emphasis in that statement rest on the word “hard”, but on the word “can.” With that, the joy of the Lord became my strength as hope unfurled within me.

I CAN do hard things.
I am an overcomer.
Instead of wallowing in a victim mentality (cue pity party), I’ve made the choice to do hard things even if I do not want to.
Because there is value in perseverance, obedience, and….. surrender.

Need an example? A perfect example (literally, a PERFECT example)?
Jesus, the Son of God yet fully man, willingly died on the cross to take our sins even though He had led a sinless and blameless life.
He did the hard thing.

I imagine that a soon-to-be mom whose due date is looming has some angst regarding the actual birth. That will be a hard thing, but there is such great value in surrendering to the process. The pain may endure for a time, but the joy it brings as she holds her newborn vastly outweighs the momentary struggle. The hope of what is to come spurs her on (the contractions help too).

So, may this study serve as a formal invitation to rise up and do hard things.
Is it difficult sometimes?
Yes. Hence the hard part.
Is it worth it? YES.

Even Paul echoed this sentiment, but he also cited the source of his ability and motivation.
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
Paul knew the secret for absolute success to doing hard things.
Jesus Christ.
God calls us to total surrender as He does His mighty work through our humble submission. Paul had learned to trust God’s strength to supply his own.

He’d experienced the faithful character of His God, and he knew beyond all doubt that with God leading the way, and hemming him in on all sides, doing hard things was always possible.

Since Paul is a prime example from the New Testament (besides our perfect one mentioned earlier), let’s visit an Old Testament example and peek into the life of Abraham.

Abraham’s life is chronicled in several chapters in the book of Genesis (12-24) and his name is referenced all throughout the Bible. He received the Lord’s promise that He would become a great nation, with descendants numbering beyond what anyone could count.

One problem: Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had no children and were rapidly careening towards the ages of impossibility on that front.

Yet the Lord promised they would become parents.
And so they waited.
And waited.
And waited for years until Sarah decided she could no longer do this hard thing of believing in the midst of hopeless circumstances.
So she gave her maidservant Hagar to Abraham and Ishmael, their son, resulted.

However, this was not the child the Lord had promised, and in the fullness of time, Sarah conceived and Isaac was born.

Years of waiting, expecting, and trying to make solutions on their own came to an end when Isaac’s young cries filled the air.
The Lord had proven Himself faithful and almighty.

Several years later, the Lord commanded Abraham to sacrifice that same child of promise, Isaac, as a burnt offering. The amazing part is that Abraham obeyed immediately.
Scripture doesn’t say he prayed and fasted for months or spent hours agonizing with Sarah over the Lord’s command. The Word says he “rose early” and began the journey with Isaac in obedience. Like Paul, he had learned to hope and trust in God’s faithful heart, and chose to wait for God to provide.

And the Lord did provide.

Isaac was bound on the altar, knife hovering above him,
when the Lord proved faithful again.
He provided a ram as an offering in place of Isaac.
The Lord’s faithfulness was displayed again through a choice to trust in the face of a hard thing. Abraham surrendered and he held tight to the hope of a good and gracious God. The hope that even if the Lord did not intervene He would still fulfill the promise of becoming a great nation.

In Jeremiah 29:11 God spoke to the Israelites at the beginning of decades of exile.
Israel faced hard years, and the Lord spoke His goodness as a lifeline through those.
He did not remove those years.
He led them through the hard things.
He gave them the opportunity to truly know Him, to trust His good heart, and He promised them a future and a hope through it.

Hope glimmered for the Israelites as they held to the Word of the Lord.
Hope glimmered for Adam and Eve, even as they were banished from the Garden.
Hope glimmered for Abraham as he obediently surrendered his son.
Hope glimmered because before time began, Jesus was prepared to suffer and walk through the hard things for the joy set before Him.
Hope glimmers for us today.

As Christmas approaches and we celebrate Christ’s birth,
let’s not forget the rest of the story.

Jesus surrendered heaven to dwell with us that we might live eternally with Him.
He willingly became the sacrificial lamb that was slain.
While Isaac was the promise that almost died,
Jesus was the Promise that came to die.
He came to do hard things so that through Him,
we have the hope and strength to do the hard things too.
For unto us a child is born.

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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 Glimmers 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 Glimmers!

The GT Weekend! – Worship IV 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) What are your personal experiences with worship? Pause, reflect, and journal through those. What are the circumstances and surroundings where you come into deep worship the easiest? What defines worship in your experience? How much do your feelings play into the “how” of your worship time? Spend the next 2-3 minutes writing out unchanging truths about God’s character, then steal away to a quiet place and spend 7-8 minutes worshipping God for being exactly who He says He is. Grab a candle, a journal, your Bible, or just a willingness to speak openly as you worship even now.  

2) Who or what is the “glue” that holds you together? Who or what do you rely heavily on for stability? Maybe it’s the relational state of your marriage, likes on social media, the cleanliness of your home, or how you perform at the gym. Consider how often you turn to the anchor of Christ to be your center. When you think of where you would like to be in your daily relationship with Jesus, what practical piece is currently missing? Write down 1 easy thing you can begin doing today to make a shift, taking your walk deeper with the Lord. Then connect with a friend and ask her to hold you accountable to regularly taking that step! 

3) When was the last time you worshipped the Lord right in the middle of the mayhem of your everyday mess? What did you praise the Savior for? As Crystal shared yesterday, we are invited in to “sing Israel’s song” as our great Rescuer and Redeemer. Challenge yourself you to take notes, even just for this weekend, writing down the ways the Lord has been gracious, setting His kindness upon you. Maybe it’s a paper journal or a note on your phone, but actively choose worship by taking note of the gifts of the Father!

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 Colossians 1:19-20 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

For God was pleased to have 
all his fullness dwell in Him, 
and through Him to reconcile 
everything to Himself, 
whether things on earth or things in heaven, 
by making peace 
through His blood, shed on the cross.

Prayer Journal
Making peace is something we all long for, Lord; it’s something I long for in my everyday life. My relationships need peace. My children need peace. My hurting friends need peace. My finances need peace. My workplace needs peace.  
 
But, these people and places need much more than I can possibly give or bring. As much as I grieve for the unrest, I know I’m at a loss to give anything but temporary emotional support, and even that isn’t possible in all cases. Lord, teach my heart to find peace in one place, Your shed blood for my redemption. Be my anchor, Jesus, and in that place of security, give me opportunities to extend Your peace to those around me. Remind me, Spirit, to lift my loved ones and my circumstances up to You for your perfect peace to surround. How I love you, Abba! How grateful I am for Your deep love and boundless peace!

Worship Through Community

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Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Worship IV, Day 3 Holding Us Together

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Colossians 1:15-20
Hebrews 12:26-29
Isaiah 9:1-7 

Worship IV, Day 3

Some may ask what the value is of their high school studies in chemistry (let’s be honest: high school math, art, etc.). While I always thought there was some use in what I was learning even if passing the class was the main reason, preparing for this Journey Study highlighted how the Lord can use anything for His glory.
High school chemistry included.  

I read through Colossians 1:15-20 and spent some time pondering the truths nestled there. What does it say about the Lord? What does it say about me? What does it speak to regarding my interactions with the Lord? 

In the midst of those questions, my high school chemistry class materialized in my mind. The long black countertops and the silver gray stools that became the backdrop of our scientific explorations set the scene. I remembered the feel of the delightful goggles providing safety as we dealt with chemicals as well as deep imprints on our cheeks announcing to everyone that we had just spend time dabbling with liquids, and solids, and mass (oh my).  

In my mind’s eye, I remember seeing a centrifuge on the counter and clearly recollected this actual day in class. We had a few liquids in our test tube and the only way to separate them was using the centrifuge, which essentially spun the tube at high speeds, the force of which caused the liquids to layer themselves by their densities. Little did I know that learning how to use that machine and comprehending all the science behind it would bring a section of Scripture to life years later.
Yet, here we have on display the goodness of the Lord through His creation.  

Colossians states that the Lord is before all things and in Him all things hold together. 

All things. 
Held together.  

Have you ever had one of those days, weeks, months, seasons where you just don’t feel like you have it together?
That everything is spinning out of control?  

Me too.  

Those personal examples came flooding to my mind after the centrifuge memory.
They marked my own moments of surviving the centrifuge of life.
Moments where life only seemed to pick up speed and everything began coming apart at the seams.

Hebrews 12 says that the Lord will shake things to prove what cannot be shaken. Those times have come and will come again, and I have learned to rejoice in the outcome of those moments because I am then able to separate what is from the Lord and what is not. I have discovered that sometimes that “spinning” of life is the only way to find that dividing line, much like using the centrifuge enables separating the liquids in that specific way as well.   

So if you are like me, may this section of verses from Colossians grant you the permission to quit trying to hold everything together by your own strength and rest in the arms of Jesus.  

Because He is strong enough to hold us together
and to separate what needs to be removed.  

Colossians 1:15
Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
Wait, what? He is the image of the invisible God.
Have you ever known that the Lord has you but you still wanted some “real” arms to hold you?
I have.
It’s comforting to know that Jesus lived and walked the earth. He came to us with skin on and arms that could truly hold us together. Hands that healed the servant whose ear had just been cut off and hands that willingly surrendered to nails at the cross. So while I’ve never experienced the literal arms of the Lord encircling me, I know that they once embraced those that came before me, and He brought to life the picture of God the Father.  

Colossians 1:16
All things have been created through Him and for Him.
I am friends with artists of many kinds. I have watched the love and effort they pour into their creations. Their investment is not haphazard and their joy at the completion is deeply felt. Now imagine Jesus’ response to His creation. (For the record, we are His creation.) Let that soak in for a bit. 

Colossians 1:17
He is before all things and by Him all things hold together.
Read this one out loud. Read it with the understanding that as the Creator of all things He alone has the capability to hold all things together.
Let the words sink into the depths of who you are.  

Colossians 1:18
He is the head of the body and the church and is the firstborn from the dead. Jesus has the authority and capability to lead us into eternal life.
He died and defeated death for us. He has us.  

Colossians 1:19-20
For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
Jesus came to earth as fully God and fully man. Because of this duality, His death on the cross and victorious resurrection created the way through which we are reconciled with the Lord God. Without Jesus and His sacrifice, I would be spiraling out of control due to the weight of my sin and the separation from Him it causes.  

So, is your world spinning?
Is the force of life starting to pull you apart?
Run to Jesus.
Surrender it all.
He can hold you together.  

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
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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 Worship IV 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 Worship IV!

Incorruptible Day 14 Sweet Sufferings: 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 Sweet Sufferings!

The Questions

1) Am I not living for Christ if I don’t undergo a fiery trial? 

2) Am I supposed to celebrate a trial or suffering?

3) In reading 4:19, does God will us to suffer?

1 Peter 4:12-19

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.
 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.
 14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
 15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.
 16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with God ‘s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
 18 And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
19 So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.

Original Intent

1) Am I not living for Christ if I don’t undergo a fiery trial?
The apostle Peter is writing to the body of Christ who is quite literally under fire and have, therefore, been exiled and scattered. The great city of Rome has burned down, people are displaced from their homes and livelihoods, separated from their communities, and in survival mode trying stay alive and care for their families while mourning lives of lost loved ones. 
By a false testimony, this devastation was blamed on the Christians. It is common understanding that the leader, Nero, himself burned the city and needed a scapegoat. The apostle Peter is writing to people whose devotion to follow Christ is the reason they are fearing for their lives and fleeing their communities. 
But persecution is wide spread and running away is not a simple answer. As Peter encourages these people to stand strong in Christ, he sprinkles reminders of those who have suffered before them for the Gospel of Christ and for striving to live righteously like prophets of the Old Testament (1:10), but primarily Christ himself, who lived perfectly and fulfilled prophecies, yet died a persecuted death to take on our judgement. 

2) Am I supposed to celebrate a trial or suffering?
On reading 1 Peter 4:13, one may find it an odd command to “rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ.” Even the strongest of Christians might honestly feel they were lying to themselves and others if they said they were celebrating at the same time they were hurting. 
It’s important to remember this verse is wrapped in the middle of a longer dialogue. It’s contrasting the statement to not be surprised by suffering for following Christ. Verse 14 brings clarity to what the rejoicing is regarding, “because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” 
Though the persecuted church is innocently enduring unfathomable pains, there is something greater to celebrate.  If they are, “insulted for the name of Christ,” they are suffering for His honor. 
This is a fruit-bearing process for believers who have been cleansed from unrighteousness, and have been spared a greater judgment by God. They have been raised from their spiritual dead state to being alive in Christ and given an eternal, incorruptible inheritance. The joy of this undeserved grace is a gift worthy of rejoicing!
Peter isn’t saying to celebrate hardship. Rather, joy is available because of our rich inheritance in Christ. Much like the timeless example of a laboring mother rejoicing in the coming of her baby. 

3) In reading 4:19, does God will us to suffer?
For qualified and extensive explanations on “God’s will,” sources as Reverend John Piper’s Desiring God website are recommended. However, in reading these verses, this may be a fair question to wrestle. This phrase could be taken to mean those who are suffering because they are doing God’s will or that they are suffering according to what God has allowed or “willed”. Either way, Peter is pointing them to lean into the Lord. Peter is reminding the persecuted church that God is faithful and trustworthy. God is Creator and this points to His sovereignty. The Matthew Henry Commentary notes the overarching purpose of this verse is to encourage the church to “look chiefly to the safety of their souls… which cannot be kept secure otherwise than by committing them to God.”

Everyday Application

1) Am I not living for Christ if I don’t undergo a fiery trial?
Have you ever felt like the only way you could live for Christ is if He calls you to a dramatic life change of service? Sometimes God does call His people to these things. Peter reminds believers that even Christ was persecuted while being righteous (1 Peter 2:19-21). Our fundamental call is to strive for righteous living in the quiet times and in the difficult struggles, wherever we are in life.
In chapters 2-5 Peter keeps circling back to how to live:
–“put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander” (2:1);
–“abstain from passions of the flesh” (2:11);
–“keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable” (2:12);
–instructing husbands and wives to honor each other (Chapter 3);
–“be self-controlled and sober minded” (4:7);
–“show hospitality without grumbling” (4:9); 
–humble yourselves before others and God (5:5-6). 
When we, in God’s strength, live out these instructions (especially in times of difficulty), we are living out a testimony for Christ. In the daily pantry-type decisions (as noted in the Journey Study) to honor God instead of escaping discomfort, thus “adorning the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10; Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth notes this application in her book, Adorned). Our focus is not the trial, but rather upholding Christ in every action. 

2) Am I supposed to celebrate a trial or suffering?
Have you ever followed through on a decision that aligned with Scripture, yet things didn’t go smoothly? 
A breadwinner learns their employer is participating in something against Scripture and decides to look for a different job. Someone who reaches out and loves on the outcast of the group, facing their own isolation. A person who offers to pray for a co-worker is fired for making others uncomfortable. 
Striving to honor Christ leads to trial and suffering. Trials and suffering may take on different forms, but 1 Peter is specifically referring to one who is suffering despite the fact that they are doing good. The sadness or difficulty of a situation is not to be down-played or dismissed. 
But, despite the type of suffering, be encouraged and strengthened as a Christian to look beyond the physical trial and re-connect with the joy of a greater news. Christ is risen and His people will one day share in Christ’s incorruptible glory!  Sufferings do not have power to take that hope away from us! 

3) In reading 4:19, does God will us to suffer?
When reflecting on those before us who have endured persecution for their faith in Christ (not due to evil deeds), it is common to pause in fear.
“I don’t think I could do that… is my faith strong enough to go through that pain?”
Or, perhaps, wrestle with believing God is good in allowing or “willing” such things to occur. It can be both perplexing and comforting to recall that God had a hedge of protection around Job in the Old Testament and Satan had to ask permission from God to bring calamity to Job’s family (Job 1:6-12) 
A few things to remember when wrestling questions about the suffering God as allowed into your life:
1.1 Peter 1:7 gives an example of purpose for trials, “so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes… may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
In this view, the cost is worth it! 
2. God works all things together for the good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). While we humans are concerned with the now and physical of a trial, God is concerned with the eternal preservation of souls and purification of His people (Philippians 1:6, Zechariah 13:9) 
If God, in His sovereignty were to “will” suffering and trials, He would only do so for a purpose of eternal value in His Bride, the Church, and that His Name would be made known that all may know that He alone is God. We see with cloudy vision, but He sees perfectly. What we can confidently know is that this God is entirely trustworthy!

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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

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Our Current Study Theme!

This is Incorruptible 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 :-))

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Incorruptible Day 11 Food For Life

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Read His Words Before Ours!

1 Peter 2:1-5
1 Peter 5:1-6
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
Hebrews 5:12-13
Ezekiel 36:22-38 

Incorruptible, Day 11

My husband has the biggest sweet tooth I’ve ever known.
Actually, the second biggest.
My Papa had him beat by just a little bit.

Because of Matt’s love of all things sweet and mouth-watering, I knew our twin daughters would be exposed to delicious desserts sooner than most babies, and I chose to embrace that and laugh whenever the time came…

At six months old, their daddy gave them a taste of his strawberry ice cream. I can still remember their big eyes as that freezing goodness slid onto their tiny tongues. They continued opening and closing their mouths as trying to figure out exactly what they were experiencing, because it certainly wasn’t their mama’s milk… it was better!
Their big eyes shifted into a sparkling gleam and the corners of their mouths turned upwards into grins, as they savored the new delicacy.

Eventually, their teeth came in and as they grew and developed, so did their love for food, expanding from mama’s milk and strawberry ice cream to vegetables and protein.
With that first taste of ice cream, they knew that “grown up food” was good and they began their journey into developing their palates for solid food. 

It is natural in our physical lives for the food we eat to change and broaden as we grow.  

Just as with our physical palates we grow and broaden in flavor profile and food choices, so it with our spiritual lives. As we spiritually mature, our spiritual taste for spiritual food deepens and widens, moving from beginner’s milk to nutrient rich “meat and potatoes”.  

But sisters, we can’t do it alone or overnight.  

I never expected my daughters to transition from milk to solid food in the span of 24 hours, or without my guidance. They needed me to provide them with milk, then they needed me to cook and mash their food for them, and now, I still need to cut their food into small pieces before they can digest it.  

We cannot grow deep in our faith on our own. 
We cannot live a holy life by sheer will power and determination.  

Scripture teaches this truth, but I also know it to be true from experience. 
Trying to live like Jesus on my own strength is not only exhausting,  

It is impossible.  

We MUST have Jesus living in us and transforming us from the inside out.
We MUST surround ourselves with biblical community, walking alongside brothers and sisters who also are being transformed by God’s Spirit, who can encourage us and hold us accountable to grow deep.

A simple Google search on the importance of community reveals hundreds of results on the significance of surrounding yourself with people who are encouraging and uplifting.
That age-old quote, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” is hard to argue with.

To grow in maturity with Jesus, it’s simply a non-negotiable to surround ourselves with a community who reflect 1 Peter 2:1, people who have “rid themselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander”.  

Yes, Jesus loves the lost and broken, the slanderers, the liars, the gossip, the adulteress, and the murderer, but He never intended them to remain in their sin.
He came to free us!
He offers depth and maturity and full redemption!

Jesus spent plenty of time with people who weren’t walking in God’s redeemed grace.
These were who He came for!
But these were not the people He made His community.  

Redeemed people, those who have intentionally crossed the line of faith and said yes to Jesus, were designed to grow.
We were given a new heart and the Spirit of the Living God inside us,
we were made for more! (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

The Lord designed our palates to move beyond mushed up carrots and peas,
but to get there, we must consistently spend time in His Word.

Just as any relationship, growth means investment.
We invest by joining community groups and small groups at church, studying the Bible, consistently worshipping at church, and in our own precious time with our Father through Scripture and prayer.  

When we invest like this, we’re moving beyond milk, growing our appetite for maturity in Christ. We’re starting to get the really good stuff! 

Sisters… if you’re wondering,
“There has to be more? This isn’t everything I thought it would be?”
THERE IS!
There is so much more.

If you feel your walk with the Lord has plateaued, or maybe even slowly dwindled,  then you’re still just drinking milk.

Are you craving His Word like sweet strawberry ice cream?
Taste and see that the Lord is good, His food is rich for life! 

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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 Incorruptible Week Three! 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 Incorruptible!

Incorruptible Day 8 Redeemed From Emptiness

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Read His Words Before Ours!

1 Peter 1:17-21
1 Peter 5:8-14
Ruth 2-3
Joshua 2

Incorruptible, Day 8

“For you know that you were redeemed (bought back) 
from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers, 
not with imperishable things like silver or gold, 
but with the precious blood of Christ.”
1 Peter 1:18-19

Rahab. 
Ruth. 
Saul. 

And so many others throughout Scripture have been bought back
by the precious blood of Christ.  

Joshua 2 tells the story of Rahab.
A prostitute.
Giving away her body for money, she was used and abused.
Hers was an empty life.
Rahab had heard of the mighty deeds of the Hebrew God called Yahweh, enough to know He was worthy of awe and respectful fear. (Joshua 2:8-11)
Enough to know that if He would provide her protection, she would turn her back on her people.
True to His Word, as the walls of Jericho collapsed around her, Rahab’s house was left untouched and her family was saved.   

Rahab married a Hebrew man, was rescued from prostitution, was welcomed into the blessings of Yahweh, and grafted into the lineage of Christ.
One moment of choosing to be in exile from her people 
brought about new life for Rahab. 

As we come face to face with the reality of who God is, 
we are free to walk confidently into the redeeming grace He offers. 

Ruth was a Moabite widow who followed her mother-in-law Naomi, against cultural custom, back to Israel. She was a foreigner without food and protection of a husband.
An outcast among Jews.
If anyone felt empty, it was Ruth.  

Like Rahab, she chose to be in exile, displaced from her own land to follow Naomi and her God.  

Through events only God could ordain, Ruth became the protected wife of Boaz and mother to Obed, another generation in the lineage of Jesus.
Redeemed from emptiness and vulnerability, 
Ruth found fullness, life, and purpose. 

As we lay ourselves humbly at His feet, the Lord faithfully redeems our empty places. 

In Acts 9, we meet Saul. 
Well-known as murderer and persecutor of Christians, Saul made it his life mission to kill all who claimed the name of Jesus.
Death always leads to emptiness. 

But Jesus interrupted Saul’s crusades in a blinding moment of awe-filled truth where Saul surrendered to radical grace.  

Having been redeemed from his old way of thinking and living life, Saul-turned-Paul spent the remainder of his days proclaiming Christ, forever exiled from the life he’d once so passionately known. 

Emptiness was all he had known, 
but grace captured his heart, exchanging life for death.

As we accept the redemptive grace of God, we become new people.  

Each of these people were exiles in one form or another.
Each heard and understood the character of God through His people.
Each found hope in the midst of their exile because of God’s faithful, trustworthy character.  

Peter reminds us that we are exiles too.
Separated here on earth from the One in Heaven who crafted our hearts to beat in rhythm with His. Aliens here with broken relationships, heartache, loss, destruction, and sufferings coming in all shapes and sizes.
Exile is not forever, Sisters.
We can trust that truth because of our God’s character! 

“And after you have suffered a little while, 
the God of all grace, 
who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, 
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10
Jesus says He will restore us, confirm us, strengthen us, and establish us!  

Restore – to repair or renovate so as to return it to its original condition.
Confirm – to establish the truth or correctness of something believed. 
Strengthen – to make or become stronger.
Establish – to achieve permanent acceptance or recognition for. 

As we look at those definitions we see redemption so clearly!  

Through the lives of Rahab, Ruth, Paul, and so many more, we see how God
restored the broken places,
confirmed what they believed about Him to be true,
strengthened their faith,
and established them firmly in the incorruptible inheritance that was to come.   

Redemption is such a beautiful thing, 
but it’s only ours to claim if we accept the gift of salvation.  

Salvation is a free gift from God that buys back (redeems) us from the chains of Sin and Death, adopting us as His very own daughters.  

Jesus Christ, the only mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) between humanity and God, wrapped Himself in human flesh (1 Peter 1:20-21), became one of us, was sinless like none of us, and willingly laid His life down on the cross that each of us might know Him, trust His character, and be redeemed from emptiness!  

“For you know that you were redeemed (bought back) 
from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers, 
not with imperishable things like silver or gold, 
but with the precious blood of Christ.”
1 Peter 1:18-19

What’s your emptiness?
Has it been redeemed?!

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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 Incorruptible Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

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

The GT Weekend! – Dwell Week 3

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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) A deep prayer life is something all believers would love to have, even if we have a hard time understanding what it is or feel daunted in how to get there. Be honest with yourself and God and journal out your doubts, fears, and questions about prayer. The best way to begin developing a deeper prayer life, is simply to begin. Write out prayers, speak your prayers out loud, read Scripture and pray it out loud or silently. Wait for the Lord and He will faithfully reveal Himself to you! 

2) What have been your struggles with having a regular quiet time? What defenses do you naturally put up? What challenges regularly threaten your time with God? Make a list of 3-5 items that make it difficult for you to consistently engage with God’s Word then think through how you can overcome those. Perhaps it’s finding a specific spot or time, perhaps it’s finding a reading plan to help you navigate the Bible, or just setting a timer on your phone to remind you that the next few minutes are set aside for God Time. Share your plans in the comments and encourage another sister!

3) Together over the past 3 weeks, we have dug deep into what it looks like to practically dwell with God in regular, everyday life.  We’ve been equipped with new tools to help us engage in meaningful ways with the Creator through Scripture study and prayer. But all of that, as wonderful and important as it is, will neither transform us nor the world around us if we do not put into practice what we’ve learned. The gospel is meant to change the world, one heart at a time. Consider how you have grown lately and what you’ve learned about God. Pray and ask for ways you can creatively share what you taken in and steward it out

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   Psalm 91:1-2  back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2  I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Prayer Journal
Father, I’m humbled by Your extravagant love for me. The fact that You would pursue me relentlessly to save me from my own sin and go far beyond that to want a daily relationship with me is beyond my understanding! As I get busy, Lord, please call me back to Yourself. Remind me of Your intentional love for me. Grow my faith as you show me Yourself through Scripture.  
It’s easy for me to think that if I miss time with You, You become angry and annoyed with me, wanting to punish me with silence and refusal of Your presence. Lord, how false this is! Ground me in your truth and remind me of Your grace that always welcomes me!

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

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Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music