Power

Open Day 8 Casting Out Fear

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Matthew 8:14-17
1 John 4:18
John 8:36
Isaiah 61:1

Open, Day 8

Freedom. Such a profound word, but it carries a vague meaning when it comes to my mind.

When defined, freedom means, the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

Initially, when I read that definition I thought, “I’ve always acted in freedom”, but as I look back on my life I see a different story, I see a girl who was very afraid.

Afraid to talk to people.
Afraid to speak my mind.
Afraid to use my God given gifts.
Afraid of being vulnerable.
Afraid to get hurt.
Afraid to truly live.

Fear has always crippled me.
Even though I gave my fear other names, like being shy.

As Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:7, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Meaning that my spirit of fear was a stronghold the enemy had in my life and was using against me. Satan had me where he wanted me, cowering in fear and not living up to my call.

But, though the years, the Lord has been chipping away at the enemy’s territory.
He has been cutting out all the things I was afraid of and replacing it with His perfect love.

I was afraid to sing, yet God has placed me on stages leading worship.
I was afraid to speak, yet God has placed me in front of audiences speaking.
I was afraid to write, yet God has placed me in this ministry writing His word.
I was afraid to be vulnerable, yet God has allowed me to open my heart to others.
I was afraid to make mistakes, yet God has redeemed those mistakes for His glory.

I have been engulfed by a love so captivating, welcoming, and endearing that my fears are swallowed up by it.
This love fills all voids.
This love transforms.
This love empowers.
This love casts out all fear.

Through this vast love, the Lord has shown me the truth of John 8:36,
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”

A few months ago, I was meeting with a brother and sister in Christ as they shared some things they felt God pressing upon them for me. They described the image of a heart completely black, but then God took a paint brush and painted the heart completely red as the once-black-heart began to beat.

This was my own heart.
Black from my sins and brokenness, but God didn’t allow my heart to stay that way He took His time to repaint my heart, giving it color and new life. He pursued me, chasing away my fear, and bringing me freedom through His love.

That is true freedom. Being transformed from the inside out.
God’s sweet love cascading into our lives radically shifts our hearts, overflowing into our everyday lives.
Freedom is allowing God to remove you from bondage and give you a new life!

I had been walking into freedom for years, but in that meeting, I was shown how God wanted me to claim the freedom He had already given me.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Which means I can say in full confidence that God has freed me from my spirit of fear.
This doesn’t mean that I never get scared or think fearful thoughts but it does mean I’m not in bondage to those fears. I can point out when Satan is trying to attack me, and I have strength through the Holy Spirit to walk in the freedom afforded me through Christ.

How does this transformation connect to living with open hands,
ready to live out the hospitality of Jesus?
Because I’ve experienced this love, I am deeply passionate about sharing it, helping others to experience God and His perfect love in the same way I have.

In Matthew 8, Jesus performs another miracle and heals Peter’s mother in law. After she is healed, she gets up and begins serving Jesus. That night, many people were brought to Jesus and also received healing of their bodies and souls.

This woman encountered the perfect love of Christ and gets up, goes out and serves Him. And her serving results in others encountering that same love.

Sisters, this is our call as believers!
We are not simply to help people meet the Christ who profoundly loves us, but also be small streams of Christ’s love flowing outward onto others.

Isaiah said, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”

Sisters, what has God healed you of or freed you from?
How have you allowed this good work to transform the way you serve and love and live and operate with openness?

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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 Open 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 Open!

Open Day 3 Pineapple Power

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Read His Words Before Ours!

1 Kings 17:8-16
Romans 5:12-21
Hebrews 11:1-40

Open, Day 3

“Did you know pineapple is the symbol for hospitality?” Someone asked my friend this over the weekend. While I found myself nodding because I did actually know that random fact, it was not until I googled the why behind it I began to realize the timeliness of that question.

Based on the articles I read (just google: pineapple hospitality), the pineapple originally became a symbol of hospitality in the 1600s in Europe. Pineapples had to be shipped from tropical locations, and this, in turn, required significant investment by those purchasing them. They became a marker of the wealth and status of that home. If someone attended a party with a pineapple present or served, they knew their host had spared no expense for their guests and the overall experience. Articles stated that people even rented pineapples for their parties to have on display in order to achieve this goal.

As time passed and methods for growing pineapples in other climates became functional, the pineapple transitioned to a true symbol of hospitality accessible to more than the elite. The 19th century marked the shift as pineapples became a literal centerpiece to Christmas celebrations.

By now you may be wondering why the pineapple question is timely or even how it is relevant to a story in the Old Testament. No, you have not randomly missed a pineapple reference in the Word; however, hospitality is truly something evidenced throughout Scripture. In fact, one such story demonstrates hospitality being shown with great cost and great obedience.
A biblical pineapple, if you will. Turn with me to 1 Kings 17.

Here we find the prophet Elijah, hiding by a brook after declaring to King Ahab that a severe drought had been appointed by the Lord. The Lord had told him to go to there while also commanding ravens to bring him bread and meat.
Can you imagine that?!
Ravens, literally the birds of the air, were feeding Elijah!

Elijah had obeyed in informing King Ahab of the impending lack of water, then followed the leading of the Lord to hide. In the midst of all of that, the Lord provided his needs by commanding the birds of air. Elijah stayed at this “air bnb” site ordained by the Lord until the brook dried up. At that point, Elijah heard the Lord direct him to the next point of hospitality, our pineapple centerpiece.

Enter the widow of Zaraphath.
Have you read verses 8-16? Go ahead and read those if you haven’t yet, (just click the link!) and come join us back here.

Now, put yourself in the shoes of each character for a moment.
What might it have been like to be either of these people in this interaction?
Could you have spoken with the boldness of faith of Elijah?
Could you have served with the same sacrificial humility of the widow?

I find myself wrestling with both of these questions.
Could I?
Would I?

But as I ponder the Word, the more I see the steely resolve undergirding both individuals.
You know what that resolve is?

Obedience.

A continual “yes” to trusting that what the Lord has spoken will come to pass.
What He has promised will be fulfilled.
His very character and heart are to be trusted.

Elijah is walking into this conversation with some history that cannot be denied.
Remember that word given to King Ahab just a few verses earlier?
If I were Elijah, I would have planted myself by the water, watching it flow vivaciously, and begun to second guess if I’d heard the Lord correctly.
Who knows how long I would have sat there before I began realizing it hadn’t rained in some time or, on waking in the morning my clothes were not damp with dew. Even then I may have rationalized it was just not raining in my area.
But then the brook began to dry up, the water level quickly decreasing.
The water flow no longer lulled me to sleep.
My source of water began to disappear, which could only be caused by a lack of water upstream. My faith may have started out small, but unlike the brook, my faith level continued to rise.
The Lord was faithful to His Word.

It is with this prolonged confirmation Elijah left the now dry river bed and sought out the widow. He solidly knew that just as the Lord commanded ravens to feed him, so the Lord had commanded the widow to care for him.

Now, I don’t know what the widow’s exchange with the Lord included, but at some juncture she heard the Lord direct her to care for Elijah. Her faith astounds me as well.

The woman is literally collecting sticks to create a fire on which she will cook the last of the dough in the house when she is asked for a bite to eat.
How much did logic wage war with faith in her heart?

Was this her pineapple of hospitality?
Counting the cost of speeding up the starvation process in order to serve a perfect stranger?

As the Lord repeatedly demonstrates throughout Scripture, He delighted in multiplying what was needed.

Both Elijah and the widow received the reward of their faith and were sustained throughout the drought. The Lord ordained Elijah to be the mouthpiece declaring both the beginning and end of the drought.

What would have happened if the widow had declined her role in this story?

Hospitality may not always be convenient or comfortable, but, my dear sister, I pray that when you sense the nudge of the Lord to open your arms, your table, and your heart,
you count the cost and obey with all you’ve got.
The Lord rewards such faith, and that is sweeter than any pineapple!

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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 Open 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 Open!

Kaleidoscope Day 14 Enduring: 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 Enduring!

The Questions

1) What do I do if I don’t feel like loving someone?

 2) Why is love so important to God?

3) How can love endure all things?

1 Corinthians 13:7

 [Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Original Intent

1) What do I do if I don’t feel like loving someone?
When Paul described love in 1 Corinthians 13, he used the Greek work agape. Agape love, according to Biblical commentator David Guzik, is a ”sacrificial, giving, absorbing, love. The word has little to do with emotion; it has much to do with self-denial for the sake of another.” At the time of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the church was struggling with spiritual immaturity, immorality, divisions and false teachings. Christ’s heart desire is for His Bride, the Church to live in sweet unity with one another for this is how Jesus loves. Paul wrote to provide clear instruction on how the Corinthian church could love like Jesus.  In chapter 13, Paul described the love of God, emphasizing the unselfish actions of love rather than the emotions. Author John Piper shares how Paul was “applying love to the Corinthians’ situation and using it as the criterion for why some of their attitudes and behaviors are unacceptable.” Paul was telling the believers in Corinth that Christ-followers become like Jesus when they choose to show love even when they don’t feel like showing love. (Biblica.com)

2) Why is love so important to God?
The Bible tells us love is vitally important to God; it’s the very essence of who He is. When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matthew 22:37-40.) To Jesus, loving God and loving the people God loves is imperative. Because God is love (1 John 4:16), His followers are known by their love (John 13:34-35), which is God’s love flowing through them onto others! The way we come to God is by recognizing His love for us. (Romans 5:8) One way we introduce Jesus to others is by sharing His love with them (1 John 4:11). We love God by loving others, and loving others demonstrates to God our love for Him!

3) How can love endure all things?
The Greek term for endure, hupomeno, means to “remain or abide under . . . not simply with stoical resignation, but with a vibrant hope” (PreceptAustin.org). Love has the ability to endure all things because God’s love is rooted in hope. Psalm 118:1 tells us how God’s love endures forever. According to author Debbie Hannah Skinner, that phrase appears over 40 times in Scripture. God encourages us through the repetition of this specific truth that His love empowers us to endure all things because His love will never stop enduring all things.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39) so nothing can ever keep us from the hope and strength God gives us to endure any hardship. Love shows up when things seem bleak and hangs in when things are hard.  God promises He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). Forever enduring love is God’s kind of love demonstrated for eternity and this is the love He enables us to extend to others through His Spirit’s equipping power.

Everyday Application

1) What do I do if I don’t feel like loving someone?
I am a born romantic, so I am drawn to stories that pull at the heart strings, lyrical poetry, and sentimental ballads.  All of these are lovely, but they are not love.  They represent only one aspect of love, the feeling kind.  Real love, the love discussed in 1 Corinthians 13, moves far beyond a feeling into action (1 John 3:18).  Love is a decision every believer has the power to make because the Spirit of God, who is love, dwells within them. God Himself is love (1 John 4:8) and He calls and empowers me to love others even when I don’t have feelings of love.  Author Ted Cunningham says, “We can only give love when our hearts are full of God’s love.”  I can choose to love my spouse and children even when they make me angry, disappoint me, or hurt my feelings because God’s love is alive inside me (1 John 4:7).   My actions can show I love them when my heart does not feel it.  There is an old song by the artist Don Francisco with a line that goes, “Love is not a feeling/It’s an act of your will.”   When I choose to love like Jesus, in and through His power, and am not ruled by my emotions, my loved ones experience Christ’s love! We are called to love with the love of Jesus, and that means a love powered by God, not emotions.

2) Why is love so important to God?
Love is so important to God because without it, we no longer reflect Him and His essence. The moment we stop loving others as Jesus does, we stop imitating Christ. Through love, God made Himself known to us, and it is through this same conduit Christ calls others to Himself as we love them! His love began our relationship with Him; He loved us first and drew us to Him (1 John 4:10).  The Bible warns if we don’t love, we have not known or truly experienced God, because God is love.  Everyone who lives a life of love knows God and has been born of God (1 John 4:7-8).  Love is who God is; it is His DNA. To love Him and accept His love is how we know Him. He designed His love to overflow from us to those who don’t know Him so they can experience His love (John 15:12) through us. The Bible teaches us to “put on” patience, kindness, humility, gentleness and forgiveness, and that Jesus’ love will bind all these virtues together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:12-14) as we live out our calling to love others. Struggling with loving others like Jesus? The solution is to know and experience the essence of love in fuller ways! Study Scripture, communicate with the Lord God, and begin exploring the Being of Love in deeper ways!

3) How can love endure all things?
Being a teacher and a mom has taught me the virtue of being flexible.  The better able I am to adjust my expectations to the reality of my situation, the less stressed out I am in the situation.  But there often comes a point where I say, “Enough!”. I feel like I can’t handle one more disobedient student or one more whiny complaint from my offspring.  I am all sweetness and delight until I reach that point, and then, suddenly, I am anything but sweet.  In those moments, I am showing how far my love can go in my own strength, without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and it isn’t very far.  For me to endure all things, I must be operating in the love of Christ and not my own inadequate version.  I Thessalonians 3:5 tells us God leads our hearts into God’s love and Christ’s endurance.  When I am relying on God’s love, a love that gives sacrificially, I am able to respond in love rather than react in frustration.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
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Catch up with Enduring!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

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

This is Kaleidoscope Week Three!
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Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

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Kaleidoscope Day 13 Enduring

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Read His Words Before Ours!

1 Corinthians 13:7
Jonah 3:8-10
1 Peter 5:6-11
Luke 23:32-35

Kaleidoscope, Day 13

“I LOVE Chipotle!”
“I LOVE this nail polish!”
“I LOVE that outfit!”

Love is a word we use to describe admiration for something.
It begs the question, what is love?

As believers, we refer to 1 Corinthians 13, “The Love Chapter”, to define love and how it’s fleshed out in everyday life. We’ve spent the past 3 weeks diving into each of these descriptions in this chapter and walked away with some incredible truths, but we are coming up on the benediction.

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:7
Loves bears, meaning to carry or support.
Love believes, means to accept something as true.
Love hopes, reflects the desire for something to happen.
Love endures, which is the most challenging one, means to suffer patiently.

All of these words are verbs, suggesting that love is an action not a feeling;
at its core, love is a choice.

Have you ever heard….
“we fell out of love” or
“I don’t feel the love I use to feel” or
“I just don’t love him anymore”?

The reality is that true love in its best form is
exceedingly difficult,
exquisitely costly, and
downright impossible for us to live out in real life.
Impossible, that is, without Christ and His love flowing through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What does Christ’s love look like?
Let’s start with Jonah 3:8-10.
“but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.
Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows?
God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way,
God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

The prophet Jonah was asked to go to the ISIS of his time, the Ninevites. Jonah was tasked to call these people, cold-hearted, brutal killers, to repentance away from sin and towards God. Jonah was not happy, understandably so, and he ran in the opposite direction.
But God followed him with a storm and even a “big fish” that swallowed Jonah whole in effort to get his attention. In the fish’s belly, Jonah decided reluctantly to be obedient..
He went to Ninevah, preached as God asked, and to his surprise (and frustration), the people repented.
In this story God is lovingly hopeful.

Hopeful, because He wants the people He created to know Him and have relationship with Him. He was so hopeful He continued to push until the opportunity was brought to those people.

Another example is 1 Peter 5:6-11.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
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.
To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Peter says we are free to cast all our worries or anxieties on our Lord, who is present to constantly bear us up in love.  Even though suffering and enemy attacks will come, in the end, Christ will restore us and strengthen us.
This is a beautiful picture of bearing with us!
The creator of everything loves us enough to bear each of our individual burdens. He supports and also carries us through this life and into eternity!

Forgiveness? Its thread can be found on every page of Scripture, but the most powerful one is found in Luke 23:34:
“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

While nailed to the cross, after being beaten, mocked, and abused,
Jesus asks for forgiveness on behalf of His murderers.
In His cries for forgiveness, He believes they do not understand the depths of their actions.

How powerful is the love of Christ!
I have experienced Christ’s sweet love for myself; it has changed me and how I love others. Christ has born up the hardest things I have had to carry.
He has hoped things for me I couldn’t see.
He has believed beautiful things about me I am still learning to trust.
But, sweetest of all, Christ has endured me.

As a mother, I can only imagine part of the pain He has felt as He has endured with me.
He has endured me hating Him.
He has endured my turning from Him.
He has endured me trying to kill myself.
He has endured me living a lie.

He has suffered patiently, waiting for me to open my heart back up to Him.
He lovingly endured my walking away to demonstrate the vastness of His love that has always stayed beside me.

This Jesus love is the very best thing that has ever happened to me.
It is the most addictive, sweet, precious thing I’ve ever tasted.
His love has not only brought me into beautiful grace,
but also daily challenges me to love others with this love.

As I reflect on Jesus love showing up with kaleidoscope colors in my everyday life, I wonder….
Does my love bear the hardest things with people?
Does my love hope the craziest things with people?
Does my love believe on behalf of others?
Does my love endure with the goal of Christ at its end?

Where I lack, I am called deeper into the well of love He offers
in order that His sweet nectar may flow through me.
I will choose expensive, lavish, enduring love!

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
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Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Kaleidoscope Week 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 Kaleidoscope!

The GT Weekend! ~ Kaleidoscope 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) Only humility born out of true, genuine, unconditional love is able to love the unlovely when they least deserve it. To not think of themselves so special and important that to love another would be beneath them is the kind of love God modeled for us. Loving like this is in our everyday life is ridiculously impossible in our own human ability. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit are we able to love with strong humility like Jesus! Prayerfully consider those people, or even types of people, you feel are beneath you to love. Don’t shy away in disgust to think you could have that kind of entitlement, we all do. Be honest, and let the Lord speak tenderly to your heart, bringing His refreshing love.

2) I have been convicted of rudeness in my life recently. As the Lord opened my eyes to it, I began seeing it everywhere in how I treated others and I saw it rubbing off in how my kids treated others as well. It wasn’t blaring or blatant, but there were consistent instances of rudeness marking our days. Just as the Lord spoke to me about my rude habits, so I began speaking to my children with the same kind and gentle, yet convicting manner, “Is that a loving choice? Were you rude or generous?”. Consider doing something similar this next week and begin observing where you might be “taking the exit of Rude”. Where, or with whom, is the Lord calling you to choose love over rude?

3) “Love is not easily angered.”  If all you did this weekend was dwell on these words from the Lord, it would be a weekend well spent. It’s easy to jump into anger, isn’t it? And we almost always feel justified when we do. The next time you feel the urge to become angry, or annoyed, slow down and consider why you feel your rights have been infringed upon. Ask yourself how you are honoring and loving the other person, and the Lord, by becoming angry. Make an “easily angered” journal, noting what kind of events spark your anger. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you His power to choose love over anger.

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 1 Corinthians 13:3 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing

Prayer Journal
Lord God, it’s difficult for me to grasp the magnitude of Your un-ending, un-conditional love for me and all of humanity. I struggle loving the people within the four walls of my home sacrificially! I want to love better than I do. I’m not saying this with a self-pity, “I love horribly” attitude, but as genuinely and authentically as I can muster, “I want to love others better.” Remind me that “good deeds” piled end-to-end will never be anything but dust in the wind if love is not my motivator. Teach me to love like You love me. Teach my hands, my eyes, my tongue, Oh Lord my Tongue! Teach me to love that the world might see You!

Worship Through Community

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Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

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Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

The GT Weekend! ~ Kaleidoscope 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) Not only is the Lord’s love individually set upon us, uniquely drawing us towards His good, Father heart, God’s love is also patient, waiting for us to come to Him. As you consider the Lord’s patience towards you in your faith journey, where would you place yourself? Are you exploring the faith as He waits for you to accept His invitation into real life? Is He waiting for you to trust Him in deeper ways? Perhaps you waiver between leaning on your understanding while knowing you should trust His ways. His love allows Him to patiently keep on waiting for you, wherever you are. Think through areas in your life the Lord has waited or is waiting for you. Praise Him for never being exasperated, but lovingly extending patience!

2) Kindness is one definition of love that we rather lose in the shuffle of seemingly brighter and bolder definitions, but when we search Scripture, we see God’s loving kindness over and over, never playing second fiddle. How often do you consider the Lord as genuinely kind towards you? Angry at you? That isn’t kind. Annoyed with you? That isn’t kind. Seeking your good? Loving you intentionally? Giving you good gifts? This is the kindness of the Lord! Reflect on even just the last few days and write down the ways the Lord has shown His loving kindness to you and praise Him for that! Want to go a little deeper? Look up a few of the verses describing God as kindhearted in the book of Psalms and let truth wash over you. (follow this link and click “Psalms” under “NAS”)

3) Jealousy tends to sneak up on us in small ways, but before long, it snowballs and consumes us in ways we never considered. In David’s story, he had several opportunities to step away from the pull of jealousy, but he tragically didn’t. The end result was death of relationships, and even people. How much better it would have been for David to walk away from the sin of jealousy and choose to love generously and confidently instead. David’s story is recorded for all of us. Take a hard look at when and why jealousy surges in your life. Take these to the Lord and ask Him to renew your heart, giving you love in place of blinding jealousy.

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 Romans 12:21 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Prayer Journal
How grateful I am for your conquering love, Lord! By Your gift of righteousness to me, You broke my chains to sin and freed me to walk safe and free in love. Though I’m free to love because of You, I don’t always choose it, still I grab for those ugly weapons of anger, impatience, discontentment, pride, and jealousy. Clearly show me, Spirit, when I am tempted to choose these over love. Remind me how You have freed and equipped me to walk in love with every choice. Take off the blinders I have over my own sin, and fill my hands with Your love!

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

Ignite Day 8 Torches Of Truth

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Matthew 16:13-18
Romans 1:16-17
2 Timothy 1:5-7
2 Timothy 4:1-5

Ignite, Day 8

Throughout Christendom, God has always held forth His torches of truth. He called out faithful men to pull drifting doctrine back to the cross-centered gospel while addressing the questions of their time with truth, grace and clarity. He ignited them through the Holy Spirit to use their giftings to reach their world for Christ. Buried in the ashes of decadence, power grasping, and apostasy that marked the church of the Middle Ages, lay those glowing embers of pure, authentic faith.

One of those glowing coals of Christendom is Augustine of Hippo. Though he lived in the Age of Antiquities, Augustine was clearly a man ahead of his time. Considered by many as the first medieval man, his life and ministry form the bridge between the Age of Antiquities and the Early Middle Ages.

His astounding intellect was put to use with stylus and parchment as a prolific author on subjects ranging from deep doctrinal issues to human sexuality. His ability to clearly articulate doctrinal issues like original sin, the atonement, grace, predestination and the freewill of man are unmatched. His countless writings also form the foundation for many theologians and philosophers including Anselm of Canterbury, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther and even theologians of modern times. Because Augustine wrote abundantly throughout his life, his writings show an evolution of thought. This explains why theologians ranging from Catholics to Evangelical Protestants quote widely from the anthology of his works. For example, his writings on the Eucharist and Sacraments still form much of the doctrinal stance in Catholicism, while his writings upon grace, the atoning sacrifice of Christ and original sin are popular among even modern-day Protestants.

As a young man, searching for something to fill his restless spirit, he took a deep-dive into religion and scholarly pursuits. In the course of time, he crossed paths with Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, whose kindness and clear teaching led Augustine to Christ. Confessions is the story of his conversion to Christianity. Following his conversion, Augustine returned to North Africa and took up the monastic life where he continued to write abundantly.

In the age of Augustine, Rome was in decline as a superpower and was overrun by the Visgoths. Many saw the downfall of Rome as the end of civilization and were certain the Apocalypse was imminent. Barbarian tribes marauded their way across Europe leaving bloodshed, famine and disease in their wake.  Augustine’s work, City of God, assured Christians that, despite the upheaval around them, God’s kingdom could never be destroyed.

The Middle Ages was a time marked by the Catholic Church rising in prominence as the unifying force in the West. As power coalesced in the crown and the church hierarchy, so did the pull of spiritual apathy and moral decadence.  Just as Christ sends His church into any era to answer the resounding questions and right its wrongs, so He sent the church into the Middle Ages. The questions burned in the hearts of the devout and whispered in the stone-walled monasteries:
“Is this truly the gospel-centered life?”
“How does what I see and hear around me match with Scripture?”
“What does Christ and His cross call us to—really?”

Anselm of Canterbury was also a man of astounding intellect and is most noted for his philosophical treatises and so-called ontological argument.  In Proslogion, he articulates through logic, the existence of God.  With human reason held in high regard, Anselm answered the call of his age with both human reasoning, philosophical prowess and theological integrity.

Unlike bishops before him, Anselm refused to acquiesce to the pressure of the crown. Although the King of England continuously sought Anselm’s sanctions for his corruption, his attempts failed. William II expected the church to serve under his authority and as an extension of his administration.  Anselm’s refusal caused sharp division, and the on-going demands grieved him deeply. As a result, Anselm twice appealed to the Pope to be relieved of his post. The Pope refused and William II banished Anselm from England. During his exile, he wrote one of the most important treatises in church history— Cur Deus Homo (Why the God-Man?) In this work, Anselm articulates the need for the incarnation, once again making his appeal through logic.

Francis of Assisi is best known as the founder of the Franciscan Order and for his love of nature, celebrated in his work Canticle of the Sun.  However, the incongruity between the Church and the teachings of Scripture grieved him. Wealth and apathy filled the church at large, yet the apostles called for simplicity and obedience to the teachings of Christ. His grievances sparked action that became radical obedience to the teachings of Christ. Though never ordained as a priest, he often preached five times daily.  He taught commoners of a personal relationship with Christ. He also taught his followers to pray in their native tongue rather than in Latin, both foreign ideas in that era. Many of the Franciscan Brothers traveled widely, preaching this gospel of personal relationship with Christ, prayer, simplicity and service, fanning the flames of revival across Europe. In a culture gone stone-cold through religion, where personal relationship with Christ and personal prayer were radical concepts, God sent this humble servant. By preaching truth and simple obedience Assisi challenged his world, pointing many to Christ, and making an impact even today!

In every age, whether following the fall of a super-power or in an era riddled with moral corruption where spiritual indifference and cold religion run rampant, God preserves His flickering flames of genuine believers. These true followers always burst back flame as they obediently choose Christ over their comfort zones.

The word of God is still alive, active and powerful!
As often as the Holy Spirit comes like a rushing wind,
igniting the glowing embers of the faithful,
the flames of revival can burn through us once again.
God is still on His throne and the gates of hell cannot prevail against His Church.

Will you carry His torch of truth into your everyday?

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Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Ignite 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 Ignite!

Seeds Day 12 Seeds Of Encouragement: 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 Seeds Of Encouragement!

The Questions

1) Who is being spoken to in this verse and what is Jesus saying to them?

2) What is the power received?

3) Why Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth?

Acts 1:8

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Original Intent

1) Who is being spoken to in this verse and what is Jesus saying to them?
This verse is spoken by Jesus before He ascends to Heaven. Jesus is with His disciples on the Mt of Olives outside of Bethany. Essentially, these words are the last ones Jesus says to His disciples before leaving them. In those moments, Jesus promises His disciples they will not be abandoned even though He is leaving them. The disciples had witnessed Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection and had spent time with Jesus after His resurrection. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus instructed His disciples to share the Gospel with all nations.  However, with these words, Jesus tells them to stay and wait. He doesn’t want them to go alone to carry His gospel to the nations, but instead wait for the Holy Spirit to come. Jesus knows their mission is will not be accomplished alone. He knows they need what only God can provide.

2) What is the power received?
This power is the gift of the Holy Spirit. When we hear the word “power” we often think physical strength. However, this isn’t what Jesus is referring to here as this is a spiritual power. This power is the strength, courage, and boldness by which Jesus’ disciples will go out and accomplish the mission Jesus is laying before them. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to go out before they had the power from the Holy Spirit. He told them to wait for it. Jesus knew there was no hope in them being witnesses if they did not have the power only God can provide. The power of the Holy Spirit would come and equip them with all the tools needed to be successful and effective witnesses. Without the Holy Spirit, they would never have success.

3) Why Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth?
Jesus had given His disciples what we call the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28. Here in Acts 1:8, Jesus expounds on that command and lays out a plan of action. The disciples were Jews who would have lived in Jerusalem and Judea. Their mission is to begin sharing the Gospel and making witnesses right where they were in everyday life and then move out from there in every widening circles of influence. The disciples were to continue moving into Samaria and then into the rest of the world. Essentially, this lays out the plan to take the Gospel to the Jews and then the Gentiles. Expositor’s Bible Commentary words it this way, “Jerusalem, Judea, – the Apostles were to begin their great practical life of witnessing at home, but they were not to stay there. Samaria was next to have its opportunity, and so we shall find it to have been the case; and then, working from home as centre, to the uttermost parts of the earth.” Never were the disciples to stay in the comforts of home. God’s plan was always to send His power and enable the disciples to share the Good News with His entire creation.

Everyday Application

1) Who is being spoken to in this verse and what is Jesus saying to them?
While Jesus is speaking directly to His disciples in this verse, His message is still for us today. As believers, we are also His disciples and these words are just as much for us as it was for those who heard it first when Jesus spoke. We too have the job of sharing the Gospel with all nations. However, if the disciples could not take on the task in their own power, why should we think we can? Just as they needed the Holy Spirit, so do we. When we place our faith in Jesus, we are also given the gift of the Holy Spirit who never leaves. We can choose, however, to ignore His voice and attempt to do His work on our own strength. Here is where we need to be reminded of Jesus’ message to His first disciples and to us!

2) What is the power received?
Spiritual power is a gift provided by the Holy Spirit. The disciples needed the power to go out boldly and confidently share the Gospel bearing witness to Jesus. Before the Spirit was given, the disciples were told to wait. Jesus would not send them to accomplish a mission if they were not equipped to accomplish it. If the disciples needed the Spirit’s power and they had physically walked with Jesus and learned at His feet, we should also acknowledge we need this power in order to bear witness to Jesus. This power allows us to step out in courage to share the truth of who Jesus is and why the world needs Him. Where is the Spirit leading you? Are you in the habit of engaging with Him through Scripture, journaling, prayer, and quiet listening? If we are to accomplish the Lord’s mission in our everyday lives, our effectiveness begins and ends with our dependence on the equipping power of the Holy Spirit!

3) Why Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth?
Just as Jesus lays out a plan for the disciples to carry out the Great Commission at the end of this verse, He lays out a plan for us. As believers, we are commanded to make disciples of all nations just as the original disciples were. Even though we don’t live in Jerusalem our plan of action should look similar to the disciples. We are first to start in our own “Jerusalem”, the place we call home. Who is God calling us to share the Gospel with in our homes, in our neighborhoods, or in our workplace? Next, we are to look to the area or city we live in, our “Judea”. Samaria would have been a little farther out from home. It could be like asking who am I to share the Gospel with within the region God has placed me. Lastly, I am to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth. There is no place on earth that is not worthy of hearing the Good News. Where is God asking me to go? Any one of these areas may feel out of our comfort zone, but with the power of the Holy Spirit we can bravely and boldly go and bear witness making disciples. When I lived in Las Vegas my church said it this way, “Las Vegas, the West and the World”. I now live in Kansas City, MO and my church says it this way, “our church, the Northland, and beyond.” Think about where God has placed you… how can you reword this action plan Jesus gave to match where God has you located. It will be different for all of us, but the end goal is the same… to see every nation to the end of the earth hear the Good News of Jesus!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
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Catch up with Seeds Of Encouragement!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

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

This is Seeds Week Three!
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Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

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The GT Weekend ~ Seeds 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) Sara put words to a struggle we all encounter at various points in life, either to live in fear of people or walk in faith with the God who has never failed us. Take some time to identify where you have lived in fear of people in the past. How has the Lord shaped your heart to choose Him, as the better, over acquiescing to others? Celebrate His work here! Consider new challenges where you are apt to choose what people want at the expense of following the Savior? Take these specifically to the Lord in prayer!

2) On Wednesday, we were challenged to consider the pitfalls of our identity sources. Sara noted how grateful she was for having walked through a season of having her identity deconstructed. Consider writing out your top 4 markers of your identity and sift through the source for each of those. If the source is removed, the identity will crumble. What is holding up your identity?

3) All throughout this Journey Theme of Seeds, we’ve been challenging ourselves to consider “what if” we lived as boldly as the examples we find in the pages of Acts of those first century Christians. Their stories are incredible and their faith seems entirely other, but it began simply, exactly like our own. Each of their journeys grew from a seed of faith, nourished by a regular, consistent investment in a relationship with the God of the Universe in everyday life. The invitation for dramatic life change is ours as well. What If  you were to begin investing deeper with Jesus this weekend? Where might He take you? What would He want you to know? Who would He want you to share the gospel with? Suppose the Lord had written an invitation to you, what would your response be? Write it out and be willing to be different!

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 Job 38:31-33 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?
Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?

Prayer Journal
Ah Lord God, Your good kindness to us is so far beyond my comprehension. Keep taking my breath away with the vastness of Your love and Your design for life! You, who created galaxies we haven’t even explored. You, who gather the seas in Your hand. You who measure the mountains on a scale. You, who crafted the body of an ant and the structure of micro-organisms, purposed to have a relationship with every single human being on a deep and personal level. And then You called us out, made us new, and gave us purpose as You invited us into a mission to love others as You have loved us. Keep my eyes focused in this rich truth, reminding me You’ve invited me ever deeper into “What If!”.

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