forgiveness

The GT Weekend! ~ Captivating 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)  Fragrance. Just pause for a moment, close your eyes, count to ten, and breathe deeply as you think about that word. Smells often carry emotional attachment or strong memories along with them. Just catching a scent can instantly transport you to a different time and place. Share with someone close to you a few smells that are connected to something or someone significant for you. Draw those memories in and walk through them slowly. With this very physical sensation of smell, now consider how your life might “smell” to others who watch you from inside your home. Which specific everyday habits, phrases, or body language positions consistently drift a fragrance of the gospel to those you love most? Which ones send them reeling away? Consider asking each person in your home how they experience love through you, listening carefully to their answers.

2)  In what ways do you find yourself pushing away from engaging in friendships? What are the obstacles you commonly encounter to nurturing community that would feed and encourage your faith? As you write these out, consider which ones are blockades you have power to move, but don’t for whatever reason and circle those. As we were reminded of the critically important nature of living in biblical community, pray through your obstacles and ask the Lord to move ahead of you, preparing the way for you to engage well. Decide why or why not you will obediently take intentional steps to cultivating biblical friendships.

3) If your church had a fragrance of the gospel, would you be able to detect it when you walked in? If you carried the same sweet scent of the gospel, would others at your local church be able to stand up and testify that based on how you interact and serve at church, they could clearly detect Christ’s fragrance on you? Does it walk with you when you’re inside the church building only or does it linger as you run your errands, chat with your neighbor, comment on social media, and speak with your children, spouse, or friends? If I were to ask your friends if you love Jesus, what would they say? What evidence would they provide? Be encouraged! Christ is on display through every believer who genuinely loves Him and chooses to follow Him closely!

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 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

Prayer Journal
Lord God, the gospel story leaves me breathless every time! Radical love, unfathomable grace, such costly sacrifice, all to rescue us, your very enemies. Un-believable! Your forgiveness knows no boundaries, no sin or shame or secret is beyond Your ability, more so, Your desire to forgive! How can You love like this, Lord?! Then, Father, then You save us for a purpose, calling us into a lifetime of mission and intentionality as you actually give is the ministry of reconciliation. You call us to forgive as we have been forgiven, to love as we have been loved, and to declare this glorious, hope-filled gospel to all. Utterly Beautiful. Lord, I am continually amazed by You and Your plan. If all I ever knew was this small piece of Your love, I could be satisfied forever to look into its beauty. I praise you, God, for freedom, for purpose, for a mission, and a ministry within your Kingdom! I love You, Lord!

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

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!

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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 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!

Kaleidoscope Day 12 For The Love Of Truth: 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 For The Love Of Truth!

The Questions

1) Who is Jesus addressing in this passage and why does He call them out?

2) What does it mean to practice sin?

3) What – or Who – is the truth?

John 8:31-38

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

Original Intent

1) Who is Jesus addressing in this passage and why does He call them out?
Here we find Jesus teaching in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles. There were many Jews in the city to celebrate, and they were crowded in to hear Jesus speak. Among the crowd were the Pharisees, a group of religious leaders, who already had tried to arrest Jesus for blasphemy. The Pharisees held a lot of power in Jerusalem: the Pharisees, although primarily a religious party, were highly involved politically because of how tightly religion was tied to government. (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, from www.studylight.org)
While Pharisees were Jewish, not every Jew was a Pharisee, far from it. These words were directed to all Jews, Pharisee or not, for a very specific reason. Jews tended to, wrongly, hinge their “favor with God” on their lineage and their performance. If they could trace their heritage back through the bloodline of Abraham, then they considered themselves “safe” for eternity and having “favor with God”. The truth Jesus spoke here is for all hearers, but He specifically calls out Jews because they did not understand they were in desperate need of a Savior to rescue them from sin, just as much as their Gentile counterpart. Salvation has never been about works or performance, but always centered around radical, undeserved grace!

 2) What does it mean to practice sin?
Webster’s Dictionary defines “practice” as a verb meaning: To do or perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to make a practice of; as, to practice gaming. (www.studylight.org) So to practice sin means to sin on a fairly regular basis, whether that be daily, hourly, or twice a week.
Jesus describes His Jewish audience, who claimed Abraham as the reason they had favor before God, as those who practiced sin. He said this because without the freeing, resurrecting power of Jesus Christ, human beings have no other course of action except to keep on practicing sin. Jesus died to set us free from the power of sin and death and break the chains of “practicing sin”, but unless we take Him at His Word and realize our need for a Savior, we will just keep on sinning with no hope of ever being in right standing before God. Jesus loved the Jews and confronted His audience with these bold words, calling out their shaky beliefs, in order that they would repent and turn towards Christ for salvation.

3) What – or Who – is the truth?
Jesus begins His address to the Jews with an outstanding statement they would readily accept and agree with “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) These Jews knew the Truth inside and out as they faithfully studied the Old Testament Scripture. Jesus started here because He knew the Jews would be tracking with Him, following and understanding where He was going.
What the Jews had missed in their study would cost them their eternity because they attributed their knowledge of truth to being what saved them because of their lineage.
But Jesus would take His audience further than they expected by bringing a brilliantly colored dimension to their reality by saying, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!” (John 8:36) Jesus equated Himself to actually being truth!
Jesus began with “knowing the truth” relating to studying the Scriptures, but took it full circle, helping the Jews to see that without accepting Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture and the embodiment of truth, they would still be slaves to sin.
Later, John recorded Jesus stating, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Jesus is The Truth and only in Him, could the Jews (and us!) find eternal life!

Everyday Application

1) Who is Jesus addressing in this passage and why does He call them out?
Sometimes I find myself feeling a little bit like a Pharisee, trying hard to perform and keep “all the rules” in effort to “make God happy” with me. Maybe you do, too?Jesus made a specific point to call out the Jews for trusting in themselves for eternal security, but He calls us out at the same time. How do you view God’s perspective of you? Is He sometimes pleased with you? Does His love for you waiver back and forth depending on what you choose to do or not do? This line of thinking contains dangerous lies! We are neither saved from sin nor do we grow in righteousness through our own performance.
The entire process of our salvation and the journey from now until eternity is always, and has always been, about God’s rich grace lavished upon us.
As a reader of Scripture, the words of Jesus are amazingly relevant to each of us. No matter the original circumstance or people involved, His words transcend time and speak directly into our souls – that is, if we let them, dear ones. When we open the Bible, we must also open our hearts to recognize that the One who loves us the most is alive on every page. He instructs, chastens, comforts, and encourages when we allow ourselves to be teachable.
Listen in with the Jews of that first century and gladly set aside all our attempts to “earn God’s favor” on our lives, and simply welcome His un-ending, un-conditional love over us as believers who have confessed Christ as Lord with our lips and our hearts! (Romans 10:9)

2) What does it mean to practice sin?
In light of the dictionary definition, I must admit that I practice sin. Sometimes it’s mindless, almost automatic…other times it is quite planned and deliberate.  But does this mean that I am a slave to sin? No, not since I gave my life to Jesus!
Jesus is the chain breaker between me and sin’s rule over me. It no longer dictates what I must do (keep on sinning). As Jesus pointed out, every human being is a slave to one of two masters, either we are a slave to Sin or a slave to Christ. One rules with Death, one rules with life and love! The question is who is your Master (because you do have one).
So if I can see how I have a habit of “practicing sin” by choosing it over the life of love Jesus offers me, there is still hope because my eternal security is not anchored in my performance!
Sweet sister, the difference between us and the Pharisees is we have the Holy Spirit residing within our hearts, lovingly but firmly convicting us when we sin.
(Yes, when. Not if.) We have the opportunity to repent and ask for Jesus to forgive us.
Which He does. Each time. This is love!

 3) What – or Who – is the truth?
The Jews were missing salvation because they mistook themselves as their own Savior. They trusted in everything but the actual Savior found in Jesus Christ. The trusted their knowledge, their studies, they performance, their good deeds, their self-proclaimed righteousness, and even their heritage to save them. All of which would fail them.
Sisters, it’s not hard for us to find ourselves in the same boat. Maybe we even trusted Jesus for salvation, but don’t trust Him to carry us onward in the journey of becoming more like Him. Do you beat yourself up over not being fill-in-the-blank? This is not from the Lord! His constant face towards you as His child is loving delight. If you’ve never truly crossed the line of faith, there is no hope for eternity or life here in the now outside of Jesus Christ and the righteousness He offers in exchange for our utter un-righteousness. Jesus held out grace-wrapped truth to the Jews that day because He loved them and He is doing the same for each of us, regardless of where we are on the faith journey!
Jesus is The Truth.
God is Love.
And Love rejoices with the Truth.
It all makes sense now, doesn’t it? God throws a proverbial party when Jesus triumphs!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with For The Love Of Truth!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Kaleidoscope Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

Kaleidoscope Day 9 A Quick Trip to Isolation: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out A Quick Trip to Isolation!

The Questions

1) What end is Peter referring to and why does it call for action now?

2) Why are “alert” and “sober-minded” tied together?

3) What is meant by “love covers a multitude of sins”?

1 Peter 4:7-8

The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Original Intent

1) What end is Peter referring to and why does it call for action now?
Peter, as well as the other apostles, had a pressing, imminent urging of the Lord’s returning to renew all things, which meant the end of all things in creation as we know it would pass away forever. They did not know the patient timing of the Lord would extend generations into the future that many would come to repentance and enter into a right relationship with the Lord. (2 Peter 3:9) But truly, it didn’t matter; they didn’t need to know when the “end of all things” would come, just that it would. Deeper than their current lives ending, the end of “everyone’s” life would end, and with it all opportunities to choose Christ and all opportunity to love another. This perspective is the reason for urgency in Peter’s letter. He writes to remind his brothers and sisters, some of whom were suffering intense persecution for the name of Christ, that an end would indeed come. Because of that future reality, believers were called to live rightly in the now.

2) Why are “alert” and “sober-minded” tied together?
Because the time is so short, Peter calls for clarity within the believer. He specifically calls out the mind, but the intention is for the wholeness of a person which also includes body and spirit. Peter urges his readers to be aware of the vanishing breath of life, and be alert for the ways the Lord is moving around them. The only way to be “alert” is to also be “sober-minded” and the only way to be sober minded in the manner Peter intended is by focusing intently on the relationship between God and self. Peter calls for prayer because by focusing intently on speaking with the Lord and listening to His Spirit speak, we will be prepared to live well in these last days.

3) What is meant by “love covers a multitude of sins”?
The interesting thing to note before this phrase is how the command to “maintain constant love”, or fervent, passionate love, is specifically called out “for one another”. Peter was writing to all believers in his letter. He was writing to the Church at large, the global Body of Christ-followers. The love Christians are to have for one another is to be intense, passionate, and something we should intentionally “stir up” as we engage with other Christians. Paul says in Romans, “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Again, “Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters; outdo one another in showing honor.” The author of Hebrews adds, “let us watch out for one another to stir up love and good works….all the more as you see the day approaching.” The idea is constant and pressing, love intentionally because we only have the right now to love like this on earth. Of course, we are to love all people, even our enemies, but a special love for brothers and sisters in Christ should be given special attention. Because of this brotherly bond of love, we can forgive offenses easier. When forgiveness is couched in the blend of love and a desire for unity, “covering sin” is a natural outcome.

Everyday Application

1) What end is Peter referring to and why does it call for action now?
In the span of eternity, our lives are a vanishing mist. (James 4:14) One only needs to take a cursory glance through our social media feeds to be reminded of the brevity of our quickly disappearing lives. The “end of all things” is indeed near, generations nearer than it was at the time of Peter’s writing. Peter urges, we have no time to waste on selfishness and all manner of lusts and passions that are self-absorbing. We are called to love and love we must, because the day is near! We are called to think rightly about the Lord and spend our days communing with Him in sweet fellowship as He fills us up to love others. There is no better way to live in the now. (Romans 13:8-14) Looking for a life with no regrets? It’s rooted here, in a deeply abiding relationship with the Lord of All which overflows onto others as we love with the love the Father has given to us. Spend time intentionally wrapping your mind around the idea that “the end of all things is near”, and live your days with that pressing perspective. Not in a panicked frenzy, but by breathing in every moment in depth of relationship with the Father and loving others.

2) Why are “alert” and “sober-minded” tied together?
If I begin thinking about “seize the day” or “live every moment like it’s your last”, I feel the panic rise inside. Am I making every day count? What did I waste? What opportunity did I throw away? But the Lord does not call us into this mindset, He calls us to Himself. He is the anchor and He intends us to discover how to correctly perceive our circumstances and learn how to love in the last days when our mind is stayed on Him. Don’t get caught up in thinking a “prayer-life” is for old, stodgy Christians from centuries long past. Instead, consider your own communication with God. As I was reading the Psalms a few weeks ago, the psalmist spoke of praising God seven times a day. (Psalm 119:164) Surely, I praise Him more than that and I decided to mark a tally on my wrist every time I praised God that day. I was shocked I only made it to five! Be alert, be aware of the movement of God in your life and in the world around you, and lean in to the only solid foundation available, a deep and intimate relationship with Him!

3) What is meant by “love covers a multitude of sins”?
How well do you love with the minutes in your day? This is the focus of Peter’s letter, and its practical description is provided by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. How we love is to be a glorious reflection of how Christ loves us! It was God’s love for us that sent His Son to die in our place. It was God’s love for us that sent the Holy Spirit to indwell every heart that proclaimed Christ as Lord. It is God’s love for us that forgives again and again, covering over every offense and every sin, large and small. This is how we are to love; this is how we are to spend our days, however many we have. Be alert, be grounded in your relationship with Jesus Christ, speak with the Savior constantly, and love the Church. By loving well, we steer clear of all the little “off-ramps” like rudeness that lead us into sin and isolation.
Love for the Day is near!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with A Quick Trip to Isolation!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Kaleidoscope Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

Kaleidoscope Day 8 A Quick Trip to Isolation

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Numbers 12:1-16
Proverbs 12:18
1 Peter 4:7-8
1 John 4:7-11

Kaleidoscope, Day 8

To love is to commit to paying a costly price.
To love is to commit to messy, broken relationships.
To love is to commit to being hurt.

The alternative?
Isolation.

The on-ramp to safe isolation, far away from great cost, mess, brokenness, and excruciating pain?
Rudeness.

Extreme?
Well, I’ll let you decide.

Surely, there are other, more clear symptoms of isolation and lack of love, right?
Traits like anger, bitterness, and hatred seem pretty key in a successful journey to isolation.

True, these traits are clear evidences of having lived a life in attempt to keep a heart safe from the costly effects of love, but these are destination signposts, not on-ramps.
One who is perpetually angry, bitter, and hateful has already succeeded in staying away from love.

But rudeness.
There is the attractive little signpost flashing brilliantly along a benign highway, promising a quick detour to safety and self-justification.
“Just a little rudeness,” the lie begins.
“Just a little self-protection.”
“You deserve, no, you have a right, to be rude.”
One sweet little sampling of lies after another and our quick detour lands us far off course, well on our way to Isolation.

Not sure you believe me?
I present you with a true story….

A widely respected, deeply kind, and exceptionally humble man had been given the opportunity for a highly visible leadership position, despite his genuine objections. He had no desire for power or profit, but was compelled to take the position out of love and respect for authority above him.

While he made some mistakes, he genuinely loved the people he led, and continually sacrificed his own good for their own. From the outside, it was plainly obvious what a rare, and incredible leader this man was.

Like any leadership role, it came with its share of criticisms and complaints directed towards him, but the one to whom he reported was constantly watching his back. Often, the man overlooked the negativity, not allowing it to deter him from his strong, gentle leadership. Other times, it drove him absolutely batty to the point of near insanity, but always the one above him, protected him.

The man was in this specific leadership role for over 40 years and there was no end to complaints filed against him as he was constantly under attack for his extremely difficult position. Curiously, the records of his career carefully chronicle one specific incident out of the mass lump sum.
One incident with incredible detail.
One incident of blatant rudeness.
Ending with isolation.

The man had a deeply devoted sister whom he loved, but she was beginning to feel as if she deserved some of leadership’s limelight. Unlike her honorable brother, she wanted the attention and the power. She saw the neon flashing lights on the highway and she exited onto “Rude”. She tossed a handful of caustic words in the air, feeling quite justified. Her words were seemingly harmlessly, but undeniably drenched in rudeness. Her rudeness was heard and felt. As a result, she found herself granted a personal audience with the one in authority who had heard her curt remarks.
And it wasn’t pretty.
I’ll let you listen in…

“Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,
I make myself known to him in a vision;
I speak with him in a dream.
Not so with my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my household.
I speak with him directly,
openly, and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
The Lord’s anger burned against them, and He left. (Numbers 12:6-9, emphasis added)

Sister Miriam’s words were intended to hurt. She wanted to make her point known. She set out to amplify her perspective even if it cost her being just a bit rude in order to justify her position against a man who was not only her leader, but also her brother.

The Lord heard, He saw her heart of arrogance, He felt her rudeness, and called her out on it. He took up the cause of Moses, fighting on his behalf, because God is a just and loving God. When it was all said and done, the Lord’s presence left Miriam and her sympathizing brother, Aaron, alone. What’s more, the Lord also gave Miriam a skin disease as He left her as further consequence of her rudeness. Moses, the loving leader, pleaded with the Lord for healing on behalf of his sister, which the Lord gave, but He also said, “If her father had merely spit in her face (as a consequence), wouldn’t she remain in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp (as a consequence to her rudeness) for seven days; after that she may come back.”  (Numbers 12:14)

Her rudeness was disgraceful.
Her rudeness was not loving.
Her rudeness was sinful.
Her rudeness brought isolation.

Miriam took the easy exit off the highway of genuine, authentic Love, and she ended up alone.
How often I’ve done the same!
Rudeness is like an arrow jutting into the people around us. (Proverbs 12:18)

The Lord is a God of unconditional love.
He is a triune God who Himself dwells eternally in community.
Isolation and rudeness have no place in His character,
and neither do they in ours as we take on the Name of Christ.

Maybe you can identify scenarios where you tend to take that quick trip to Isolation via the on-ramp of rudeness. Maybe you can identify people you’ve alienated or perhaps you’ve become familiar with that sense of distancing you feel when you choose to be rude.

Or maybe, just maybe, you know someone who habitually takes that glittery exit called Rude. You see them isolating themselves.
In fact, you want to be isolated from them because of their sharp, cutting habits.
But, I wonder, what if the Lord intended for you to love them with His love, drawing them back just as He did with Miriam. Just as He does for me when I’m rude, again and again.

Suppose He is equipping us to love those who are rude, and to stand at that exit sign,
pointing the way back to Love?!

To love another is worth the high price it will cost us.
It’s worth the mess.
it’s worth the pain of entering into the brokenness.

How do I know?
Jesus did it for me.

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Kaleidoscope Day 7 Strength of Humility: 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 Strength of Humility!

The Questions

1) Why is this recalling of the Israelite’s desert wanderings being spoken of here in Nehemiah?

2) What character of the Lord is highlighted in this passage?

3) Why would the Lord be so extravagantly benevolent and generous (verses 19-21) in the face of Israel’s blasphemies and abandonment (verses 17-18)?

Nehemiah 9:16-21

But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to your commands.
17 They refused to listen
and did not remember your wonders
you performed among them.
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But you are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in faithful love,
and you did not abandon them.
18 Even after they had cast an image of a calf
for themselves and said,
“This is your god who brought you out of Egypt,”
and they had committed terrible blasphemies,
19 you did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.
20 You sent your good Spirit to instruct them.
You did not withhold your manna from their mouths,
and you gave them water for their thirst.
21 You provided for them in the wilderness forty years,
and they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.

Original Intent

1) Why is this recalling of the Israelite’s desert wanderings being spoken of here in Nehemiah?
It had been hundreds of years since Israel’s initial freedom from slavery in Egypt at the time of this writing. Hundreds of years earlier, the Lord God had led Israel straight through the desert to the Promised Land in only a few days’ time, telling them to go up into the land and take possession of it for He was with them and would go before them. But in fear, holding tight to their doubts and their inabilities, they refused. So, the Lord God turned His people around, marching them into the desert for the next 40 years until all but two men from the generation who doubted His goodness had died. Then, true to His faithful character, He triumphantly brought His people into Canaan, the Promised Land. Was the new generation flawless and somehow deserving God’s faithful love more than their fathers? Not in the slightest! They bowed down to other gods, they disobeyed, they complained and ignored the Lord at every turn. Still the Almighty faithfully loved them. Now in the time of Nehemiah, Israel is on the heals of her exile. Again, being punished because she repeatedly forsook the Lord who loved her and rescued her and saved her for Himself. Because scrolls were cumbersome and there weren’t many libraries at this point in history, oral tradition was the means for the masses to know, remember, and pass on her history. The story of Israel’s wandering, the Lord’s faithful love, mercy, and undeserved grace were pivotal components of Israel’s historical narrative and were often repeated aloud corporately and privately. In these verses, Israel is repeating her history, confessing her sin, and re-committing herself to worship the Lord God and Him alone.

2) What character of the Lord is highlighted in this passage?
“You are a forgiving God”. (verse 17) The Lord alone has the right to hold all offenses against us, for He is blameless and holy while we are sinful and wretched. Yet, precisely because love is the very essence of who He is, He is a “forgiving God”.
“Gracious”. Extending love despite how there is absolutely nothing we can do or have done to deserve it. While our sin enshrouds us like filthy menstrual rags, God’s grace gave Jesus as a sacrifice for our sin on our behalf that we might have a right relationship with Him. Grace that shows up not just once when we surrender to Jesus, but daily, moment by moment because Christ Jesus is indeed the everyday Savior.
“Compassionate.” His grace and forgiveness and tender love are not merely handouts. The Lord God does not set His love upon us because it is required of Him. No, His heart loves to love. His heart is moved with deep compassion, emotional feeling, and rock-solid commitment.
“Slow to anger.” His love does not react angrily at our foolish sin and self-focused actions leading us away from His heart and towards our own death. He would have every right to be the “fire breathing god” in the sky, ready to smite people for plunder when they disobeyed Him. But the God of the Bible is nothing like that description. He is slow to anger, giving us time and opportunity to repent and come to Him because He loves.
“You did not abandon.” Not leaving us as He finds us, too wretched to even consider saving, let alone loving. Not beginning a work in us and transforming us partially, but then deciding we are too difficult. He is the God who absolutely will never abandon His beloveds.
Finally, in “abounding in faithful love”, we find the root of every other character trait, all stemming from this one vastly variegated descriptor, love. God is love. There is no deeper, hidden quality you will ever uncover, yet the depths of this one definition are beyond our ability to comprehend. God is love!

3) Why would the Lord be so extravagantly benevolent and generous (verses 19-21) in the face of Israel’s blasphemies and abandonment (verses 17-18)?
Israel had spurned the God who loved her and set her free from slavery. They had crafted an idol made of lifeless gold and worshipped it instead of the living God. Such a horrendous trade! Still He Loved. They had exchanged the lavish love of God for empty lies and vain conceits and words that meant nothing. Still He Loved. They stepped out of their birthright, sidestepping God’s very best for them, as they chose their fear and pride and arrogance instead. Still He Loved. His love showed up with deep emotional, relational, and spiritual ways through compassion, grace, and forgiveness. But He also cared deeply for their physical needs, even in their punishment of being in the desert for 40 years! Even here, as He lovingly disciplined, He did not abandon! He loved them by healing their diseases (Exodus 23:25). He loved them by guiding them and giving them clear direction they could see with their eyes through a cloud by day and fire by night (Nehemiah 9:19). He gave the Holy Spirit to bring truth to specific prophets so they would clearly hear the Word of the Lord with their ears. (Nehemiah 9:30) He gave them food for their bellies, meat for their pallet, and water to quench their thirst (Nehemiah 9:20, Exodus 16:13). Neither their clothes nor their sandals wore out in their 40-year pilgrimage (Deuteronomy 29:5). They literally lacked for nothing (Nehemiah 9:21). Only one answer can be given as to why the Lord would act so extravagantly in the face of such idolatry: unconditional love.

Everyday Application

1) Why is this recalling of the Israelite’s desert wanderings being spoken of here in Nehemiah?
Oral tradition isn’t something our western culture hinges on, but we do record our history both corporately as a people as well as individuals. Maybe for you this comes in the form of journaling where you can look back and see how you’ve grown and changed. Or maybe it’s the process of sitting down and sharing those pivotal moments out loud to someone else. Or maybe you’ve never thought about how those big, forming moments have shaped your life. Make some space this week and take the challenge to begin writing your own history. What were the low points, the big, game-changing moments, the highlights of euphoria, and all the in-between that shaped you into who you are today. Looking back, where did you find yourself lost and wandering in sin, where did you experience the love of God through other people or circumstances? What happened when you asked Jesus to be your Rescuer from sin? Often, as we look back, we find the fingerprints of God etched all throughout our story. And just maybe, after you’ve written your story down, you’ll feel led to share it with other women to encourage them. If so, we’d love to give you that opportunity! Send us an email at facesofgrace@gracefullytruthful.com to get started!

2) What character of the Lord is highlighted in this passage?
Whenever you read passages that highlight character traits of the Lord, take the opportunity to slow down, read them on repeat, consider other passages in Scripture where you see these traits of the Lord, and look for how He has shown them to you in your own life! The very end of verse 17 here is so lush with depth and beauty as it describes God! These descriptors alone can shift our perspective at any given moment of the day, raising our chin, reminding us we are lavishly loved by a God who is forgiving, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, never abandoning, and faithfully loving. This is a love beyond compare! As you pause and think on these lovely gifts, write out precisely how the Lord is each of these to you, even if you don’t feel it or see it, He is always this kind of love towards every believer who has trusted Him for eternal life and rescuing from eternal damnation apart from Him!

3) Why would the Lord be so extravagantly benevolent and generous (verses 19-21) in the face of Israel’s blasphemies and abandonment (verses 17-18)?
Israel was recounting her history as a wonderful, glorious reminder of truth about the God who loved her. Israel had turned away again, forgetting this loving, gracious God, and had found themselves in a literally broken place. The walls of Jerusalem were broken and Israel was utterly defenseless. Their crops were failing. Their families weren’t safe. People were dying. But God drew them back to Himself and they responded. They re-committed themselves to Him, to worship Him, to choose Him, to honor Him, to love Him and Him alone. The same is true for us! Though we run away, He still waits for our return. When we fall, He is our rescuer. When darkness seems to surround us, He is our light. As God provided visibly, emotionally, relationally, and tangibly for the Israelites in the desert, so He still provides for us in our everyday living. The apostle John writes of this full experience in his letter, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it!” What life was John describing? Jesus Christ! All the fullness of God is experienced in Jesus Christ and He is available for each of us, at every moment, every single day! Such unconditional love!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Strength of Humility!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Kaleidoscope Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

Ignite Day 7 60 Seconds Of Truth: 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 60 Seconds Of Truth!

The Questions

1) Why did Nicodemus go by night?

2) What is the birth of water and spirit Jesus refers to?

3) Does verse 20 mean believers will never do wrong again?

John 3:1-21

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.

14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Original Intent

1) Why did Nicodemus go by night?
Nicodemus, a Pharisee, decided to visit Jesus at night. He knew Jesus must be from God because of the miracles Jesus had performed. However, this public display of miracles and teachings were not enough for Nicodemus. He wanted a more private discourse regarding salvation with Jesus. Nicodemus wanted answers to certain questions and wanted to be free to talk with Jesus openly. In public, Nicodemus was a Pharisee and expected to behave as such. The Pharisees publicly opposed Jesus and would never have engaged Jesus as Nicodemus did. By approaching Him at night, Nicodemus was able to dialogue with Jesus without the judgement of the other Pharisees. Matthew Henry says, “Probably it was the very next night after he saw Christ’s miracles, and he would not neglect the first opportunity of pursuing his convictions. He knew not how soon Christ might leave the town, nor what might happen betwixt that and another feast, and therefore would lose no time. In the night, his converse with Christ would be more free, and less liable to disturbance.” Nicodemus wanted answers and would not allow anything to stop him from getting those answers.

2) What is the birth of water and spirit Jesus refers to?
Nicodemus understands how people are physically born and is thinking purely in human terms when Jesus begins talking about being born again. Nicodemus doesn’t understand how one who was already born can repeat the process of entering and exiting the mothers’ womb. However, Jesus quickly explains He is not talking about an earthly birth, but a spiritual birth instead. This birth takes place in a completely different manner than a physical birth. Jesus helped us understand this birth by obeying what His Father asked of Him when He was baptized by John. (Matthew 3:13-17) Jesus explained to Nicodemus that this second birth happens through water and spirit. John baptized Jesus in water and that day the Spirit was present in the form of a dove overhead. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that, while he was once born of a human mother, in order receive the gift of salvation, he must be reborn of the spirit. This gift of salvation is only possible by what Jesus would do on the cross and can only be received through faith and belief in what Jesus did.

3) Does verse 20 mean believers will never do wrong again?
This verse is found in a discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus and therefore is not meant to be taken alone. Jesus had taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13-16) that believers are the light of the world and here Jesus is saying evil (darkness) cannot be in the presence of light. If taken alone this verse may seem to be saying a believer cannot do evil. However, in this same discourse Jesus presents the Gospel to Nicodemus. Nicodemus learns He can never earn salvation on His own, but it is a gift of Jesus. Jesus is going to do what only He can do and what no man is capable of on His own by paying the penalty for our sin through His sacrificial death. The promise is in eternal life and the freedom from condemnation because of Christ, not of a life lived perfectly. This discourse ends by giving all credit to God. Jesus never tells Nicodemus that if He believes He will live perfectly, so Jesus is not promising the freedom from all evil only the forgiveness from evil.

Everyday Application

1) Why did Nicodemus go by night?
Nicodemus watched first hand as Jesus performed miracles and taught the masses. This left Nicodemus with questions he wanted answers. He waited until the most likely time to have an uninterrupted conversation with Jesus and sought Him out. As believers today, there is much we can learn from this. There are lessons we can only learn as we sit at the feet of Jesus and spend time with Him uninterrupted. While corporate gatherings of believers and fellowship together are wonderful and necessary, there is something irreplaceable in time spent alone with Jesus. In those moments, we are free to reveal our deepest thoughts, emotions, and questions to the Lord and He is able to meet us exactly where we are. In those moments, He can mold and shape us into who He desires to make us. We, like Nicodemus, need to make a priority of coming to Jesus when we can be free of interruption and simply sit at His feet.

2) What is the birth of water and spirit Jesus refers to?
Jesus welcomed Nicodemus’ questions and explained to Nicodemus how he must be reborn. However, this rebirth is not of flesh, but a birth of the spirit. We too, just as Nicodemus, must experience a rebirth if we are to receive the gift of salvation offered through Jesus’ sacrifice. We must accept, and hold firmly as our own, what Jesus did on our behalf on the cross by giving Himself as the payment for our sin followed by His victory over and defeat of death. To be reborn, we must see how we are the ones worthy of a death sentence and eternal separation from God because of our sin and believe Jesus as Lord over Sin and Death. When we do, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is the spirit portion Jesus referred to in His conversation with Nicodemus. We are also called to follow in obedience as Jesus did and be baptized in water. As believers, we are baptized by water displaying an outward symbol of our belief in Jesus by which we have been baptized by His Spirit. When we are baptized in water it is a picture of our rebirth as a believer and shows the world the change that has taken place in our lives.

3) Does verse 20 mean believers will never do wrong again?
In John 8:21 Jesus calls Himself the light of the world and Matthew 5:14 refers to believers as the same.  However, this verse says if whoever does evil hates the light. If we read only John 3:20, it may seem that once we believe we will never do evil again and will be freed from it. However, that is not the promise Jesus makes. Jesus promises us the gift of eternal life and freedom from condemnation, the punishment for sin, when we believe in Him. There is only one who is capable of living with no evil and that is Jesus alone. However, that does not mean we continue in our old ways. Instead, as believers once we place our faith in Jesus, through the power of the Spirit we are now the light of the world. We have the source of all light living inside of us. As we allow God to work in us conforming us to look more like Him through the process of sanctification, there is less of us, less evil, to be found and more light as Jesus transforms us. This discourse closes by reminding us it is all the work of God and He deserves all credit… not us. It is never in our power, but only by His power we have been saved and are able to live as His light.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with 60 Seconds Of Truth!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Ignite Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

Cross Day 12 Trinity: 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 Trinity!

The Questions

1) As He hung on the cross, what was Jesus saying in verse 46: “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni”?

2) What is the significance of the sanctuary curtain being torn from top to bottom at the moment of Jesus’ death?

3) How did the crucifixion events impact the soldiers who were standing guard?

4) Did God (the Father) completely abandon God (the Son)?

Matthew 27:45-54

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land.
46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered him a drink.
49 But the rest said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
51 Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
52 The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
53 And they came out of the tombs after his resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.
54 When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Original Intent

1) As He hung on the cross, what was Jesus saying in verse 46: “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni”?
The Scriptures present seven times in which Jesus spoke from the cross. Bernard Guy (bible.org) gives us a great word picture for what was happening as Christ spoke: “Crucifixion was a form of torture that literally knocked the wind out of a person. The weight of the body … paralyzed the pectoral muscles, making breathing extremely difficult. The person being crucified could inhale but had great difficulty exhaling. To exhale he had to push on his feet and straighten his legs to release the pressure exerted on his arms and chest. But the pain that this caused to his feet was so excruciating, because of the nails, that he would immediately cease any such effort. It was in this context, while he was fighting for His every breath, that Jesus uttered His last words.”
We don’t know for sure that the words spoken these seven times were the only ones He spoke, but the significance of these statements lead most bible scholars to believe this is an exhaustive record. They are found in the four gospels: three in Luke 23:34, 43, 46; three in John 19:26-28, 30; and in Mark 15:34 we find the same words as Matthew 27. In verse 46, Matthew tells us before Jesus’ very last breath and very last word, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani.” Some of those who were standing nearby didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. But Matthew (and Mark) interpret it for us: “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” (verse 46) He spoke two more times and, after about six hours on the cross, He died.

2) What is the significance of the sanctuary curtain being torn from top to bottom at the moment of Jesus’ death?
Years earlier, King David wanted to build a temple for God (1 Chronicles 17), instead, God said his son Solomon would build it. Placed next to the king’s palace, it was Israel’s central place of worship (1 Kings 9:3). Though the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC, it was later rebuilt (Ezra 1:2) and during war, King Herod took control and completed its renovation. Inside the temple things were arranged much like the tabernacle in Moses’ day, with the Holy of Holies remaining a sacred area – the place of God’s presence. Only the high priest was allowed to enter the place beyond the curtain (Hebrews 9:3). Based on temple dimensions, it most likely hung 30 feet high in order to block the entrance, and though we don’t have a specific Scripture to confirm it, early Jewish tradition reports the curtain about four inches thick.
During Jesus’ lifetime, with the temple again a focal place for Jewish religious life, the significance of the curtain was clear to the Jews: God and man were separated because of man’s sin. On the day Jesus breathed His last breath, this heavy dividing curtain tore from top to bottom as the earth quaked. The writer of Hebrews offers us insight into the implication of the event (Hebrews 8-9). From the throne of heaven where God ruled (top of the curtain), access was granted. And as our High Priest, Jesus symbolically entered the holy place and took our sin once and for all.

3) How did the crucifixion events impact the soldiers who were standing guard?
As the day’s events unfolded, those present couldn’t help but notice they were in the presence of God’s Son. It wasn’t everyday the earth quaked and rocks moved, giving way for dead bodies to be resurrected and make appearances around town. Verse 54 says some of the soldiers who saw this were afraid, but in their fear they also came to a life-changing realization: THIS was the Son of God! As he often does, Luke adds detail to this in Luke 23 by telling us, “when the centurion saw what had happened, he began to glorify God, saying, ‘This man really was a righteous!’” Was this possibly the first post-crucifixion conversion? It sure seems so!

4) Did God (the Father) completely abandon God (the Son)?
Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?”
Would God the Father abandon His own Son? Could He do that?! Or did Jesus merely feel abandoned momentarily? There has been much debate about these words. Bible scholars have strong feelings, some believing that to experience the full wrath of God for our sin, Jesus faced a separation from the Father. Bible teacher John Piper shares this opinion, explaining that Jesus isn’t really asking a question, but is quoting the psalmist (Psalm 22). “It is a real cry of spiritual desolation with words that were second nature because his whole life was scripted by God. The judgment was to have God the Father pour out his wrath, and instead of pouring it out on us, he pours it out on him. That necessarily involves a kind of abandonment.”
Others feel the need to reconcile Scriptures like John 10:30 , John 14:6-11 , and Ephesians 2:18 which they believe communicate that God the Father, Son and Spirit are inseparable.
Two other great theologians, Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon differ on exactly what was happening here, but I found Spurgeon’s thoughts to be a helpful focus: “I think I cannot understand the words … When uttered by Jesus on the Cross, I cannot comprehend, so I shall not pretend to be able to explain them. There is no plummet that can fathom this deep! There is no eagle’s eye that can penetrate the mystery that surrounds this strange question.”

Everyday Application

1) As He hung on the cross, what was Jesus saying in verse 46: “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni”?
On the cross, Jesus felt the sting of sin’s grief. The One who had never been out of His Father’s will and never strayed from His Father’s purpose was experiencing the agony of hell. Being separated from His Father’s kindness was so unbearable Jesus cried out from the pain deep in His soul. And in this sorrow, Jesus once again demonstrated His humble obedience to the Father’s will “to bring many sons to glory”. (Hebrews 2:9-10) Even on our darkest day, we have One who was acquainted with grief and sorrow. “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.” Isaiah 53:3

2) What is the significance of the sanctuary curtain being torn from top to bottom at the moment of Jesus’ death?
Praise God! We can now enter the Holy of Holies through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:19 says, “we have boldness” to enter the presence of God through the death of Christ. The temple curtain was a constant reminder to the Jews that sin creates a separation from God. The Old Testament explained how the sin offering was to be offered yearly along with numerous other sacrifices. The washings and rituals showed vividly that sin could not be completely or finally removed by mere animal sacrifices. BUT GOD in Jesus Christ has made a way for us to enter. Through His death, Christ has removed the barriers between God and man and brought us near.  We are able to approach Him at any time with confidence and boldness (Hebrews 4:14-16). At the cross, the God who created the universe made a loud declaration with an earthquake. The Son had made a way to the Father and invites us to enter with Him. The Psalmist worshiped this God centuries before: “The humble will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!” (Psalm 22)

3) How did the crucifixion events impact the soldiers who were standing guard?
It was surely not a job for the soft-hearted or those with weak stomachs. Carrying out executions must have required a certain kind of resolve and emotional hardness. But on the day Jesus died, there he stood, a soldier who’d observed all that had happened and began to look more closely at this Jesus. We don’t know when it started to become clear for him. Maybe it was the way Jesus showed such resolve as He experienced the anguish of the cross. Or it may have been the way He lovingly made sure His mother would receive continued care. Had he heard Jesus praying for His executioners? That prayer would include him! It’s doubtful he’d ever observed that kind of forgiveness. Added to these, there were strange occurrences like the sky darkening in the middle of the day, the earth rumbling violently, and dead bodies emerging from the ground.
Who knows what moment clenched it for him and others standing there. Like him, who knows when that moment happens for others. As we share our stories, we tell of God’s grace and goodness. We tell of His faithfulness and power. And we pray for that moment when another can deny it no longer and freely confesses: “He is surely God’s Son!”

4) Did God (the Father) completely abandon God (the Son)?
It’s mind-boggling to consider the suffering Son crying out to His merciful Father in agony.  When we sing the words “how can it be,” we demonstrate our lack of full comprehension that the God of creation would come to earth as a man to die in order to save us. Pastor, author, and hymn writer, Charles Wesley, put it like this, “He left His Father’s throne above; so free, so infinite His grace! Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s helpless race. ‘Tis mercy all immense and free, for O my God, it found out me.”
Amazing love. Amazing gospel. Amazing mystery. God abandoning God! At the end of the day, it is a mystery in which we must wrestle, but ultimately surrender to the One who knows all things. We humbly do so because we would not want a God we could so easily fit into our small-minded boxes. This glad surrender has great gospel implications. Tim Keller sums it up so well: “If you think you really, really understand the gospel, you don’t. If you really think that you haven’t even begun to understand the gospel, you do. Gospel theologizing isn’t anywhere near enough if we’re going to change the world with it. There has to be a lifelong process of more and more deeply realizing the wonder of the gospel.” It is within this wonder that we study and pray and then bow our heads and hearts in worship. For this we know: God is WITH us and He is FOR us!

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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!

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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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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) Saul was thrown off by the thought that forgiveness was prayed for on his behalf. Suppose this was you. How would you respond? Angry and defensive? Thoughtful and curious? It’s easy for believers to hurry through the gospel story that “Jesus died to save us from our sin.” Forgiveness is an incredible gift. Without shame and condemnation, but for the purpose of reflection, think and pray through some sinful struggles you’ve had. What does it mean that forgiveness has been extended to you? Are you willing to forgive yourself?

2) Self-righteousness was Saul’s forte. He had created himself, trusted no other, and depended on no one to give him anything he had not earned. I don’t know about you, but this girl can relate! I like trusting myself, it’s safer that way. I like thinking I made myself who I am. Thinking I am fully self-reliant and independent fills my heart with something that can indeed feel good for a while, but in the end, is bitter poison. It’s pride. Where does pride most often rear its head in your life? What would it mean to recognize that you have no power to make yourself more righteous? Even if you are a believer.

3) Stacy’s Journey Study yesterday put us in the shoes of several different people, all who realized that, just like Saul, their own hearts had relied on their own strength instead of the Spirit of God’s. Where have you trusted your strength and your path? A good indicator of this is stress, chaos, anxiety, and absence of peace. Take a moment to identify those areas clearly in your mind and on paper, the spend some time reading through Philippians or Galatians out loud and let the truth and freedom of the Lord bring you abundance!

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 Ephesians 4:31-32 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander
be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another,
as God in Christ forgave you.

Prayer Journal
Father, Your abundant love is beautiful and overwhelming in its endlessness. I give mental assent and gratefulness for your forgiveness driven by this love, but forgiveness is something I struggle to extend to myself.

Sometimes, my sin is so apparent and my drops in shame at how my sin causes another hurt or leads them away from You instead of toward You. Other times, I feel “pretty good”, as if I don’t sin. Keep my heart humble, help me listen to Your whispers of love and forgiveness. Remind that Your forgiveness is complete and eternal, just like Your love!

Worship Through Community

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Worship Through Prayer

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