The GT Weekend ~ Beloved Week 2

November 28, 2020 by Erin O'Neal Leave a Comment

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

1) God delights to give good gifts to His children. We know “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” (James 1:17) Marriage, as we saw in Monday’s Journey Study, is a delightful gift from the Lord. God’s plan for marriage was for a man and woman to delight in one another and to reflect His love to the world. Married woman, are you delighting in your husband, or are you focusing on where he is lacking? Are you trusting in God’s plan for your marriage and finding ways to show your husband that you enjoy him, or are you focusing on pleasing yourself? Write down one way you will show your husband you desire him AND one way you can grow in your desire for God. Unmarried sister, have you entrusted the Lord with your desires? Are you living each day to the glory of God, trusting that His timing is perfect? Write down any area in your life that you have believed God is holding back a good gift from you, and ask Him to reveal His heart toward you in that area.

2) In Wednesday’s Journey, we read about the beauty of intimacy between lovers. Merry listed four traits the intimate couple in Song of Solomon display for one another. They are transparent, honest, vulnerable, and purposeful. Transparency, honesty, vulnerability, and intentioned purpose can each help us grow in relationship with our spouse and with our God. These traits also require trust and courage to live out in real life because they open us up to the possibility of being hurt. To the married woman, where are you holding back in your marriage for fear of being hurt? Marriage relationships are complicated and messy when it comes to trust and vulnerability. Neither are easy. As wives, we can only be responsible for ourselves, not the actions and heart attitudes of our husbands. As far as it depends on you, list specific ways you can move deeper into vulnerability and intimacy with your spouse. Consider if there are sins on your side that may be hindering your relationship and pray through these and share with your spouse. Write down specific areas or actionable ways you can begin increasing vulnerability with your husband. Ask God to give you courage and to enable you to take steps to love your husband well. To all sisters, how are you pursuing intimacy with your Heavenly Father? Take time today to verbalize or write down ways you have been holding back from trusting the Lord; ask Him to help you seek intimacy with Him.

3) Before marriage, we can build up expectations for how married life will be, but because we live in a broken world, and we marry broken people, marriage often falls short of our grand expectations. Personally, I thought my husband would always know exactly what to say or do to make me feel better, but surprise! He can’t read my mind. Women, what are you asking from the men in your life (whether implicitly or directly) that only God can provide? Are you hoping for your husband (current or future) to make you secure with his words and actions, or to heal your broken places? Are you demanding he provide you with stability and peace in a tumultuous situation? Look to Jesus. Only Jesus can heal and provide us with true satisfaction. Confess where you have fallen short, and ask the Lord to help you find your satisfaction in Him. For wives, this frees your husband to be the man he is able to be, rather than burden him with unrealistic expectations. For single women, this allows you to find satisfaction in your current season. If God provides a husband for you, you will be setting a course for a healthy relationship, loosed from the chains of unrealistic expectations.

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 Proverbs 31:10-12 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Who can find a wife of noble character?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will not lack anything good.
She rewards him with good, not evil,
all the days of her life.

Prayer Journal
Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. You alone can satisfy the deepest longings of my heart. You alone can heal my broken places and pursue me with perfect love. Oh that I would find my satisfaction in You! Forgive me for the idols of my heart, for my worship of lesser loves. Help me to identify and eliminate all distractions that would keep me from loving You rightly. Help me to honor my husband by following You as Lord and not asking him to do a job he was never intended to do. Show me where I have sinned against my husband, and help me to humbly seek restoration with him. I ask You to continue to bless my marriage with joy and satisfaction and desire. Thank You that Your design for marriage is good. Remind me that my marriage is a picture to a broken world of the love You have for Your church and of her desire to follow You. Finally, I pray for my sisters who are longing to be married. Help them to find their satisfaction in You. Help them to pursue a life-giving relationship with You, and to be content in every situation, trusting that Your timing and Your plans are best.

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

Beloved Day 7 A Lover’s Delight: Digging Deeper

November 24, 2020 by Melodye Reeves Leave a Comment

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 Lover’s Delight!

The Questions

1) What is the setting of this passage and why should we believe it is more than allegorical?

2) Why does Solomon refer to his bride as his sister? (verse 12)

3) What is the meaning of the garden in these verses?

Song of Solomon 4:12-16

My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—a locked garden and a sealed spring. 13 Your branches are a paradise of pomegranates with choicest fruits; henna with nard,14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices. 15 You are a garden spring, a well of flowing water streaming from Lebanon.

16 Awaken, north wind; come, south wind. Blow on my garden, and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my love come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.

Original Intent

1) What is the setting of this passage and why should we believe it is more than allegorical?
An allegory is defined as a “a story, poem, or picture that uses symbolism to reveal a hidden meaning of a deeper moral or spiritual truth.” Although there are several Bible commentators (many from the Puritan era of history) who believe this book is allegory, it is best interpreted as a poetic, but powerful description of the deeply romantic and sensual love between a husband and his wife. The structure and setting of the book do not provide a chronological story, but instead give the reader “snapshots” of a couple’s pre-marital and marital relationship. (enduringword.com) It is true that God uses marriage as a gospel illustration of the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-32), but it seems apparent to most Bible scholars that the literal meaning should be the primary way the book is interpreted. The straightforward way in which Chapter 4 contains specific details of the sexual love demonstrated by a husband and a wife reveals the beauty of sexual intimacy in Christian marriage. It seems unnecessary to allegorize these passages that present a marital love consistent with Scripture’s other teachings about marriage and sex.

2) Why does Solomon refer to his bride as his sister? (verse 12)
Solomon uses the term “sister” three more times in his book in addition to verse 12. (4:9-10 and 5:1) No conservative Bible commentators believe this is a reference to him marrying his biological sister, and no scriptural evidence provides reason assume familial relations. “Sister” was a common expression in the Hebrew language of familiarity and closeness. As in many cultures, Egyptian love songs included lyrics which call one another ‘brother’ and ‘sister’. Years later, Solomon is using familiar language drawn from then-modern-day poetry. Theologian Charles Spurgeon writes, “‘My sister’ – that is, one by birth, partaker of the same (human) nature. ‘My spouse’ – that is, one in love, joined by sacred ties of affection that never can be snapped. ‘My sister’ by birth, ‘My spouse’ by choice. ‘My sister’ in communion, ‘My spouse’ in absolute union with myself.” By referring to his bride as his sister, Solomon was showing her double honor. He loved her with the physical desire of a spouse and with the natural love of a sibling. It is significant to understand the deep affection Solomon had for his bride, and how he demonstrated that to her.

3) What is the meaning of the garden in these verses?
Bible teachers and commentators who take the book literally, not allegorically, believe this “locked garden” represents a sort of separation and privacy regarding the bride herself. This likely refers to her being a virgin on her wedding night. (enduringword.com) As he has done previously, Solomon expresses his admiration for her. Specifically, he is enthralled with her beauty and purity that reminds him of the “choicest fruits and best spices”. (verses 13-14) As his bride, the fact that she had remained sexually pure was deeply attractive to him. Her sexuality was sacred, and as husband and wife, they both recognize this. The Bride both acknowledges her virginity and agrees it is right for him to find pleasure in knowing that. (verse 16) We see a beautiful picture of the bride’s trust in her new husband. She is freely and gladly unlocking herself to him, inviting him into this sacred act of sexual intimacy. As we dig deep into the meaning of these verses, it may appear they are infringing on moments that should be kept between a married couple. This may be the hesitancy among bible scholars to see them as literal. But an honest study of the book renders it difficult to interpret this as anything but a biblical and literal picture of godly love and passion that honors both spouses and God, the creator of sexual intimacy.

Everyday Application

1) What is the setting of this passage and why should we believe it is more than allegorical?
In considering how we apply these verses, I am enlisting Pastor David Guzik’s help. His sermon on chapter 4 is so well stated, I can’t improve on it, “When you think of the many crude terms that men use to refer to women’s body parts, isn’t there something so beautiful and powerful in this poetic, intimate, and dignified way of expressing love. It is a celebration of the strength and purity and goodness of marital love. There’s nothing insecure here … or dirty … or crass about it. There is simply nothing like this in ancient literature.” So, friends, we can celebrate this love story. As women who desire to live with a godly, biblical perspective regarding purity, we need not back away from the passion we read in the Song of Solomon. The poetry in these passages should be seen as sincere devotion and deep affection between man and wife. We can approach this book with the reverence it deserves, and with an understanding of the high value God places on intimate passion in marriage.

2) Why does Solomon refer to his bride as his sister? (verse 12)
There is an interesting parallel in Song of Solomon 8:1 where the bride says to her lover, “If only I could treat you like my brother, one who nursed at my mother’s breast, I would find you in public and kiss you, and no one would scorn me.” This sweet bride craves the freedom to publicly convey her love for her husband. In that day, outward expressions of affection were considered distasteful except for close kin. She wishes for the same opportunity to show her love to her husband as she would to her own brother. Today, there are jokes and memes about PDA (public displays of affection). Sadly, we have become shameless as a society as we have left behind honor for our bodies and brought every lewd display into the public eye. As wives, we would do our marriages a favor by praying for a desire toward our husbands that is appropriately expressed in public. One of the most beautiful displays I see that almost always brings me to tears, is a couple well into their later years, walking along arm in arm or holding hands tightly. Oh, sweet married friends, let’s show our spouses double honor with physical and natural love!

3) What is the meaning of the garden in these verses?
The literal reading of Song of Solomon may be difficult for some women. Maybe you feel it’s an intrusion on what should be a sacred trust between a married couple. Women who strive for holiness are encouraged by the church to be pure and modest in our dress and demeanor. Reading such an explicit passage could possibly leave someone feeling exposed or embarrassed. Sisters, I get it! I have often wondered why God would include in His inspired Word such an intimate exchange between a man and his bride for all to read. If not understood correctly, it may seem that God is advocating for women to be viewed as objects to be displayed like a trophy. Or maybe you are feeling shame because you did not enter marriage as a virgin, and you wonder if your husband can ever see you in the way described in this passage. I plead with you, dear married friend, to keep praying and digging into the difficult passages and find the joy. Pray to the good and gracious Father who desires to reveal to you the garden of God-ordained sexual fulfillment. Allow the Spirit of God to inspire and equip you to experience the holy intimacy He desires in your marriage.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with A Lover’s Delight!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

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Our Current Study Theme!

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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 ~ Calling Week 1

October 10, 2020 by Erin O'Neal Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend!

Worship Through Journaling

1) What a breathtakingly stunning thought! The God of the universe is pleased to dwell among people! His desire is to have a deep and meaningful relationship with every beloved person in His church body. The opening poetry of Ephesians is full of magnificent truths about the believer’s position and identity in Christ. Rebecca gave us a list of declarations every believer in Christ can cling to as a promise of their standing with God. We do not need to wonder what God thinks of us because He tells us plainly in these verses. Go back and read through the list again! (Ephesians 1:1-14) Choose two or three specific promises and remind yourself of those truths in your life. Spend some time praying and imagining how God could change your life if you fully accepted those truths as part of your everyday. Write down those two or three declarations on a notecard or sticky note (make them pretty if you want!) and post them somewhere you’ll see them daily. When you see those cards, be reminded to pray to God for His help to live faithfully in light of His call on your life.

2) In Ephesians 1:15-23 we see the love Paul has for the Ephesians in his prayer for them, and we see the greatness of the calling of God on the lives of His people. Paul prays for the Ephesians to intimately know the call of God on their lives. If we believe in Christ, we share in this calling. By this calling, we can be confident in our rich, intimate knowledge of God, our value in His kingdom, and the power we experience through Jesus Christ. This truth should radically change how we live our lives! We experience God’s power when we obey His call on our lives. Identify one way in your life you are resisting submission to Christ’s call on your life. This could be a besetting sin you are holding onto or a step of faith you have been hesitant to take. Ask God to show you the greatness of His power by setting you free from whatever is holding you back, then make a plan to walk in obedience in this area, trusting God to sustain you. Consider sharing your plan with a trusted sister in Christ and invite her to check in with you about how you are following through.

3) When all we know is death, we can grow comfortable in the filth and stench of our own decay. Death feels like the inevitable pattern until we see the alternative. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:1-22 we were dead in our sins. But God, rich in mercy, made a way for us to be alive in Him. If you have believed in Christ, you are no longer a slave to the old, dead ways of living. You are alive in Christ! Rebecca challenges us to remember we are alive and then to live like we’re alive. Echoing her final thoughts, take some time to consider, and write down, answers to the following questions. Who can you love better? What is a tangible step you can take today to love God with your life? Is there a relationship in your life where unity is broken; what is a first step you can take toward reconciliation? Are you honoring the people closest to you? Ask God to help you take meaningful steps toward living like you are alive. Ask Him to give you an opportunity to share with someone in your life about how God has brought you out of death and into life.

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 1:17-19 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what is the wealth of His glorious inheritance in the saints,and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of His strength.

Prayer Journal
Oh great and merciful Father, how can it be that You would love me? I cannot fathom the depths of love You have shown Your people by making us Your dwelling place. You are not a God who is far off, watching at a distance. You are a God who is nearby, providing for Your children, displaying Your great power in our lives. I admit I have often learned facts about You simply to increase my own knowledge. Forgive me of my pride, and use the knowledge I have found to enlighten my heart and draw me into a deeper relationship with You. I know I often live in my brokenness, forgetting the power of the truth of my new life in You. Help me to be aware of my sin, to recoil at my old desires, and to truly live in such a way that reflects the power You have in my life. Thank You for Your great mercy in setting me free from my past. Help me to grow in my intimate knowledge of You and Your great love for me. As I grow in unity with You, help me also to grow in unity with Your Body, the Church.

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

Ten Day 10 A Love That Honors

August 14, 2020 by Marietta Taylor 1 Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

Exodus 20:1-17
1 John 4:7-21
Psalm 136
2 Peter 1:1-11
Matthew 5:13-20

Ten, Day 10

The email started with a simple question,
“Did you attend Marquette University in the early to mid 80s?”

The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Then I realized it was an old flame from college. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, but thought he might be working through a twelve-step program, so I confirmed my identity.
The next email started with compliments and ended with the real question.
“I know you’re married, and so am I, but is it possible for us to talk?”

I’m not going to lie. I was tempted for a moment. But in the end, I responded, “No, it would be disrespectful to both our spouses.” And that was that.
Events easily could have taken a different path.
Because I value my relationship with God, there was no alternate ending.

Exodus 20:14 is a command straight from God,
“Do not commit adultery.”

It’s from a set of ten God gave to the Israelites through Moses. But they weren’t just rules to act like bumpers on a bowling lane. They weren’t meant to be an “am I holy?” checklist.

Because, you see, we cannot keep the commandments.
We’re not righteous enough to live a perfect life.

Romans 3:23 tells us “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And in the Old Testament, Psalm 14:3 tells us there is not even one person who does good.

So why did God give us commandments we are doomed to break, you might ask?

Quite simply, because He loves us.
1 John 4:10 explains, “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

He wasn’t acting on a mean-spirited desire to set us up for failure. Since Adam and Eve’s first sin, He had been separated from His precious children, and He was heartbroken.

So He planned to sacrifice His very self to give us a way back into relationship with Him . . . but this way back is dependent upon our recognition of our sin, repentance, and embrace of Jesus as our Savior.

By giving us ten commandments simultaneously reflecting His holy character and highlighting our sin,
He was helping us understand our need for a Savior.

Next, let’s explore what God reveals about His character by identifying adultery as a sin.

First, He is faithful.
Avoiding adultery means to remain faithful.
And what is God, if not faithful?

Psalm 136 repeats “His faithful love endures forever” twenty-six times as it recounts God’s wondrous creation and His consistent protection of, and provision for, His people, despite their repeated disobedience, failures, and abandonment of their Creator and Rescuer.

In fact, Judges and 1 and 2 Kings tell a dismal story of the countless times the Israelites disobeyed God or chased other gods. Yet God always saved them, because of His faithfulness and in spite of their unfaithfulness.

Scripture tells us that no matter what we do, no matter what happens, God loves us.
Why?
Because “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

Marriage is a covenant promise. By asking us to keep our promise to another human being, God was demonstrating that He is a promise-keeper. (See for yourself! Check out Joshua 21:45, Number 23:19, and Ezekiel 12:28)

God wants the world to know He is a faithful, loving, promise-keeping God; therefore, He instructs us to reflect His character in our relationships by abhorring adultery.

It’s important for believers to adhere to this command,
because if we won’t honor the relationship with our spouse, whom we can see and touch,
how well will we honor our relationships with God, Whom we cannot see or touch?

When we do follow His command, our marriages become a reflection of Who God is and how He wants to love the world. We become a shining light in a world dark with sexual sin and broken promises. Matthew 5:16 says when our light shines, the world sees and gives glory to God. What an honor!

Are you familiar with the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39? She was doing all she could to commit adultery. But Joseph would not oblige her.

In recounting all Potiphar had given him, Joseph asked, “So how could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?”. (Genesis 39:9) Joseph understood that to commit sexual sin was to hurt the heart of God.

And he was right. When we honor God, and express our love for Him by following His commands, our actions speak louder than any words we could say.

So, let’s change our perspective on the commandments as a whole, and the command regarding adultery in particular. Let’s shift our focus from ourselves to leading lives that honor God, in order to share His character, His love, and His sacrifice with the world.

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