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Eden Day 6 Entrusted Caretakers

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 1:26-31
Genesis 3:17-19
Proverbs 28:19
Galatians 3:10-14
1 Corinthians 15:56-58

Eden, Day 6

Every Saturday morning, we devote time to household chores. Clean the bathrooms, vacuum, dust, mop, and water plants. While we may try to “whistle while we work,” the truth remains, we view these chores as, well, a chore. Living requires working, and often, we do it with drudgery, dragging our feet, and moaning–not whistling!–all the way.

It wasn’t always like this, however. It definitely wasn’t God’s intention for our experience of work.

In Genesis 1, our origin story, we read that right after God breathed humans into existence, He gave them something to do. We actually read FIVE action words in this passage:
Be fruitful
Multiply
Fill
Subdue
Rule
(Genesis 1:28)

Furthermore, God did not simply command humankind to DO;
He equipped them for their work.

“I have given you every seed-bearing plant [. . .] and every tree whose fruit contains seed [. . .]
I have given every green plant for food.” (Genesis 1:29-30, emphasis mine)

Continuing to Genesis 2, we learn God supplied everything humans required to flourish and grow.
Life was perfect.

But then the sneaky serpent enters the scene and snatches away Adam and Eve’s confidence in God. (Genesis 3) He plants his own seeds of mistrust into Adam and Eve’s minds. From that point on, with the deadly combination of temptation and free will, humans choose to trust themselves over their Creator, and perfection is lost.

Genesis 3:17-19 states that one consequence for sin is that work would now become arduous, a thing of pain and struggle rather than purpose, fulfillment, joy, and provision.

And herein lies why chores are a chore.
However, the story did not end in Genesis 3.
Christ came and redeemed the curse by bearing the just wrath of God for sin in our place. (Galatians 3:10-14)

So the question remains, why do we STILL endure hardship in our work?
Why do we so often struggle to find purpose in the toiling of our minds, hearts, and hands? Why is so much futility, struggle, and pain wrapped up in our labor?

I believe it is because we live in “the now and the not yet.” While Christ redeemed the curse through His death and resurrection, we have not yet experienced His return when all of creation, including work, will be rebirthed with eternal perfection. (Revelation 21:1-5)

Until then, we toil and strive, committing the work of our hands to God’s purposes. (Psalm 90:16-17) Just as God gave Adam and Eve everything they needed to work, we can be assured He gives us all we need for our work as well.

“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3, emphasis mine)

Truth? Sometimes, we don’t feel equipped to handle the assignment.

For me, motherhood stands top of that list.
From the beginning of my journey as a parent, I felt set up for failure.

I carried twins in my first pregnancy; my boys were born by emergency C-section after 17 hours of induced labor. One son was quickly diagnosed with a rare syndrome which has required multiple specialists, surgeries, and other interventions.
Two and half years later, my daughter was born full term, but for reasons still unknown, could not breathe on her own for the first week of her life.
Two of my three children have developed seizure disorders.
All of my children have endured multiple traumas with a genetic disposition toward anxiety, creating what feels like one ongoing mental health crisis after another in my home.

And, more. Isn’t there always more to our stories than we can, or are willing, to share?
But, God knows.

God KNEW the struggles I would face. He knew the brokenness and hardship I would endure as a parent. Still, He made this promise to me: HE GIVES ME EVERYTHING I NEED FOR LIFE AND GODLINESS.

Friend, He gives YOU everything you need, too.

When we feel ill-equipped, or wrestle with the sometimes-overwhelming sense of futility in our work, we must harken back to those first moments between God and humankind. We must remember that, attached to the actions we are commanded to take for human flourishing, is GOD’s word of provision, “I have given…”

Remaining vestiges of sin seek to steal, kill, and destroy that which God has provided. (John 10:10) But, sin will not have the final word. Therefore, we can give ourselves fully to the work given to us today, knowing it will be empowered and redeemed by God.

Take a moment to picture what it would look like for God to use every single shred of your effort to create something of beauty, goodness, and truth. Let us imagine with you by sharing a snippet of what you’ve envisioned in the comments. Let’s trust together that God can and will do more than we could ask or imagine for the purpose of His glory and our good!

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

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Eden Day 1 Ex Nihilo

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Colossians 1:15–23
John 1:1-5
Psalm 104
Psalm 33:1–9
Job 38

Eden, Day 1

We’d been on the road for six months, travelling around remote Australia while living in an RV. We explored beaches and mountains, waterfalls and desserts. On this day, we were travelling through a very remote part of Western Australia. The closest township was home to only a few hundred people, and it was several hundred kilometers away.
We were literally in the middle of nowhere.

A little blue sign with a lookout icon was on the side of the 4X4 track we were following, so we turned up the path, parked in the bay and walked to the platform at the top.
What I saw took my breath away.

I stood, mesmerized, tears spontaneously streaming down my face. I was overwhelmed by the beauty and grandeur of the mountain range circling around us. In every direction there were magnificent cliff faces in rich red and orange, towering above the vast plains of spinifex grass and wildflowers.

I searched for words to describe this place. Majestic. Glorious. Awesome. Every word was inadequate. I took my phone out and tried to capture the scene with my camera. Wide angle. Panoramic. No photograph came even close to capturing the vastness of the scene. In that moment, I had a powerful encounter with God the Creator.

I have spent most of my life disconnected from creation in a city where the horizon is the shape of man-made buildings and the power of the elements is shut out by climate control and insulation, shielding me from the discomfort of the seasons. I earned money from working in an office to buy food from a supermarket, packaged in boxes and plastic bags. In this environment it has been easy for me to disregard God as creator.

God spoke, and by the power of His breath alone, everything we see, from the tallest mountain to the tiniest beetle, came into being.
Ex Nihilo, out of nothing.
God didn’t take something that already existed and refashion it into our world. God is the source of life. He created the world “ex nihilo”, out of nothing, by the power of His Word alone.

Hebrews 11:3 describes it this way, “What is seen was made from things that are not visible.” The power of this Word, God’s Word, is impossible for us to fully understand.

We can stare at the sky and worship with the psalmist, “The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of His mouth.” (Psalm 33:6) I see the beauty and grandeur of creation and capture a glimpse of the power of the One who created the world with His Word.

John 1:1, 3 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God [. . .] All things were created through Him[.]“
The ‘Word’ in John 1 refers to Jesus.
The One who entered the creation He orchestrated,
the One who died to pay the penalty for our sin,
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
The Creator stepped into His creation to save us, His beloved creation.

This blows my mind. This God, the source of life, became like you and me in order to pay the price for our salvation. Wow. The Creator, the Word, died to have a relationship with you and me.

Understanding this evokes three emotions in me.
It makes me feel very small,
it makes me feel very loved,
and it gives me hope in my suffering.

When I consider God as the creator of our magnificent world, I feel insignificant and humbly powerless. Knowing how small I am gives me a new perspective on humility I can take into my marriage, and a renewed hunger for God’s wisdom in my parenting. The sufficiency of God becomes much more important as I seek to solve problems, love others, and serve my family. I know it’s not up to me. What a freeing realization!

I also feel deeply loved. In light of God’s power, knowing He came as a helpless baby, lived a perfect life and died a criminal’s death so He could have a relationship with me, makes me feel significantly special. God loves me, tiny insignificant me. Knowing this gives me confidence to take my place in the world. I am expertly designed. I am worthy of love.

Knowing the God of creation is almighty and all-wise puts our suffering into perspective. A beautiful example of this in Scripture is from the book of Job. God bragged of Job and his righteousness to Satan (Job 1:8), but God allowed Satan to take away his family, his wealth, and his health. As any of us would, Job cried out to God for justice in the midst of his pain and grief. Good people, he reasoned, don’t deserve bad things to happen to them.

Finally, in chapter 38, God answers Job’s arguments. His answer?
Job, look at creation.
Look at My power.
Look at My beauty.
Look at My abundance.

God didn’t diminish Job’s suffering; rather, He adjusted Job’s vision to magnify his view of God, putting Job’s struggle into perspective.
The challenges we face are not too big for the God who created everything out of nothing.

I pray you have the opportunity to encounter God, the Ex Nihilo Creator, today.

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Reveal Day 5 The Longest Night

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Zephaniah 3:18-20
Malachi 4:1-6
Luke 1:26-38
Romans 5:6-8
Revelation 22:6-21

Reveal, Day 5

As I tossed and turned in an unfamiliar bed, it seemed like morning would never come.

I was tired, but sleep eluded me. Away from home for the first time, in a dorm filled with unfamiliar people, in darkness far deeper than I was accustomed to at home, it was impossible to settle.

After lying there, trying to sleep for what felt like hours, I finally grabbed my torch (that’s a flashlight for my American friends) I drew it under the covers so as not to disturb the others, and checked the time only to find, to my dismay, just twenty minutes had passed.

There were still hours to wait until morning . . .

The Israelites faced an even longer night.

Throughout the Old Testament, God promised a Messiah, a Saviour who would come to redeem and restore, who would deal with the problem of sin and provide a way back to closeness with God.

Zephaniah spoke of an end to oppression and shame, a gathering of God’s people who had been scattered, and the restoration of good fortune.

Malachi described a day when wickedness would be dealt with, and assured the people of God’s promise that, “for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” (Malachi 4:2)

The promises were amazing . . . but then silence.

And waiting . . .

And still more waiting . . .

. . . Over four hundred years after Malachi’s words at the end of the Old Testament, the Israelites were still waiting for God’s promises to come true. Even worse, there were no more messages from the prophets. It seemed God had gone s i l e n t.

Perhaps this led to questions:

Would God’s promise of a Redeemer ever come true?
Had He forgotten?
Could He really be trusted?

And what about you? What are you waiting for just now?

The fulfilment of a long-held dream?
An answer to prayer?
Resolution in a situation of uncertainty?

Maybe, like the Israelites, you know God’s promises, but you’re struggling to see any evidence of their truth in your current situation. Maybe it feels like God has gone silent. It can be easy to lose hope, to wonder if God really will come through for us. Those times of waiting can be unsettling, uncomfortable, and often dark.

But what if God is at work in the waiting?
What if He is waiting, too . . .
For just the right moment?

Hundreds of years after Zephaniah and Malachi’s words, Jesus came, and the promise was fulfilled. It’s striking to note Paul, writing after the coming of Jesus, looks back on the fulfilment of the promise and describes both Jesus’ birth and His death as coming at just the right time.

“When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)

Suddenly, we realize the years of waiting were not caused by a delay, but were part of God’s design.

During those four hundred years, God may have been silent, but He was not inactive.
Various world powers rose and fell as predicted in prophecies in the book of Daniel. The Old Testament was translated into Greek, which was important for God’s Word being spread among the Gentiles. And Israel was conquered by the Romans, leaving the Jewish people desperate for freedom from oppression, recognising their only hope was in the coming of the Messiah.

The scene was set for Jesus to come.

Not only was God at work in the big picture of world events, but He was also preparing individuals for their part in His plan.

When the moment came, Mary was ready. She was ready to respond with faith and obedience despite the seeming impossibility of the angel’s message.

We can’t always understand why we have to wait; God’s ways and His timing are often not the same as ours. But we can trust in His goodness and His faithfulness. His promises will be fulfilled, sometimes (often!) in unexpected ways.

We can also trust He has a purpose in the waiting. Sometimes, while we are concerned with our circumstances, God is more interested in growing our character and our dependence on Him.

Often, the times of waiting reveal our lack of control and our inability to fix things for ourselves. They can drive us to God as they remind us our true hope is found in Him.

As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming, may it remind us, even when the situations troubling us are resolved, we are still waiting.

We are waiting for the day when He will come again, when sorrow and suffering will finally be gone forever, when our waiting will come to an end, when we see “the bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16) and we know the longest night is finally over and the darkness is no more.

Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)

..
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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!

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The GT Weekend ~Ten Week 2

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The GT Weekend!

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

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) Feelings of disappointment and ‘never enough’ can easily seep into our relationship with our earthly parents. Maybe they are, or were, difficult to please. Maybe you never really felt understood, or perhaps there were so many layers of conflict and communication barriers it was difficult to deeply connect. Maybe your parent has passed and you are left with loss, or perhaps even regret. Relationships are messy and complicated, even healthy ones! Even if you enjoy a rich, close connection with your parent, expectations and feelings of being “boxed in” to a previous role, can feel stifling and awkward. While it can seem natural to place these human failings and struggles onto our relationship with God, He is altogether other. Performance demands have no place. Shame is bound up. Love is unleashed in brilliant colors never before experienced! Where have you placed God in the same category as your parents? Take that to Him and ask Him to reveal His Father heart of love to you in new, vibrant ways!

2) Rebekah shared transparently on Wednesday on how easy it is to fall into the trap of working hard to earn God’s favor. We want Him to smile on us. We want His protection, His blessing, and His favor, so we will work to do things to please Him. There is simply nothing we can do to make ourselves more winsome to God! He hand-crafted us to mirror His own image. He already delights over us, and He cannot possible love us deeper than He already does. Because He is infinitely good, kind, faithful, and true, He adamantly will not love us less. Here’s the kicker, this extravagant love of God is not limited to you or me, unbeliever or church-goer. The Lord views each and every life with the same lavish love, utterly regardless of who we are or what we have done. Who is in your life that you have been hard-hearted towards or stingy with your love? Ask the Lord to shift your perspective, instead seeing them as highly valued and adored as a fellow bearer of God’s own image. How can you begin loving them more like Jesus this week?

3) Cheated. Even saying the word riles our hearts and we begin feeling the need to take up arms against someone who wronged our right or privilege. Take cheating within the context of marriage and the hurt sinks deep very quickly. Maybe you’ve experienced what it is to walk through being cheated on, or maybe you’ve been the cheater. Circumstances are complicated, reasons and justifications abound as quickly as the hurt does, and the trail back to where the distrust began is long and usually involves more than one party in the relationship. God didn’t design us for heartbreak. His perfect intention was for us to find delight in another and sink deep into trust as both people love the other unconditionally. Maybe you find your eyeballs rolling into your head at this point because this description feels so unlikely. Remember the heart of this specific commandment is to point towards a God who will absolutely never be unfaithful and will also always love us unconditionally. Focus on investing in the only relationship that will not leave you hungry for more. What can you do to develop your relationship with God more deeply?

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 Peter 1:3-4 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

Prayer Journal
Father God, I love this passage of Your Word and the truths You speak of here. You have given everything I need for life and godliness simply by leaning deeper and deeper into knowing You! You are unfathomable accessible. Lord, I truly could sit and ponder this extravagant love for the rest of my days and never have plumbed its depths. Your glory and goodness have been made known to me in every moment; You are waiting to be embraced and known more fully by me. Every breath I take is an invitation to know You better! Oh Lord, how distracted I become by focusing on the fleeting things and passions I can see with my eyes or feel in my heart! I will quickly shift my gaze off of You for lesser loves. Yet, Your truth revealed here speaks wonderfully that I do not need to fall prey to these desires to chase the lesser. In You alone is my fullness found. Keep my heart here next to Yours, remind me how sweet Your truth and love are to my soul!

Worship Through Community

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Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Questions Day 5 Easy Life

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Matthew 10:5-15
Psalm 1:1-6
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Psalm 39:1-5
James 1:2-12

Questions, Day 5

As we journey through our theme on Questions, we are working through the answers to common questions many of us wrestle in our daily walk. Today’s question is one I’ve found myself asking…and maybe you have, too?

Why doesn’t God give Christians the promise of an easy life,
full of blessings and health?

Woo. Talk about a loaded question. Yet, I’m willing to bet it’s one that many, if not most of us, have found ourselves asking at one point or another. Sometimes we might phrase it in the context of “adulting” (read: why is adulting so hard?!), but our heart cry is the same. I mean, it makes sense, right? If we embrace Truth, have chosen to follow Christ, and do our best to live as Christ, doesn’t it make sense that our lives would be simpler and more pleasant?

In order to gain heavenly perspective and answer this question, we need to ask (and answer) a few more questions.

What are some earmarks of what we might consider an “easy life?”

  • A healthy body, free of pain and illness, comes to mind.
  • Smooth, conflict-free relationships with our spouse, family members, friends, acquaintances.
  • The absence of trauma or abuse, and freedom from inherited familial traits we might wish to avoid.
  • An easy life might include realized desires of our hearts, and the ability to do work we enjoy.
  • Freedom from unhealthy habits or preoccupations.
  • Ample finances.
  • Fill in your blank.

To put it simply, most of us would consider a life in which we are free to do the things we want to do, when we want to do them, and in the way we want to do them an “easy life.”

The phrase, “You do you, boo,” is surprisingly apt.

We want to do “us,”
without having to worry about it affecting us
or those around us.

Do you know what didn’t make it onto our list above? Anything eternal.
Does anything else strike you about that list, Love? It is wholly focused on ourselves.

Ouch.

Throughout Scripture, God reveals His ways are not our ways, and those who choose to commit their lives to Him are called to a life poured out in service. As humans, it’s impossible to live with the kind of perspective God has in our own strength, but when we recognize that “our good” does not directly translate to “what we consider as our good,” and allow Holy Spirit to guide us, we’re on the right track.

So, why did God place us here and breathe life into us?

I don’t know about you, but not a single one of those things sound particularly “easy” to me. In fact, they sound impossible, because none of those are things we could ever hope to accomplish on our own! The truth is that the obedience and submission we are instructed to have are only accomplished through the work of complete transformation He does within us when He renews our mind and causes our hearts to burn within us for His Name. 

Our part is to submit every part of ourselves to Him and allow Him to change us from the inside out, which results in that whole heart, whole life conversion that caught the early church on fire – and will spark revival across the globe again.

The bottom line is that you and I, we aren’t called to comfort or an easy life, dear friend. If we believe what we claim to believe, then we must agree that our days here are but a whisper. And if our days here are but a whisper, how can we resign even a moment to anything that doesn’t serve our Father?

Love, don’t read this as condemnation or judgement. Conviction is stirred in my own heart in response to this invitation to submit more fully and embrace the life He has given me.

We are called to honesty, and authenticity. To truth, obedience, and joyful submission, but these aren’t traits we can simply decide to cultivate on our own. They are completely, wholly the work of the Holy Spirit in us as He renews us and gives us the mind of Christ. We have only to say “yes” and let Him do His work. Sister, be encouraged! What freedom and release we can find in that truth!

Father, You are worthy of all my praise. Thank You for the work You are doing, in my life personally and across the earth today. Thank You for never wasting anything. Today, I turn again to You and invite You into every area of my life. All I have belongs to You. Create in me a hunger for You, for righteousness, and to live a life wholly yielded to You. Stir in me a thirst for Your word, and for time in Your presence. Everything I have is Yours. 

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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!

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Treasure Day 6 Beautiful Work

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 1
Genesis 2:15-20
Proverbs 11:10
John 17:15-19
I Corinthians 10:31-11:1

Treasure, Day 6

As a 14 year-old, I was thrilled to start earning money. Bagging groceries never sounded so glorious! I quickly learned, however, just how hard I had to work to pay for the teen necessities of Gap jeans and outings with friends.

As I entered adulthood, I gained a deeper understanding of my work, beyond a monthly paycheck. I learned how God designed work to be a gift, both to the worker and the world.

Genesis 1 paints a beautiful example of God’s work in creation.  The image isn’t one of drudgery or complaint, but of beauty, energy, creativity, and calling the end result “good.” (Genesis 1:31) God enjoyed creating and working because He saw a greater purpose.

God established purpose in work for humanity, as well. In Genesis 1:28, God gives authority over the earth to Adam, commanding him to “subdue it”. Adam’s dominion wasn’t a reckless use of the earth’s resources for selfish gain, but rather a rule of careful stewardship.  

Genesis 2:15 reiterates, “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.” 

It’s critical to recognize these mandates were given to Adam before sin entered the world. Work was not a problem, nor was it punishment. In the perfection of Eden, the work we were created to do was a gift and privilege.

God wove holy work into our design as an act of love toward humanity. 

Then, Adam sinned. His choice brought toil, frustration, and pain to our work. What a heart-wrenching example of how sin breaks and mars a perfect gift. (Genesis 3:17-19)

But He didn’t leave us there.
Instead, He created a rescue plan, full of hope and grace, in Jesus.

He promises to faithfully complete His work within us (Romans 8:28) as He makes all things new. (Revelation 21:5) Therefore, our work can be done with excellence and faithfulness, even while we are not perfect.

But how?

Genesis 1:26-27 tells us that we have been made in the image of God. Much like a mirror reflects what is before it, we have been created to reflect the character of God before us.

Not to be God, but to reflect Him.

When God created, He did so with joy, creativity, purpose, and with the end result in mind. His work gives us an image of His glory. Likewise, God has established good works in advance for His followers to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

Out of His love for us,
He has given us work as a gift and privilege,
to exercise the skills He’s given us,
all to display His greatness. (I Corinthians 10:31)

Every task we’re given is for the purpose of pointing to a Creator God who is full of joy, excellence, justice, integrity, grace, mercy, and beauty.  This is kingdom work.

We’re not just talking about missionaries, evangelists, and pastors.
No, the kingdom of God is much broader, bigger, and fuller than a few vocations.
While Jesus lived on the earth, especially before His public ministry, He worked an ordinary job. Learning carpentry from His earthly father enabled Him to earn a living in an honest, simple, ordinary way.

The Kingdom of God is anywhere where God rules. Jesus came to teach us about and to usher in the Kingdom of God. We can apply Jesus’ approach to kingdom work to our own efforts.

Does God rule our motivation and attitudes?
Does He rule the use of our time on the clock?
Do we have a long-term view of how our work will serve those around us?
Do we aim to reflect God’s character in our work day?
When our heart for the simple, ordinary work before us mirrors His own, we are doing kingdom work.

In John 17:11-19, Jesus reminds us we are not of the world; rather, He has sent us into the world. While our identity isn’t rooted in the world, we are here to serve, impact, and love the world through the tasks the Father gives us. He’s shared with each of us a slice of creation to steward well, for His glory.

The awesome impact of kingdom work is highlighted as Proverbs 11:10 declares,
“When the righteous thrive, a city rejoices;
when the wicked die, there is joyful shouting.” 

When we are using the gifts and skills God designed for us, working with excellence to bring the most glory to God, we will flourish in a way that blesses and serves our co-workers, communities, families, cities, and beyond.

Whether we’re collecting garbage around the neighborhood or collecting plates off
of a restaurant table,
designing websites or church bulletins,
nursing the ill back to health or nursing a newborn baby in the night,
the foundation can be the same.

Let’s align ourselves with the kingdom of God, be faithful in our work, and purpose to bring glory and honor to the King.

It’s what we are created to do.

Author’s note: A few years ago, I wrote a song surrounding work and vocation in light of the Kingdom of God.  If you’d like to hear a modest recording of The Work of our Here and Now, head to the link here.

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

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Relentless Day 8 Relentless Love

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Judges 6:19-7:1
Matthew 26:69-75
John 21:15-18
Jonah 3:10-4:11

Relentless, Day 8

Determined. Unstoppable. Persistent. Relentless.

Those words describe God’s love towards us.
He is determined. He is unstoppable. He is persistent. He is relentless.

In our weakness, He is still relentless.
In our doubt, He still pursues.
In our failings, our running away, and our questions, He still gives chase.

I’ve often questioned God’s love. 
“Maybe this has happened because I messed up and God is punishing me.”
“God is proving to me that I don’t measure up.”

I’ve run from Him in anger. 
I felt God failed me, so I went the other way.

I have failed to follow Him. 
In my pain, I’ve focused on my hurt and my situation, choosing to ignore the truth about God.

Yet.
He still relentlessly loves.

How do I know?
The easy answer is “The Bible tells me so.”
It does say how much God loves us, but even better,
it tells stories of those who questioned, failed, and ran.

Of whom, Gideon is one.
His story is full of adventure as a “nothing” became one of God’s great warriors. One weak man is lavishly loved as a result of God’s relentless pursuit!

Gideon’s story unfolds while his people were being punished for their continued rebellion against God. False gods and lies were everywhere. His own father had built idols to the pagan god Baal. He had grown up hearing about this all-powerful God, but had never seen Him do much, if anything, in his own lifetime.

As Gideon was working, doing his ordinary low-honor job of threshing wheat, an angel appeared telling him he would save Israel from their oppressive enemy.
Gideon started asking a bunch of questions, kind of like we do sometimes.

How?
Why me?

Then Gideon asks for a sign.
To which, God responds with three signs, proving He is God and His word is trustworthy.

I’ve heard the debates.
Gideon shouldn’t have questioned God.
He shouldn’t have asked Him to prove Himself with the fleece (again!).

But see our God?!
Did God walk away from Gideon saying, “Oh forget it, I’ll get someone else.”
Or
“You are too weak for this, never mind.”
No.
He answered the questions, He gave the sign.
God met Gideon where he was!

Today, His sign is His Word and His confirmation the transformed lives of ordinary people who have taken Him at His word, trusted His faithfulness, and seen the incredible!

Many times, I’ve questioned God.
Recently, I was at a loss, confused and questioning everything, but I knew His Word was the medium He used to speak.  I randomly opened my Bible to Psalm 94 and His voice faithfully spoke:
“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheers my soul.” (verse 19)
“But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.”  (verse 22)

Did God get mad and turn His back?
No, He reminded me Who He is.

Gideon had never heard God speak or seen His miraculous works.
His faith was weak.

The Lord called Gideon to do two jobs, tear down his father’s idols and save Israel. God miraculously showed Himself to Gideon by burning up Gideon’s offering sitting on a rock and covered in broth. He experienced God firsthand, so he obeyed and tore down the idols.

Again, God proved Himself with Gideon’s fleece, once being wet and once being dry.
Gideon’s encounter with the Almighty, gave him the faith he needed to go off to war and defeat his enemies in the face of insurmountable odds stacked high against him.
Each time God showed Himself, the stronger Gideon’s faith grew.
The easier it became to follow without question.

I am like Gideon, my faith grows as I see God working in the living testimonies around me and speaking actively through His Word.
The more I choose to trust Him, the easier I follow without hesitation.

I’ve questioned.
I’ve run.
I’ve failed.
Holding onto lies, believing God has failed me, I might decide not to open my Bible or worship as I could.  I isolate myself from others because of the hurt I believe God caused.

But His grace found me in in the pit!
“He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.”
(Psalm 40:2)

God did not let Gideon go, desert him, or turn His back in anger, neither will He do for us! His unending love will never end, always giving chase.

He is Determined.
He is Unstoppable.
He is Persistent.
He is Relentless 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 Relentless Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

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

Glimmers Day 11 Hope In A Manger

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Read His Words Before Ours!

John 1:1-18
Philippians 2:5-11
Colossians 1:15-20
Luke 2:1-20

Glimmers, Day 11

Touchdowns or tutus?
Guns or glitter?
Little man or little miss?
Cute ideas ABOUND on Pinterest for creative gender announcements!

I’m not exactly sure when these parties became a thing,
but I know they definitely weren’t trending in Mary’s day.
Even if they were, I doubt anyone would have celebrated.
She was an UNWED teenage girl.
Engaged to Joseph, but they hadn’t had “relations” yet.

Or so they said.

Seriously, you expect us to believe an ANGEL told you the Holy Spirit would come upon you and impregnate you with GOD’S SON?! Favored one?  Blessed among women?
You keep telling yourself that, Mary.
Meanwhile, we’re going to shun you and spread rumors about your promiscuity.
We’re going to make assumptions about your purity, or lack thereof.

‘Happily Ever After’ clearly wasn’t happening.
As if shame and being an outcast weren’t enough, just as she was “ready to pop,”
the census ruling required Joseph to go to Bethlehem.

Can you imagine WALKING miles upon miles on dusty roads,
then sleeping under the stars with a rock as a pillow?
When you’re nine months pregnant?!
Topping it off, on arriving in Bethlehem IN LABOR, and finding no rooms anywhere!

As a mother of 4, childbirth instructor, and doula, Mary is my birth hero.
I tell my childbirth students, “If Mary can give birth, AS A VIRGIN, in a cave, then we can have our babies with all the comfort a hospital, birth center, or our home offers!”

Birth is beautiful.  Joyous.  Sacred.

As a doula, I experience births of all kinds,
but I can’t envision one more incredible than Jesus’
on that starry night over 2,000 years ago.

I often wonder what Mary’s labor was like. The Bible simply states, “while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.”

She didn’t have the comfort of a hospital, birth center, or even a living room.
No room period.
Only a shelter where animals mooed, brayed, and cock-a-doodled.
No epidural, no IV fluids, no pillows.
Just hay and straw.
And for Jesus’ bed?
A manger, the feeding trough for those stinky, slobbery farm animals.
No adorable receiving blanket or cute blue and pink striped hat for Jesus.
Just strips of cloth to swaddle the very SON OF GOD.

EVERY time I’ve held a newborn, emotion overwhelms me.
Still, I can NOT imagine all that went through Mary’s heart as she held Jesus and looked into His eyes, the eyes of GOD.
The God who’d created the universe and spoken stars into existence,
now uttered his first cries as a human baby,
completely dependent on her for milk, diaper changes, warmth, and everything in between.

She counted his tiny toes, and kissed his little hands.
The same hands that had hung planets,
parted the Red Sea,
held the sun still,
and brought city walls crashing down.

No wonder Luke recorded, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

No baby shower.
No birth certificate.
No newborn pictures.
No cute birth announcements.

Just lowly shepherds.
Uninvited by Mary and Joseph, but welcomed by God as they marveled at the baby King “wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in the manger”.

In the humblest of ways, God became flesh and dwelt among us, making His HOME with us. God Himself born as a tiny human, covered in vernix, amniotic fluid, and probably even some meconium (poop).
Talk about giving up everything and putting Himself in the midst of our mess!!!

He stepped down from His throne,
laid aside His crown,
and removed His royal robes,
replacing them with swaddling cloth.

Where majestic angels had bowed,
shepherds unfit to even enter the temple,
now knelt in the very presence of God.

Jesus left His throne knowing that one day He would be betrayed, beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross.
He was born to die that we might live!

I wonder…
As He took His first wobbly baby steps,
was He thinking about the day He would walk up Calvary’s hill?

When He scraped His knee as a boy,
did He anticipate the pain of the wounds He would endure on the Cross?

As He worked alongside Joseph in the carpenter shop,
did the sound of the hammer ring in His ears as He looked ahead to the afternoon when nails would pierce His hands and feet?

From the moment the star shone upon His newborn face to the moment the sky went black and the ground shook as He breathed His last,
Jesus KNEW why He had come.

He’d made His home among us for 33 years
that we might make Him our home for eternity.

He left heaven that we might enter it.
He emptied Himself that we might be filled with His Spirit.
He was born a baby that we might become children of God.

That manger in the center of our nativity scene doesn’t just hold a sleeping newborn.
It holds HOPE.

HOPE in the middle of our death sentence which comes as a result of our sin.
Yes, you and I are walking around with Death has our Ruler
unless we reach out and make this Messiah ours.

Come to the manger and find HOPE swaddled here.
Come, surrender your sin and be filled with indescribable joy.
Come, be awestruck by His glorious majesty.
Come, be blown away by His undeniable LOVE as He offers eternal HOPE!

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

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

The GT Weekend! – Worship IV Week 1

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The GT Weekend!

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

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

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

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

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

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Colossians 1:19-20 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

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

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

Worship Through Community

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Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

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Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music