Longing

Reveal Day 6 Filling The Empty

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 1:1-5
Romans 15:8-13
John 1:1-13
Luke 2:8-11

Reveal, Day 6

When I was growing up, Christmas was always my very favorite time of year. It was also my Daddy’s favorite season, and his excitement automatically spilled on us all. Christmas is still magical to me, even at the age of 28. Now, I also experience it through the eyes of my children, witnessing their wonder and curiosity, which increases my own anticipation.

While my love for Christmas hasn’t abated, my childhood naivety has. With my own aging has come the subsequent aging, and then passing, of so many with whom I celebrated Christmas as a child. The loss of these special people creates an undercurrent of grief and sadness when I think on Christmas. Add to this, the reality of being a mother of two and often falling prey to the lie I must be all things to all people in December. Here in the wake of hurry and loss, Christmas joy quickly wanes. What was once so tangible and easy as a child is complex and difficult to grasp as an adult.

Maybe you feel this way, too? Perhaps you’re grieving a loved one this Christmas. Or maybe, like many of your fellow sisters-in-Christ, you feel hurried and harried, busy and overwhelmed by all you feel you must do to make Christmas special.

You’re not alone!
Amazingly, in studying the first Christmas, we find a beautiful mystery experienced by all who welcomed the Savior.
Great joy.

And yet, it’s important to remember that those who welcomed Christ at the first Christmas battled their own churning chaos.

Jewish persecution ran high. Rome increasingly took more and more control of land, of taxes, of daughters as sex slaves, of food, and of morale, as Jews were pressed on all sides to serve the wealthy.

After 400 years of silence from any prophetic voice from Yahweh, the Lord God, it was easy for Jews to look around in fear at the swirl of chaos, wondering if joy had slipped away forever.

And finally, there were those who stood in direct opposition to a Messiah. King Herod certainly was not interested in welcoming a Newborn King, and so for him, there was no joy. Herod was bent on destroying Him so he could continue relying solely on himself, his own capabilities, and his own glory. Herod rejected the Savior, and the result was a complete lack of joy. He found only death, fear, and a reliance on self that never satisfied, but instead destroyed himself and others.

Do you find yourself reflecting Herod’s harried attempt to protect self and somehow attain happiness? Instead, does it feel like stress and hurry persistently steal away any elusive joy that might be found? What if our lack of joy reveals something about the focus of our hearts?

It’s shockingly easy to rely on ourselves to be the savior of the season as we purpose in our hearts to bake all the cookies,
watch all the Christmas movies,
attend all the parties,
complete all the shopping,
do all the crafts,
send out all the Christmas cards,
say “yes” to all the requests,
and decorate our home to the Pinterest max.

The chaos beckons with glitter and lights and peppermint drizzle,
while joy quietly waits to be delighted in.

If Christmas is feeling a bit more chaotic than cheery, is it time to consider that maybe self is the idol we’re trusting? Is it any wonder joy feels out of reach?

Scrolling all the way back to the beginning of time, when God spoke His voice into the mass of nothing, bringing forth all of everything, we find a God who delights in bringing His joyful presence into the chaos of emptiness.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty (…).”
(Genesis 1:1-2)

From nothing, His voice filled the chaos, bringing forth a creation He delightedly declared “Good!”

“Then God said,’Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good (…)”.
(Genesis 1:3-4, emphasis mine)

As darkness drew nigh that first Christmas and one girl’s laboring screams filled the night, followed by the shrill cry of a newborn babe, delight was filling the dark once more.  The very same Word was going forth from the Father once again.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

“I came from the Father and have come into the world.” (John 16:28)

His light was shining in the darkness as He Himself took on human flesh.

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:9)
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (…).” (John 1:14)

The Joy of Jesus had come to rescue His people,
drawing them out of eternal night into eternal day. 

If your Christmas season is feeling heavy with sorrow and rising stress, cling to the same Living Hope around Whom angels and shepherds hovered as they welcomed the light of the world, and the Joy whose presence promised unending delight.

Our emptiness, our longings, our stress, and our sadness all point to our need for the fullness of God and our souls’ longing for Immanuel, God with us. As C.S. Lewis once said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

Focus your eyes on that other world this Christmas, friend. With eyes of faith, see the One Who came to offer His life for you, His light in exchange for your darkness, and watch your Christmas joy surge and swell!

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Reveal Day 2 Until He Appears: 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 Until He Appears!

The Questions

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)

Habakkuk 1:1-4

1The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? 3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate* wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.  4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Original Intent

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)
The prophet Habakkuk had a problem. Commentator J.M. Boice describes his scenario like this, “He had lived through a period of national revival followed by a period of spiritual decline.” Under King Josiah’s reign, the nation of Judah followed God, but under successive kings, the country fell into sin.  Distressed by the immorality and injustice all around him, Habakkuk called upon God to save His people. He implored, “How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2) Habakkuk grew frustrated that His holy God was not stepping in to rescue the faithful from their broken situation. He wanted the Lord to swoop in and restore His people, but that was not God’s plan. When God told Habakkuk His plan included letting the Babylonians (or Chaldeans,) attack and conquer the nation as part of His judgment, Habakkuk was horrified (Habakkuk 1:6-12) This was not salvation! This would be the end of the world as he knew it. Habakkuk wondered, and pressed back, at God’s plan, so he went up into a watchtower to seek and wait on the Lord for a better answer. (Habakkuk 2:1) God patiently answered Habakkuk, explaining His plan and telling His prophet that the righteous will live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) Eventually, Habakkuk was reconciled to the fact that God is sovereign. As a result, Habakkuk was able to rejoice in God and the strength He gives (Habakkuk 3:18-19) For a long time, God seemed unwilling to save the nation of Judah, and when His plan finally came to Habakkuk, it seemed worse than the current situation, but the prophet pursued God and His ways. God granted him this clarity, not in full, but in part, along with peace about God’s design over Habakkuk’s. God welcomed Habakkuk’s questions as he struggled to understand God’s plan, and He encourages the same from us. God promises if we call to Him, pray to Him, and seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)
The prophet Habakkuk is heartsick at the sin and injustice he sees all around him. He wonders why a just and holy God would put up with such wickedness. In Habakkuk 1:3 he asks, “Why do you force me to look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.” When Habakkuk discovered God’s plan for dealing with Judah’s wickedness was to hand them over to the Babylonians, he was shocked and dismayed. (Habakkuk 1:12-13) Author R. C. Sproul explains, “Habakkuk couldn’t understand how God could use the evil Babylonians to chastise His people, when it seemed from a human perspective that the Lord’s purposes for Israel had failed and His faithful servants would not be vindicated. God responded that those He regards as righteous live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).” God taught Habakkuk he could have faith in Him regardless of the situation.  Often, it seems like God is letting the bad guys get away with evil and it’s hard to accept that His plan isn’t to wipe them all out or bring them all down.  Sometimes, like in the days of Habakkuk, evil seems to go unchecked and God’s plan to deal with it seems slow and difficult to accept. We wonder, “Where is God?” or “When will He act?”  Author Ravi Zacharias assures us, “It is not that God has absconded or is absent; it is that there is a divine purpose behind His visibility or invisibility. If one can rightly read the clues, the mystery is opened up in profound ways. Just as evil can be understood only in the light of the ultimate purpose, so also must God’s presence or seeming absence be judged on the basis of His purpose.”  We can trust that God has a purpose for what He is doing and what He allows, even when we can’t envision it at the time.

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)
Habakkuk 1:4 reads from the prophet, “This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.” The prophet Habakkuk abhorred the fact that God’s laws were being ignored and His people were flagrantly sinning and injuring one another. He watched in despair as those in authority either did nothing or participated in the abuses. Author Jack Arnold explains, “In all of Judah, the Mosaic Law was of no effect. Literally, this says the law was “frozen” or “chilled.” Wickedness numbs the Word of God. Law was on the books, but it was not enforced. Law had no authority. Because of unrighteous judges, the Law was made ineffective.” There was no justice in the land, only a perverted version bearing no resemblance to the righteousness laid out by the laws of God. When Habakkuk asks God why He doesn’t intervene, the answer God gives brings even more distress because He plans to send the wicked Babylonians to conquer the disobedient people of Judah. (Habakkuk 1:6) God eventually helps Habakkuk see His punishment as just. As author Chuck Swindoll notes how the story of Habakkuk “reminds us that while God may seem silent and uninvolved in our world, He always has a plan to deal with evil and always works out justice . . . eventually. The example of the prophet Habakkuk encourages believers to wait on the Lord, expecting that He will indeed work out all things for our good (Romans 8:28).”  Even when it seems like everything around us is wicked and falling apart, God has a plan for true justice to be enacted. It may not be on the timetable we want or in the manner we prefer, but God will always bring about true justice.

Everyday Application

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)
My friend struggles daily with physical ailments. She stays strong for her family, but she grows desperate for relief from her pain. Remaining hopeful is hard when no end is in sight. She longs to know why God hasn’t yet answered her prayers for healing. We have all been in similar situations, desperate to break free from persistent struggles with no coming relief.  Habakkuk experienced this enigma as well. He continually called on God to save his wayward nation, but instead of the hoped-for rescue, God revealed a plan that would greatly devastate Judah. (Habakkuk 1:2-11) Habakkuk struggled to accept God’s decision and questioned His drastic plan. (Habakkuk 1:12-17) Author Jennifer Rothschild notes, “because God loved His prophet perfectly, He didn’t give His prophet the perfect answer that Habakkuk wanted to hear, He gave him something better. He lifted Habakkuk’s spirit and gave him perspective.” This truth can be hard to accept, as it was for Habakkuk. No one wants to go through hard things that will undoubtedly bring pain and will forever change us. Habakkuk knew God’s plan would mean hardship and suffering, but he also recognized God requires the righteous to live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) Habakkuk knew he could trust his life and his nation to God because of His faithful, unchanging character. Jesus had this same experience in the garden of Gethsemane as He prayed deeply before being turned over to His accusers. Matthew 26:38-39 tells us, “He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.’  Going a little farther, he fell face down and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.’” How remarkable that Jesus Himself prayed for a resolution He wanted, but accepted the will of the Father instead! God cares about our situations and our desperation. We can trust He is in control even when He seems not to answer, or when He gives an answer that we don’t like. Though we may neither agree nor understand, we can always trust His perfect will and faithful character.

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)
If God controls everything, why allow tragedy and sickness? Of course, even acknowledging there is evil supposes there is also good, and this is where God comes in! Author Ravi Zacharias points out, “Transcending value and justice must come from a Person of transcending worth and an ultimate law or value-giver. The only reason people have intrinsic worth is that they are the creation of One who is of ultimate worth and the perfect lawgiver. That person is God.” So, we only know about good because God is good.  But why does He allow evil in the world? Evil entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God. (Romans 5:12) As a result, the world came under the sway of the evil one (I John 5:19, Luke 4:6) and humans became objects of attack from the devil (1 Peter 5:8). God’s plan to save fallen humanity from the eternal consequence of their sin was the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. This work of Christ on the cross destroyed the power of sin and death, thwarting Satan’s plans for those who trust and believe in the Name of Jesus. (Hebrews 2:14) However, we still live in a sinful world, which Satan still rules for now. He still wages war against us, tempting us to give in to sin. At the second coming of Christ, evil will be vanquished forever when Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss of Hell. (Revelation 20:1-3) Pastor Tony Evans  explains, “God is holy; He can’t skip over our sin. He can’t tolerate evil, and we are all evil because of our sins. So for us to be able to draw near to God, Jesus’ death on the cross had to take place.” God’s plan for us involved a loving relationship with Him in a world without evil. Though sin kept us from God, He lovingly provided a bridge between Himself and humankind, this is Christ Jesus! Though we live in a world where evil exists, we hold tight to the hope of a future with Jesus where evil is no more (Revelation 21:3-4)

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)
I was a substitute teacher before having a full-time teaching job. I learned a lot about classroom discipline in those few months! Kids tested how far they could push the rules. It was obvious which classes had no rules and were confident they would face no real consequences when the teacher returned. I soon arrived at every job assignment with a backup lesson and rules of my own, just in case. I’ve had days in the classroom (even under my own management), when I was nearly as dismayed and distressed as Habakkuk when he watched the laws of God being flouted and justice being perverted making it unfair and ineffective. (Habakkuk 1:4) I have felt frustrated with God when it appears He is doing nothing about injustice. (Habakkuk 1:1) I wondered how I was supposed to teach grammar to kids hungry from poverty or neglect, who were under house arrest for serious crimes, who suffered with addiction, were victims of abuse, or were pregnant and scared. Why would God let such bad things happen to these kids? Why didn’t He stop the evil? Author Margaret Manning writes, “In our world of unanswered questions or in the difficult places where the answers are not what we want to hear, we are called to rest in this wordless place beyond answers . . . we can rest in God’s faithfulness from ages past. The wordless place can be for us the place of trust, instead of fear.” When I took my worries about my students to the Lord, I realized He could be trusted with my burdens for them. In the waiting, I understood He had provided each child with teachers, counselors, and coaches who cared, including myself! Some of us were just doing our jobs well, but some of us were also trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our students. We could not proselytize, but we could pray for them and speak truth over them. We could provide respite from the cruelties of the world every day by extending Jesus’ comfort. God saw their distress, and he sent people to help them. He brought true justice through His people.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Until He Appears!

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 Reveal Week One!
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!

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Beloved Day 12 Seasons Of Love: 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 Seasons Of Love!

The Questions

1) Why might the woman have paused before opening the door to her loved one (verse 3)?

2) Why did the man not continue to wait for her to open the door (verse 6)?

3) Verse 7 seems to indicate abuse of the woman. What might be the significance of this being included in the passage?

4) How does the woman express her disappointment of not finding her loved one? (verse 8)

Song of Solomon 5:3-8

3 I have taken off my clothing. How can I put it back on? I have washed my feet. How can I get them dirty? 4 My love thrust his hand through the opening, and my feelings were stirred for him. 5 I rose to open for my love. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt. 6 I opened to my love, but my love had turned and gone away. My heart sank because he had left. I sought him, but did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer.

7 The guards who go about the city found me. They beat and wounded me; they took my cloak from me—the guardians of the walls. 8 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, if you find my love, tell him that I am lovesick.

Original Intent

1) Why might the woman have paused before opening the door to her loved one (verse 3)?
Since this book is not a chronological account of the events between Solomon and his beloved, there are some difficult passages to unravel. This one is no exception. In verse 2 of the chapter, we read the bride’s words, “I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.” As in chapter 3 verse 1, we are left with questions about the sequence and the reality of the couple’s actions in this scene. Is the young woman dreaming, or is she at the drowsy verge of being awakened? Since many Bible commentators have come to different conclusions, it seems unnecessary to dwell too long in a discussion about this. More importantly is the big picture. In these verses we encounter a scenario of a real-life relationship which included human responses. The young woman knows her loved one is at the door, but she is either too tired or too lazy to get up, get dressed, and open the door for him. David Guzik says, “her problem was not that she didn’t go to the door; but that she did it so slowly and reluctantly, making excuses all along the way. [This reveals she was] thinking only about her comfort and not at all about Solomon’s desires or her relationship with him.” (enduringword.com)

2) Why did the man not continue to wait for her to open the door (verse 6)?
The woman’s lover reminded her that he was standing on the outside waiting. “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is drenched with dew, my hair with droplets of the night.” (verse 2) Whether or not the terms in verse 4 are explicit references regarding sexual intimacy, the scene certainly portrays an active pursuit of one lover desiring to be with the other, but being met with rejection. I think the best interpretation is to read this within the framework Guzik describes as a “missed connection” between the bride and groom, and therefore we should apply it literally rather than symbolically. (enduringword.com) The groom has been waiting patiently outside the door of the bride’s room. As he was leaving, he likely placed myrrh on the door handle as was customary in ancient settings. We are not given the reasons why the woman paused, but the delay causes her beloved to leave. It does not appear he was angry with her, and the emphasis again seems to be on the passion of the bride once she realizes his loving gesture. The bride’s emotions are awakened and she has legitimate feelings of despair because her loved one can’t be found.

3) Verse 7 seems to indicate abuse of the woman. What might be the significance of this being included in the passage?
In chapter 3 we read how the watchmen were helpful to the woman as she frantically sought her beloved. But now verse 7 seems so out of place. What is happening? In then-current day, there were two sorts of watchmen in a city. One guarded from the inside of a city wall to ensure all those within were safe and secure. The others were placed on the walls themselves to watch and give notice of an enemy approaching. (Bible Study Tools, David Gill) The watchmen on the wall would be aware that the only women who would be on the streets at night were prostitutes. Not realizing who she is, they treat her with inappropriate disregard, even abusing her. Whether a dream or reality, we surely feel the stab to our hearts as we read what the bride endured as she runs out into the night. She so desires to find the one she loves that she risks her wellbeing to search for him. Nothing is mentioned about her response to what she experiences, but we share her anguish over not finding her groom. These verses are communicating unrelenting passion and desire between a bride and her groom at all costs.

4) How does the woman express her disappointment of not finding her loved one? (verse 8)
We have read in the previous chapters how the couple speaks to one another with words describing their longing for, and their satisfaction in, one another. Here in verse 8, the bride begins to plead with the women of the town to help her find her groom. It appears she has deep regret over her rejection of his advances, and she now wants to let him know how much she longs for him.  In Song of Solomon 2:4-6, the bride expresses her soul’s desire toward her new groom in those pleasant moments of marital intimacy and passion. She was overwhelmed by the presence of love and the joy of lovemaking. Here in chapter 5, the young woman aches over the distance she has created with her beloved. She has become physically and emotionally ill due to her yearning love for him. She asks the city’s women to “tell him that I am lovesick.” The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT) uses the verb titrosko which means inflicted with a wound, injured, damaged. The Shulamite woman is emotionally and physically overwrought. (preceptaustin.org) Within the context, we can surmise she is craving more moments with the groom. She grieves the way she let him slip away due to her unwillingness to respond when he came to her.

Everyday Application

1) Why might the woman have paused before opening the door to her loved one (verse 3)?
We don’t know all the motives behind why the bride doesn’t go to the door. She expresses it would be somewhat of a hassle since she has already changed clothes, whether it is weariness or laziness, we are not sure. What we discover as we read further in the passage, though, is that she regrets her inaction to open the door to her beloved. While there will be times in marriage that one person lacks a desire to make much effort toward intimacy (due to fatigue or distress), we should not make it a habit to neglect our spouse’s need for sexual and physical closeness. This will likely require ongoing conversation and work in our relationships as we strive for a healthy marriage. As we think about this in spiritual terms, we can also pray for our hearts to be receptive to our Beloved Savior. Bible teacher Harry Ironside says this is a great picture of our own callousness toward Divine Love. “When [Christ] comes to the heart’s door we practically say, ‘No; it is inconvenient. I do not want to drop things right now.’” What an even greater tragedy to reject God’s perfect love. (John 3:16-19)

2) Why did the man not continue to wait for her to open the door (verse 6)?
The bottom line of this verse is how the groom was demonstrating his desire for his bride. He was patient. He did not force his way in, nor did he demand her to meet his expectations. Instead, he waited and then quietly slipped away, but not before leaving a symbol of his love. What beautiful restraint and gentleness was shown by this man. Although his loved one did not receive him in the way he expected, he chose kindness. Putting a fragrance on the bolt handles would have been akin to leaving flowers by the door. Sometimes in marriage we don’t feel the emotional attachment to our husband. When that happens, we can begin by praying for God to stir passion in us. Years ago, I heard a woman Bible teacher talk about how she prayed for her marriage. She said one of her prayers was that she would “always thrill to her husband’s touch.” That is a good start! Whether we are the initiator or the one waiting, our goal should be to demonstrate unrelenting love. Friend, maybe you feel that any sign of promising light is so far in the distance you are unable to see it. I pray you will not lose hope. God will be faithful as you pursue a passionate and lasting marriage.

3) Verse 7 seems to indicate abuse of the woman. What might be the significance of this being included in the passage?
The picture of the beloved bride of the king being assaulted by his own watchmen is appalling! Whether she is dreaming or is in fact walking around at night like a prostitute, she is a desperate woman in search of the one her heart longs to be near. She has felt the pangs of dismissing her lover’s kind and patient pursuit. It has been said that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I doubt that is always true as I have seen absence push people apart. But one of the ways we can create a healthy kind of distance that inspires desire is to rehearse the benefits of being married to our husband. When marriages are struggling, it is hard to find the good in the other person. Our human tendency is to rehearse our weariness with it all. As we do, we only add to our growing list of reasons not to make efforts. However, when alone with our thoughts, considering the good things of our marriage and the positive characteristics of our husbands helps stir our emotions toward desire. As the bride longed to find her beloved groom, God can restore our passions as we pray and work to bridge the gap we may or may not have caused.

4) How does the woman express her disappointment of not finding her loved one? (verse 8)
The Shulamite woman had gone from being “too tired” to being “lovesick.” She desperately went searching for the one her heart so deeply loved. She called those around her to join her in her search. Sister, enlist your own army of women to support you in your marriage. No, I’m not asking you to find friends to whom you can badmouth your husband. I am encouraging you to gather those around you who will remind you to “love your husbands … so God’s word will not be slandered.” (Titus 2:4) It is not an easy journey, this thing called marriage. But with God’s help, and with friends pointing us to Christ, we can pursue the kind of passionate relationship we read of in Song of Solomon!

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

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 Beloved 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!

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Beloved Day 11 Seasons Of Love

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Song of Solomon 5:3-8
Song of Solomon 3:1-5
Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 136

Beloved, Day 11

Song of Solomon opens like a sweet, fragrant flower in the warm sun of spring; frocked on all sides with deeply delicious delight.

Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your caresses are more delightful than wine.
(Song of Solomon 1:2)

Falling in love is as sweet and poetic as a lover falling into his beloved’s eyes under a moonlit sky. Lover and Beloved gaze with eyes of wonder; bodies coursing with the intensity of longing to touch, and to be touched.

Awkwardly, we may feel God is stodgy regarding romantic love, but delightedly, Song of Solomon’s declarations insist we realign our view of God. Far from looking away, or frowning upon, the ecstasy of male and female bodies enjoying each other, the Lord God delights and enjoys our bodies and sex within marriage. This sweetness satisfies Him because, as thrilling as this union is, it’s only a roughshod reflection of the delight He finds in relishing a relationship with us.

He tenderly summons, “Taste and see that I am good.” (Psalm 34:8)

To answer His call, we must first see our putrid sin as the ugly garment we’ve been wearing, only to find we cannot rend it from our bodies.
It is knit with our very flesh!

We turn pleading eyes to the cross of Christ, knowing we are utterly unworthy.
Knowing our flesh is rotting because of our sin.
Knowing we have no hope of freedom or forgiveness as long as this cloak of disgust is sewn into our existence.

Christ calls with the beckoning of a bridegroom,
“Come, Beloved, Come! (Revelation 22:17)
Let me wash you, My Bride, and make you white as snow
even though your sins are as scarlet.” (Psalm 51:7)

So we come, nay, we run, headlong to this crimson, blood stained cross. As we draw near, we discover, our flesh itself is falling off, yet, lo, we run on. We NEED this Savior. We are trapped in death without Him. Stretching out His righteous hand toward ours, at first touch, our death is gone. In a moment, we have been freed. The stench of death eradicated. The garment of sin forever destroyed, it’s fabric no longer woven into our flesh, for we have been reborn.

Fresh washed skin.
Fragranced hair.
Sun-kissed cheeks and eyes brimming with wonder and awe
of this radical love that both casts out sin and loves the sinner.
Raptured delight erupts!
We shout His praise!
We worship with enthusiasm!
We skip for the joy exploding within us at awakening to life.
We yearn for righteousness and to gaze intently onto His glorious face.
Gleefully, we cannot help but breathlessly proclaim His goodness to all.

Springtime is made for Lover and Beloved.

My wedding band hadn’t long graced my finger when I found myself on our bathroom floor, door locked, face flushed, tears tumbling. “I want to go home”, I whispered between sobs.

What had I done? Until death do us part?
I wanted to back up, re-think, undo.
Marriage wasn’t what I’d expected.
Where were the sweet nothings?
Electricity between us? Oh, there were plenty of sparks…just of a different kind.

As I write this, I’m two weeks shy of 19 years of marriage. Over the course of nearly two decades, I found myself in more seasons of lonely questioning than I could count.

I would become weary of loving him.
He wasn’t loving me as I wanted.
He didn’t listen as I expected.
Why was he so selfish? Why was I?
Would we make it?
Was I still His Beloved?

Winter’s cold winds blow, and burrowed beneath the snow, Love barely breathes.

Barely breathing.
Isn’t that how we feel with our walk with the Lord sometimes? While there may have been spiritual highs at some points, it feels so out of sync with real life.

Perhaps that’s why we have seasons with the Lord,
so we can learn He is present when feelings fade.

When our lips refuse to form words of worship.
When our hearts feel cold to the fire of the Lord.
When we whisper the hard questions, barely audible.
Is He really here? Does God love me now?

In my bed at night
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but I did not find him.
Song of Solomon 3:1

I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
My heart sank because he had left.
I sought him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer.
Song of Solomon 5:6

The nation of Israel was just weeks out from seeing the Lord rip open the Red Sea as they’d walked across on dry sand, forever free from Pharaoh’s slavery. They had shouted for victory on the other side of the sea, watching as former slave-owners drowned beneath the very waves they’d been rescued through.

Yet, they dared utter these words to their Rescuing God,
“Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt
to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
(Exodus 17:3)

In fiery desperation, they cried aloud,
“Is the Lord among us or not?”
(Exodus 17:7)

Spoiler alert… I didn’t stay in the bathroom, Israel didn’t die of thirst in the desert, and Solomon’s Bride found her Lover.

The key to moving forward in the dark chill of winter is refusing to loosen our grip on truth.

The Lord is always present.
Always loving.
Never forsaking.

While marriages tragically end, and ecstasy wanes like tide from the shore, regardless of the season, true love never fails. Never.

The Love of God will endure forever.
Because He IS love.
(1 John 4:8)

Whether you’re frolicking on the hills of newfound love, or trudging through winter’s icy blast, be warmed by the fires of truth from the God who never fails in any season!

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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 Beloved 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 Beloved!

The GT Weekend! ~ Beloved 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) Our Journey from Monday closes with the challenge, “Regardless of your marital status, draw close to the Lord and risk being unmasked before Him. The love, passion, and connection experienced there is well worth the being seen.” As a single woman, I often longed for a husband with whom I could share my deepest longings and my truest self. As a married woman, I have encountered the truth of a broken world that no human relationship is perfect. While my husband and I have a secure relationship, we still need to work to be vulnerable and open with one another. Marriage will not, and cannot, solve all our problems. Sit down this week and have an honest conversation with the Lord. Read 2 Corinthians 3 again and consider what it would look like for you to approach the presence of God with an “unveiled face.” Beloved, the Father knows your weaknesses. Do not be ashamed to approach Him and ask for His favor. He is delighted to be with you; delight in His presence. To take it a step further, consider sharing with your spouse or a close friend what you are learning from God, either in this area or another area of growth. As you connect with others, you are helping one another grow in intimacy with the Lord!

2) Sarah attests that our God-crafted differences give us cause to celebrate rather than be divisive in our closest relationships. Can you imagine how beautiful our marriages, and relationships with other believers would be, if we saw each role as uniquely crafted and desperately needed? The imagery God uses of a head and body give us a picture of oneness. The head cannot be separated from the body and still function, and the same is true for the body. How can you intentionally celebrate your spouse’s differences this week? Often, the longer we are married, those idiosyncrasies that annoy us most give us insight into how God created our spouse as wonderfully different than ourselves. Instead of jumping to frustration, and our own perspective this weekend, celebrate how God made your husband different! Whether you’re single or married, learning to assess your own uniqueness, while allowing another person to be different without detracting from you is a huge milestone in relational maturity! Take time this week to encourage the differences you see in the people who are closest to you, and praise God His creativity in crafting us as unique beings.

3) The woman in Song of Solomon adamantly pursues her lover until she finds him.  She does not waiver in her pursuit, and she is rewarded with love and acceptance when she finds him. The world tells us that to get love, we have to play “hard to get,” but this is a power play aimed at manipulation and gaining an upper hand. In God’s kingdom, we are called to lay down our power and be authentic with one another. We all long to be pursued, but are we willing to take the steps toward pursing another? Wives, where are you struggling in your marriage? What are some steps you can take to pursue your husband and rekindle intimacy? Where do you need God’s healing hand to cover your marriage and enable you and your husband to reconnect? Write a prayer asking God for His help, understanding that there is no topic that is off-limits to God. He knows your desires and He knows where you need help. Single sisters, are you pursing God as your highest good? Are you pursing deep friendships with other women in your circle? Are you practicing authentic intimacy with the people God has placed in your life? Write some ways that you can faithfully serve and pursue God in your singleness and commit to practicing those steps.

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Prayer Journal
“Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout triumphantly to Him in song.” (Psalm 95:2). Lord, You are so good to us! You have made a way for Your children to enter into your presence, to have real and intimate relationship with You, and to have deep relationships with others. I confess I have hidden myself from You. Like Adam in the garden, I have attempted to hide my sin in my shame. As I hide from You, I hide from the people I love the most, shunning your gift of grace and pushing away those who love me. I have not pursued intimate relationships with the dedication and faithfulness You have freed me to experience. Thank You that I do not need to live in shame! Thank You for making a way for us to be reconciled to You and one another. Help me live with an unveiled face before You. Help me to pursue and build intimate and life-giving relationships with others. Empower my relationships to reflect the unity and oneness befitting children of the Most High God. You said the world around us would know Your people by their love for one another. (John 13:35) Help me to live my life honoring You and showing others Your great love.

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

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

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Worship VII Day 12 Held Fast: 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 Held Fast!

The Questions

1) What is the treasure in jars of clay? (verse 7)

2) If there is hope and life in Jesus why does Paul include verses 8-9 about suffering?

3) What does it mean to focus on what is unseen? (verse 18)

2 Corinthians 4:7-8

7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you. 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Original Intent

1) What is the treasure in jars of clay? (verse 7)
Jars of clay or earthly, temporary jars are what Paul is referring to by “jars of clay”. However, the treasure in them surpasses the temporariness of the jar. The jars are fragile and weak, but what they hold is far from fragile, weak, or temporary! Paul is writing to believers of a treasure that will surpass all of time. He is writing of God Himself dwelling in believers as they live in relationship with Him. Paul is reminding the Corinthian believers they know the good news of Christ and salvation. These verses remind us the treasure of Jesus comes from God alone; they cannot attain it without Him. However, verse 15 also reminds them this grace and good news is not to stop with them. They are to extend it to others by sharing the good news of Christ and offering others the same relationship with the Heavenly Father they enjoy.

2) If there is hope and life in Jesus why does Paul include verses 8-9 about suffering?
Paul knew the truth of these verses better than most. His life was anything but easy. He was persecuted, shipwrecked, and imprisoned for the Gospel, yet he never gave up. He kept walking the path God laid before him. “Instead of finding in this disparity reason to doubt his vocation, he saw in it an illustration of a great law of God. It served to protect the truth that salvation is of the Lord.” (Expositors Commentary) Paul is reminding the Corinthians life following Jesus wasn’t guaranteed to be easy. However, Paul doesn’t leave them in their hopelessness. He follows these verses with the reminder Christ walked through suffering and conquered death. Their journey is not hopeless because God will never leave them and because God purchased their hope and security with His own blood. They share in the victory of Jesus even in the trials and sufferings this world offers. (Romans 8:17, 1 Peter 4:13)

3) What does it mean to focus on what is unseen? (verse 18)
Paul didn’t know Jesus personally when He walked on earth, and neither did Paul’s audience. Paul has shared the message of the Gospel with them and is now writing to them. They have never seen the hope they cling to, but instead it is faith in the unseen they are living out in everyday life. What they see around them is temporary, but they are to focus on what is unseen and what is eternal.  Paul is reminding them this world is not the end, there is a promise for more. A promise of a day when Christ will return. A day the believers in Corinth thought was closer than it was, but a day that will indeed one day happen. Paul is reminding them, someday all will be made right; there is hope and life and the promise of an eternity spent with God. The struggle now will be worth it!

Everyday Application

1) What is the treasure in jars of clay? (verse 7)
We are the jars of clay. Our bodies may be temporary, weak, and fragile, but we hold the greatest treasure when we live in relationship with our Heavenly Father. I don’t know about you sisters, but the season we are living in during Covid-19 has been exhausting and hard. I have felt my humanity maybe more now than at any other point in my life. I am weak and fragile, but the good news is, I was never asked to walk this life alone! God extends this amazing treasure of relationship with Him to each of us when we choose to accept His offer of complete forgiveness for sin. He promises to live in us and we never face any aspect of life apart from His strength. As I cling to the treasure deposited inside me (2 Corinthians 5:5), the good news is that only Christ offers this unexplainable hope and joy. However, just like the Corinthian believers, I am not supposed to keep this treasure a secret. I am to share and extend the good news beyond me to a hurting world. I am to share with others the life only Jesus can offer as we walk in relationship with Him. I challenge you today to ask yourself, “Am I living a life where others see Christ living through me or am I keeping Him a secret?”

2) If there is hope and life in Jesus why does Paul include verses 8-9 about suffering?
We may understand these verses better today than we ever have before in light of a global pandemic, racial unrest, and many other worldwide struggles. If we are honest, the world around us brings affliction and persecution like never before. We look around and feel perplexed and at times struck down. Jesus never promised His followers a life of ease. Instead, in Matthew 16:24 we are told to pick up our cross and follow Him. In John 16:33 Jesus tells there will be suffering. Jesus Himself suffered worse than any of us could ever imagine, yet He did not lose hope. His suffering and sacrifice is the source of our life! Paul includes these verses to remind us following Jesus won’t always be easy. There will be tough days, weeks, and years, however, He will never abandon us! (Psalm 138:8) Instead, as we cling to Him during the hard seasons of life, it is an “opportunity for Christ to demonstrate His power and presence in and through us (NLT Study Bible).” When we walk through suffering and hard times, the work of Christ in our life is evident to the world around us. We simply have to choose to lean in and cling to Him by faith.

3) What does it mean to focus on what is unseen? (verse 18)
Like Paul, we don’t have the privilege the first disciples had. We don’t get to walk with Jesus and learn from Him as He lives and teaches. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “we walk by faith not sight.” I am reminded of what Jesus said in John 20:29, “Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believe.” When we choose to put our faith in the promises we cannot see, we are blessed! We look around and see a temporary world filled with sin and suffering, but there is a promise of more. There is the promise of the eternal. When Jesus left earth, He promised to return. (Acts 1:11) This is the promise we cling to as believers. Our life now isn’t forever! We know the unseen includes life forever with God that will be without pain and suffering. It is a place where He will wipe away the tears and there will be no more mourning or pain. All of what we know will pass away (Revelation 21:4). I don’t know about you sisters, but I long for that day. We have hope in this unseen promise. I challenge you to live in light of the end of the story clinging to the promise of the perfection that lies ahead of us.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Held Fast!

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 Worship VII Week Three!
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Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

Worship VII Day 6 Sweet By And By

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Read His Words Before Ours!

John 14:1-7
Revelation 14:1-5
Revelation 21:3-4

Worship VII, Day 6

“There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.

In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

We shall sing on that beautiful shore
The melodious songs of the blessed;
And our spirits shall sorrow no more,
Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

To our bountiful Father above,
We will offer our tribute of praise
For the glorious gift of His love
And the blessings that hallow our days.”

I adore hymns.
They surround my earliest memories of church and worship. The words and melodies introduced a solemnity to the service and carried a sacred whisper when I sang them.

As a child, I didn’t always understand the hymns, but somewhere along the way, a transition happened. The songs I sang by rote for years have now become sources of strength and help, holding me up in various challenging situations. I find myself singing them often, especially now, when face-to-face church fellowship isn’t possible in the way it once was because of Covid-19.

In the Sweet By and By has a special place in my heart because of the longing it creates for heaven. When did you first learn about heaven? I remember hearing about it as a little child. Though I wasn’t able to process the full scope of heaven at a young age, my vivid imagination envisioned it as THE BEST place a child’s mind could create. To be honest, it probably looked more like a gigantic toy store than the Biblical description of heaven. (Revelation 21:9-27) Regardless of age, as we read the Bible, we begin to understand no matter what picture of heaven our earth-bound minds have imagined, it doesn’t compare to the real thing.

“But, as it is written,
‘What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived–
God has prepared these things for those who love him.’”
(1 Corinthians 2:9)

What makes heaven so special?
There are an infinite number of reasons for an infinite number of believers, but one of my favorites is God preparing a place in heaven specially for us. (John 14:2-3) God loves us so much He designed and built a place for us beyond comparison! (Hebrews 11:10) Heaven is a city of gold with foundations made from precious jewels. (Revelation 21:18-21) I cannot fathom what such magnificence must look like!

Composer Joseph P. Webster was well-known for his performances and patriotic songs in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) and Civil War period. But by the end of the war, he lost his ability to perform and, instead, turned to compositions, mainly ballads and hymns. It was during this time he met Mr. Sanford Bennett, who wrote the lyrics to what would be Mr. Webster’s most popular and widely known hymn, In the Sweet By and By.

After such a dark period in our nation’s history, I can imagine there was a need for hope, a call to place the longing for home in an enduring location. (Hebrews 13:14) The amount of grief, loss, and separation experienced during that time was unparalleled . . . until now. The news echoes the tragedies faced by millions not just in our nation, but also across the globe because of the rampant coronavirus. The second stanza of this hymn reminds us there is a place where sorrows will be extinct.

Revelation 21:4 gives us this promise:
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
Grief, crying, and pain will be no more,
Because the previous things have passed away.”

What hope! We won’t even remember our pain. (Isaiah 65:17)

When we get to Heaven, among many other things, there will be the glorious sound of singing. It will be the song of those who know Who their Savior is and how He has redeemed them. (Revelation 5:9-10) The gift of God’s love is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins so we can return to our heavenly home. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23; John 3:16)

This is the sweet by and by.

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Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

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

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Worship VII 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 Worship VII!

Sketched VIII Day 11 Giver Of Sight

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Mark 8:22-26
Psalm 27:13-14
Lamentations 3:25-26

Sketched VIII, Day 11

The sound of familiar voices woke me, but opening my eyes revealed nothing but more darkness. Even after all this time, each morning brought a renewed longing to see the faces of loved ones. I feared forgetting them.

Estimating the time by the temperature in the room, I sat up and felt my surroundings, getting my bearings. My sandals sat by the bed, and I slid into them, one foot at a time.

Excited energy crackled in the air. Outside my window, I heard people walking, but I didn’t know what was happening. Everyone seemed to be heading east, chasing after someone or something.

What was going on?

My friends’ voices grew louder.
They were inside now.

“Berel, hurry! You must come with us now. Jesus is coming! He is here in town.”

I’d heard of Jesus. Stories of Him were spreading throughout Bethsaida and many claimed He was the Promised One. But I wasn’t so sure. A carpenter from Nazareth was not the Messiah I envisioned from the prophets’ description.

Besides, I wasn’t sure healing was part of my story. How many times had I prayed from the psalms, asking God’s forgiveness and for my affliction to be removed? How many times had my friends fasted on my behalf on the Day of Atonement, with no resulting change? Hope was buried somewhere deep within me, and seemed too dangerous to reach for again.

But my friends were hopeful and relentless. They pushed me toward the door as my inner monologue of doubt and questions shouted in my ears. Regardless of what I thought, my friends believed this man could heal me, and they were not going to miss this opportunity. Even if it meant dragging me down the road to the carpenter.

Resigned to their efforts, I allowed them to lead me. The day was already hot as we made our way down the dirt road and I felt beads of sweat forming on my forehead. After we’d walked about half a mile, I heard my friend Alon cry out, “There He is! It’s Him!”

His hands left mine for a moment and I sensed he was using them to plead with Jesus.

“Please, Rabbi. If You could just touch him. Please. He has been blind many years, but we know You can heal him.”

Time seemed suspended as we stood in the street. I had a feeling Jesus was looking at me assessing my need, and perhaps even my faith. Then, before I had the chance to speak or plead my case, my eyes were wet with a slimy residue. What was happening?!

I began protesting, but strong fingers pressed against my eyelids. Warmth permeated from them and when He removed His hands, I noticed something. The darkness that had been my world for years was no longer pitch black; light began filtering in. I could see shapes where before, I saw nothing.

Something I barely recognized pulled at my heart. It had been so long since I felt it, I almost pushed it back down.

It was hope.

Was this man capable of healing me? Was this the beginning? A juxtaposition of fear and possibility overtook me; I knew a crossroads of choice had come.

“Do you see anything?” (Mark 8:23)

Jesus’ question interrupted my warring thoughts. His voice was calm and centered, and I felt He already knew the answer. Although I didn’t fully understand it, I knew the question went beyond my physical sight: He was asking me to make a decision. I also knew honesty was the only way to answer Him.

“I see people; they look like trees walking around,” I said. (Mark 8:24)

I wanted to see. I tasted it and now I longed for it with everything in my being. Hope and firm belief sprang to life in my spirit, silencing doubt and fear. This Messiah could indeed heal me, fully and completely. The soft light and blurred shapes were only a fragment of what He could do. I knew it.

My body trembled as He reached out again. I could make out the shape of His hands this time. His fingers caressed my eyes again, but this time I had no doubts about His ability. As soon as He removed His hands, my belief was confirmed. Tree shapes became people. Masses devoid of detail became faces and I saw hope in everyone’s eyes.

Suddenly, my body felt lighter, as though a weight was lifted. This Jesus saved me! He was the One.

My friends jumped with excitement as they realized I was healed. I looked at the face of the man who changed my life forever. I will never forget how His eyes spoke of kindness and compassion, but there was something else. A sadness. As if He knew something I didn’t. I hoped I wasn’t a part of it.

A posture of worship overtook me, and I wanted to shout my story from the center of town. After all, if this Messiah restored my sight, what could He not do? Everyone needed to know about Him.

Jesus had other plans. He sent me home with instructions not to tell anyone about what happened. Why? I didn’t understand it, but somehow I knew I needed to listen to Him. So even when my neighbors questioned me about my healing, I remained quiet.

But my quietness could not hide the transformation inside of me. Every morning when I woke up, my renewed sight brought fresh cause for worship.

People around me witnessed the change, too. They saw hope, once buried, now resurrected.

And they went looking for this man called Jesus.

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A Note About Sketched
In this series, we are stepping into the shoes of various characters throughout history. Some are biblical, some are well-known in modern day times, and some are people our writers know personally. We do our best to research the culture and times surrounding these individuals to give an accurate representation of their first-person perspectives on life and the world, but we can’t be 100% accurate. “Sketched” is our best interpretation of how these characters view(ed) God, themselves, and the world around them. Our hope is that by stepping into their everyday, we will see our own lives a little differently!
Enjoy!
And keep watching for Sketched Themes to pop up throughout the year!

Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

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

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Sketched VIII 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 Sketched VIII!

Sketched VIII Day 6 Lazarus

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Read His Words Before Ours!

John 11
2 Kings 4:8-37
John 12:1-11
Psalm 145:1-7
Revelation 1:1-18

Sketched VIII, Day 6

The glory of the LORD used to fill the tabernacle (2 Chronicles 5:14),
but now God’s glory walked among us in Jesus (Hebrews 1:3).

I know this because I was dead, but Jesus called me back to life. But let me not get ahead. This story is too important to rush.

My sister, Martha, invited a great Teacher to our home. My other sister, Mary, sat at His feet and soaked up His words. I also listened intently. He was different from any other teacher or Rabbi I’d ever heard. He spoke and taught with such authority; I now understand His authority came from Yahweh (John 17:1-2). I could never have dreamed of the Messiah, in our home. But there He sat, befriending us.

Sometime later, I fell ill, but my sisters were not worried. They assured me, “We’ll call Jesus. He will take care of you.”

Our ancestor David wrote, “Put your hope in the LORD, both now and forever.” (Psalm 131:3)

So we did. My sisters sent for Jesus (John 11:3), believing if anyone could save me, He could. But as we waited, I felt my life slipping away. I hoped my sisters’ faith would survive my death. At the time, I couldn’t foresee His plan, but it turns out, He was working something far greater than my immediate healing.

My sisters tell me they were in great despair, wondering why Jesus had not come right away. I grappled with the same questions as I took my last breaths, until I remembered the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.’
This is the Lord’s declaration.” (Isaiah 55:8)

In my final moments, these words brought me peace.
On the fourth day after my death, Jesus finally arrived and made the most curious statement to Martha.

“I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” (John 11:25)

You see, around this time, Sadducees in my town were bickering with everyone, especially Jesus, about the impossibility of resurrection. (Mark 12:18-27) Yet, in blatant contradiction to their assertions, Jesus declared not only is there a resurrection, but the resurrection is Him!

I’m told He continued to surprise my sisters and their many comforters by weeping
in front of everyone, alongside them in their grief.
Imagine the Messiah
weeping
for my death.
I am still moved to tears just thinking about it.

Jesus instructed them to roll the stone away and proceeded to pray for the people watching to believe Yahweh sent Him. Then, He called me to arise.

I know, it sounds crazy. But if Elisha, a prophet, could receive power from God to raise the Shunamite’s son from the dead, why should we doubt the power of the Son of God to raise me? (2 Kings 4:8-37)

Through the darkness, I clearly heard Jesus, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43)

At His words, I awakened to find myself wrapped in grave clothes with strips of linen over my eyes. Despite my bindings, I moved toward His voice, longing to see His face again.

I walked into the bright light and heard Jesus’ command, “Unwrap him and let him go”.
So my life began again!

By His words, I was resurrected. The One Who is the Resurrection spoke me into life; in that moment, I became a living testimony to the glory of God: a proclamation of His power, greatness, and wondrous works. (Psalm 145:3-6)

My testimony came at a cost. Because He displayed His great power, many of the leaders wanted to kill Jesus. They also plotted against me, because my resurrected life inspired many to believe in Jesus, the Messiah (John 12:9-11)

In fact, the new life He gave me accelerated His death. Just before Passover, my sister Mary anointed His feet with expensive perfume and, to our confusion, He indicated it was for His burial. (John 12:1-7) Six days later, I realized it was the beginning of His journey to the cross.

I despised that cross at first. My testimony pointed to His glory, but in the wake of His death, my new life seemed empty and pointless.

But on the third day after He died,
His gravestone was also rolled away.
He was also resurrected.
But He needed no one to call Him out of the grave.
God Incarnate raised Himself from death to life.

He was dead, then alive forever, holding the keys to death and Hades. (Revelation 1:18)
My resurrection had been a small foreshadow of His.
Jesus was truly, “The First and the Last, and the Living One”. (Revelation 1:17)

My brokenness made whole, gave others the chance to live forever with Him. It can do the same for you if you believe in Him, the Resurrection and the Life.
My sisters, believe, and live forever!

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
Sign up to receive every Journey Study!
Join our Facebook Community!

A Note About Sketched
In this series, we are stepping into the shoes of various characters throughout history. Some are biblical, some are well-known in modern day times, and some are people our writers know personally. We do our best to research the culture and times surrounding these individuals to give an accurate representation of their first-person perspectives on life and the world, but we can’t be 100% accurate. “Sketched” is our best interpretation of how these characters view(ed) God, themselves, and the world around them. Our hope is that by stepping into their everyday, we will see our own lives a little differently!
Enjoy!
And keep watching for Sketched Themes to pop up throughout the year!

Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

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

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Sketched VIII 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 Sketched VIII!