Another Day 9 Wrapped Up In Love: Digging Deeper

March 16, 2023 by Dr. Leslie Umstattd Leave a Comment

Another Day 9 Wrapped Up In Love: Digging Deeper

Dr. Leslie Umstattd

March 16, 2023

Affectionate,Christ,church,Clothed,Lord,Love

Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Read His Words Before Ours!

Luke 6:27-36

27 “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don’t ask for them back.

31 Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.

34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

The Original Intent

1) Who is the speaker and the listener in this passage? (verse 27)

Throughout this passage we see the pronoun “he”, which signals the necessity of going back earlier in the chapter to find the initial reference to “he” and properly identify him.

We need to search backwards to Luke 6:9 where Jesus’ name is used. Luke, as the writer of this book, is providing a written record of Jesus’ teaching. The audience’s identity can be found a few verses later in Luke 6:17, where Luke records, “After coming down with them, He (Jesus) stood on a level place with a large crowd of His disciples and a great number of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.” (emphasis mine)

The crowds traveled the countryside from city and farmland and all walks of life to hear Jesus teach, see His miracles, and be healed by Him. (Luke 6:18-19)

The Everyday Application

1) Who is the speaker and the listener in this passage? (verse 27)

Luke records for us this interaction between Jesus and a large group of followers that included His disciples. This group had gathered specifically to hear Jesus’ teaching but also to receive healing. Luke 6:19 tells us “power was coming out from Him and healing them all.”

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, which is recorded in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament, Jesus leads, teaches, loves, heals, disciples, and rebukes. People flocked to hear Him because His message of love and freedom was radically different from the self-righteous burden the Pharisees placed on them. (Matthew 23:1-5)

Over two thousand years later, people still flock to know the identity of this Jesus. Why are you drawn to Him? Are you seeking something from Him like many in the crowd, or are you seeking Him?

The Original Intent

2) What six commands are given by Jesus in this passage? (verses 27-29)

The first two commands are given by Jesus in verse 27, “love your enemies” and “do what is good to those who hate you”. Jesus continues teaching with two more commands in verse 28, “bless those who curse you” and “pray for those who mistreat you”. The last two commands come in verse 29, “if anyone hits you, offer the other cheek” and “if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt.”

In these particular teachings, Jesus focuses on what it looks like in real life for His followers to show true love to the people who are hard to love. Jesus pointedly calls out the ones in our lives who are ungrateful, the easily offended, those who have taken advantage of offered kindness, and even more blunt, those who hate us and could be categorized as enemies.

Jesus’ command to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves has no fine print exclusions (Matthew 22:37-39), rather He provides clarity on how to obey such a command.

The Everyday Application

2) What six commands are given by Jesus in this passage? (verses 27-29)
On a deeper level, Jesus commands those listening to go beyond just doing the checklist of right and wrong. He pushes His hearers deeper, further into self-evaluation of not simply the action but the heart behind the action.

It’s one thing to be kind to a stranger, but an entire heart shift and empowerment by the Holy Spirit within you is required to love your enemy and do kind acts to those who hate you.

In Matthew 5:43-45, we see a similar teaching moment by Jesus where He instructs His audience to go beyond loving their neighbor to loving their enemy. He calls His followers to take radical action by praying for those who harm and persecute them. Jesus desires us as His children to follow in His footsteps and extend love and prayer to those who are different from us and walk a different life path.

The Original Intent

3) Why does Jesus use the comparative analogy phrase, “even sinners do that” three times in this passage? (verses 32-34)

In this context Jesus’ teaching moves beyond the simple outward appearance of righteousness, cutting to the heart of our motives and laying all “pseudo love” appearances out in the open.

The religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, had taken the Law of God and added many man-made laws for the people to follow. They taught that following their law was the only way to God. Following the law as a checklist of do’s and don’ts, simply the doing of right and wrong, became their center of worship rather than adoring the one true God with hearts and lives of true worship. (Matthew 23)

Jesus wants His listeners to realize that following God is an issue of the heart as much as it is the actions flowing from a heart of love. Actions can give the appearance of righteousness, but when there is no heart transformation by the Holy Spirit, these actions are empty, and the person is missing the mark and far from God. (Matthew 15:8-20) Jesus wants His listeners to understand that following Him requires going beyond just loving the loveable; following Him means loving the unlovable, giving without desire for return, and doing good even to those who are not necessarily good.

The Everyday Application

3) Why does Jesus use the comparative analogy phrase, “even sinners do that” three times in this passage? (verses 32-34)

Being a good person who does good things does not mean you have a relationship with Jesus. There are a lot of people who give to charity, provide resources to help others, and will even loan out money without interest, but they do not know Jesus. Actions can give an appearance of a heart transformation, but Jesus is asking for more.

He calls us to live as those under the law of freedom and show mercy because mercy was shown to you. (James 2:8-12) We have freedom in Christ to love well and He has equipped us to be able to love well by placing the Holy Spirit inside of all persons who choose to trust Christ as their Savior and repent of their sins.

Although our old sin-nature may desire to only love those who are loveable, Christ transforms us into a new people who bear the fruit of His Spirit through love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to all of God’s creation. (Galatians 5:22-26)

The Original Intent

4) What model does Jesus give us to follow and what is its reward? (verses 35-36)

The model Jesus provided His audience was evidenced in His own presence as God incarnate. The holy, righteous God came to earth and humbly put on flesh in order to show us what kind of God He is. In this, He demonstrated lavish mercy and graciousness, even to those who are ungrateful and spiteful in return.

In the same way, Christ calls us to follow His example by being gracious and merciful in the midst of the ungrateful and evil persons in our lives. In verse 35, Jesus says to love and do good without expecting anything in return. In verse 36, Jesus tells His listeners to be merciful just as your Father is merciful.

The reward is being children of the Most High and honoring God with everything you do. We confidently know we belong to Him as His daughters when we regularly love others genuinely and authentically through the power of His Spirit working inside of us. There is no greater reward than being called His own!

The Everyday Application

4) What model does Jesus give us to follow and what is its reward? (verses 35-36)

Jesus is our model of how to love those who are hard to love, even those who hate us, and as His followers, we are to be imitators of Him in everything we do. (Philippians 2:5-11) Jesus gives us very specific examples throughout His ministry of how we should love.

In Mark 2:13-17, He called a tax collector to follow Him and then He ate at his house with other tax collectors and sinners. (Mark 2:15) This doesn’t seem odd for us, but in Jesus’ day tax collectors were hated by the Jewish people because they worked for Rome and charged more than required in order to pad their own pockets. Jesus, being a Jewish man, culturally speaking should have hated tax collectors, yet He shared a meal and fellowshipped with not just one tax collector but a host of tax collectors and other “sinners”. The Pharisees of the day thought themselves too religious and questioned Jesus’ and His actions. (Mark 2:16) Why would Jesus do this? Jesus answered the Pharisees in verse 17, “I didn’t come to call the righteous but the sinner.”

Have dinner with your atheist neighbor. Invite your friend to coffee who has been vocal on Facebook about her political beliefs that are different from yours. Have a conversation with that family member who is hard to love. Pray diligently for that one who frustrates or hurts you. Our model was Christ laying down His life for all people, and our reward when following Him is the power to love as He loved, and an eternity spent with Him. (John 3:14-20)

Tags :

action,choose,love,real life

Share This :

Recent Journeys

The GT Weekend! ~ Another, Week 3

March 25, 2023

Another Day 15 Service With Love: Digging Deeper

March 24, 2023

Another Day 15 Service With Love

March 24, 2023

Another Day 8
Journey Study

We must not underestimate the importance of this love in our testimony of faith. Jesus said, “By this [love] everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

Love distinguishes us from others. Love marks us as Jesus’ followers. Love is our uniform and Christ-followers.

Just like the church in Corinth in the first century, we struggle to love one another the way Jesus commanded and modeled, because let’s be honest, some people are difficult to love. (Not you, of course.) And, often our culture (and even our churches) seem to value being right above being loving.

Join The Journey!

Can We Pray With You?

Prayer is central to our ministry as believers in Jesus as we carry eachother’s burdens and intercede for one another. Our team is honored to share the work of praying alongside you!

This Week's Lock Screen

Explore This Journey Theme!

Join a GT POD!

Authentically living out a life of worship to the God who rescued us from darkness requires accountability and intentionality. Join a GT POD and take the next step in your faith journey!

Join the GT Facebook Community!

Free Registration!

Share Your Story!

Sketched X Day 7 Without A Voice: Digging Deeper

July 19, 2022 by Lori Meeks Leave a Comment

Digging Deeper Days

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

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Without A Voice!

The Questions

1) The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for many years, why did it take so long for God to hear and respond to their cries for help? (verses 7-8)

2) Why would God give land to the Israelites that belonged to others? (verse 8)

3) Why would God choose Moses, for even he asks the Lord, “Who am I that I should go”? (verse 11)

Exodus 3:7-12

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, ⁸and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁹So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, ¹⁰therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
¹¹But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
¹²He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”

Original Intent

1) The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for many years, why did it take so long for God to hear and respond to their cries for help? (verses 7-8)
The easy answer to why God was so long in bringing rescue is that we can’t understand God’s timing. His scope is significantly broader than our own and His love infinitely outshines our own. However, if we step back and study Israel’s history a bit we can make some educated guesses to help answer this particular “why” of waiting. Let’s first remember it was God who brought the Israelites to Egypt in the first place, even before they were “Israelites”. Joseph’s own struggles and injustices led him on a winding road that gave him a position of power benefitting his family and built a new nation. (Genesis 39-45) Secondly, the Israelites needed time, several generations, to grow into a nation and a people. Their numbers grew mightily during those years in Egypt; even Pharaoh was increasingly concerned by their multiplication. Lastly, God was raising up Moses as His instrument to lead His people out of Egypt and into a land of their own. Moses needed to grow, learn, make mistakes and become the man God would use to lead His people to freedom. How tragic it would have been for Israel to be so comfortable in the shadow of another nation that they never lived out the purposes God had for them! It really wasn’t that God didn’t hear Israel’s cry, rather, He was working “behind the scenes” to align each piece and person in preparation for freedom. His long-game purpose for His people was to move in such a mighty way that no one could miss how only He, the Great I Am, freed His people from the grip of slavery. These events were a pre-cursor for another miraculous set of events in the life of Jesus when, by His suffering, He offered freedom from sin’s slavery for us all!

2) Why would God give land to the Israelites that belonged to others? (verse 8)
All good stories have a beginning, and Israel’s begins long before their great exodus out of slavery in Egypt, before Joseph, before his father Jacob, and before his father Isaac. To discover the first time God spoke of Israel’s land, we go back to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-2. God called Abraham (then known as Abram) to leave his home and travel to “the land that I will show you”. This land became known as the Promised Land referencing God’s covenant vow to give it to Abraham’s descendants. It extended from the wilderness to the Euphrates River and from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. (Exodus 23:31) However, by the time Israel was finally ready to take the land hundreds of years after Abraham, it was inhabited by pagan nations like Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Keep in mind this land was part of God’s provision for His chosen people, the Israelites. It was the Lord’s land and it had been promised to Israel centuries prior. It was important Israel take ownership to fulfill the promise God had made to Abraham. Psalm 24:1 tells us “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord”. He has rights to everything and everyone; He can give and take away from whomever He chooses.
3) Why would God choose Moses, for even he asks the Lord, “Who am I that I should go”? (verse 11)
Because Moses knew he couldn’t accomplish this impossible task on his own, he quickly admitted his shortcomings and reservations about being “the guy” of God’s choosing. He had made some big mistakes in his life, but God, as only He can, used Moses in spite of those sinful choices to shape him into a man who was open and willing to be obedient to God. Moses recognized God’s voice in the burning bush, went to investigate, and listened to what God had to say. Moses knew this monumental task of freeing Israel was far beyond anything he could do or even wanted to do. For these reasons, and probably more, he pushed back on God. In fact, in Exodus 4:13 Moses said in essence, “You’ve got the wrong guy God, send someone else.” (my paraphrase) God’s response was one of anger for Moses disobedience and disrespect to the Sovereign God, still God provided an antidote to Moses’ insecurities in the form of Moses’ brother, Aaron. Ultimately, Moses acted obediently and depended on God for the enormous mission ahead of him.

Everyday Application

1) The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for many years, why did it take so long for God to hear and respond to their cries for help? (verses 7-8)
Don’t lose hope! If you’ve been crying to God for seemingly forever, don’t give up and assume He isn’t listening; this is a lie! God hears and is working, despite our impatience. I tend to stop praying about “it” and attempt to “help” God by pushing ahead with my solution. You’d think I’d learn to trust Him; alas, I haven’t. In the past months, I’ve intentionally worked to be still, listen and wait, but honestly, there are more days when I decide to push ahead with my plans. News flash! This doesn’t work! When we run ahead of God, we slow down His provision. God cannot be rushed. Perhaps even more frustrating than personally waiting on God is watching a loved one wait for Him. Recently, I was talking with my oldest, who desperately longs for a husband. As a parent, it’s hard not to give a solution and instead point them to Jesus! I know God is working in the waiting, but as her mom, I desperately want to fix her pain. I must remember the best I can do is lead her to seek Jesus and His comfort. Psalms 73-74 are written by a guy who clearly understood the struggle between the pain of waiting and the desire to honor God. “But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray. For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Psalm 73:2-3) He follows on with confident faith in verses 25-26, “Who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.” As we wait on the Lord, lets determine to move closer to God and dig into His word. Psalms is strong encouragement, filled with honest cries, hope, and healing.

2) Why would God give land to the Israelites that belonged to others? (verse 8)
When we remember God’s sovereign authority over every aspect of creation, including us, our perspective either shifts in alignment with truth or we press back against it, wanting to cling to a false sense of control and ownership. We all need the reminder to hold loosely to what the Lord has given for our use, even our relationships are a gift from Him. Our homes, churches, ministries, careers, and every material good is given to us by a graciously benevolent God; we are His stewards of these grace gifts and we never know when He will ask us to give something up for Him and His purposes. Job 1:21 says, “The LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” I speak from a place of experience when I say that when we are faithful to God and His call on our lives, He will indeed ask us to give away or give up jobs, careers and even ministries. This ask has never made sense to me at the time, but after I’ve faithfully obeyed, God provides the understanding, insight and provision for the next step in my journey. It’s only in practicing full surrender of everything and everyone in our lives that we can fully embrace the abundant purposes of the Lord for us.

3) Why would God choose Moses, for even he asks the Lord, “Who am I that I should go”? (verse 11)
Because God is the Almighty God, and He has a tendency to use the most unlikely people in the most unlikely ways to further His kingdom, all of us have been given purposes that far-extend our human ability and reasoning. I could share many stories of times I’ve asked God the exact question or a similar one that Moses posed, “Are you sure about this God? I’m kind of a mess, in case you didn’t notice.” We can’t accomplish His mission in our power, but God can finish His work in us and through us by His Spirit! Jesus Himself said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) When it comes to accomplishing God’s mission for us, we must take Him at His word and remember the Lord’s word, “Not by strength,
Just like with Moses, God is looking for our willingness and trust, He’s got all the details already figured out. It’s okay to ask questions, God can handle them. It’s okay to feel nervous and uncertain about your abilities because they are required for us to lean in and trust in God over ourselves.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Without A Voice!

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 Sketched X Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

The GT Weekend! ~ Sketched X Week 1

July 16, 2022 by Rebecca Adams Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend!

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

Worship Through Journaling

1) Digging Deeper author, Patty Scott, held up snapshots of Joseph’s life and challenged us to consider how nearsighted we are when we view snippets of our own lives. It’s easy to longingly ache for more, for wholeness, for redemption, for better than our current hardship. We hunger for a season when the pressing isn’t so intense, and like our New Testament brother in Jesus, Stephen, we can wonder how our seemingly senseless difficulty could result in good. When we hold up Joseph’s and Stephen’s stories to Jesus and the Eternal Hope He offers, we are encouraged to take a broad scope lens approach to our own suffering. Learning to trust in the Hope of Jesus takes time as God’s Spirit teaches us through hardship to fix our eyes of Him instead of our circumstances. What is your perspective on the details of a current hardship? If you’re in a sweet place, where does your anchor lie for when the details shift from easy to hard? Take some time to read and reflect on the words from the Lord found in 2 Corinthians 4:14-18 over the weekend and let them take root in your heart!

2) As Joseph’s story began in the early years his fledgling faith was barely beginning, but he leaned into what he knew to be true despite the chaos and challenge of his life. The Lord was revealing Himself through the heritage of Joseph’s past and through dreams. His home life was painful and unstable in many ways, but he still believed the Lord enough to trust the dreams he’d been given. Through the pages of Scripture, we see the Lord revealing Himself to His people in small portions that increase over time as they deepen in their faith. This is true for us as well! Consider where you are in your faith journey. What do you hold to be true about God? Where did you learn it? Who influenced you in these beliefs? What do you hunger to know more about Him? Are you allowing your circumstances to dictate what you believe or the truth of Scripture? Take just 2 minutes this weekend and write down what you believe about God. Ponder these reflections and give them over to the Lord, letting Him lead you into deeper understanding of Him as you seek His face!

3) Injustice piled on top of injustice for Joseph. I’ve felt the same in my own life. My gut response is to seriously question the goodness of God and whether He really sees me and knows me. It’s so easy to doubt Him and, in place of faith, wonder if He will really do anything about unjust treatment. When resolution and redemption don’t happen on my timetable, I begin to doubt whether Scripture is true when it says the Lord is a God of justice. (Isaiah 30:18) Lord, pour spiritual cement on my heart when these temptations to doubt come at me; anchor me in truth and don’t let me leave! When are you most tempted to doubt the Lord and His goodness? Consider your default setting of belief about the Lord when you experience easy seasons and then again in hard ones. Do your beliefs align with what the Lord says about Himself in Scripture? Are you willing to embrace what God’s Word says or will you hold fast to your perspective? Think about the why behind your answers and bring this to the Lord!

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 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.

Prayer Journal
Lord Jesus, I can look backwards in my life and see how faithful You have proven to be to me and to every promise in Your word. When doubt creeps in, I can look straight to Scripture and see how You prove Your faithfulness through every story. Holding onto truth is much harder than holding onto lies; Lord Jesus, increase my appetite for truth and lead me away from temptation to believe deceptions.

I know You will follow through on Your word to redeem my suffering for good, to bring healing from my brokenness, and to restore the years the locusts have eaten. (Joel 2:25-26) Keep leading me to surrender my plans and expectations to You in the middle of suffering. Teach me to be strong and courageous and wait for You to move perfectly in Your time to accomplish Your good work! (Psalm 27:14)

Worship Through Community

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

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Whole Day 15 My Wholeness Story

July 8, 2022 by Multiple Authors Leave a Comment

Whole Day 15 My Wholeness Story

Multiple Authors

July 8, 2022

Broken,Forgiven,God,Good,Lord,Love

Read His Words Before Ours!

2 Corinthians 4:7-18
Psalm 37:27-40
Hebrews 12:7-13

If you’ve surrendered yourself to Jesus, reached out and accepted His offer to forgive every single sin in your past, present, and future, then you have a wholeness story!

All of us have a past, whether it was mired in obvious sins everyone could see, or we struggled inside with performance, trying to win our way to God, or something else altogether. All of us are guilty of missing the mark of perfect holiness. All of us need a Savior to make us Whole. All of our broken places, shattered dreams, deep wounds, aching losses, and entangling sins are heavy burdens, but Jesus came to pay the price for all of it, and then free us to dance in His Wholeness!

These ladies are bravely sharing part of their broken-turned-whole stories because the Lord invites us to tell of His goodness. (Psalm 105:1-2) Be encouraged by their transparency, ask the Lord to make you whole, then share with another of the goodness of our God!

Rachel Jones
When my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage, I decided to take the full 9 months to grieve and process, spending the time getting healthier and learning more about pregnancy. During this time, I came to know God as my Comforter. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) Expressing my pain was difficult, so I just sought God’s presence and cried out for rescue like the psalmist. (Psalm 91:15) God used the comforting words and embrace of women in my life to make me feel protected and understood; it was as if God Himself was holding me in His arms. (Isaiah 40:11) Sometimes, while worshipping at church, I would suddenly find myself sobbing, releasing the grief I didn’t know how to surrender on my own. God met me when I was vulnerable and open during worship, healing me and making me whole as I allowed Him to bind up my broken heart. (Psalm 147:3)

Leslie Umstattd
During my time at seminary, I found myself in a dark season. I was full of anxiety and wasn’t sleeping well. I would wake up numerous times during the night with racing thoughts and a mind that would not be still. I was one year into my studies and I wasn’t particularly stressed during the day, but at night I would toss and turn longing for sleep. Each night, I would struggle to fall asleep and once asleep, struggle to stay asleep. It was as if a film reel of the past would play like an old movie projector in my head. This went on for months and I was physically exhausted as well as emotionally and spiritually wearied. One night, I woke up and decided to read my Bible. It seemed the only distraction that would focus my thoughts. I looked up verses speaking directly to finding peace and rest as well as those that spoke truth to anxiety. I wrote these in my journal and began memorizing them. Each night as my mind would race, I would repeat the verses I memorized over and over again as my mantra, working to replace my anxious thoughts with the truth of God’s Word. Slowly, the dark season began fading. His word became a lamp and light for me to find rest. When I woke up, I could speak truth directly to my worries and my mind learned to be still. One of my truth verses was Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will protect your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.” Another verse that shed light in my dark season was Proverbs 3:23-24, “Then you will walk in your way securely, And your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” In my desperate need, the Lord made me whole by teaching my heart to anchor in unshakeable truth!

Natalie Smith
The Lord has been teaching me much on the importance of self-control and patience. Though I have benefitted from seeing these fruits in others, especially my husband, much of my hands-on learning of Jesus’ patience has been taught through parenting. I have often felt I was placed in an extreme sport in raising my mystery child on the Autism Spectrum. Every battle tends to be extreme: extreme in the intensity, frequency, and time needed to out-grow certain behaviors. Most challenging for me are fits of anger. I remember being locked in the bathroom and sitting on the floor with my hysteric child. The hysteria had been going on for quite some time and I was exhausted mentally and emotionally. No one was home to help. I wanted to run, punch a hole in the wall, or start screaming myself, but suddenly the Lord gave clarity, teaching me of Himself. I realized that Jesus chose to die to Himself and remain self-controlled in order to bring us peace. Jesus chose patience while being led away by the soldiers and He has been patient when my own confused soul has raged against Him. He has shown me that to reach my children (neighbors and friends) with His love requires great patience and death to myself. How sweetly the Lord is making me more wholly like Him, even in my mundane!

Shannon Vicker
As an educator and parent, recent school shootings have made the world seem very dark, and I admit to feeling trapped within it. Being forced to face the grim reality of pervasive darkness and what it could mean for me and my family is hard. If I am honest, those harsh scenarios are never far from my mind, but recent events seem to increase the likelihood of their reality impacting those I love. These are scary thoughts, however, God has not left me alone. On the contrary, He is present to shed the light of truth and hope into the darkness. This week, that light was evidenced through a student. As he processed the events, he chose to hand-deliver a flower to everyone on staff. (*flower shown on today’s graphic) He gifted me a beautiful creation with a smile on his face, and God used this kind generosity to remind me of Matthew 6:25-34. I can empathize, and mourn with those who mourn, but it is not my job to borrow worry and anxiety. I cannot control the events of tomorrow, but I can trust that God, in all His divine wisdom, knows each of my days and will never leave me. I can trust His plans are greater than mine and that He will “work all things for good” (Romans 8:28) even if His plans don’t match mine. Day by day, He is making me Whole!

Lisa Marcelina
I enjoy working for the Lord! I gave my life to Jesus at the age of seventeen, and while life has been challenging, at the age of fifty-three, I can say God has been with me and blessed me as I surrendered myself to Him. I serve the Lord through my writing. I’m not an eloquent speaker and I fear speaking in public, so getting up on a platform to teach is not my cup of tea. When I write, I express myself more clearly and the Lord uses my surrender for His glory. Is writing hard? Yes, it is. It takes a lot of research to prepare a devotional or Bible study; putting it together can be tedious. In between, I have a full-time job and family responsibilities. I enjoy it all because working for the Lord and serving others gives me purpose, redeeming the curse over work. Living for Jesus and serving Him is what makes life abundant. (John 10:10) At the end of my physical life and when Jesus exchanges the corruptible for incorruptible, all believers will become truly Whole.

Melodye Reeves
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:21-23) I have come to realize my gospel witness is only as effective as my belief that Christ does indeed hold an assuredly true hope-drenched future. It is this belief that gives me perpetual hope. Being devoted to good and surrendered to God’s purpose for me has produced within me a hope that outlasts the trials I experience. God’s mercy is the source of my devotion and surrender to Him. Because He has steadfastly loved me and faithfully held me, I’m able to remember and be filled with all hope. (Romans 15:13) This is my answer for all who wonder and might ask me how I can possibly walk through the hard seasons of life. Because of the Hope of Jesus, I can surrender to being made Whole by the Savior!

Oppression is everywhere in this dark world.
BUT as Christ’s ambassadors,
we carry the Hope of Jesus around within us. (2 Corinthians 4:10)

Sisters, let us each fervently take up the mission before us to put on the full armor of God and engage the world around us with the ministry of reconciliation that Christ Himself has given to us that we may all be made WHOLE.

Tags :

broken,forgiven,God,good,Lord,love

Share This :