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Pause IV Day 14 Quiet

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Pause IV, Day 14

I’ve always been captivated by the word “quiet” in the Bible. Being still and silent is not something I do well, or often. When my watch reminds me to breathe for one whole minutes, I feel like it’s an eternity!

Being quiet before the Lord, submitting to the discipline of waiting for Him, takes intentional practice over time. The more we practice, the better our hearts become at willingly waiting and silently being still.

When we are silent, the Lord speaks most clearly.
While we wait, the Lord acts.
As we sit still, God trains our hearts to trust Him, instead of ourselves.

Habakkuk has heard the unequivocal word of the Lord to bring about His justice on His people, Israel. He has reminded himself of the Lord’s sovereignty, His kindness, His righteousness, His deliverance, and protection of His people.

Where Habakkuk has wrestled with tongue and spirit against the Lord,
he now sits quietly waiting.

Tomorrow, a beautiful unveiling of Habakkuk’s changed heart is poetically revealed, but first, quiet.

Hush, be still, wait quietly for what the Lord will do.

Today's Invitation

1) Be a scribe and copy the precious words of Scripture down word for word. Make space in your journal to write down all of Habakkuk 3:16 today. As you copy, lookup a cross reference or two as you come to them (they are the small letters next to certain words in your study Bible or online at www.biblia.com).

2) Take time to wander through these Scripture passages on being quiet before the Lord, letting His Spirit teach you. Copy down 1 or 2 verses onto notecards and place in prominent spots in your home so you can memorize them in the coming days. Share them with a friend and ask her to memorize them with you!
Exodus 14:14, Psalm 46:10, Psalm 37:7, Job 6:24, 1 Peter 3:4, Lamentations 3:26, Zephaniah 3:17, Isaiah 26:3, Mark 1:35, Isaiah 30:15, Habakkuk 2:20

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Habakkuk 3:16

I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.

How Does “Pause” Work?
1. Each day, Monday through Friday, for 3 weeks, we will provide you with an invitation to get away with the Savior. Each one is designed for you to engage with the Almighty in a deeper way and perhaps in a new way than you have been recently.

2. Having a journal is a must! You’ll want to take notes as you walk this special Journey of Pause.

3. Each week focuses on one or two passage of Scripture and we walk with you as you study and flesh these out for yourself. As you write your thoughts, read His Word, and pray, questions might come up. That’s Perfect! Ask a trusted fellow believer, a pastor, or send us an email as you work through them!

4. Jumping in at the middle? No problem! Here is the entire Journey Theme.

5. Connect with others on Facebook by visiting our GT Community Group!

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 Pause IV 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 Pause IV!

The GT Weekend! ~ Sketched VIII Week 2

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The GT Weekend!

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

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) Lazarus had a story to tell. Back from the dead! Talk about the very best come-back-story! The truly radical part of Lazarus’ story, however, wasn’t found in his silent heart beginning to beat again, it was in how Jesus had changed his heart his sisters forever. One day, Lazarus’ body stopped working again, and it didn’t start back up, but his soul was safe forever in the presence of the Lord. Because Lazarus had trusted Jesus with much more than his body, the radical part of his story was that one day, Lazarus would live forever with Jesus Christ in fullness and sweetness. You and I weren’t buried in a tomb and brought back to life, but this picture is the same for our souls. Before trusting Jesus with our everything, our souls were chained up in sin and death. After Jesus, we are free, alive, radically made new! Is this you?! Made new? Tell your radical story!! Pick one person to share with this week! If you aren’t absolutely certain you have a “death-to-life” story with Jesus, send us an email (contact@gracefullytruthful.com) or connect with a friend who loves Jesus. Don’t wait another day!!

2)  Naaman’s skin disease was miraculously healed, but the greater healing was his prideful heart being dramatically humbled before God. It’s easy for us, as human beings, to only focus on the physical instead of the spiritual. We pray for bodies to be healed. We pray for hurts to be made whole. We pray for financial pitfalls to be reversed. We pray for many physical or relational things, and while we are invited by the Lord to pray about all things, the Lord is most interested in our spiritual condition. How He loves to use the physical realm to point us toward the spiritual one! As we come to the Lord this weekend, let’s ask Him to heal our hearts, to root out our sin, to teach us to worship Him in fullness, and for our minds to be renewed by His gentle, Shepherd hand! Expect Him to heal!

3) Disappointment. Loss. Grief. We’ve all walked these roads and felt the depth of emotion associated with these struggles. For Tamar, her disappointment seeped through her entire life. One by one, those who were supposed to protect her and stand up for her, not only let her down, but put her down. They demoralized her. They cheated her. They used her. They abused her. They mocked her. Yet, the Lord heard her, He saw her, and He moved on her behalf to bring about His wonderous glory! While few of us have experienced the severity of circumstance like Tamar, we each walk our own difficulties. Sister, if the Lord used the extreme brokenness of Tamar, grafting her story into the very lineage of Jesus Christ, who extended radical grace to all peoples through His sacrifice on the cross, how greatly will He work in your brokenness?! Sit for a few minutes in total quiet (or as much quiet as you can manage to ascertain!), hold open your hands, and speak to the Lord as you surrender your broken places and sharp, cutting edges. Ask for redemption and wait as He moves!

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 Isaiah 63:7 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

I will make known the Lord’s faithful love
and the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,
because of all the Lord has done for us—
even the many good things
he has done for the house of Israel,
which he did for them based on his compassion
and the abundance of his faithful love.

Prayer Journal
Lord God, You have done unfathomable things! My tongue can testify endlessly of Your mighty power and I will never tire of sharing the incredible things You have done in my life, Lord! “You have made me rejoice, Lord, by what You have done! I will shout for joy because of the works of Your hand! How magnificent are Your works, Lord! How profound Your thoughts!” (Psalm 92:4-5) Lord, give me more opportunities to share what You have personally done in my life, for none can argue with my personal experience with You. Take my story of redemption and bring others near to Your heart through it! Give me courage, Abba. Courage to share, wisdom to follow Your leading, and tenderness toward those hearts who are utterly lost and condemned without hope in You. Stir my heart to tell of Your healing in my life!

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

Justice Day 2 For Life: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s
Journey Study?
Check out For Life!

Genesis 2:7 English Standard Version (ESV)

…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

The Questions

1) What is the significance of “dust”?

2) What is important about God “breathing” into Adam?

3) What is significant about becoming a “living being”?

The Findings for Intention

1) What is the significance of “dust”?
One of the definitions given for “dust” in the Strong’s concordance is “rubbish”. It’s good for nothing, blows in the wind, is the meanest or lowest state of the earth as it is simply walked on by the rest of creation. It’s meaningless, as “dust in the wind”, and transient, being here one moment and gone the next.

2) What is important about God “breathing” into Adam?
Utterly unlike the insignificance of dust, which is entirely a product of the earth, God’s breath comes explicitly from His own Being straight into man’s nostrils. What is made from the earth’s elements, will one day pass away and return to the earth as dust (Ecclesiastes 12:7). But the soul, the living essence of God’s vitality, is His own and will one day return to Him (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The psalmist sings, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” The Hebrew word for “breath” in this psalm is exactly the same as the one here in our verse in Genesis 2:7. Its meaning is not a physical composition of oxygen and nitrogen, but of the very breath of the Living God. The psalmist is reiterating the solid truth that this “breath”, our “souls”, belong to their Maker, the Lord God. What we do with our souls, and how we steward that gift, is of utmost importance!

3) What is significant about becoming a “living being”?
The body would be lifeless without the soul. Before God breathed His breathe into the body formed from dust, it was undoubtedly a masterpiece, but still a lifeless shell nonetheless. The body is a temporary tent for the soul to dwell (2 Corinthians 5:1-10). As such, the soul utilizes the tent or body to accomplish works while in the body. When God breathed into Adam, He gave mankind the gift of life itself, just as He Himself is life. He gave humanity the ability to live, and move, and work, and create, and think. Paul, in 1 Corinthians, says that, “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45) Meaning that while Adam was awakened to physical life, Christ (the second Adam), awakens our souls to real life as it was meant to be lived: for the glory and praise of God.

The Everyday Application

1) What is the significance of “dust”?
Even in this one verse, we see the actions of the Creating God to be already painting the glory of the gospel! We, taken from a state of meaninglessness and hopelessness by being enslaved to Sin, fills us with Himself, shapes us by His design, and gives us meaning and purpose and fulfillment. We have no purpose apart from God, we are simply, “but dust”. (Psalm 103:14) But with Him, we are indeed His workmanship! (Ephesians 2:10)

2) What is important about God “breathing” into Adam?
The gospel of Mark records Jesus as saying, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? For what can man give in return for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37) The significance of not only having a soul, but knowing who created the soul, and who owns the soul should change our perspective on what we do with our life. One day, when our bodies have returned to dust and we die, our souls will live on forever, just as God is an eternal Being. He has given over to us the care and keeping of our soul and permitted us the choice on how to steward such an incredible gift. How are you caring for your soul? Check here for great resources on what it means to have good soul care!

3) What is significant about becoming a “living being”?
It would be a serious mistake to live only for the fading, fleeting body and its desires and emotions and passions, when it is only the soul that will last forever. It’s like buying eggs, and throwing away the eggs so you can attempt to eat the carton. The carton will not come close to satisfying our need for food like an omelet would. Jesus came to renew our soul, to give us a new heart and passions that reflect His, as the author of the soul in the first place. We will only find satisfaction in both this life and the life to come, when we allow Him to remake us. Only He who has made the soul, has the ability to bring newness to it, which is why nothing we craft with our own hands or hearts will ever fill us up.
Only He who made the soul is able to re-new or re-make it.

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

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
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!

The Community!

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

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

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. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? 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 :-))

The Why!

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.

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

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Justice!

Battle Day 14 Fought For: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s
Journey Study?
Check out Fought For!

1 John 3:16-18 English Standard Version (ESV)

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

The Questions

1) What is the “by this” referring to in verse 16?

2) What is meant by “closes his heart” in verse 17?

3) Where else in Scripture do we see similar phrasing to “let us not love in word or talk” and what significance does that have?

The Findings for Intention

1) What is the “by this” referring to in verse 16?
The example John gives for being the ultimate proof of love is “he”, referring directly to Jesus, laid down His literal, physical life for the opportunity to offer salvation to all mankind across all of time. John is contrasting this act of love to the what the previous verses were discussing (11-15). Verse 14 boldly states, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.” John is telling his audience that the proof of our hearts being made new by Jesus is our overflowing heart of love towards others. If we do not love, we are still “abiding in death” and have not been given a new heart.

2) What is meant by “closes his heart” in verse 17?
Taking a look at studylight.org for a closer look at the verb “close”, we see that it is a very intentional choice on the part of the person doing the action. “Closing the heart” isn’t going to happen on accident or because we aren’t paying enough attention. To close our heart is to become decidedly callous. The writer of Deuteronomy gives a similar warning, “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, …you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother.”

3) Where else in Scripture do we see similar phrasing to “let us not love in word or talk” and what significance does that have?
This is an important question to ask when studying the Bible as it helps us tie the pieces of Scripture together to make accurate interpretations and solid understanding for God’s big picture of redemption. The tiny, italicized letters in your Bible are cross-references that help you do exactly that! Look them up and you’ll find a world of treasure as you study! For this specific section, one cross-references point us to Ezekiel 33:31. This verse is actually the Lord telling the prophet that people will seem eager to listen to the truth of his warnings about their sinful ways, but they will do nothing about it. They look in the mirror of God’s Word, but they walk away entirely unchanged. (James 1:24-25)

The Everyday Application

1) What is the “by this” referring to in verse 16?
The Bible doesn’t leave us wondering whether we are genuinely saved or not. The entire 3 books of 1, 2, and 3rd John are devoted to “that you may know” statements about saving faith. These few verses are just one such example of “marks of an authentic believer”. John urges his audience to step back and gauge their level of love. Is it sacrificial? Does your love display others over self? Is your heart motivated to love deeper and deeper and better and better and better or are you content staying at your current “level of love”? Is your love full of expectations that others must meet in order for you to be happy with them? What happens when you’re disappointed in a relationship is an excellent gauge for your level of love, as well as considering who you are willing to love (and who you aren’t).

2) What is meant by “closes his heart” in verse 17?
You’ve seen the images of flooding in Houston or wildfires in Montana, but your heart no longer aches for the people there. You are becoming callous and desensitized to loving others. We practice keeping our hearts “soft” by putting actions to match our words or thoughts. Sending money to aid relief workers, praying for specific people, or extending an invitation to coffee to that person you feel the Spirit nudging you to share His love with. Choose to act instead of becoming too fascinated with what seems more pressing at that moment. Choose love.

3) Where else in Scripture do we see similar phrasing to “let us not love in word or talk” and what significance does that have?
What was last Sunday’s sermon about? What did you read or learn about the last time you read your Bible? What was your big take-away from your last gathering as a small study group of believers? It’s harder to answer these than we’d like to admit, isn’t it? If we need to concentrate pretty hard to even recall what truths Pastor spoke over us just a few days ago, are we really allowing truth to transform us or are we simply adding to our knowledge of God? To genuinely love others better, we must take in solid truth and put feet and hands to our new understanding. Repeat God’s word over and over, write down your sermon take-aways, decide what your next action step will be and ask a friend to hold you accountable to doing it. Don’t just look at God’s Word, be radically transformed by it!

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

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
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!

The Community!

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

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

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. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? 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 :-))

The Why!

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.

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

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Battle!