The GT Weekend! ~ Surrender Week 1

January 28, 2023 by Carol Graft Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend! ~ Surrender Week 1

Carol Graft

January 28, 2023

Anchored,Courage,Faith,Freedom,GT Weekend

Rest your soul through reflective journaling,
praying Scripture,
and worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

This Week's Journeys

Pray His Words Back To Him!

Romans 8:29-30

For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.

Prayer Journal Entry

Thank you, Lord, for knowing me long before I knew You. Thank you for loving me even when I don’t see how any part of my situation, whether in the past or present, could possibly fit within Your plan. I don’t understand why I walk through hard challenges when You could remove them. It would be so easy for You to make my life smoother, Lord. From my perspective, the questions, hurts, and doubt could all be erased by an “easier life”.

So, I am faced with a question to either trust You as fully good, despite my pain and limited view, or choose to believe You’ve lied to me in Your Word. Help me to hold fast to what is true. I confess my unbelief; Lord, build my faith! Help me trust the depth of Your goodness extends far beyond my finite vision of my current reality. No matter what I am going through, You are working out Your good plan for me. Help me to see you in the midst of my every day, whether they are good days or bad. Teach my heart to trust you with steadfast surrender. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Worship Through Song

Journal Prompts

JOURNAL ONE

Astounding healings, provision, and deliverance from bondage are just a few of the miracles that leap from the pages of the Bible. It’s easy to focus on those incidents and say, “Yes, please!”, for we all want big miracles.

When we come to the end of our budget and the pantry seems bare, we hunger for the miracle of the loaves and fish to effortlessly replenish our lack. If we wrestle with chronic illness, we read the amazing healing of the hemorrhaging woman and ask, “Why not me, Lord?”

But God didn’t come to dwell in the flesh only to provide temporary fixes for our woes. Though he can, and often does, His “Come and See” bidding is meant as a far greater invitation to an eternal relationship with Him. The invitation can only be embraced through willing surrender.

We may not be called to leave behind jobs or families to follow Jesus, but it’s possible. When we come to Jesus open-hearted, fully surrendered, and repentant our lives will be changed. Christ will provide, often in ways we never considered. Through surrender, we find we are fully known and fully loved by the Savior of the world.

JOURNAL TWO

I was challenged and convicted by “Pride Or Intimacy” on Wednesday; if you haven’t read it, go there! Mary K. explained how easy it is to return to old sin patterns after becoming a believer. How many times have we wanted to snap back a sharp retort, painfully revealing we are choosing not to surrender to Christ. We all have places in our hearts we haven’t fully surrendered to Jesus.

Consider how often we’ve bypassed the ‘neighbor’ standing on the street corner holding a sign and lacked the compassion of our Lord. Are we engaging our literal neighbors? Or perhaps we’re excluding the neighbors we perceive as different from us.

As I was thinking of surrendering pride, I was reminded of the Journey Study, “Dining With Sinners”, which stories about the scandalous woman who dared anoint Jesus’ feet despite her outrageous sin. Still, she surrendered her pride and walked into Simon’s dinner party uninvited. She wasn’t just surrendering her pride, she was surrendering her history at the feet of Jesus, who lived in total surrender to Father God.

Christ surrendered Himself to a death-penalty we owed in order to extend us eternal life with Him.

JOURNAL THREE

Are you a type A personality? Do others gravitate towards you or shun you because you like to be in control? Even if you don’t fit these descriptions exactly, deep down, we all desire to be in control. Some more publicly than others. I don’t consider myself a controlling person…until…I am.

Still, God lovingly pursues us, calling us to live under his call of Surrender. Rebekah pointed to the Old Testament biographies of Abraham and Sarah, both of whom were called to complete surrender of their control. Surrendering our willful control to God, trusting Him in all the things is not easy, but it is essential. We can rest on the truth revealed in Romans 8:29-30 as we grow in our discipline of surrender.

God predestined us to be a part of His plan. Whether we believe Him now or are still searching for Him, we are known and loved. Though we may often be tempted to wrestle control from the Lord, stomping our feet in frustration, the Lord still pursues our hearts, wooing us to know Him as He knows us. He who knew you, and the paths you would take before you were born, knows what He is doing. He will be faithful to accomplish His good work in us!

Tags :

conform,control,courage,faith,spirit,surrender

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The GT Weekend! ~ Waiting Week 3

October 23, 2021 by Erin O'Neal Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend!

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

Worship Through Journaling

1) As we have explored the idea of waiting over the last three weeks, you may have wondered, how? How can I wait well? While we have discussed a few ways to wait well, on Monday, Rebekah gave us a clear, succinct summary of the how. She said the key to waiting victoriously is “meditating on the character of God as we walk by the Spirit.” She also reminded us that trust is built on relationship. How do you react when you become anxious or fearful in times of waiting? Are you focused on developing your relationship with the Lord or are you fixated on your fear or lack of control? Are you learning about His character, so you can trust Him in times of trouble? Consider getting a book about the attributes of God. You can also look up a list of the attributes of God (words that describe His character) and use a concordance or online resource to look up those words in your Bible. Take time to study our Journey Theme on His character, titled “He”. Ask God to use these resources and His word to reveal His character to you in new ways. As you learn about His character, you will likely find yourself waiting more victoriously.

2) Before my husband and I were married, we talked about the virtues of surprise versus anticipation. I love surprises, but I also love the feeling of anticipating something wonderful. Sometimes he would ask me if I wanted to be surprised or enjoy the anticipation of something we would do together later. As we wait for the return of King Jesus, we are able to enjoy the anticipation while also knowing we will be surprised by Him. How do you live your life in anticipation of His return? Are you walking faithfully today, steadfast and fervent in prayer? Are you rejoicing in the joy He has set before you? We all know this life offers pain in abundance, but as we are reminded in Lamentations (a book well acquainted with the sorrow and lament we face in life), the mercies of the Lord are new every morning. Where do you see the light of God’s mercy in your life? Where do you see Him working, even in difficult and desperate places in your life? Spend time today contemplating the great anticipation we have as we wait for the Lord.

3) We like to see, and deeply feel, redemption and healing over our broken places. We hope for it, we long for it, and we ache beyond words when that redemption doesn’t look the way we had dreamed. We don’t need to look far to find brokenness and heartache. Have you felt it this morning? Did you see its affects yesterday? It’s with good reason Scripture reads, “we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains.” (Romans 8:22) One day, Sisters, one day redemption will be made complete. All broken things will be restored and our surrendered ashes will be forever transformed into beauty. I know, the waiting seems impossible. It doesn’t feel worth placing our trust in a God we cannot see for results we cannot control. Sister, He Is Good. His redemption is Good. More so, His redemption is sure and certain. Surrendering to Him while we groan and wait with hope is worth it. He’s the only One who is worth trusting for our one-day-coming-beauty. How will you start waiting with Hope?

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 Psalm 27:7-9, 13:-14 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Prayer Journal
Our Father, high above all things. You work everything in Your perfect time. We wait for Your will with great anticipation. We know that one day, You will make all things new and redeem all things to Yourself. May we be quick to remember Your goodness, Your faithfulness, and Your great righteousness. The whole earth is groaning, awaiting the return of the one true King. And yet, in my day-to-day struggles, I often lose sight of the big picture. I get so bogged down in the monotony and difficulty of my earthly struggles, that I forget the greatness of the plan You have for Your people. Help me to rejoice in the greatness of who You are and all You have done for me. I will rejoice in You, my Lord! And when the burdens of life seem too great, help me to look to You and be strengthened, that even in my suffering, You would be magnified as LORD of ALL!

Worship Through Community

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Worship Through Music

The GT Weekend! ~ Focus Week 3

September 7, 2019 by Rebecca Adams Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend!

Worship Through Journaling

1) Control. We all love it. We all seek after it in varying degrees, with varying motives, and with varying degrees of success, yet we all crave it. So where are you today? Where are you lusting after control? What do you wish you could, or maybe are glad you do, have control over? Kendra reminds us that there is only One who holds the corner on all wisdom, all sovereignty, and all power. While He cannot be manipulated by us, He will allow us to have our way and fight to hold that power in our hands at the expense of His wisdom flowing through our lives. So, as you take stock, pray for His wisdom to overtake your own. Pray for your hands to loosen their grip and your heart to hunger for His ways instead of yours.

2) Surrendering our perceived “right” to judge another with condemnation places us in a position to love instead of pass judgement with arrogance and pride. I’m challenging all of us, myself included, to make a short list of the last 5-7 people or instances where we flippantly passed judgement from a place of “we know better”. Now, stop everything, and pray for those people, those circumstances, and finally, pray for your own heart. Pray for a tender awareness to stop condemning and start loving instead. Pray for the Spirit to teach us to abide with Jesus first and then lovingly engage people for the sake of the gospel, not what we think they should or should not be doing. Turn that “short-list” into a prayer list, and see what the Lord will do!

3) Think through the process you went through as you made a decision recently. Maybe it was an important, weighty one, or maybe it was something simple; regardless, the manner in which you approached the decision reflects quite a bit about your faith, what you believe about God, and the posture of your heart. Read through Sara’s Journey yesterday and consider the steps she laid out for processing a decision. How have you experienced good from the Lord because you were wise in your decision process?

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 26:4 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Trust in the Lord forever, because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!

Prayer Journal
Creation speaks of you. Every leaf, every blade of grass, every puff of wind, all declaring You moment by moment. The tilt of the earth on its axis, the roll of the tide in tandem to the pull of the moon, the blood pulsing through our veins, all of it points to You as Creator and author from beginning to end. Yet, I still find myself again and again choosing my ways and my ‘wisdom’ over Yours. You, who know all, see all, understand all, and is sovereign over all, have delighted to share Yourself with me. Unimaginable! Lord, redirect my thoughts and plans. I long to be wise, to follow Your wisdom. Teach me to abandon myself over to You again and again.

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

Focus Day 12 Giving Space And Losing Control: Digging Deeper

September 3, 2019 by Melodye Reeves Leave a Comment

Digging Deeper Days

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

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Giving Space And Losing Control!

The Questions

1) Does verse 13 prohibit or discourage believers from making plans?

2) Does the warning to the rich (5:1) connect to the previous verses in chapter 4?

James 4:13-5:6

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. 15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.
Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. 4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous, who does not resist you.

Original Intent

1) Does verse 13 prohibit or discourage believers from making plans?
We can know that James is not discouraging planning because of what he says in verse 15. He isn’t dealing with man’s plans as much as he is encouraging the reader to consider God’s sovereign rule in everything, just as the writer of Proverbs does: “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail” (Proverbs 19:21) and “Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you don’t know what a day might bring.” (Proverbs 27:1) Both Bible authors are expressing what God intends our posture to be towards Him, and what our attitude should be as we make plans. Under the influence of the Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21), James was recalling and emphasizing these Old Testament principles. Neither the writer of Proverbs nor James prohibit planning. In fact, there are many Proverbs that encourage it! (Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 16:3, Proverbs 24:27, and Proverbs 6:6-8) The focus is our need for humility and dependence on God as we plan, recognizing that He is in control of our present and future.

2) Does the warning to the rich (5:1) connect to the previous verses in chapter 4?
Bible scholars disagree about who James is directly addressing in James 4:13-5:6 (studylight.org). Whether he was speaking to those inside or outside the church, it’s clear that his appeal was urgent and serious and meant to be heard by all. James makes the same connection in chapters 4 and 5 that we find in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus told a story about a man who made plans for himself regarding his money. (Luke 12:16-21) This man proved his arrogance in the way he misused what was in his possession. James’ mention of the cause for their fights and quarrels (4:1-2) gives us insight into the attitude that had crept in to the hearts of his hearers. Self-sufficiency was evidently taking the place of dependence on God. There were those in the church who had been influenced by an egotistical perspective which puts man in control rather than God. (James 4:6-10 ) James’ serious words in 4:13 and 5:1 take a similar tone to the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah. (Isaiah 10:1-2) The first words in both verses, “come now”, were meant to get the audience’s attention and reveal their self-reliance regarding their plans and possessions. The Expositor’s Greek Testament explains that “this expression of disapproval occurs only in 4:13 and in James 5:1 in the New Testament” and has a similar meaning to the phrase “woe is you.”

3) The Bible plainly teaches that overt disobedience to God is sin, sometimes called a ‘sin of commission’; but how serious is it to simply neglect to do what is good, sometimes called a ‘sin of omission’? (verse 17)
We don’t find the phrases “sin of omission” and/or “sin of commission” mentioned specifically in the Scriptures. But the Bible contains many verses which mention sin as a result of not doing something God’s Word commands us to do, as well as those sins a person deliberately commits. In the New Testament, Jesus uses a parable to compare a righteous Samaritan to an unrighteous priest and a Levite. The latter, knowing what was good, failed to do it. The former demonstrated his compassion by stopping to assist a man in need (Luke 10:30-37). In His story, Jesus was making it clear that not doing the good thing was sinful. In Matthew 25:42-46 , those who are separated from Christ are the ones who saw others’ needs but did not provide for them. There was not intentional harm done, but there was an absence of intentional good. The subtlety of this kind of sin, sin of omission, is what makes this passage so serious. Just as neglecting the needy is unrighteous, so is the kind of pride that causes a lack of acknowledgment of God’s sovereign rule in our lives. “The Lord does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depth.” Psalm 135:6

Everyday Application

1) Does verse 13 prohibit or discourage believers from making plans?
Paul told Timothy that all Scripture was to be used in our learning. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) As we examine the many Bible passages that speak to some of our questions, we discover what the writers are teaching us through the wider lens. We know James is not instructing the Christian to stop making plans because of what the whole Bible teaches. Solomon repeatedly referred to the wisdom of planning. He even connected it to our possessions and how planning affects our future. Jesus also taught that planning was beneficial. (Luke 14:28-32) The slippery slope for us is failing to acknowledge how God is ultimately in control of every plan we make. We don’t have to verbally say “if the Lord wills” every time we plan something, but we certainly should have that thought in our heart and it should change our outlook and attitude about all our plans and encounters throughout the every day.

2) Does the warning to the rich (5:1) connect to the previous verses in chapter 4?
Most Christians would probably admit that much of their anxiety stems from something related to their finances or possessions. It is difficult to hold material things so loosely that if we lose them, we remain content. What we have can became a source of false security for us. When we let worry infest our living, we can unintentionally become hoarders instead of helpers. We can become keepers, not givers. Failure to daily see God as our sole Life giver and Lifesaver allows too much space in our hearts for the things of the world to move in and reside.
It’s important to maintain humility as we go through our lives, knowing it’s God who has given us everything we have, and He is also the One working in and through every plan to produce something good in and for us. (1 Corinthians 4:7, Romans 8:27-28) Once we learn to focus on His goodness and generosity, we can free ourselves to help others, rather than take advantage of them or oppress them for our own gain.

3) The Bible plainly teaches that overt disobedience to God is sin, sometimes called a ‘sin of commission’; but how serious is it to simply neglect to do what is good, sometimes called a ‘sin of omission’? (verse 17)
Sometimes it’s harder to see our sins of omission. We can become proud of our obedience in the way we avoid overt sins and can miss the grief we bring to the heart of God by our lack of “doing good” when given the opportunity. Though it takes time and intentional practice, it is vital that those of us who desire to please God recognize our dependence on Him. As we begin our day looking at our calendars, we can direct our attention toward Him. Do you see the “watermark” of God’s will on every page of your life’s journal? We should. It’s there in the background of our lives. The jobs we have, the money we make, the kids we raise, the friends we meet … what we commit to and what we omit should all be viewed in light of God’s will. When we take that first step of the day, let’s not neglect acknowledging His presence, His purpose, and His power in our every moment. To fail to do so is sin, and we don’t desire to grieve Him.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Giving Space And Losing Control!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

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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 :-))

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Focus Day 11 Giving Space And Losing Control

September 2, 2019 by Kendra Kuntz Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

James 4:13-5:6
Proverbs 8:22-36
Jonah 1

Focus, Day 11

I sat at her kitchen island, just as I’ve done dozens of times, while we chatted about everything from her husband eating her famous sugar cookies even though they were stale, to how we both need accountability to get stuff done.
We laughed, we cried, and we talked about the Lord.
Then, as always, she said something profound. Had it been a morsel of food, it would’ve made my jaw sore from the chewing I’ve done over it.

“Don’t we all try to play God at times?
When we make decisions on our own outside of Him, even minor ones, we are taking control into our own hands and trying to play God. It is a sin every time.”

Mic drop.

How many times have I tried to play God?
How many times have I greatly impacted my life and my future because I forgot God is the sovereign One?
Lots; lots and lots of times.

I have thrown wisdom and God’s sovereignty to the wayside in pursuit of what my flesh and human heart felt best. I have placed my treasure in worldly values like human love, home decor, clothing, and my own vain pursuits. I’ve spent time in Scripture, studying the exact verses we just read, (up at the top, seriously, read His Words before mine!) and yet, I stubbornly refused to seek His wisdom or surrender to His sovereignty.

I am guilty of trying to play God.

About nine months ago, my world came crashing in.
Literally nothing in my life looks the same today.
Different house.
Different car.
Different family make-up.
and the list goes on….

As the walls caved in, I told the Lord:
“I’ve tried to do it without You. I’ve done things my way because I didn’t trust You, and I’m through. I’m done with that. From this moment on, You must have all control because I’ve made a mess by myself.”

Has this change come easily? Nope. In fact, I struggle every single day to surrender to Him.

I struggled to surrender when He told me to let go of a relationship I was clinging to with all of my might.

I struggled to surrender when He told me to give my Aldi gift card to a family while they were grocery shopping.

I struggled to surrender when I thought I felt I should pursue a job He told me not to pursue.

I struggled to surrender when He didn’t heal my sister on this side of Heaven.

Even still, I’m telling ya’ sister, my life is infinitely richer when I surrender control and pursue His wisdom over mine.

On Sunday, our pastor talked a bit about Jonah, the prophet who ran in the literal opposite direction of where God was calling Him. As I thought about Jonah and his infamous journey, which God still used (because He’s sovereign) to redeem an entire city,
I was reminded of my own “opposite-direction-journeys”.

Many times, God has given me clear direction in His word or by His Spirit, and I’ve literally turned the opposite way, running as fast as possible. Sometimes, I’ve tripped over my own feet so quickly, it wasn’t long before I humbly returned to give God back my surrendered heart.

However, there have been times where I took off running with a nice pace going before realizing I’d been running away and was now quickly drowning as a result of my prideful insistence on my own ways. Here, God has come to my rescue, pulling me from the waves just as Jesus did with Peter so many years ago.
I don’t want to be Jonah.

While I’m so thankful God can still redeem our disobedience when we try to “Play God”, it would be great if I never had to trip or drown to begin with.

Our lives are fleeting. We are just vapors in the wind of time.
How foolish of me to spend my life running from the One who loves me most!
How foolish of me to trust my life to my own futile hands!
Doesn’t it only make sense to trust the Almighty Father who sees and knows everything for He alone is the giver of Wisdom?!

I complained to my therapist recently about how busy I’d been.
I hadn’t accomplished anything I had wanted to because other things kept popping up.

“Are you praying about if God actually wants you to do the things that keep ‘popping up’?”, he asked.
“Um… no”, I said with an embarrassed giggle.
Because DUH! Why wouldn’t I ask Him?
Following God, surrendering our lives to His control and infinite wisdom is sometimes simpler than we make it out to be.
It’s praying about who to spend our time on.
It’s praying about where to emotionally or monetarily invest.
It’s praying about when to say no to a ministry and when to say yes.
Because living out His wisdom begins with the realization that He is sovereign, we are not, and His ways are better than my foolish, prideful attempts at control.

I get it! It’s easy to get caught up in trying to do what looks or feels right, that we leave God out. But “playing God” never ends well.

When we surrender to the loving Father,
we are giving space for His wisdom to press into us and overflow onto others.

Sisters, I feel like we’ve just finished eating a Thanksgiving meal in ten minutes… we’ve shoved so much into our mouths we are having a hard time chewing. So, pause, maybe re-read this Journey or the verses at the beginning (because you did that, right?!), and ask the Lord to illuminate His Wisdom just for you.

Take time tomorrow to dig deeper by doing the “Digging Deeper” that follows this Journey. (and if you aren’t waking up to that in your inbox, start now!)
Together, let’s choose God’s wisdom as we daily, moment-by-moment surrender to His sovereign, loving control.

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

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The GT Weekend ~ Seeds Week 1

May 11, 2019 by Rebecca Adams Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend!

Worship Through Journaling

1) When have you experienced a season of waiting and feeling empty? What did it look like as those areas were filled and redeemed by the Lord? Our empty places aren’t always filled the way we envision them, but every situation we give over to the Lord is transformed by His filling. When we relinquish control of our everyday moments, we open them up to being filled by the Spirit and used by Him. Decide to look intentionally for where the Spirit is leading and filling instead of rushing by these moments and filling them with our agendas. Consider writing “filled” somewhere in your home, car, or even your wrist as a reminder to give over control to the Lord, waiting for Him to fill.

2) It’s one to thing to say yes to the Lord when He asks you to specifically do something, but it’s a different heart attitude to be willfully submissive to whatever he calls us into. Jesus doesn’t call us into ‘categorized obedience’ where we can control the outcome and the game plays, He asks for total submission. When we do, Real Life breaks through and lives are transformed for eternity! How will you begin practicing saying “yes” as part of your everyday?

3) In what ways does the “easy lie” of “striving is required to please God” pop up in your life? Look for ways you seek to control, or ways you feel burdened or weighed down, or consider the expectations (and their source) you spend time, energy, and emotion working to meet. Hidden inside life with Christ, peace buoys and joy comes and freedom is unleashed, even in the maddening moments of everyday life precisely because striving has ceased. The Lord cannot love you more than He does in this moment, and He will never love you less! What physical markers can you put around you to remind yourself of this truth? Consider setting an alarm on your phone with a helpful label to keep you focused

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Colossians 3:1-4 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Prayer Journal
Your thoughts, my plans. Your power, my weakness. Your infinite knowledge, my narrow-minded and limited perspective. How could you consider using me to expand Your Kingdom and do Your work? Yet, You do. All of those weak limitations are altogether transformed in the light of Your offer of redemption.

Remind me, Spirit, constantly, to seek the things above; the things of Christ. Train my heart to focus on You and the life You give and the obedience You call me to as I move through my day, interact with my kids, spend money, and chat with friends. Prepare me to be ready to say yes to You at any moment regardless of what it could cost me. How I love You, Lord! Thank You for hiding my life in Yours!

Worship Through Community

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Worship Through Prayer

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Seeds Day 3 Will You Say Yes?

May 8, 2019 by Merry Ohler Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

Acts 2:42-47
Acts 4:32-37
Ezekiel 11:19-20
Matthew 5:14-16

Seeds, Day 3

The autumn sky was pitch dark outside my window, but I read my Bible by the light of the lamp as I sipped my coffee. As I turned the page, a question nudged my spirit.

Will you say yes?

I set my coffee cup down on the table beside me. “Yes to what?” I wondered aloud. “What are You asking me to do?” I waited, listening intently, but my question was met with silence so I turned my attention back to the Scriptures I had been reading. My children began to stir, and soon my once quiet time was peppered with squeals and laughter as our morning began with gusto.

A few days passed, but in the middle of the mundane, His quiet question pressed into my spirit again.

Will you say yes?

I took a breath. So this is going to be one of THOSE kinds of conversations, huh? I thought. Okay, I’ll bite. “I don’t understand, Father,” I responded. “I don’t know what You’re asking. How can I give you an answer when I don’t even know what You’re asking me to do?”

Silence again. Go figure, I thought ruefully.

Another week or so went by before He pressed again, as I scrubbed pots and pans in my kitchen sink.

Will you say yes?

Conviction split through my spirit as understanding washed over me. He wasn’t asking me to do something in that very moment. He was asking if I would be obedient when He called on me.

Tears filled my eyes and repentance flooded my heart. Yes, Father. Of course, I will. Forgive me for putting my desire for knowledge and control above your authority. Yes. I will say yes, whatever it is You ask of me.

Have you ever been there, friend? Faced with the realization that your devotion to God was not as deep or all-encompassing as you had thought? Me too.

I think part of the issue is that we don’t understand what it means to really be devoted to something or someone. A quick Google search tells us the word devote is defined as giving all or a large portion of one’s time or resources to something.

Acts 2 tells us the early believers were devoted to four things:

the Apostles’ teaching (what we now know as Scripture)
to fellowship
to the breaking of bread
to prayer

Can we say the same, Loves?

If we are forced to take a hard look at our lives and where we consistently choose to invest our most valuable resources, can we truthfully say we give all or a large portion of our time or resources to studying the Word? To fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ? To eating meals together in our homes – with others who are not a part of our nuclear family? To prayer?

Or are we devoted to:

our favorite TV show?
our social media?
our relationships?
our career?
our self?

Will you receive a little more truth in grace from me today, friend? Do you think maybe one of the reasons the church in America is not seeing the exponential growth we see happening in other countries is because we don’t have our priorities and life rhythms in the right place?

What do you think it would it look like if we made a shift, right now, today?

What would it look like if instead of carving out fifteen minutes during our morning routine, we suddenly, passionately craved studying the Word day and night?
What would happen if we didn’t naturally have that desire, but we prayed and asked God to cultivate it in us?

What would it look like if we began to spend the majority of our time investing in the relationships of our families, yes, but also our other brothers and sisters in Christ? What if we began to open our homes and schedules, and began to pour into those who’ve been adopted into God’s family with us?

What would it look like if we began to share our meals and tables and hearts with others? If we began to organically introduce others to Christ, not through posts on social media or t-shirts with faith-filled sayings, but through the way we actually live and love as representatives of Christ on earth?

What would it look like if we became a people devoted to prayer, to dialoguing with the Trinity without ceasing?

Do you feel that, Love? If you have a personal relationship with Christ, that stirring is the Holy Spirit inside of you. As daughters of God and followers of Jesus, we were made to live this way. Anything less is not His best for us or those around us, and His Spirit within us cries out for more.

If you don’t yet have a personal relationship with Christ, that stirring is from Jesus, calling you to Himself. He longs to fill you and soothe your ragged edges. To replace your world-weariness with peace and your life with purpose. To replace your isolation with belonging.

He’s asking every one of us a question today, Loves. What will you say?

Father, we love You and praise you. Thank you for loving us enough to correct us. Thank You for providing a way for us to be with You always. Foster in us a hunger for Your Word, for time spent in Your presence, for fellowship with other believers. Show us when we are feeding habits that do not align with Your heart for us, and help us to recognize ways we can shift our lifestyles to model those who first followed You. We need a change in our country, in our world. We know that you are the only One Who can bring restoration and healing, and we are all in. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Screenshot Day 14 The Story Isn’t Over: Digging Deeper

September 6, 2018 by Rebecca Adams 2 Comments

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 The Story Isn’t Over!

The Questions

1) What does this passage teach us about Satan’s relationship to God?

2) Why does Job have a “hedge of protection” and “blessings” from the Lord?

3) What would it have meant for Job to “curse” God to His “face”?

Job 1:9-12

9 Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

12 “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

Original Intent

1) What does this passage teach us about Satan’s relationship to God?
It first tells us they actually have a relationship in that God does not “ignore” Satan or his evil workings; God is intricately involved and has full knowledge of all Satan’s schemes. Additionally, Satan is very much under the control of the Lord God; Satan does not have any power that is not first allowed by God. It’s important to know that while Satan is the archenemy of God, they are not on equal footing, not even close! When comparing power and authority, The Lord God holds all of it, only allowing Satan to have a certain measure of power because of the current fallen state of the world we live in. Our world is sinful because we, as humanity, have chosen it. The Lord graciously allowed humanity to have “free choice” in who we would worship, either God or Satan. In our sinful, arrogant ways, when left to our own choice, we choose to worship Satan by pridefully loving ourselves more than God.

2) Why does Job have a “hedge of protection” and “blessings” from the Lord?
The word “hedge” has a cross-reference (noted by a subscript letter that correlates to other Scripture verses) to Psalm 3:3 and Psalm 34:7. Both of these, and their surrounding verses, refer to God sheltering, shielding, delivering, and saving His children because they cried out to Him, trusted Him, and feared Him (as in, stood in awe of Him and His authority). Protection from what? The Enemy and his attacking schemes. This hedge is precisely what Satan is referring to in regard to Job. In essence, Satan is saying, “Of course Job trusts You, God! You are protecting Him with Your power and impenetrable shield!” Satan argues with God that if the hedge were removed and the blessings God has given Job were taken away, Job would easily fall prey to Satan’s desires for Job to curse God and be spiritually separated from God.

3) What would it have meant for Job to “curse” God to His “face”?
To curse, or blaspheme, God is to discredit Him and speak irreverently about God, His Word, or His character. Job made it his regular habit to intercede for his children, praying for them in the event they had “cursed God in their hearts”. To curse God “to His face” carries significant weight. The psalmist writes in Psalm 10:3 of cursing God as being equal to renouncing Him entirely, this would be similar to what Satan is describing here to God about his hoped-for-response from Job if blessings were removed. This would be a complete abandonment of the relationship with God from Job’s perspective. God used similar language in Isaiah 65:2-3 in describing Israel’s rejection of God. Later in Job’s story, his wife urges Job to simply “curse God and die”, as the result of cursing God would be death. (Job 2:9)

Everyday Application

1) What does this passage teach us about Satan’s relationship to God?
Do you fear Satan? Are you ever afraid of what the Enemy might do, or ways he might attack you or the ones you love? Only the Lord God has the power and authority to see all things, know all things, and be present everywhere at every moment. Satan has none of those powers. The Enemy cannot know your thoughts, but God knows every intricate detail about you including your thoughts, your words, your motives, and the hairs on your head. (Psalm 139:4, Luke 12:7) Satan cannot do anything beyond the extremely limited amount of power the Lord God allows, which means that we can live free of fear from Satan and his attacks. Hide yourself in the shelter of the Most High God and cling to the truth that He alone is our stronghold. (Psalm 91:1-2, Psalm 59) If God is for us, as Christ followers, who can be against us?! (Romans 8:31)

2) Why does Job have a “hedge of protection” and “blessings” from the Lord?
God’s nature is to protect and defend and guard His beloved. Sit with that for a moment. Do you ever worry that you’ve made God angry so He will no longer protect you, as if He were a fickle parent or friend? He will not abandon His character based upon your choices; His love for you is unchanging and unconditional. He loves to protect His own and He loves to bless us and give us good gifts. (Matthew 7:11) However, like Job modeled, we cannot associate God’s physical blessings in our lives with God’s presence. God is a gracious, generous, protecting God, but He never guarantees our safety or the permanence of physical or relational blessing. In this passage, we see God lift a portion of His “hedge” of protection, and later, even Job’s family died and blessings were removed from Job’s life, but God never once abandoned Job nor did His good character change. Take it from Job, enjoy the gifts of God, praise Him for them, fear Him only, trust Him whole-heartedly and He will faithfully protect you. But when His protection looks different than you expect or His blessings are removed for a time, trust His character and His good Father heart!

3) What would it have meant for Job to “curse” God to His “face”?
Cursing God to His face is a stubborn insistence that we hate Him, we reject Him and despise Him; it’s a total renouncing of God Himself. This is clearly Satan’s end goal, not only for Job, but also for every created person, past, present, and future. For anyone to renounce God spells victory for Satan, but utter loss and destruction for a soul. The truth is that each of us, in our core, have renounced God to His face. We have each stubbornly chosen to set ourselves as rulers over our lives. But the gracious, good news of Jesus Christ brings hope! While we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6-8) He sacrificed Himself, even as we spat in His face, cursing Him. That is radical love! By His grace, He offers us a path of restoration, a way to come home. When we acknowledge that yes, indeed, we do want to be our own god. We would rather choose sin over God’s ways. And yes, we see how that sin does separate us from a Holy God, we have come to a place where we can ask Jesus to save us from ourselves and span the gap with His own righteousness in place of our sinfulness. Saying Yes to Jesus, frees us from the curse of Sin and unshackles us from the dominion of Satan!

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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.

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Misunderstood Day 1 The Root Of All Evil?

May 7, 2018 by Christine Wood 2 Comments

Read His Words Before Ours!

Exodus 20:1-6
Proverbs 3:1-10
1 Timothy 6:6-16
Luke 18:18-30

Misunderstood, Day 1

Money is a huge part of our lives. We need it to live! Most of us spend the majority of our waking hours, during the most productive years of our adult lives, working for money.

Money appears to represent so much that is evil in our world.
The rich exploit the poor to gain excessive wealth.
Consumerism and materialism grip so much of the world.
Spending more than we earn, and more than we can afford, on things we don’t need is normal.
We measure success by the size of our house, the make of our car, and the width of our television screen.

The Bible talks about money often.
Jesus preached on the topic of money more often than my pastor dares to.
Jesus knew the powerful temptation that money represents.

It is no wonder that Jesus taught that money is the root of all kinds of evil!
Right?
Well, not exactly…

Rather, it is the LOVE of money
that is the root of evil.
And not even “all” evil at that, as is often misquoted!

The Bible never teaches that wealth is in itself evil.
It is not sinful to be wealthy, or have a high income.
However, when we devote our heart to money,
when we love money more than God,
it is an idol, and it becomes a stronghold of the devil in our lives.

God cares about what we love.
The greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart.“
God must come first.
God must be the one who captures the fullness of our heart and our devotion, not just a piece of it.

The second of the Ten Commandments, “Do not make an idol,” is as equally relevant for us today as it was to the children of Israel thousands of years ago, as they were surrounded by pagan nations worshipping man-made statues of wood and stone. In our modern culture, we worship man-made possessions with just as much devotion, and it is just as dangerous to our relationship with God as it was to God’s first chosen people.

God has been teaching me to trust in Him, not my money.
He wants my full heart.

My husband has always been a small business owner and entrepreneur. Throughout our 25 year marriage, we have known seasons of plenty and of need. Our last season of need lasted for three, long years. We made the difficult decision to sell our large, beautiful home, and move into a much smaller rental property. We sold around a third of our furniture and other possessions so we could move comfortably into a much smaller space.
At the time we felt like we had failed our family,
and we grieved for our loss.

That happened over a year ago now, and we have learned so much from the experience.
God is very good, and He always knows what is best for us.

We didn’t expect to enjoy the freedom of being out of debt. It was a weight that we had been carrying for so long that we didn’t realise how heavy it was to hold. We weren’t aware of the amount of time, work, worry and stress it was taking for us to maintain and manage all of our possessions.
There is a peace and contentment in our lives now
because we have learned much from owning less and needing less.

Money has a way of capturing our hearts
and giving us a false sense of security.

Without recognising it, we put our security in money.
We rely on the material possessions we acquire for our stability.
We put our trust in ourselves, and our ability to supply our needs, to protect ourselves, and be completely self-sufficient and independent.
When we have plenty of money, we don’t need God.

One night, Jesus met a man who found his security in his wealth. He was a fine, upstanding young man; the kind that I would be happy for one of my daughters to marry. He was a good man; he carefully followed the Old Testament law to the letter, and he was very wealthy. He came to Jesus earnestly seeking. “What must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus knew his heart.
He knew his wealth had captured the devotion of his heart,
so Jesus asked him to give it away.
“Sell everything you have and give it to the poor”, invited Jesus.
Sadly, this rich young man left heavy-hearted.
He couldn’t give it up.
He loved his money more than God.

There is nothing innately wrong with money. It’s just a thing. There are many examples of wealthy people in the Bible, Old and New Testament. God promised the Patriarchs wealth as a sign of blessing if they followed Him faithfully (Genesis 17:4-6). There were new converts in the early church who sold property to share their wealth with the poor (Acts 2:44-45).

The issue isn’t money.
The issue is love.
What do you love?

God is still slowly teaching me, day by day, to love Him above all else.
I can be tempted by the illusion of prestige and comfort that money provides,
but I am becoming more aware that
real security and peace comes from the presence of God in my life.
True contentment is found in His promise to provide everything I need.

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