Dwelling

The GT Weekend ~ Anchored Week Two

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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) To be pruned in a relationship with Jesus means we are growing deeper with Him! Colossians 2:6-7 has much for us in how we can grow deeper and remain anchored in truth. Write out these short verses on a notecard (or download the lockscreen!) and memorize them this weekend. Read the verse out loud to help you and write it out in different lettering on a journal page. As you meditate on it, what words is the Spirit pointing you towards specifically? Write those on your wrists to remind you of His truth and how He wants to anchor your heart in Him!

2) Have you ever considered your faith as means through which God equips you for your day-to-day life? Are you tempted to think of God, faith, or religion as an escape from the real world? Suppose God’s desire was to be your shelter in the middle of tumultuous circumstances. Suppose His Word was intended to equip you to extend His kingdom in the lives you come in contact with. How might your perspective shift on why you go to church or why you should read your Bible or why you are called to live authentically in biblical community? Write down specific ways you feel you are being stretched to grow deeper and extend the gospel further because of how God is equipping you!

3) Tawnya challenged us to reassess the foundational values behind phrases like, “you be you.” Write out some of your thoughts on this. What is attractive about these phrases? What assumptions does it make about the person and their core identity? In contrast, read through Colossians 3, writing out what our identity as believers is (not should be). Compare your thoughts on both of these and consider why one has a more secure foundational source than the other.

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 2:8-10 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Prayer Journal
Father, I know You came to set me free, but oh how often I am captivated by lesser loves. I throw myself at lies that look so appealing and I swallow them whole, looking for an antidote to my pain. But You died to set me free. You came to fill me, not partially but completely with Your flawless fullness. The glory of the godhead alive within me!

Remind me of the sweet satisfaction of submitting fully to Your rule and Your authority in the midst of my everyday. Have Your way, Lord Jesus, silencing the temptation to find shelter in any anchor but You.

Worship Through Community

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

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

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Anchored Day 5 Christology

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Colossians 1:15-23
John 14:8-9
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
John 1:1-3
Philippians 3:7-11

Anchored, Day 5

Paul was up against a fight.
Though he’d never met the believers in Colossae, he’d heard of their love and growing faith. He was also made aware of the false teachers and truth twisting impacting this small body of believers.  Like any good fight, the first blow matters, so Paul throws his hat in the ring to contend to the Colossians that Christ is supreme over all.

Fully God
Paul cuts to the chase when he states, “He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).  This means Jesus is the very representation of God’s being.  If we want to know what God is like, look to Jesus. In fact, Jesus Himself rebuked Philip for demanding to see the Father when He says, “The one who has seen me has seen the Father”. (John 14:9)

Likewise, later in Colossians 1:19, Paul expresses “For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him”.  The word dwell here literally means to abide lastingly or permanently. Paul wants his readers to understand Jesus was not simply a good teacher, a prophet, or a spirit being. He was and is fully God-Man. This was a direct jab at the heresy trying to wear down the truth of Christ’s deity.

Firstborn Over Creation
When verse 15 says “He is…the firstborn over all creation”, we are not being told that Jesus was a part of creation. Heretics in Paul’s day, and even in ours, would have us believe Jesus was simply the first to be created, and therefore, does not hold full deity status. We’ve already established Christ’s deity from the text, but what do we make of this little statement?  At first glance, it can be confusing! What we know by looking a little deeper is that the original Greek word used for firstborn (prototokos), refers not to origin or creation, but to rank, rights, and authority. This is affirmed by the fact that God has given His Son Jesus all authority over heaven and earth. (Matthew 28:17) Skipping ahead to verse 17, we are also told “He is before all things…”, establishing again, a sense of rank and order.

Creator of All Things
On the heels of proclaiming Christ’s position over creation, Paul pulls a quick one-two punch in describing Jesus as Creator Himself!  This was a bold statement that certainly communicated the eternal nature of Jesus to the Colossians. Paul was equating Jesus’ eternal nature with that of the Father, having no beginning and no end. While this taps into the theology of the trinity, what Paul is exalting here is Christ’s specific hand in creating all things “in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities”. (Colossians 1:16) He was there in the beginning! (John 1:1-3)

Having created all things is amazing enough, but Paul kicks the false teaching while it’s down by adding, “…and by him all things hold together”. (Colossians 1:17) Jesus not only created at one point in time, but in Him the fullness of God dwells forever so He is sustaining and continually upholding all of creation.  After these three punches, the opposing lies being fed to the Colossians were certainly staggering, but there’s more.

Reconciled by love
God was pleased to fully dwell in Christ, but what else pleased the Father?  Verse 20 tells us He was pleased to reconcile all things to Himself through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Why did God need to reconcile all things? Paul makes it clear that without the blood of Jesus, we (all mankind), are “alienated” (cut off, estranged) from God and hostile in our minds toward Him. (verse 21)

We may not like to think of ourselves as hostile toward God. That might even sound offensive. But it’s the truth about our rebel hearts.
What did God do?
It pleased Him to reconcile us “by making peace through his [Christ’s] blood, shed on the cross”. (Colossians 1:20)
Do you see it?
Jesus is the ultimate peace-maker!  He made peace by His blood, which made it possible for mankind to be brought back into fellowship with God.

If the other blows didn’t take the false teaching down, this final punch was certainly meant to knock it out of the church and proclaim Jesus Christ as the ruling, reigning champion over all creation.

Servants of the Gospel
Paul, a servant of the gospel, fought to make known these riches of Christ because He had already settled in his own heart Who surpasses all. (Philippians 3:7-11)
Oh may we do the same, looking to Christ who is fully God, firstborn over all, creator of all things, and the ultimate peace-maker. Since God has “rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13), let us “remain grounded and steadfast in the faith”, not shifting away from the hope of the gospel that we have heard. (Colossians 1:23)

Ready for more? Dig Deeper!
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Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

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 Anchored Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

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

Awaken Day 10 Place Of Worship

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Read His Words Before Ours!

I Kings 6:1-13
Psalm 84
John 1:1-18

Awaken, Day 10

What if I invited you to a place better than anywhere else you’d ever been?
What if you would be guaranteed protection and provision for all your needs?
You would know favor and honor there, and no good thing would be withheld from you.
In this place, like none other, you would be blessed.  
Would you want to know where this magical place was?
Would you even believe such a place existed?

Now, what if I told you this place was the church, God’s house?
What happened just now when you read that sentence?

Take a minute to consider your initial reaction to finding out that I am talking about the church.

I understand not every one of you reading this would enthusiastically affirm the church as the best place on earth.  The most boring, most filled with hypocrites, most fake, most hurtful place maybe. I know this because I have my own “church hurt.”
Sadly, I think many of us do.

So, what are we to do with Psalm 84 and this robust declaration of how great it is to be in the house of God?

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! (verse 1)
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. (verse 2)
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, ever singing Your praise! (verse 4)
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. (verse 10)

We must first understand this place of longing is not a place at all;
it is really a person: God Himself.

When the psalmist speaks of God’s “dwelling place, courts, altars, and house,” he could be referring to actual places: the tabernacle, temple, Zion, and today’s church building. But, if you read this psalm closely, you will note the psalmist is talking LESS, if at all, about a place and more, if not entirely, about a Person.

Even for the Old Testament believer, being near to the tabernacle or temple was all about being near to GOD and His Presence. The reason there is so much emphasis on a place is simply because in the Old Testament, God’s Presence could only be found in the actual place of the tabernacle or temple.  Psalm 43:4 says, “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy.” Here the Psalmist clarifies that when he goes to the altar of God (a place), he is going to meet God (a person) Who is his “exceeding joy.”
The longing is for God Himself.

I liken this to one’s purchase of concert tickets to see her favorite musician. Is it about the concert hall we grow excited? No. It’s who the concert hall will host. The concert hall becomes a means to an end, that of being as close as we can to our favorite musician.

For the New Testament believer, however,
we don’t have to trek to a place to be near to God.

I Corinthians 3:16 tells us we are now God’s temple, that God’s Spirit dwells within us.
So, to be near to God as described here in Psalm 84, to long for God’s dwelling place is really to long for God Himself who resides within our very beings.

At this point you may be asking, “Briana, does this mean I don’t need to go to church? Can I just take a walk in the woods, evoke the Presence of God there, lift my hands in worship to Him all by myself?”

Well, yes!
And, no.

God’s Word exhorts us to meet together with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). We need Christian community for both what we have to gain and give in that context. Scripture is clear about committing ourselves to a local gathering of believers in a covenantal way.  What that looks like for each of us may differ wildly, but the command for believers to be the church and live in community with one another is clear.

What we need to keep in mind is when we think about “church” being the place we meet with God, we need to not limit “church” by signage. Don’t assume that a sign outside of a building is proof of God’s presence working within its walls. Likewise, the absence of signage does not equate the absence of God’s profound Presence and the ways He is choosing to move within a body of committed believers.

When it comes to church and any hurt or disenchantment we may harbor in our hearts concerning it, we must remember that we are hurt by humans, disillusioned by institutions, and left longing because our desires are misplaced not, however, because God is not worthy of the worship and adoration as described in Psalm 84.

Our great God.
The One Who bestows favor and honor upon us.
Who perfectly provides and protects us according to His wisdom.
Who does not withhold good from us, can be found, trusted and adored.
This is the one our hearts should be longing and looking for
as we gratefully enjoy His abiding Presence!

When we find His winsome Presence in another person or a local group of people,
give thanks for God’s house!
Worship Him there.
Give out of the gifts God has generously deposited in you.
Remember that the place we may actually come to love is really because a Person dwells there, the Person of Christ, His Spirit and God our Father.

Ready for more? Dig Deeper!
Join us for every Journey Study by signing up!
Looking for yesterday’s Journey Study?
Share your thoughts from today’s Study!

Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

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 Awaken Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

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