Enduring

If Day 8 Easy Life

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 3:8-13
Isaiah 1:11-19
Luke 9:23-25
Philippians 3:7-11
Ephesians 1:3-1

If, Day 8

What if God gave Christians an easy life?
A life free from pain and sorrow;
everything went as desired without any discernible problems.
Life would be sweet, right?

This may seem appealing, but if it were so, we would feel we earned an easy life through salvation. Salvation would be like a business transaction; a contract initiated between two parties, and consummated; chapter closed. In other words, once we pray to Jesus for salvation and receive an easy life, the whole deal is completed.
Let each party continue on;
no need for any abiding relationship with Him;
we have what we wanted.

If salvation was simply an exchange to ensure ease in this present life, would that fulfill God’s intent for salvation? No, God’s plan for our salvation reaches far beyond physical ease. His plan is to restore us back to an abiding relationship with Him, repairing what we have broken through our sin.

In the garden of Eden, our ancestors committed treason against God. Their desire to be as powerful as God made them eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. (Genesis 3:1-7) Immediately, their expectations of self-glory turned to disaster: they ended up with nothing except guilt, shame, and death. So, they went into hiding; they could not face the Holy God with Whom they’d once freely fellowshipped. Sin created a barrier between them and their Creator.

Scripture says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

The sin of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, became our sin because we came into existence through them. But God, Who is rich in grace and mercy, out of His great love set in motion a way to restore the lost relationship. When Adam and Eve hid, He sought them out, calling, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

His voice, calling out for His lost children, echoes through the generations. We hear Him calling out to the Israelites who abandoned Him for other gods, saying, “Come, let’s settle this”. (Isaiah 1:18a) Again and again, God declared His plan for restoring man back to an enduring relationship with Him.

The Lord Jesus also made this clear when He lamented over Jerusalem, saying, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

Furthermore, He seeks relationship rather than mere behavior modification; the Lord Jesus told His disciples to remain in Him, and He in them, for without Him they could do nothing (John 15:4-5). Again, to demonstrate His commitment to establishing a relationship with them, He said, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:13-14)

Though He directly addressed His disciples, His words are also for us. He laid down His life for us all, and we are also His friends. What is more, He became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) What amazing love!

Sometimes I imagine the Lord Jesus on the cross, His hands and feet nailed, His head carrying a crown of thorns, and blood oozing over His body. Above all, carrying the weight of our sins upon Himself resulted in excruciating agony and total separation from the Father. He is left all alone, abandoned to the consequence of our sins.

Often, I end up shedding tears because my heart cannot comprehend such indescribable love. Sisters, how could such great love and sacrifice possibly be diluted down to the cold distance of a business-like transaction for an easy life?

We see this practically in the life of Apostle Paul when he came to terms with the reality of Christ’s love. His greatest desire was to enjoy a deep relationship with Jesus Christ.

“But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8)

As Paul vividly explains, there’s nothing to be cherished in life more than having a deep relationship with our Savior and Maker. Our desire to be free from the problems of this present life should not override our commitment to loving Him. Our love for Him should motivate us to go through every hardship in Him, rather than to simply enjoy an easy life outside of Him.

Standing upon His promise that nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ, let us embrace the Jesus-life, with its joys and sorrows, valuing above all else a deeply relational walk with our Savior.

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Beloved Day 14 Catching Foxes: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

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

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Catching Foxes!

The Questions

1) How do you catch the foxes?

2) How do the little foxes ruin the vineyards?

3) Why does it matter if the vineyards are in bloom or not? Wouldn’t foxes always be a concern?

Song of Solomon 2:!5

Catch the foxes for us—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.

Original Intent

1) How do you catch the foxes?
Writing this study might be my most difficult writing assignment, easily requiring more research than any other. True confession, Song of Solomon isn’t a book I typically spend much time reading, I’m not even sure I had read the entire book until this study! While its imagery is difficult to understand and interpret, my husband says that telling stories allows difficult concepts to be more easily understood because suddenly, they become relatable.
At the moment, I’m on a plane traveling with a friend to a women’s retreat. Using these few uninterrupted hours to bang this out has been my intention for a couple of weeks. The problem is my traveling companion is watching the Chiefs game on her phone and I keep glancing over to check the score. Let’s be honest, watching Patrick Mahomes make amazing plays is more intriguing (and easier!) than working to unpack a hard passage of Scripture! This is when I realized this football game is a fox! Before you can catch a fox, you need to understand they are lurking about. In his song, Solomon uses a relevant example, a story if you will, his readers would understand. Vineyards were prevalent, and readers would understand the care and attention needed to keep these little creatures out of their just-blooming grapes. The comparison between foxes that destroy fruit and distractions that destroy relationships with our spouse and with God would make sense. The best way to catch a fox is first to realize they will come prowling! Next, is to develop safeguards or boundaries to keep them at bay.

2) How do the little foxes ruin the vineyards?
Song of Solomon graphically depicts the love shared between a husband and wife, providing an example for celebrating love within marriage from God’s perspective. Its poetic song would have stuck out to its original audience as missing some then-common components like manipulation, false-god worship and sacrifice, and using sex as a means of achieving something else. Song of Solomon celebrates marriage, celebrates committed love for spouses, and celebrates shared love that stays between a husband and wife. To safeguard such a beautiful rarity, the Lord included some warnings within this amazing love song like this one about catching foxes that ruin the vineyard. While the Song was originally written to celebrate, and give wise counsel for, a marriage relationship, we can make some connections to our relationship with God from the Song. In the Old Testament, God often used marriage to illustrate His divine relationship with His people. Check out the book of Hosea and our accompanying Journey Theme, Bride, for some amazing insights! The foxes in Solomon’s song smell the blossoming grapes and are hungry, they are looking for food. More than likely the foxes aren’t sitting back thinking, “I can’t wait to get in there and destroy that vineyard.” No, they are simply looking to satisfy their hunger. Being aware of sabotages, and setting up safeguards, boundaries, or traps for these sly foxes would have been familiar to the first readers. Given the context, they would have made the correlation between vineyards and their hearts.

3) Why does it matter if the vineyards are in bloom or not? Wouldn’t foxes always be a concern?
When something is in bloom, it’s fresh and new. I would imagine there may be a different scent to fresh blossoming grapes that could be more attractive to hungry little foxes. Vines which are just beginning to grow, are naturally weaker and more susceptible to harm. Foxes would always be a concern, but more attention would be taken at the beginning to ensure vines received the best care in order to develop into maturity. The same reality translates into the dynamics of a new, blossoming relationship as described in Song of Solomon. When love is fresh and new, you are naturally more aware of potential distractions or enemies. This would have been a reminder for both of the lovers to keep their eyes open and hearts focused on developing a strong, enduring love with one another.

Everyday Application

1) How do you catch the foxes?
You should also know this particular football game was originally scheduled for Thursday, but had been postponed to Monday during my flight due to Covid-19. Additionally, our flight was originally scheduled for earlier that Monday, but the airline changed the departure time. All the while, I was completely oblivious to how these small, seemingly insignificant, distractions would eventually keep me from focusing on writing. I was not looking for, or mentally putting up any safeguards, for foxes (distractions) that might creep in, overtaking my study time. Notice how the Scripture says “little” foxes. This is often how distractions work! Little things here and there that, when all added together, are enough to create a big distraction stealing away our focus. Relationships are hard! Not only those with our spouses, but also with God. They both take time, energy, and attention. If we don’t make a conscious effort to be aware of what is happening, and understand that distractions (often seemingly good ones) will come, we will be overrun by little foxes sooner than later. Without preparing for the already-present foxes, we’re already losing the battle to safeguard our precious relationships. 1 Peter 5:8 warns us of this same thing, “Be alert. Your adversary, the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion”. We must pay attention not only to what is happening around us, but also to potential places in which distractions might sneak in and rob us of spending time with God or our loves.

2) How do the little foxes ruin the vineyards?
The easy answer is they ruin the vineyards of our hearts by stealing our focus and attention. Recognizing these “little foxes” is half the battle. We all are well aware of how easy it is to turn our eyes away for just one minute only to realize much later that our relationship is in trouble. This holds true both in our human relationships as well as our relationship with God. Distractions don’t need to be big, or even bad, to do significant damage. When talking about the relationship with our spouse, distractions come in many shapes and sizes like kids, finances, jobs, keeping the house clean and laundry caught up, etc.. All good things, but when we allow them to overtake our focus, our spouse receives the leftovers and the vineyards of our marriage and our hearts are in danger. Our marriages must be a priority for us! This means scheduling date nights, time away, and constant courtship. We must not slip into taking our spouse for granted and assuming we will “catch up” one day when the kids are gone and life is less stressful. That kind of thinking is just plain dangerous! The same is true for our relationship with God. We must prioritize spending time alone with just Him as our number one priority! How easy is it to miss one quiet time and then another, or one Sunday at church, and then struggle to find our way back to a place of depth with God? Sure, life happens, kids get sick, friends need help, groceries need to be purchased, but God is the necessary foundation for keeping our lives on solid footing. God loved us so much He sent Jesus to save us, He will absolutely help you find the time to spend with Him if you ask! Be aware of those foxes, then make a plan to trap them!

3) Why does it matter if the vineyards are in bloom or not? Wouldn’t foxes always be a concern?
Young love is fragile. It’s new, unsure, and hasn’t yet developed strong roots that only grow over time. New marriages haven’t yet endured hard seasons of suffering or learned that true love endures through intense struggle. New couples haven’t yet half-walked, half-dragged one another through those seasons when all we want to do is take a nap! Young lovers can’t imagine anything or anyone becoming an obstacle to their love. Of course, long-term marriages can face abrupt endings and even young love has the potential to grow cold, however, new marriages are indeed particularly fragile. Like new fruit in the vineyard, they deserve special, guarded attention. The same is true for our relationship with God. New Christians are on fire for Jesus, and rightly so. Just like with young love, a new relationship with God is fresh and exciting. You feel more alive than ever and are eager to boldly save the world for Jesus! Life and circumstances, however, don’t always cooperate with our passionate dreams. Trials come, temptations wrap around us, sin entangles us, and we have yet to learn the benefit of daily meeting with the Lord, feasting on His word, and surrendering ourselves to His hand more every single day. Steadfast endurance in our relationship with the Lord God is built one day at a time over the long haul. Watch for the distractions leading you away from what can feel like a tedious, daily investment in your walk with Christ. Flee the temptation to chase the foxes, instead, choose each day to live in hope of all Christ has for us! Revelation 21:5 says, “I am making ALL things new.” If we allow Him to grow the vineyards of our hearts, and we are willing to invest time and energy into our relationships, He is faithful to mature our love into one that endures all things! (1 Corinthians 13:7)

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

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Beloved Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

Beloved Day 4 Radical Love Of Marriage: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

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

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Radical Love Of Marriage!

The Questions

1) What does the woman singer mean by “set me as a seal on your heart and your arm”? How does this relate to the strength of love? (verses 6-7)

2) What is implied with the language of walls and towers in verses 8-11?

3) What makes this shared love so radical, wild, and free?

Song of Solomon 8:5-14

5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?

Woman
I awakened you under the apricot tree.
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death;
jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames—
an almighty flame!
7 A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth for love,
it would be utterly scorned.

Chorus
8 Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a silver barricade on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with cedar planks.

Woman
10 I am a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So to him I have become
like one who finds peace.

11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.
He leased the vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for his fruit
one thousand pieces of silver.
12 I have my own vineyard.
The one thousand are for you, Solomon,
but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.

Man
13 You who dwell in the gardens,
companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear you!

Woman
14 Run away with me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.

Original Intent

1) What does the woman singer mean by “set me as a seal on your heart and your arm”? How does this relate to the strength of love? (verses 6-7)
Solomon spends his entire poetic song declaring and describing the fantastic love between a husband and wife that is unlike any other love relationship. Verses 6-7 speak specifically to the radical commitment strength of marital love that is also not found in other relationships. The word translated “seal” from Hebrew is used multiple times in the Old Testament. When we look up other instances of any word used in Scripture, it helps us gain helpful insight for how the original author intended the word to be defined in their writing context. “Seal” is most often used in connection with a ruler’s “signet ring” like in 1 Kings 21:8. Soft clay was placed over the opening of a scroll containing an important edict or message from the king, then he would press his royal ring into the soft clay. A king’s seal was recognized throughout his land and declared that no one could repeal what he had declared. A king’s seal was the undisputed and irrevocable “final word”. Uniquely, Solomon wrote that the Bride herself was the husband’s “signet ring”. Her living self was the promise of love that would not be defeated and her invitation to her Lover to “set me as (your) seal” is the hope of a covenant love that will be irreversible.

2) What is implied with the language of walls and towers in verses 8-11?
In the ancient culture when Solomon wrote his poetic song, virginity was highly valued. In fact, you couldn’t be honorably married if you weren’t a virgin. The chorus singers in verses 8-10 are poetically speaking of a young woman who isn’t yet of age to be married or carry children. The young girl depicted as a “wall” and then a “door” symbolizes her virginity protecting her (like a wall or door would protect a house) for a one-day-coming marriage. As a community, they sing “we will build a silver barricade on her (wall)” and again using the door illustration, “we will enclose her with cedar planks.” Together, the community agreed to honor God’s design for marriage and together lovingly protect the young girl and her virginity until it was time to give the gift of sex to her husband. Given the type of material described for poetically protecting the girl, we get the idea the community was acting in tender love, not a hardened fist of legislature. Instead of “iron”, the community sings of “cedar planks” and “silver”. In verse 11, the Beloved Wife sings that she herself is her own wall and instead of her body needing safeguarding for a future husband, her breasts are her own “watch towers” and she has found peace in the giving of sexual love to her husband.

3) What makes this shared love so radical, wild, and free?
To our ears, it sounds pretty far from romantic for a wife to say to her husband, “be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the mountains of spices” (verse 14) To the listening audience of this ancient culture, however, both a gazelle and a young stag depicted beauty, vigor, and grace, so we get the picture of a handsome and strong, yet gentle Lover. Equally as strange to us is the idea of “a mountain of spices” and we shrug our shoulders and move past the weird imagery. Solomon actually didn’t have huge piles of cinnamon in mind when he penned these words. Rather, “mountains” were used earlier in the song to describe the woman’s two breasts. (Song of Solomon 4:5-6) Also earlier in the book, spices carried the idea of delightful sexual intercourse where the “spices” were associated with sexual arousal and pleasure. (Song of Solomon 1:12, 5:1, 5) Understanding how these images were first understood gives us a very different perspective on this love poem! Earlier in the song, before the two consummate their marriage vows, the Lover husband looks forward to “going away” with his Beloved to make love and enjoy each other. (Song of Solomon 4:8) Here, at the close of the song, the relationship has deepened inside the sacred space of marriage and the wife, now free to love her husband sexually, owns this capacity to the full and finds pleasure in inviting him to run away with her and enjoy their love together. In God’s view of marriage, the relationship between spouses is meant to flourish and grow deeper over time, allowing for ever-greater exchange of intimacy.

Everyday Application

1) What does the woman singer mean by “set me as a seal on your heart and your arm”? How does this relate to the strength of love? (verses 6-7)
While much of Song of Solomon seems to our western eyes and ears to be based on merely feelings of heightened sexual love, these verses shout a bold contradiction. The love shared between Lover and Beloved was enduring, not based on feelings or circumstance. The strength of their love was not found in emotion, but in a covenant seal that could not reversed. While humans experience the sensation described as “falling in, or out, of love”, Solomon’s song affirms a far deeper, much more radical commitment. Beautifully, this type of human love relationship is intended by the Lord to reflect the love He has for us, as His very own chosen Bride. Jesus gave us His living self as the single greatest display of covenant love when He chose to take on our consequence for our sin at the cross. Here, He willingly laid down His life to make us His Bride, washing us in His forgiveness. (Ephesians 5:25-27) Marriage between a husband and wife is meant, by design, to last for as long as either partner lives. If you’re married, stand firm in your marriage covenant relationship. If you’re divorced or single, be reminded that the Lord Himself will never break His covenant love with and for you. As is sung throughout Scripture, His love endures forever! (Psalm 136) If you’re in a marriage relationship where you or your children are experiencing abuse or abandonment, we urge you to please seek safety and wise, Christian counseling. God’s design for marriage is beautiful, and He continues working out His incredible plan through broken, imperfect, and sinful people, but God has never intended marriage to be a place where one spouse is ruled, controlled, or abused by the other spouse. If this describes your marriage, or that of a friend’s, please seek help and know that there is no condemnation for doing so!

2) What is implied with the language of walls and towers in verses 8-11?
Far from teaching “safe sex” practices, the community in Solomon’s day took it upon themselves to together fight for God’s design for sex and marriage. As women, we are very uniquely positioned to link arms together and do the same by championing the sacredness of sex and marriage for the coming generation. Whether you have daughters yourself or maybe you serve with a youth ministry at your church, talk with young girls openly about sex and how amazingly beautiful both sex and their bodies are. Talk about how God handcrafted this gift of intimacy to be explicitly shared between a husband and wife. While it will likely feel awkward for you to begin these conversations, be encouraged that the young girl in your life is indeed listening. When we decide together as Jesus-loving women to honor sex and marriage as a model for younger girls, we are living out biblical community in radical ways!

3) What makes this shared love so radical, wild, and free?
God’s design for sex and marriage is far from boring; it’s radical. It requires a willingness to trust Him and His plan over ours, love our spouse unconditionally, and find delight in a monogamous sexual relationship. Here in this sacred place, the best experiences of both sex and marriage are discovered and enjoyed! If you’re married, consider writing a love poem to your spouse, or even just making a list of things you enjoy about him. Nothing is off limits here as this is shared between, God, your man, and you. Include character traits you admire, moments that have made you feel close to him, and, of course, be creative and include physical attributes you enjoy and why! I’m guessing you will both enjoy the process! I have the high honor of knowing several vibrant, Jesus-loving single women. They have shown me much about Jesus and His love in ways I never would have discovered on my own. If you’re single, whether by divorce or not, be encouraged that your intentional time developing intimacy with the God of the Universe, and knowing yourself, are gifts to the Church. Yes, girl, the Church. Share what the Father is uniquely teaching you through your relationship with Him as you come alongside your married friends. Jesus’ Bride, the Church, needs all of us. Certainly not just married folks. I know this will feel bold and daring to many, but regardless of whether you’re married or single, this challenge is for all of us. Make space for a few evenings to write down the attributes about your own body that you enjoy. This isn’t a place for criticism and there is absolutely no judgment. What you write is for you and God to share in a sacred space. He crafted your body and wants you to celebrate in it!

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

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Beloved Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

Memorize It!

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

Beloved Day 3 Radical Love of Marriage

Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

Song of Solomon 1:1-11
Song of Solomon 5:2-8
Song of Solomon 8:5-14
Genesis 2:18-25
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Beloved, Day 3

Studying the Song of Solomon gave me a fuller perspective on marriage. The book describes the relationship between a man and a woman from its beginning, into marriage, and thereafter. All along, their relationship was marked by romance.

Their love was radical; it was original.
It was God’s kind of love, which is unconditional.
The couple compared the strength of their love to fire, saying many waters cannot quench it nor can rivers drown it. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7)
No force, or condition, would alter their decision to love one another.

This is a picture of the marriage relationship God wants His children to enjoy.
He desires marriage relationships soaked in a deep friendship, emotional bonding, and physical pleasure; this is an enduring marriage. Though misunderstanding and disagreement arise, these cannot quench the love of a husband and wife who are committed to the perfect plan of God.

Marriage, we know, was instituted by God Himself with the command for two becoming one flesh. God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.” (Genesis 2:18) When the man saw the woman, he exclaimed, “This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken from man.”  Therefore, Scripture says, a husband leaves his parents to be united to his wife. Here within the mystery of radical love, God binds two into one. (Genesis 2:23-24)

God’s handiwork is marvelous! He made them two kinds, one man, one woman, but one pair with one intention. Our differences as individuals help us acknowledge we are fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator. (Psalm 139:14) Though two kinds, we complement each other, and our union achieves something altogether unique.
Oneness doesn’t mean sameness!
Within the context of marriage, God designed individuals to create a single bond together. We can celebrate our Maker God and His creativity on display in marriage!

Unfortunately, sometimes we fail to appreciate
the beautiful combination of our differences crafted by God,
instead elevating ourselves over our spouse.

We wish our spouses were more like us, so we could get things done our own way.
We want them to think our thoughts, follow the direction we go, and do what we want.
We forget our Maker crafted us as individuals to complement each other and fulfill His perfect plan for us in marriage, as opposed to our plan in our way! The apostle Paul told the Corinthian church regarding unity, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?” (1 Corinthians 12:17)

If we want all things done our way,
we miss the beauty of the union.

Furthermore, it’s difficult to celebrate God’s creativity in crafting us as individuals
unless we first pursue a deep relationship with Christ.
Only in Christ, can we find our true identity and deepest delight.

We were once in darkness, following the inclinations of our sinful nature. Our Plan. Our Way. God the Father sent Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. Our faith in Christ has made us new creatures in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17-21); this is our new and true identity.

Finding our identity in Christ is one thing, choosing to remain in Him is another. The Lord Jesus said we must remain in Him, because without Him, we can do nothing. (John 15:5) When we fail to remain in Him, we hold on to our old, selfish nature of sin.
This selfish nature is all about having our way, even if it is wrong.

But if we choose to remain in Christ, He fills us with His radical, sacrificial love.
This is the love that drove Him to the cross to pay for sins He did not commit.
He willingly put Himself in our place, receiving the punishment meant for us,
so we may have fullness of life in Him.

We must learn sacrificial love from Him.
According to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, His love is patient and kind,
it is not jealous or boastful, proud, or rude.
It does not demand its own way, neither is it irritable nor keeps a record of wrongs.
It never gives up, never loses faith, but is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.

This is the love expected of us whose Master is the Lord Jesus.

As I was preparing to write this study, I spoke with my husband, and he said something that hurt me deeply. I almost reacted negatively, but immediately the Holy Spirit reminded me love is patient and kind, and not easily provoked. I was humbled and quickly refrained from being angry. The Bible says love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

When we surrender our control to the Holy Spirit, our pattern of thinking changes.
Radically, we begin appreciating one another as individuals. When we look at our spouse through the lens of a lovingly handcrafted being with unique gifts, talents, and insights, our appreciation for God and our spouse both broadens and deepens.

When we firmly root our identity in God,
appreciate our spouses as individuals,
and share a common aim of pursuing and honoring the Lord together,
our relationship allows radical romance to thrive in our marriages!

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Kaleidoscope Day 14 Enduring: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

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

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Enduring!

The Questions

1) What do I do if I don’t feel like loving someone?

 2) Why is love so important to God?

3) How can love endure all things?

1 Corinthians 13:7

 [Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Original Intent

1) What do I do if I don’t feel like loving someone?
When Paul described love in 1 Corinthians 13, he used the Greek work agape. Agape love, according to Biblical commentator David Guzik, is a ”sacrificial, giving, absorbing, love. The word has little to do with emotion; it has much to do with self-denial for the sake of another.” At the time of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the church was struggling with spiritual immaturity, immorality, divisions and false teachings. Christ’s heart desire is for His Bride, the Church to live in sweet unity with one another for this is how Jesus loves. Paul wrote to provide clear instruction on how the Corinthian church could love like Jesus.  In chapter 13, Paul described the love of God, emphasizing the unselfish actions of love rather than the emotions. Author John Piper shares how Paul was “applying love to the Corinthians’ situation and using it as the criterion for why some of their attitudes and behaviors are unacceptable.” Paul was telling the believers in Corinth that Christ-followers become like Jesus when they choose to show love even when they don’t feel like showing love. (Biblica.com)

2) Why is love so important to God?
The Bible tells us love is vitally important to God; it’s the very essence of who He is. When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matthew 22:37-40.) To Jesus, loving God and loving the people God loves is imperative. Because God is love (1 John 4:16), His followers are known by their love (John 13:34-35), which is God’s love flowing through them onto others! The way we come to God is by recognizing His love for us. (Romans 5:8) One way we introduce Jesus to others is by sharing His love with them (1 John 4:11). We love God by loving others, and loving others demonstrates to God our love for Him!

3) How can love endure all things?
The Greek term for endure, hupomeno, means to “remain or abide under . . . not simply with stoical resignation, but with a vibrant hope” (PreceptAustin.org). Love has the ability to endure all things because God’s love is rooted in hope. Psalm 118:1 tells us how God’s love endures forever. According to author Debbie Hannah Skinner, that phrase appears over 40 times in Scripture. God encourages us through the repetition of this specific truth that His love empowers us to endure all things because His love will never stop enduring all things.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39) so nothing can ever keep us from the hope and strength God gives us to endure any hardship. Love shows up when things seem bleak and hangs in when things are hard.  God promises He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). Forever enduring love is God’s kind of love demonstrated for eternity and this is the love He enables us to extend to others through His Spirit’s equipping power.

Everyday Application

1) What do I do if I don’t feel like loving someone?
I am a born romantic, so I am drawn to stories that pull at the heart strings, lyrical poetry, and sentimental ballads.  All of these are lovely, but they are not love.  They represent only one aspect of love, the feeling kind.  Real love, the love discussed in 1 Corinthians 13, moves far beyond a feeling into action (1 John 3:18).  Love is a decision every believer has the power to make because the Spirit of God, who is love, dwells within them. God Himself is love (1 John 4:8) and He calls and empowers me to love others even when I don’t have feelings of love.  Author Ted Cunningham says, “We can only give love when our hearts are full of God’s love.”  I can choose to love my spouse and children even when they make me angry, disappoint me, or hurt my feelings because God’s love is alive inside me (1 John 4:7).   My actions can show I love them when my heart does not feel it.  There is an old song by the artist Don Francisco with a line that goes, “Love is not a feeling/It’s an act of your will.”   When I choose to love like Jesus, in and through His power, and am not ruled by my emotions, my loved ones experience Christ’s love! We are called to love with the love of Jesus, and that means a love powered by God, not emotions.

2) Why is love so important to God?
Love is so important to God because without it, we no longer reflect Him and His essence. The moment we stop loving others as Jesus does, we stop imitating Christ. Through love, God made Himself known to us, and it is through this same conduit Christ calls others to Himself as we love them! His love began our relationship with Him; He loved us first and drew us to Him (1 John 4:10).  The Bible warns if we don’t love, we have not known or truly experienced God, because God is love.  Everyone who lives a life of love knows God and has been born of God (1 John 4:7-8).  Love is who God is; it is His DNA. To love Him and accept His love is how we know Him. He designed His love to overflow from us to those who don’t know Him so they can experience His love (John 15:12) through us. The Bible teaches us to “put on” patience, kindness, humility, gentleness and forgiveness, and that Jesus’ love will bind all these virtues together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:12-14) as we live out our calling to love others. Struggling with loving others like Jesus? The solution is to know and experience the essence of love in fuller ways! Study Scripture, communicate with the Lord God, and begin exploring the Being of Love in deeper ways!

3) How can love endure all things?
Being a teacher and a mom has taught me the virtue of being flexible.  The better able I am to adjust my expectations to the reality of my situation, the less stressed out I am in the situation.  But there often comes a point where I say, “Enough!”. I feel like I can’t handle one more disobedient student or one more whiny complaint from my offspring.  I am all sweetness and delight until I reach that point, and then, suddenly, I am anything but sweet.  In those moments, I am showing how far my love can go in my own strength, without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and it isn’t very far.  For me to endure all things, I must be operating in the love of Christ and not my own inadequate version.  I Thessalonians 3:5 tells us God leads our hearts into God’s love and Christ’s endurance.  When I am relying on God’s love, a love that gives sacrificially, I am able to respond in love rather than react in frustration.

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
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Our Current Study Theme!

This is Kaleidoscope Week Three!
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Why Dig Deeper?

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

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

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

Study Tools

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

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

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

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Kaleidoscope Day 13 Enduring

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Read His Words Before Ours!

1 Corinthians 13:7
Jonah 3:8-10
1 Peter 5:6-11
Luke 23:32-35

Kaleidoscope, Day 13

“I LOVE Chipotle!”
“I LOVE this nail polish!”
“I LOVE that outfit!”

Love is a word we use to describe admiration for something.
It begs the question, what is love?

As believers, we refer to 1 Corinthians 13, “The Love Chapter”, to define love and how it’s fleshed out in everyday life. We’ve spent the past 3 weeks diving into each of these descriptions in this chapter and walked away with some incredible truths, but we are coming up on the benediction.

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:7
Loves bears, meaning to carry or support.
Love believes, means to accept something as true.
Love hopes, reflects the desire for something to happen.
Love endures, which is the most challenging one, means to suffer patiently.

All of these words are verbs, suggesting that love is an action not a feeling;
at its core, love is a choice.

Have you ever heard….
“we fell out of love” or
“I don’t feel the love I use to feel” or
“I just don’t love him anymore”?

The reality is that true love in its best form is
exceedingly difficult,
exquisitely costly, and
downright impossible for us to live out in real life.
Impossible, that is, without Christ and His love flowing through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What does Christ’s love look like?
Let’s start with Jonah 3:8-10.
“but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.
Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows?
God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way,
God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

The prophet Jonah was asked to go to the ISIS of his time, the Ninevites. Jonah was tasked to call these people, cold-hearted, brutal killers, to repentance away from sin and towards God. Jonah was not happy, understandably so, and he ran in the opposite direction.
But God followed him with a storm and even a “big fish” that swallowed Jonah whole in effort to get his attention. In the fish’s belly, Jonah decided reluctantly to be obedient..
He went to Ninevah, preached as God asked, and to his surprise (and frustration), the people repented.
In this story God is lovingly hopeful.

Hopeful, because He wants the people He created to know Him and have relationship with Him. He was so hopeful He continued to push until the opportunity was brought to those people.

Another example is 1 Peter 5:6-11.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Peter says we are free to cast all our worries or anxieties on our Lord, who is present to constantly bear us up in love.  Even though suffering and enemy attacks will come, in the end, Christ will restore us and strengthen us.
This is a beautiful picture of bearing with us!
The creator of everything loves us enough to bear each of our individual burdens. He supports and also carries us through this life and into eternity!

Forgiveness? Its thread can be found on every page of Scripture, but the most powerful one is found in Luke 23:34:
“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

While nailed to the cross, after being beaten, mocked, and abused,
Jesus asks for forgiveness on behalf of His murderers.
In His cries for forgiveness, He believes they do not understand the depths of their actions.

How powerful is the love of Christ!
I have experienced Christ’s sweet love for myself; it has changed me and how I love others. Christ has born up the hardest things I have had to carry.
He has hoped things for me I couldn’t see.
He has believed beautiful things about me I am still learning to trust.
But, sweetest of all, Christ has endured me.

As a mother, I can only imagine part of the pain He has felt as He has endured with me.
He has endured me hating Him.
He has endured my turning from Him.
He has endured me trying to kill myself.
He has endured me living a lie.

He has suffered patiently, waiting for me to open my heart back up to Him.
He lovingly endured my walking away to demonstrate the vastness of His love that has always stayed beside me.

This Jesus love is the very best thing that has ever happened to me.
It is the most addictive, sweet, precious thing I’ve ever tasted.
His love has not only brought me into beautiful grace,
but also daily challenges me to love others with this love.

As I reflect on Jesus love showing up with kaleidoscope colors in my everyday life, I wonder….
Does my love bear the hardest things with people?
Does my love hope the craziest things with people?
Does my love believe on behalf of others?
Does my love endure with the goal of Christ at its end?

Where I lack, I am called deeper into the well of love He offers
in order that His sweet nectar may flow through me.
I will choose expensive, lavish, enduring love!

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

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Kaleidoscope 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 Kaleidoscope!

Gospel Day 3 So Loved

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Ephesians 3:14-21
Romans 5:6-8
I John 4:7-16
Isaiah 40

Gospel, Day 3

I LOVE chocolate.
I LOVE my dog.
I LOVE Christmas.
I LOVE my niece and nephew.

Our society uses “love” in many ways with just one word.
In Greek, the original language of the New Testament, however, there are 4 different words for love:
Eros romantic love
Storge family love
Philia brotherly love
Agape God’s divine love

When I felt led to write this study, I was a little like Moses, coming up with excuses. Describe the love of God?
I don’t even understand the full love of God.
How do I explain it?

I questioned my ability to write about an ever-loving God…
whom I have doubted and, truthfully, wanted nothing to do with sometimes.
How could I write about His love?

Then, I realized there was a lot of “I” in my excuses.
Relying on MY own understanding, MY thoughts, and MY answers.
After I said “yes”, “love” became my word for 2019.

I didn’t choose “love” for my word this year; it chose me.
It started by asking God to give me a love for Him and His Word, which led to this Journey Study, which brings me to the joy of sharing what the phrase “so loved” tucked inside John 3:16 means to me.

It’s easy to focus on “love” and overlook “so”.
Such a tiny word, but it’s emphatic nature is not to be missed.
I could tell a student “You did a good on the art project.”
Or I could say, “You did SO good on the art project.”
See the difference?

The verse could say “God loved the world”.
Rather, God emphatically states He “SO loved the world.”

While God’s love is emphatic, it’s also active.
I John 4:8 says, “God IS love”.
Not “God was love” or “God is love today”, but God’s continuous love is perpetually active ever nanosecond of everyday of every millennia.

Remember our four Greek words for love?
This one in John 3:16 is agape.
While it can have strong emotion, it’s not rooted in it, making it durable, long-lasting, and dependable. This love carries genuine interest and determined dedication.

W.E. Vine says agapao “expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, and a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and desire to help others to seek the Giver.” (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words Vol III, pg 21).

How do we really understand the sheer magnitude of this love?  
Putting it into words is like attempting to describe “red” to a person with blindness.
A nearly impossible task without mutually understandable terms for colors.

Ephesians 3:17-19 describes the amazing love of God using framework language we are familiar with.
“… you being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth (width) and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge”.  

How high and wide is God’s love?
We measure in feet for walls of a house or time for the day.
Take a yardstick (in your mind) and measure God’s love.
A few inches?  The whole yardstick?

How about a different tool?
Have you tried to measure God’s love by your circumstances or your performance?
If I’m good enough, God will love me more.
I know I have.

What’s the measure of God’s love?  
His hands have gathered the seas as He holds them in His palm.
The nations are a drop in a bucket to Him.
He weighs the mountains on a countertop scale.
Who could possibly measure the vast Spirit of the Lord?!
(Isaiah 40:12-17)

At the same time He counts armies and countries as weightless, He gathers each of us as a lamb in His arms, carrying us close to His heart, and gently leading us by the hand. (Isaiah 40:11) The very same God!
His is a measuring stick without numbers!

How far-reaching is God’s love?
The death of His Son.
And then He went farther,
reaching beyond the cross,
farther than the cold grave,
to bring life.
Life that “so loves” even when we spurn and hate Him,
believing He isn’t good enough or big enough or loving enough. (Romans 5:6-8)

How deep is God’s love?
The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean has the greatest ocean depth of 36,070 feet. If I went to the bottom of the ocean, would God’s love find me?
Our sin takes us vastly deeper than the Mariana Trench, yet God still reached down to offer His “So” emphatic, perpetual love.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
(Psalm 139:7-8)

How high is God’s love?  
Do you measure Mt. Everest and say “this is as far as God can go.”
Or, “This mountain measures God’s love for me, I guess He has run out.”
Or maybe, “This marriage is breaking, I’ve maxed out God’s love.”
This child is dying.
My finances are waning.
This friendship has hurt me.
Have you found the limit of His love?

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
You preserve my life;
You stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and Your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me;
Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
(Psalm 138:7-8)

“So Loved”
Beyond all circumstances, beyond all measure, beyond all fears.
His love endures.

Have you experienced this boundless, enduring love by beginning a relationship with Him?
Throw out your measuring sticks and allow His overwhelming love to surpass you, hemming you in on all sides!

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
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Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

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

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Gospel Week One! 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 Gospel!