neighbor

The GT Weekend! ~ Training Week 1

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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) There are many ways to spend our time. Generally, they fall into “things for self” and “things for others”. In Monday’s Journey Study, we learned how our motivation and heart posture for every action are critically important. While God doesn’t mind us doing things for ourselves, He wants us to serve others as a way to demonstrate true worship. Serving others displays the true heart of God. Take an inventory of how you spend your time. Is there a greater focus on self or others? Check out the Neighbor Journey Theme to connect with real life stories of serving our neighbors. Be inspired and identify who you can serve this coming week. Write down several ways you can serve them, pick one and then serve them with the heart of God and His generous love.

2) Take a few minutes to think about prayer. What does it mean to you? If you were to describe it to someone else, what words would you choose? Go ahead and try it out loud! Do you get what you ask for? How important is it? Is it even necessary? Why or why not? Wrestle with these questions long enough to feel uncomfortable. Like every other discipline that believers in Jesus take regular time to practice, Jesus modeled prayer for us. When we want to become exceptional at something, we study the professional, and when it comes to prayer, there is none better than Jesus Himself. On Thursday, Rebecca suggested reading through John 17, one of the richest passages of Jesus’ prayers. Take time this weekend to read it through multiple times and make simple notes and questions that stick out to you as you read. As you read, ask the Lord to open your eyes to see and understand prayer better. Ask Him to teach you how to pray just as He taught His disciples.

3) We live in a world where busyness and noise are prevalent. We’ve grown so accustomed to noise that if there is a pause in conversation, we feel the need to say something, anything, to end the silence. We fret when we’re resting, feeling like we’re wasting time. But solitude is actually biblical. As we saw in Christine’s Journey, Just Being, Jesus modeled solitude for us throughout the gospel accounts. He frequently slipped away for restorative time alone. His invitation to come and sit with Him in solitude is a gift for us (Matthew 11:28), for here He offers healing and rest. Are you taking advantage of His invitation? If so, how frequently? If not, what’s holding you back from starting? Spend some time journaling how you think solitude will help you receive God’s peace. Check out A God of Peace Journey Study for a little help. Plan a daily time of solitude for the next week and see how God uses it to bless you.

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 Galatians 5:13-14 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.  For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Prayer Journal
Lord, thank You for providing us with the example of how to live our lives as followers of You. As we’ve studied this week, we know we should serve others, pray, and spend time alone in Your Presence. Did You not also do all these things? Help us embrace these disciplines so we can grow closer to You, spread Your love to those around us, and grow more Christlike as You heal and teach us in solitude with You. Only good can come from imitating You Lord. Let us pursue You with intention and gladness.

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

Neighbor Day 14 Wounded One: 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 Wounded One!

The Questions

1) Who is the expert on the law and what does he want to know?

2) According to this parable, who is my neighbor?

3) What can be learned from Jesus’ illustration?

Luke 10:25-37

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Original Intent

1) Who is the expert on the law and what does he want to know?
Luke simply identifies this man as an expert of the law. We don’t know his exact job or role, but we do know he would have been well versed in the law of Moses, or the Torah, which are the first 5 books of the Bible. He comes to Jesus wanting to know how to gain eternal life. He was likely looking for a checklist of what he needed to do in order to earn eternal life. However, Jesus turns the question back to this man, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”. The man answers by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. This dialogue leads the expert to ask, “who is my neighbor?” He is looking for a box to check in effort to prove to himself that he is keeping the law and worthy of earning eternal life.

2) According to this parable, who is my neighbor?
While the Samaritan man who helped is the obvious answer, we need to understand the relationship between Jews and Samaritans in order to see the significance of the point Jesus is making. Samaritans were despised by Jews. Israel had been split into 2 kingdoms, the southern and the northern. In the northern kingdom, people married from the hated Assyrian empire. Due to that they were seen as a mixed race, people who were not true, pure bloodline descendants of Abraham. This created a separation between these two groups of Jews. Jesus uses this parable, intentionally selecting the characters of His story to be religious people pitted against a Samaritan to show not only who a neighbor is, but also how to be a neighbor. It would have required a true act of love for the Samaritan to take care of this man regardless of the cost. Jesus is forcing the expert to look inside himself and realize radical love would require caring for others no matter who they are or where they come from.

3) What can be learned from Jesus’ illustration?
The obvious answer is how to love our neighbor. However, when we look deeper into the parable, we see it is often easy to justify unloving behavior. The expert was looking for justification for his behavior and confirmation that his rule-following was enough to satisfy God. However, it never would be and Jesus uses this illustration to show the expert exactly this reality. We learn what a true expression of love looks like from the parable. In this case, it is loving beyond ourselves to meet the need of another. Sometimes the need is obvious, as it was with the injured man. Other times a need is only recognized in a relationship with others as the Holy Spirit gives us insights. Either way Jesus’ point is simple, care for one another with radical, humble, generous love.

Everyday Application

1) Who is the expert on the law and what does he want to know?
The expert has all the head knowledge of what the Old Testament contains. He is all about living in the legalities of what Scripture says. This expert is attempting to live a “good enough” life, one that will earn him salvation, on his own. However, being a true believer is not about checking boxes and living a “good enough” life. The truth is, none of us are capable of living a good enough life, because the standard is impossible high. Only absolute perfection is acceptable, which is why God, in His great love, sent Jesus to perfectly fulfill what we never could. Jesus offers His own righteousness to us, while He takes our imperfections. The question we must wrestle with is will I be like the expert, trying to do it on my own, or will I surrender, allowing God to live and love through me?

2) According to this parable, who is my neighbor?
Mark Black writes, “The astute reader recognizes this Samaritan is acting just as Jesus has acted: he has compassion, he touches the ‘unclean’, he heals, and he uses his possessions for the benefit of the needy.” Jesus was the perfect neighbor during His life on earth. The Samaritan in the story took care of a man who would have despised him. The reality is, Jews and Gentiles alike treated Jesus with contempt in His last days, yet Jesus still loved them enough to die on the cross. He was still willing to give up His life for us. When we look at Jesus, we see He was unconcerned with race or lineage, but instead He was concerned with our need, specifically our spiritual need. If we behave as Jesus did, we will live a life that shows love to all peoples regardless of race, religion, social status, or anything else we often allow to divide us. It means treating all of humanity as our neighbor.

3) What can be learned from Jesus’ illustration?
Matthew Henry writes, “It is the duty of every one of us, in our places, and according to our ability, to succour, help, and relieve all that are in distress and necessity.” As I reflect on these verses and the quote from Matthew Henry, I cannot help but relate them to the time we are living in. I cannot think of a better time in our lives to be a neighbor. We are in the midst of a global pandemic. While this pandemic demands we live life practicing a new concept of social distancing, it is not an excuse to deny love to others. It is not a pass to forget about our neighbors. If anything, this illustration shows us how we need to look beyond what is right in front of us, instead looking for the need. It requires us to lean in to how God is asking us to be His hands and His feet in a time when people are so desperate for truth and answers. The needs may be obvious, or they may only be known in a relationship, or as the Spirit prompts our hearts. This isn’t a time to withdraw into ourselves, but instead offer help and love as we are able. The question is, are we rising to the challenge of loving our neighbors with the same radical, humble love demonstrated by the Samaritan and Jesus Himself?

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

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 Neighbor 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.

Shielded Day 2 Shielded By The Unstoppable: 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 Shielded By The Unstoppable!

The Questions

1) What does it mean to wage war “according to the flesh?” (verse 3)

2) What are our weapons of warfare? (verse 4)

3) What arguments and “proud things” is Paul referencing that we should destroy? (verse 5)

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments 5and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Original Intent

1) What does it mean to wage war “according to the flesh?” (verse 3)
Paul’s reason for writing his letter to the church in Corinth was multi-faceted, but every specific issue he addressed centered around one general theme, they had walked away from living by God’s Spirit. The Corinthian church was full of people who had genuinely asked Jesus to rescue them from their sin, but gradually, with one decision at a time, they had faded away from living by the Spirit of God who had been deposited in their hearts at the time of their salvation, and had chosen instead to live according to the flesh. (verse 2) Backing up a few verses to the beginning of chapter 10, Paul loved the Corinthian church and had been gentle with them, but now, on hearing how they had walked away from living by their source of power, refusing to access the Spirit living within them, He was ready to come in person and strongly set right what was going wrong. Paul wrote to confront them ahead of time of his visit, drawing their attention sharply back to their heart issue.

2) What are our weapons of warfare? (verse 4)
Paul draws a distinct line when he says, “although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.” (verse 3) We live our everyday lives here on earth wrapped in flesh and bone and surrounded by sin; we are frequently tempted to fulfill our fleshly desires because we live in the flesh. For the believer, however, we do not wage war with mere fleshly weaponry, which would be ineffective. Rather, we have direct access to “weapons of warfare” that have nothing to do with the flesh. These weapons carry with them the very power of God, the same power in fact that raised Jesus from death to life! These weapons are available to the Christ follower to fight against fleshly desires, sin, and our sinful attempt to live God’s way without God’s power. Examples of this powerful weaponry are listed as armor in Ephesians 6:13-18, truthful speech, genuine love, and patience and kindness from the Holy Spirit are given in 2 Corinthians 6:6-7, and 1 Thessalonians 5:8 speaks of faith, love, and salvation as battle weapons with which to wage war.

3) What arguments and “proud things” is Paul referencing that we should destroy? (verse 5)
Paul is specifically addressing the Corinthian church and the habits they are displaying as they have “faded away” from living in God’s power. The reality is that when we stop relying on God’s power to live for Him, we fall back into relying on ourselves. This would be like going from using a power steering mower to cut your grass to using dull safety scissors to mow your lawn. It’s incredible ineffective to use our fleshly power to accomplish the work of God! A byproduct of relying on our own strength, and slowly fading away from God’s truth as our anchor, is that we begin puffing ourselves up. Look what I did! See how I handled that situation! When we are only using our hands to fight, humility is gone, dependence on Christ is absent, and we end up with an inflated view of ourselves, which completely distorts the truths presented in Scripture. God says we are weak because sin ravages us.

Everyday Application

1) What does it mean to wage war “according to the flesh?” (verse 3)
When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are given an entirely new heart, a new love, a new passion for following Jesus, and a new source of power to actually follow Jesus in obedience. We are entirely made new!! The battle comes when we struggle against our old way of living. Before Jesus’ redemption over our lives, we live according to the flesh, we think about ourselves and how to gratify ourselves. We may appear loving, but we aren’t able to sacrificially love like Jesus day in and day out, growing in intensity. To live according to the flesh means either to live sinfully, or to try hard to live as God has called us, but without His power. Take some time to identify areas you struggle in living “according to the flesh”. 

2) What are our weapons of warfare? (verse 4)
Take a few slow breaths, close your eyes, and assess the weak spots in your life right now. Where are you feeling defeated and worn in your everyday life? Perhaps the battle is heavy against you as you are working intently to further God’s Kingdom in ministry, in loving the unlovable, or in serving within your church. Maybe the battle is showing up in your relationships where conflict seems constantly present. Sometimes the battle surges in full force as we become aware of our sin in specific areas and then, wanting to be like Christ, fight against that sin. Whatever your battle today, my friend, in the words of Paul, “Stand firm….”, intentionally put on His own armor He fitted for you, and know that your greatest weapon is the Spirit of the Living God who works powerfully within you. He holds the victory! 

3) What arguments and “proud things” is Paul referencing that we should destroy? (verse 5)
We are weak because we will always, over time, choose to love ourselves and our sin over the Savior. God’s antidote is Christ and His power working in us to accomplish His purposes! (2 Corinthians 12:9) He gives us His weaponry to tear down and destroy every stronghold where we are bowing to other gods and living for ourselves rather than surrendering to God’s wisdom, and living His way, by the power of His Spirit. (verses 4-5) Take these few minutes to prayerfully ask the Lord where you are trusting in your own strength. Where is sin slowly creeping in, tempting you with lies and justifications? Fight those battles with the Spirit of God inside you, Christian! Refuse to allow the ground in your heart that Christ died to rescue, be turned over again as enemy territory!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Shielded By The Unstoppable!

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 Shielded 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.

Open Day 7 The Unconventional Open: 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 The Unconventional Open!

The Questions

1) Can my faith in Christ save someone else?

2) If it’s 100% true that we must each believe in order to be saved, why did Mark record that Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic’s friends and then said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”? (Mark 2:6)

3) Why did Jesus forgive the man’s sins first instead of healing his body?

Mark 2:1-12

When he entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them. 3 They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: 7 “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8 Right away Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?  Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralytic— 11 “I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.”

12 Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Original Intent

1) Can my faith in Christ save someone else?
The mysteries we find within Scripture, that themselves whisper of the vast mysteries bound up in the heart of God, are many. But they are recorded on purpose for us to read and study and pray over. How prayer works, and how a believer’s faith impacts another person, whether lost or saint, is one of those mysteries. We can delve into the subject and consider it from all angles until we wear ourselves out thinking it through, but at its end, we can put it to rest knowing that our mighty God is completely sovereign and utterly beyond our ability to fully understand or comprehend. There is no box we can fathom that is able to contain God. Because Scripture is wholly true, it will never contradict itself. Where a verse seems to go against other Scriptures, it simply means we have a surface understanding of that passage and need to study and pray more thoroughly. Studying the Bible and rightly applying it does not mean simply reading it and taking what we want to hear from it! A strong, steady truth repeated often from Old Testament to New is that our faith is our own. No one can save us on our behalf. We must each make the choice whether to surrender ourselves to Christ or keep trusting ourselves to save us from our sin. Either we believe, and take God at His word, or we don’t. But that belief is individualistic, every single time. (Romans 3:22, Romans 10:9-10, Genesis 15:6)

2) If it’s 100% true that we must each believe in order to be saved, why did Mark record that Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic’s friends and then said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”? (Mark 2:6)
I believe the answer is two-fold. First, God designed believers to live together in community, to love and act and move as one Body, with great unity. All throughout Scripture, we are commanded, not simply invited, to pray for one another, carrying each other’s everyday burdens (Galatians 6:2) as well as praying for opportunities for the Kingdom of God to advance and His gospel to be made known.  (Colossians 4:3) Prayer is an integral part of following Jesus in everyday life. He calls us to pray on behalf of those who have already believed in Him and those who have yet to trust Him at His Word. What these four men did by physically bringing their friend to Jesus’ house is a perfect picture of what every believer does when they pray for another. As we pray, we are carrying these people into the presence of God, directly into His throne room of grace and mercy where He hears and listens! (Hebrews 4:16) We do have influence on other’s engagement in the presence of God through our own faith, whether that person is a Christian or not. Second, Jesus did indeed see the faith of the four friends and so chose to call out this man and bring forgiveness to Him and eventually healing of His body. However, simply because Mark records Jesus’ noting the faith of the four, does not at all preclude that Jesus also saw the faith of the paralytic in his heart. A few verses later, Jesus makes it clear He has authority and power to know precisely what is in our hearts, whether good or evil. Naturally, Jesus saw the heart of the paralytic as well, and knew he was ready to accept Christ as His forgiver of sin and healing of His soul.  When it comes to matters of salvation, we must keep two things forefront. 1) Salvation is accessed through faith alone by grace alone and 2) God is sovereign, meaning we are not privy to all the inner workings of who is genuinely saved and who isn’t. That is for God to know and work out, not us.

3) Why did Jesus forgive the man’s sins first instead of healing his body?
First, the man’s most primary necessary healing, like each of us, was his soul. The mortal wound of his soul, caused by sin, was damning this man to an eternity separated from God. The paralytic’s restoration to God through Jesus was the most pressing healing. Second, Jesus did heal the man’s body, but for an incredibly focused purpose: glory to God and growth for the Kingdom. God does not heal for the sole happiness and health of the one being healed; His main purpose is always to draw others into Himself and we are drawn to Him by His revelation of glory.  The paralytic, though physically healed, one day died and his healed body ceased working. However, that same man, is right at this moment, dancing free in the very presence of the God whose glory was revealed on that day when his sins were forgiven! The temporary physical healing was a profound platform by which to demonstrate the pressing eminence of the eternal!

Everyday Application

1) Can my faith in Christ save someone else?
No, I cannot save anyone, no matter how much faith I have or how much it grieves me to watch them turn away from the Lord again and again. And neither can you. Paul grieved like this over his fellow Jews who, though they knew and studied every pen stroke of the Old Testament law and prophets, they missed the whole point of Jesus’ death and resurrection as the fulfillment of those very law and prophets. Paul wrote, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers…” (Romans 9:3) As much as we grieve for lost, our faith cannot save them. They must make that choice for themselves just as we had to.

2) If it’s 100% true that we must each believe in order to be saved, why did Mark record that Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic’s friends and then said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”? (Mark 2:6)
While we clearly cannot give someone else salvation, no matter how much we love them, we can and must have influence in their spiritual lives by faithfully praying for them. We are called to bring others before God’s throne, asking Him to reveal His glory to them that they too might “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.” (Romans 10:13) I hope you’re as convicted to read this as I am to write it, Sisters. Let’s be faithful Christ-followers and steadfastly bring our friends before the Lord just as these four men did for their paralyzed friend! Begin making a list of those in your sphere of influence, or even those on your street, who don’t know Jesus. Begin praying for them by name for their salvation! Ask for doors to be opened for you to share your own faith journey and what Jesus has meant to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you opportunities to invite these people you know and love to church, or even just over for a meal as you faithfully invest in their faith journey.

3) Why did Jesus forgive the man’s sins first instead of healing his body?
We can look around our world, our churches, and even our families and our hearts break with the heavy physical suffering being experienced by all of us on varying levels. Children sick with cancer, babies who never breath outside the womb, wives who bury husbands, parents who bury children, spouses who live with abuse, aunt and uncles who watch nieces and nephews ruin their lives, and grandparents who find themselves starting over as they parent their grandchildren. The ache is grievous, the load is heavy, and oh how our hearts break in agony wishing we could remove the pain, the wound, and the hurt. But we cannot. And so, we beg the God of all to do it for us. And often times, He does! But sometimes, though He certainly could, He does not. I’ll be straight up with you, we just cannot know all the reasons behind all of our whys and why nots on earth, but we can know for absolute certainty, that when the Lord God heals, and even when He doesn’t, there is a purpose. A good purpose. A purpose that He, and He alone, will use to expand the kingdom and grow our faith if we will allow Him. What we see is temporary. What is coming is eternal. What we live out today is just a vapor. What we invest in with faith will last forever. Pray, Sisters. Pray for the Lord to bring physical healing and make His Name great in the process, but please pray that far beyond the physical, that our hearts will lean into His good Father heart, and we will remember that His eternal healing is indeed coming!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Unconventional Open!

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 Open Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
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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 :-))

Memorize It!

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The GT Weekend! ~ Open Week 1

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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) Sit still, Bible open, pen ready. This could be harder, and more convicting, than we’d like to admit. Open to Luke 19:6-7. Read these two verses over and over, slowly, quickly, again. Pray over them as you read, asking the Spirit to stir your heart. The rejected, hated, outcast man was downright giddy to be welcomed in. The ‘righteous’ crowds? The despised Jesus’ actions. Disgusted. Angry. Who sits at your table? Who is on your ‘to invite over’ list? Who do you spend time, talent, and treasure loving on? Write down those names, they are important and Jesus loves them and how you invest! But is anyone offended by your willingness to love the ugly, outcast, hated, rejected? Beg the Holy Spirit to bring to mind those faces, because maybe you don’t know their names, who you could invite in, but very intentionally haven’t. Write down those names, they are important and Jesus loves them; He’s calling you to invest!

2) Radical, generous hospitality finds its roots in obedience. But not blind obedience to a cosmic being dictating morally good acts. Rather, truly loving hospitality stems from obedience grown from the bedrock of deep, abiding faith. The knowing who God is and trusting His heart. Is your openness towards generosity feeling a little rusty or maybe even stingy? How’s your faith? Who do you say God is? Is He faithful and trustworthy enough to provide for you? How stingy do you view Him?

3)  Yesterday, Parker challenged us to ask the Lord a question when we begin to interact with someone we find challenging to love, let alone like. “Jesus, show me what you love about them.” Challenge yourself to take this question to the next level this weekend by journaling out the names of the people in your closest circle. Maybe your closest friends, your spouse and children, or parents and siblings. One by one, pray over these names and ask the Lord this question, writing down what the Spirit brings to mind. Remember these aren’t qualities you admire, rather you’re asking the Lord for His vantage point. Then, take the opportunity when presented to share these small treasures with each person you named!

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 Matthew 25:40 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Prayer Journal
Lord, in brokenness I come to You. My total inability to love like You is so evident as I live out this precious life You’ve given me. I mis-prioritize, I choose my comfort over going beyond myself, I choose my schedule over loving intentionally because it’s costly, it’s difficult, and mostly because I am selfish. Lord, make me new. Not once, but over and over and over. Remind me that You are always on the horizon, arms spread wide celebrating when I return and ask You to fill me again. I want to love like you, Abba. Remind me that only when I sit here with You, like father and child, can I love others well and, in so doing, show You love. May my life declare Your love, Lord!

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

Screenshot Day 10 The Outcasts

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Luke 10:25-37
Ezra 4:1-16
Nehemiah 6:1-14
John 4:1-43

Screenshot, Day 10

I have a confession to make.
For many of my growing up years, though I never realized it until recently,
I battled with prejudice.
I wasn’t racist; I didn’t consider myself better based on skin tone.
But there was a part of me that did think that I was better than another.
Nationality aside, if someone else believed differently than I did, I viewed them as inferior.

I took great pride in my country, was very patriotic, and loved America. I still do.
But, I subconsciously thought America was far superior than all other nations.
I felt it was acceptable to look down my nose to those who lived elsewhere.

Even as I write, I am so ashamed of myself for ever thinking that.

Is America a wonderful country? Yes.
Am I thankful for the unique freedoms being an American affords me? Absolutely!
But I am no better than any citizen of another nation; we are all made in the image of God and on equal footing before Him. (Genesis 1:27)

This biblical, wide-spread equality is something the Jews of both Old and New Testament times didn’t understand. They endured an age-long struggle with the Samaritan people, which finally culminated with the Jews being un-willing to speak to anyone of Samaritan descent.

We see trouble beginning to brew in 2 Kings 17:24-28 when people of all different nations and backgrounds were placed in the land of Samaria which had first belonged to the Jews. Before long, these foreigners began to intermarry with the Jewish people and, because they served false gods, raised children who believed in a faith-mixture culture blending Jewish belief and traditions with rampant false religious teachings. Trouble between two cultures escalated as the Samaritans sought to halt the Jews’ project of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. (Nehemiah 6:1-14).

The Jews’ continued hatred towards the Samaritans becomes quite evident in the New Testament when we discover that Jews didn’t even speak to Samaritans (John 4:9).

Imagine the surprise (and outrage!) of the Jewish people when Jesus not only spoke to Samaritans, treating them as equal to the Jews, but even went so far as to make a Samaritan the “good guy hero” of one of His stories!
This would have seemed completely outlandish and inappropriate.
But Jesus did it anyway, and I’m glad He did!
He taught us a valuable lesson which is oh-so-relevant to today.

In Luke 10:25-37 we read the parable of the Good Samaritan, a story Jesus told about a man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Both a priest and a Levite (people who should’ve known better, as people of God!) walked by on the opposite side of the road.
Their agendas were too important.
Their appearance too high of a priority.
And heaven-forbid they break a sacred law by touching blood in order to love a stranger!
A poor, suffering man in the street wasn’t worth sacrificing any of these.

Then came a Samaritan, believed by the Jews to be good for nothing and full of evil (John 8:48).
But, in Jesus’ carefully crafted story, it was a Samaritan who saw the poor man, had compassion on him, treated his injuries, and then set him up in an inn.
The Samaritan displayed intentional compassion, going far out of his way to provide for his needs.
In the end, it was a Samaritan whom the Lord held up as an example for us, saying, “Go, and do likewise”. (Luke 10:37)

I don’t know about you,
but that is convicting to me!

How often do I first jump to see the differences between myself and another rather than our common similarity?
Whether it’s a difference of nationality, beliefs, clothing, appearance, or culture, often our first impulse is to hold tight to prideful arrogance, rather than see others as fellow image bearers of God, worthy of my care and compassion.
Just as the priest and Levite did in Jesus’ story.
Countless justifications stop me from radically loving another.

What a timely question for us to ask ourselves with all the turmoil between countries, between people of different backgrounds, among immigrants, and gender wars!
Are we living lives of love, treating others as Jesus would have us to?
As the Good Samaritan did?
Or are we acting as the priest and Levite: too good, too important, and too busy to be bothered?

Our ultimate example of this kind of radical love is Christ.
Jesus boldly shared the story of the Good Samaritan with a crowd of Jews, and then lived His life to match it!

At the end of His life, nailed to a cross for crimes He didn’t commit, the story of the Samaritan was exemplified to the nth degree.
We were the Samaritans; you and I were the outcasts.
We chased after false gods, living contrary to God’s holy standard.
Yet, Jesus, He bled and died for us, showing us ultimate compassion, love, and care.

What about you?
How will you become like the Good Samaritan, like Jesus, today right where you are?
How are you being called to go beyond the borders we tend to erect for ourselves?

Who is different than you, and how can you love them better today?

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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 Screenshot 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 Screenshot!