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Calling Day 14 One To Another: 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 One To Another!

The Questions

1) What is the Lord’s will and how does it connect with the straight-forward commands given in these passages? (verse 17)

2) Submission feels like a command that chains us up and makes us a doormat; how does Paul want us to see it from God’s perspective?

3) What connection is Paul making in verses 28-33 between marriage and the Church?

4) Why does Paul specifically call out the roles of wives, husbands, children, and slaves?

Ephesians 5:15-6:9

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. 4 Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. 6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. 7 Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, 8 knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. 9 And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Original Intent

1) What is the Lord’s will and how does it connect with the straight-forward commands given in these passages? (verse 17)
At a high-level view based on what we’ve already studied in Ephesians, particularly Ephesians 1:3-14 and especially verse 9, the Lord’s will is for us to know Him and understand Him not only regarding the means of salvation, but all the vast riches believers have access to through Christ. This knowing Him is the fullness of His will for a relationship with us, because through this gateway, our lives our transformed in greater and greater facets. Through knowing the Savior, His Spirit makes us new, shaping us into the image of the Son, Jesus Christ, who perfectly represents God the Father. We are drawn in deeply as a child of God. We are given new DNA, a new birth, a new life, a new purpose, and as we study His Word and learn the rhythms of the heart of God, our everyday lives take on new life and purpose. Everything is made new! Knowing the God of the universe in deep intimacy is the crown jewel of our existence; it’s what we were created for!

2) Submission feels like a command that chains us up and makes us a doormat; how does Paul want us to see it from God’s perspective?
In a society where women actually didn’t carry value and were often viewed as being property owned by men, Jesus radically turns their worldview upside down. To the original audience, it was impossible to read these words and get the idea Jesus didn’t value women. In fact, He elevated them! They were partners together in marriage with men. Wives were to submit to their husbands’ leadership, as husbands were called to love and honor wives as their own bodies! (Ephesians 5:25, 28) Husbands were called out to stop viewing women as property, but as partners having equal value as men. In this context, a woman’s passion should be valued just as highly as a man’s passion. A wife’s voice was to receive the same value as a husband’s voice. Co-equal. Co-valued. Yet still, like two beautiful dancers, there can not be two leaders. In a stalemate, one must submit to the other’s lead or the dance ceases to be beautiful and the two, intended to act and love and live as one cohesive unit, split up and walk away in opposition. This is not God’s heart because it isn’t how God operates within Himself. Jesus only spoke what the Father told Him to say. (John 12:49-50) The Spirit only moved between Father and Son in blessed unity. (John 15:26-27) There was never discord, only mutual love and submission. As we hold onto this view of God, we can more clearly understand how God lovingly designed wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives. Marriage is intended as a beautiful dance of mutual love and submission!

3) What connection is Paul making in verses 28-33 between marriage and the Church?
God designed marriage for many purposes, but one of the most important was to illustrate, like a breathtaking painting, the relationship between God and the Church, His chosen Bride. Verse 25 is power-packed with breathless, ardent, unconditional love from a God whose love for us will literally take an eternity for us to comprehend. Read these words slowly, pausing after each word for amplified understanding, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her…” Each. Word. Slowly. God chose people to be His own priceless inheritance. He has chosen us to be included in His Bride, the Church. Oh, how He loves each of us as individuals and as a whole as we join together with other believers to make up the Bride! (verse 30) He loved her (the Church) so lavishly, He gave Himself entirely up for her. This is unfathomable! Marriage was always intended to be the public, on-live-display reflection of what it looks like for God to love His people. As husbands sacrificially love their wives, the wife responds with trust, honor, and a love that follows whole-heartedly. Christ sacrificed Himself for every believer as individuals, which composes the whole of His Bride, the Church. Because of this incredible demonstration of radical love, the Church responds by following Him, honoring His sacrifice, and, in turn, radically loving Jesus and all those around us.

4) Why does Paul specifically call out the roles of wives, husbands, children, and slaves?
It’s important not to follow our natural tendency and section off these roles as teachings separate from the main emphasis of the text as a whole. These role distinctions are meant to each be woven in connection with the thick, life-giving cord of living out the calling of following Jesus holistically. Spouses, children, slaves, whatever your role in life, heed this imperative calling from the Lord Jesus Christ, “walk worthy of the calling you have received.” (Ephesians 4:1) We have each been called to love the Lord and one another, so let’s walk it out! “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) Live it out with humility and utmost love for one another, regardless of your role in family relationships or in societal rank. “From Him (Christ), the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.” (Ephesians 4:16) Just as each one has a role in life, so do each of us have a role in the Body of Christ. We are called to live it out by “walking in love, as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” (Ephesians 5:2) Whether we answer to mama, sister, daughter, friend, wife, boss, or coworker, each role is uniquely and critically woven to our highest calling, “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8) and “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21)

Everyday Application

1) What is the Lord’s will and how does it connect with the straight-forward commands given in these passages? (verse 17)
Often, Christians want an “easy answer” button to the specifics of their life choices, so we concoct a mysterious pursuit of “finding the will of God”. Which job opportunity? Which spouse? Do we adopt a child? Which house should we buy? We are tempted to elevate this “finding God’s will” in specificity far above focusing on the relationship we have with God in our ordinary day-to-day lives. He intends for us to follow Him one small step at a time. He will make the specifics clear to us, but first and foremost we are to seek His face, know Him deeply, and study His Word to understand who this God is we follow. It’s in the unpacking, not the pursuing, of the God who is right here with us. He is not far off and we are left trying to chase after Him. Our pursuit should not be a mysterious “God’s will”, but rather God Himself! As we seek Him, we will find not only the most precious jewel of all, the fullness of God, but we will slowly, over time, find that we are being faithfully, gently, graciously, being led step by step in small and big decisions. Follow Him by studying Him, then allow that knowing of Him to color everything else. When we know Him, we want to be like Him. This means we won’t choose to live foolishly like the world. We won’t make rash decisions, because our God is not rash. We won’t enable others because God calls out our own sin with His gracious truth. We won’t speak with rudeness, because God is not rude to us. When it comes to major life-decisions like where to move, which job to take, and who to marry, the Lord will faithfully lead us through those decisions, just as He has faithfully led us before. However, if we don’t make a habit of knowing Him, of choosing His will (which is to know Him), then the big decisions will continue to be a wrestling match of uncertainty. What God wants most is not our decision to move to city A instead of city B, it’s to know Him. If we refuse to prioritize this “will of God”, nothing else will fit.

2) Submission feels like a command that chains us up and makes us a doormat; how does Paul want us to see it from God’s perspective?
There are many passages in Scripture that have tragically been manipulated to assert someone’s twisted perception of reality and justify their own sinful actions. Sadly, this beautiful passage in Ephesians 5 has been used to press women down, especially regarding their role in marriage. Even in Christian marriages where the husband genuinely loves the Lord, these verses on submission are often taken out of context to assert the wife has no voice or value. Sisters, let’s be so clear here, this is not the heart of God! Jesus stopped everything on a busy day of ministry to call out an outcast woman, elevate her, value her, heal her, and esteem her by publicly declaring her His Daughter. (Mark 5:25-34) As we read these verses in Ephesians, it is imperative we study through the correct lens of lavish love God has for women and all people regardless of race, gender, or role in life! (Galatians 3:27-28) Each human being was created on purpose by the handiwork of God. (Jeremiah 1:5) Each was made in His image. (Genesis 1:27) He knit together every bone and marrow, every patch of skin, and artfully crafted every hue of eye color. (Psalm 139:13-16) There are no “cookie cutter molds” in God’s craftsmanship; He intimately loves every person as an individual with the exact same value and worth. It is simply not in His character to show favoritism. (Ephesians 6:9)

3) What connection is Paul making in verses 28-33 between marriage and the Church?
A husband is meant to love his wife so deeply and unconditionally that there are no boundaries on his faithful, sacrificial love for her. He is to forever be willing to sacrifice himself for her because he loves her. She, in turn, is to respond to this love by trusting her husband and following his lead, respecting and honoring him as the God-ordained leader in her home. This colors how wives speak to their husbands, spend their money, raise their children, have disagreements with him, and even sleep with their husbands. Radical love is intended to foster trust and respect because this is the picture of how Jesus loves us and designed us for deep, intimate relationship with Him! I know what you might be thinking… ‘If I had a husband who loved me like that, it would be easy for me to respect him and follow him. But I don’t.’ I know, Sister, I know. God, however, does not call us to lovingly submit to our husbands only when we are in a phenomenal marriage and all our needs are being met. He calls us to live out love and gentleness and respectful submission even when we aren’t being loved the way we were created to receive love. God is not a selfish God. When we do not follow Him, when we love ourselves and our ways better than His, He does not withhold His love from us. He continues to be present, offer love, tenderness, and forgiveness! We cannot love our husbands like this on our own! Even in great marriages, this kind of love requires supernatural help! When we fix our eyes on knowing God first and foremost, investing daily and intentionally into our relationship with Him, we will be given the strength and ability to love and honor our husbands. Whether it’s a marriage relationship or your relationship with Christ, honor the Lord by loving Jesus first and most. This always translates to loving others sacrificially and unconditionally just as we are loved by God Himself!

4) Why does Paul specifically call out the roles of wives, husbands, children, and slaves?
The specific roles in chapters 5 and 6 are not additional, new concepts, but rather they are a pinnacle demonstration of all Paul has been teaching regarding what it looks like to live out Jesus’ calling in real life. These truths Paul wrote of are not mere doctrines to study or pious words to memorize, but they are the very fabric of the life we are to live in Jesus! No true Christ-follower is exempt from this high calling, regardless of their role in life! Paul didn’t call out these specific roles so we would isolate them from the rest of his teachings, but would view them, and every role, through the stunningly beautiful lens of submission, love, respect, and honor for others. When the whole Body of Christ, every single believer, follows this pattern of living, we truly are exhibiting what it means to live a life worthy of the calling we have received in Jesus! Imagine the difference it would make if you took this high calling seriously and began thinking through your everyday actions through the lens of loving submission, charged with the aim of honoring others before yourself? How would meal times feel different around the table as you encouraged others? How would your relationship with your spouse deepen as you intentionally chose to lay aside the weapon of offense and instead pick up the grace gifts of humility and tender love? What transformations might happen as you choose loving respect and submission at the workplace instead of gossip and self-promotion? Live out this rich love Christ has called us to as we love one another!

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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

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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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Ten Day 8 Worth Of One

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Exodus 20:13
Genesis 1:26-27
Exodus 21:22-25

Ten, Day 8

Be honest, sister.
Have you ever tried to earn God’s favor?

I’ll be the first to admit I have!

Entrapped in a multi- year-long season of legalism, I believed the Ten Commandments, as well as God’s instruction to the church in the New Testament, were provided as means for pleasing God with our behavior . . . to earn His favor. I subconsciously viewed my obedience as a means to control God. If I obeyed His commands, then surely God would love and protect me and no harm would come my way . . . right?

Wrong.
My limited perspective was nearsighted and false. As I have grown in my understanding of the Word, I’ve learned the commands of God reflect His character. They reveal His nature, His righteousness, His love, His goodness, and His desire for us to be holy, as He is holy. As we live in obedience to Him out of a heart of gratitude for His glorious gospel, we are transformed into His image and reflect Him to the watching world.

In our series on the Ten Commandments, we’ve reached God’s commandment, “Do not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Most everyone agrees murder is wrong, but have you ever pondered why? What makes murder so grievous? Today, we’ll unpack why murder is such an affront to the heart and nature of God.

Our conversation starts at the beginning of time, in the garden of Eden. As God created mankind, He proclaimed,
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)

We see the result of this proclamation in the very next verse:
“So God created man in his own image;
He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female.” (Genesis 1:27)

This is precisely why murder so terrible; when someone murders a fellow human being, they are snuffing out the life of an image-bearer of God Himself.

The sacred nature of human life is further illustrated in this Levitical law:
“When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment.  If there is an injury, then you must give life for life,  eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,  burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.” (Exodus 21:22-25)

This law clearly illustrates the importance God places on a human life,
even the smallest and most vulnerable!

For believers living after Jesus’ death and resurrection, who live everyday with the gift of the Holy Spirit within us, this commandment takes on new meaning and a higher level of accountability. As Jesus teaches in Matthew 5, our abstention from murder should extend to unrighteous anger, insults, and denigrating or slanderous speech.

In fact, Scripture explains, such treatment of a fellow image-bearer reveals a heart of hatred. Hatred of another human, even our enemies, stands in direct opposition to the example set by Jesus’ sacrificial death.

Instead, Jesus calls us to love our enemies and offers us a living demonstration: even in the midst of His agony on the cross, He didn’t spew judgement or hatred. His heart of mercy triumphed over the pain of injustice His body suffered as He interceded for His tormentors.

“Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

God’s command to preserve life, working in concert with the other passages we’ve discussed, creates a beautiful picture of the Father’s fierce heart of love for His children. The command truly comes alive and we see, for perhaps the first time, just how highly God esteems us as His creations. We bear the image, the breath, and the Spirit of Almighty God. Therefore, rather than taking a life, we are called to willingly lay down our own lives, in gratitude and love for the One who gave Himself to rescue us.

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Sola Day 6 Sola Gratia

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Galatians 1:6-12
Galatians 3:1-4
Isaiah 55:1-3
Romans 6

Sola, Day 6

I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. –Paul, the Apostle

Dumbfounded, to be honest.
How can you be so foolish to, on one hand, believe that Christ saved you by His Spirit, without any help from you, then turn to the other hand and live like your spiritual growth depends on your own ability?  (Galatians 3:3, paraphrased)

“You foolish Galatians!”, Paul emphatically states.

My friends, there is No Other Gospel by which we can receive salvation.
NONE.

Hence, Sola.
Sola, meaning only.

Only one Scripture holding truth.
Only one way to Jesus through faith.
Only one way to receive Christ by grace.
Only one who can save us for eternity, Jesus.
Only one end goal, to bring glory to God.

Paul reiterates with emphasis,
“not that there is another gospel,
but there are some who are troubling you
and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”
(Galatians 1:7)

We nod our heads in agreement when we hear the statements of faith.
Of course, we believe this to be true:
Saved by grace through faith alone, yes! Of course!

But we still must do…..
and out flow our lists and endless checkboxes of ways to please God and earn His favor.

As if the gospel needs our help.
As if the Savior’s work is not good enough.

We say…
God saved us for all eternity yes, but I must still do these things to ensure His love stays on me.

Scripture says…
God saved us for all eternity through faith yes, but GOD by His grace and His righteousness will continue to hold us fast, teaching our hearts to become more like Him.

Scripture insists, and Sola Gratia emphatically demands, that we change our yes, but to yes, I am not enough and will never be enough, but God is always my enough because of lavish grace.

Sola Gratia
Saved by grace through faith not of ourselves; it is the gift of God.

Whatever we attempt to bring to the table of Christ
will never be good enough and
will always cheapen the sacrifice of Christ,
so, radically, God invites us to bring our nothing.

No righteousness.
No good deeds.
No Scripture memory.
No “pretty good” past.
No large sums of money given to charity.
All of it is a slap in the face of the One who gave all
precisely because we are incapable of bringing anything.

Against the stark, unending dark backdrop of our utter incapability to earn the favor and pleasing smile of God upon us, He extends His merciful kindness and invites us to “bring our nothing”.

Come, and buy, and drink, and eat, and have inheritance, without price or entrance fee. (Isaiah 55:1-3)
Cease your labors. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Come to Jesus through the doorway of faith, opened for you by grace alone. (Romans 3:23-24)

Jared C. Wilson, in his portion of the book, Sola: How The 5 Solas are still Reforming the Church writes, “The problem with legalism is that it is itself, altogether stupid. Legalism imagines that the solution to our problem (inadequate righteousness before God) is to bring more of our problem (inadequate righteousness).”

Read that again, slower.

How refreshing is the antidote to our ceaseless inadequacy, Sola Gratia!
Bring your nothing, and allow faith, because of grace, to awaken your soul to life where good works flow rightly from the Spirit at work within us.

Because of this richly free, inestimably extravagant, grace alone,
we can have peace with God.

When we trade our sin-sick efforts to earn God’s favor or become a better version of ourselves on our own.
When we surrender our total inability to become righteous to the God of all righteousness.
When we lay down our insistence that we can do where God says, “I have done”.

Here is the rich fabric of grace.
Here we drink the wine of peace with God.

Here, with tears in our eyes, and the Spirit fueling our hearts, we declare alongside Paul with hearts overflowing with gratitude,
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

Sola Gratia
To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:5)

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

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Shielded Day 13 One Weapon

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Ephesians 6:10-17
Romans 8:1-11
2 Timothy 3:16-17
2 Peter 1:16-21
Hebrews 4:12-13

Shielded, Day 13

Since the beginning of time, words have been used as a weapon. In the garden, the serpent twisted God’s words to tempt Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of life. From that time until now, lies, manipulations, half-truths, and slander have been fuel for the fire of pain and division.

In Ephesians 6:12 Paul reminds us,
“Our battle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

I’ve used my own words as a weapon against others, or even as a defense to keep people from getting too close and knowing something I would rather they didn’t.
My words have cut others and myself deeply.
They have burned bridges and destroyed friendships.

I think a lot about the conversations and words of the past and the impact I made because of them. I’ve been fighting the wrong enemy using the wrong weapon.
I’ve been duped by the real enemy – Satan.

Up until this very last instruction from Paul, we are asked to take up pieces of armor that are defensive, pieces intended to protect our heart, mind, and soul.
But now, after fastening ourselves with this armor, we are invited to pick up a sword,
the only weapon we are to carry, the Word of God.

For the first two years after college, I was on a traveling music ministry team. After my two-year commitment was over, I was invited to help train the next set of teams who would go out to carry on the work that had been done by teams before us for the last 48 years. While I was on this training staff it came to our attention that many of the team members were suffering pretty intense spiritual attacks. A few of us decided it was time to fight.

In the chapel above the dining hall, there was a small costume and prop closet where I found myself a plastic toy sword, tucked it into my belt loop and joined other staff as we picked up our Bibles, and some old hymnals with scripture-based songs and decided to walk the path around the camp we were staying at and fight. I wore that sword in my belt loop for the rest of the 3 weeks of training. I didn’t realize it until writing this what a significant symbol and message to the Enemy this was.
We were armed with Scripture and we wouldn’t back down.
I would fight for those team members against his schemes,
and I knew we had the upper hand.

It may seem like an ineffective weapon.
How can a book of writings from a bunch of dead guys be our weapon?
Could this really be what Paul meant?
But when we take a closer look, we see there is more power to God’s Word than meets the eye.

Scripture isn’t just a collection of words from random people.
Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
God Himself, through the work of the Holy Spirit, guided men to write the truth, His truth, the world needed. The words in Scripture are God’s words.
The God who spoke all of life into creation.
The God who spoke and calmed the storm.
The God who spoke and raised the dead.
The God who spoke, “It is finished” into the air as He breathed His last, defeating the grip of sin once and for all.
These words are our weapon!

The same Holy Spirit who breathed these words into the earthly writers of Scripture and raised Jesus from the dead is the same Holy Spirit who makes His home within every believer when we embrace the gift of Salvation given for us.

How are you training for battle?
Are you relying on your own words to be your dagger?
Or are you picking up the unfailing Sword of the Spirit?

When we are armed with Scripture, we can walk out into the daily battlefield of life prepared to fight the spiritual forces of the heavenly realm with a fool-proof weapon.
Stay in the fight, Friend, His Word will never fail!

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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 Shielded Week Three! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

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The GT Weekend! ~ Worship VI 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) Where have you “felt the brokenness of the world with your own two hands”? Do you feel yourself shy away inside as your mind brings those unbidden thoughts and feelings to the surface? Are you skimming forward past these words, quickly hiding the painful scenarios or cutting words back in the corner from where they came? Brokenness. Shame. Gaping wounds. Grief so deep. Loneliness. Loss. Weariness. Fear. This brokenness is everywhere, isn’t it? But Oh praise God we have a Redeeming Rescuer! One who heals, One who brings life, One who binds up, One who brings justice, One who brings to light what was done in secret, One who l o v e s. Will you do something brave this weekend with me? Will you bring up one, just one, of those aching broken places and hold it in your hands while you talk with the Savior about its painful edges? I will pray for you as you do; pray for me!

2)  What have been some of your “seasons of wilderness”? What has been the prevailing factor in that desert time that has most discouraged you or caused you pain? Maybe it’s loneliness, loss, fear, or even anger. In looking back at other dry, weary seasons, what good have you seen coming from that time of stretching? What impact would a shift in your perspective have? What if we began viewing our seasons as opportunities for God to draw us close and make us more like Himself instead of begging Him to release us from the suffering? It is wisdom and maturity in Christ to choose surrendered submission in our wilderness prayers!

3)  What was the reason you last decided to intentionally praise God? Whether it was vocally or in your heart, think back to the last time you remember praising Him for something in particular. Now, think back to the last time you praised Him for the good work He was doing in the midst of your life’s storm. If you’re in a storm right now, take time to physically hold out your hands as you pray, choosing praise for His character in the face of your circumstances. Ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you, showing you His glory. If you aren’t in a season of struggle right now, intentionally take this time to walk closer with the Lord. Be consistent in your quiet time Bible study, journal your prayers and study notes, connect with an accountability partner to grow together, take a vow of silence to listen more intently to the Father, and choose praise. Practicing praise in easy times, will prepare us for worship in trial.

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 Exodus 33:18 back to the Lord and let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, let me see Your glory!”

Prayer Journal
Please, Lord God, remove from my heart the incessant desire to keep focusing on the temporary, the fleeting circumstances around me that frustrate me, or the people who make me forget I’m human too. Lord, I want to be ensconced by Your presence. Permeate my heart with Your glory; just let me sit here and dwell with you, drinking in Your beauty, that I may be forever transformed as a result. May my heart bring You true worship that honors and delights You. May my eyes be for You and Your magnificence so that nothing else matters because Your mighty love will flow through me to a hurting world. Hear my heart worship, 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

Pause 3 Day 8 One Sacrifice

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Pause 3, Day 8

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your own screw-ups?
Raising both of my hands over here!

Words that just keep coming out like swords that cut, no matter how much you wish they didn’t.
Anger that boils over when you get in those specific scenarios, despite how much you decide you won’t get mad this time.
Or even overspending or overeating or over-parenting, even though you know it’s a weakness of yours.

Jesus comes to bring complete forgiveness of sin once and for all.

Shame has no place.
The times we fail to live the life of love we want to are opportunities to return closer to the Father, and learn from Him again, not be ashamed of lifting our face to His.

Slow down today and sink into the fullness of this sweet, freeing truth:
One sacrifice, all sin forgiven, eternal Hope offered!

Today's Invitation

1) Be a scribe and copy the precious words of Scripture down word for word. Make space in your journal to write down Hebrews 10:4-10 after you read the full passage of today’s reading in Hebrews 10:1-18. As you copy, lookup a cross reference or two as you come to them (they are the small letters next to certain words in your study Bible or online at www.biblia.com). As you write, think of the incredible gift it is to be invited into God’s presence through His word!

2) Choose one of these options to answer the invitation of going deeper into biblical community! 
a) Take a photo of your journal time this week and share it, or share a quote from it.
b) Do a Facebook Live on the GT Community group and share how God has been working in you.
c) Leave a comment here about it.
d) Share something God has been showing you in a comment at the GT Community Group 
e) Plan a coffee or lunch date with a friend and share what you’ve been learning and soaking in as you have hit Pause.
f) Write a note of encouragement to a sister who has been through the nitty-gritty of real life with you. Let her know how deeply she has impacted your walk with Christ.
g) For some of us, having a “2am friend” to build biblical community with is a new concept. If that’s you, this is an exciting, fresh place to be! Connect with our Facebook Community, send us an email, reach out to your local church body, seek out a small group and plug in! 

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Hebrews 10:1-18

Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. 2 Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year.

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said:
You did not desire sacrifice and offering,
but you prepared a body for me.
6 You did not delight
in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “See—
it is written about me
in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.”

8 After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law), 9 he then says, See, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. 10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.

11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. 13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says:
16 This is the covenant I will make with them
after those days,
the Lord says,
I will put my laws on their hearts
and write them on their minds,
17 and I will never again remember
their sins and their lawless acts.
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

How Does “Pause” Work?
1.Each day, Monday through Friday, for 2 weeks, we will provide you with an invitation to get away with the Savior. Each one is designed for you to engage with the Almighty in a deeper way and perhaps in a new way than you have been recently.

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Pause 3 Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme? Here’s a link to all past studies
in Pause 3!

Ignite Day 14 Just 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 Just One!

The Questions

1) It seems like Paul is saying his suffering is actually emboldening others to share the gospel as well. Is this true? How is it possible? (verses 12-14)

2) How and why would “some preach Christ out of rivalry and vain conceit”? What does Paul’s response reveal about him? (verse 15)

3) How does Paul know he will be delivered from prison? (verse 19)

Philippians 1:12-20

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ. 14 Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly. 15 To be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will. 16 These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment. 18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice 19 because I know this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 20 My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Original Intent

1) It seems like Paul is saying his suffering is actually emboldening others to share the gospel as well. Is this true? How is it possible? (verses 12-14)
Yes, it’s true! Paul’s suffering was used by the God who turns all things into platforms for His goodness and glory to be made undeniably clear. Paul was writing this letter, while imprisoned, to the church in Philippi and, understandably, wanted to assure them of the mysterious truth he had long come to know, “that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel.” (Philippians 1:12) It would be easy to run in fear on hearing Paul’s news, and he wanted the church to know the truth. He wasn’t plastering on a happy face, this wasn’t an attempt to get more people imprisoned, Paul’s purpose was to declare the power of the gospel! In his letter to Timothy, also written while in prison, Paul says about preaching the gospel, “I am bound like a criminal, but the word of God is not bound!”. (2 Timothy 2:9) Paul was imprisoned and had suffered countless persecutions for holding unswervingly to Christ alone, yet still he relentlessly clung tighter. As a result, God used even his harsh circumstances as a means to reach a new group of people, the imperial guard and those who ran in that circle of people. They knew of Paul, his imprisonment, and the gospel he preached. They witnessed how Paul willingly accepted persecution as normative for the delight of following Jesus. This is an outrageous gospel that frees people from the inside so that no fear of men can overcome them! (Matthew 10:28) Paul wanted his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to keep running the race of sharing Jesus (2 Timothy 4:7), keep being bold, and keep their eyes on eternity because the gospel is worth it, even for just one!

2) How and why would “some preach Christ out of rivalry and vain conceit”? What does Paul’s response reveal about him? (verse 15)
Paul, his word, his preaching, and his public persona carried quite a bit of weight within the early church. He traveled far and wide, strengthening and encouraging and providing wisdom from the Lord wherever He went. In today’s verbiage, Paul had a huge following. Despite his floggings and many forms of persecution, he was greatly respected, honored, and beloved by many. (Acts 20:36-38) In their sinful human nature, other preachers of the gospel became jealous of Paul’s popularity, wishing for some of the same prestige. (1 Corinthians 3:3-4) They viewed Paul’s imprisonment as a roadblock for Paul’s popularity rankings and were seemingly taking advantage of the situation in order to promote themselves on the stage of the gospel. Paul responds not with words that try to edge himself over other pastors, but in pointing straight to the power of the gospel. Paul knew that whatever popularity he carried had nothing to do with himself, but only about God doing His mighty work through Paul. Perhaps much of the reason Paul was so well loved was because he understood the gospel’s going forth had nothing to do with him being especially blessed. Rather, Paul viewed himself as unworthy to carry this precious gospel, referring to himself as the “worst of all sinners”. (1 Timothy 1:15) Preaching wasn’t about Paul, it was always and only about Christ, which is why Paul was able to rejoice when his “competitors” preached the gospel while Paul was stuck in prison. Paul wanted one thing, for the gospel to be declared with all boldness, which was being done, even as Paul sat in prison.

3) How does Paul know he will be delivered from prison? (verse 19)
A quick, cursory glance through these verses and it would be easy to think Paul was talking about either his “deliverance” from prison or the “salvation” or his soul, but neither of those take the whole context into consideration. Paul was speaking of those who were preaching Christ out of envy and vanity and he was transparently sharing how easy and tempting it would be for him to fall into self-focus and discouragement about his own preaching. But he is kept a safe distance from these pitfalls because of his intentional choice to rejoice and celebrate that the gospel is being preached instead of focusing on who is (or isn’t) doing the preaching. Paul was just as human as any of us and the temptation to make his ministry about himself was a real threat. If we were to slow down, take the meaning of the Greek words into account, and amplify the context of this passage, verse 19 might read like this:
My heart attitude of rejoicing will lead to my vindication and clear conscience. By focusing on rejoicing that the gospel is being preached, I can keep a clear conscience before the Lord. My human tendency is to become discouraged and to fall into self-pity, focusing on my circumstances, but when I choose rejoicing, when I choose thanksgiving for the gospel’s declaration, I am kept safe in my thought-life. Even this inner, heart adjustment to stay away from self-focus is a gift given by the Spirit of Jesus as He works within my heart and is continued because you, my brothers and sisters in Jesus, keep praying for me, asking the Lord to supply and sustain me where I am weak.

Everyday Application

1) It seems like Paul is saying his suffering is actually emboldening others to share the gospel as well. Is this true? How is it possible? (verses 12-14)
It goes entirely against every urge within us, doesn’t it? This counting suffering as a source of encouragement, but here we find it written by the pen of the greatest apostle that, as a direct result of his suffering, Christ was preached, brothers and sisters were encouraged to preach more boldly, and the kingdom of God expanded. The root? Yes, suffering. Transparently, I’ve long struggled with this passage, feeling as if it were a splinter against tender flesh. How could other believers, upon hearing of Paul’s imprisonment because of the gospel, not run in fear of the same result? Perhaps it felt so splintering, because I couldn’t imagine being encouraged. But then I read of brothers and sisters all around the world who preached boldly and loved those around them for the sake of the gospel even knowing they would face persecution. If their love for Jesus was worth it to them, how could I, a recipient of the same undeserved, lavish grace, hide away in fear? Was the gospel not worth it to me? Were other souls less precious than my own? Did I really value the now over the forever of eternity? With conviction from the Holy Spirit, the stories I read stirred me, encouraged me, and emboldened me to share this precious gospel like never before. While reading The Insanity of God, this passage, which I happened to be memorizing at the time, was constantly before me. The God of all power, sovereignty, and love used the evil of the world, upending it and shifting it, to become a stage for the purpose of declaring His gospel of love and freedom to even more people. Considering the brevity of my vapor-thin life, I want to be part of that kind of kingdom work. A work that lasts far beyond myself into eternity, for the sake of even just one more soul. Yes, even if it means suffering.

2) How and why would “some preach Christ out of rivalry and vain conceit”? What does Paul’s response reveal about him? (verse 15)
Falling into a popularity competition is far too easy for each of us in our own various ways. Envying another’s accomplishments is probably a scenario we’ve all found ourselves in. Whether it’s about ministry success, picture perfect kids, attaining fitness goals, or accomplishing big milestone markers in life, Paul’s heart attitude is an excellent model for each of us. There is one goal for every believer, and that is Christ is preached. Whatever we are doing, our aim is to bring God glory, even if it’s as menial as eating or drinking. (1 Corinthians 10:31) Every single Christ follower has been gifted with an intentional purpose and special giftings to accomplish that mission. Whatever it is, we are to do it well, keeping our eyes on the goal of bringing God glory, not competing against other brothers or sisters. Paul says it like this in 1 Corinthians 3:5-7, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (emphasis added) Next time you are tempted to fall into jealousy or lean into a competitive spirit against a brother or sister in Jesus, step back and choose instead to celebrate with them. We are each precious and we each have a role in building God’s kingdom!

3) How does Paul know he will be delivered from prison? (verse 19)
Where do you commonly find yourself straying in your private thought life? Maybe you struggle with physical lust or constant comparison or perhaps your struggle is in the negative words you choose to speak to yourself with phrases like, “You’re such an idiot. Why can’t you get it right?” Whatever your familiar weakness, Paul’s model provides a solid antidote. Choose thanksgiving; choose to rejoice over what the Lord is doing through you and others. Celebrating others’ strengths and victories clears away our tendency to focus on what we don’t have. Be transparent. Share your weaknesses and struggles with other trusted, believing sisters in Jesus and ask them to pray for you. The Holy Spirit will use their prayers to strengthen and encourage you and keep your heart and mind focused on the goodness of the Lord instead of yourself. Want to go a step farther? Be that place of safety for another sister. Be transparent with her and invite her to share vulnerably with you, then commit to praying for one another in these areas of weakness. Watch what the Lord will do through the gift of your committed prayers and your intentional choice to rejoice!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Just 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!
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Our Current Study Theme!

This is Ignite 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 :-))

Memorize It!

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

Ignite Day 13 Just One

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Acts 16:11-34
Hebrews 6:9-11
Philippians 1:12-20

Ignite, Day 13

My mama turned to me and asked me if it would all be worth it,
if my story touched just one soul?

I grew up praying for missionaries in my extended family and my church. These missionaries spread around the globe from South America to Africa to Russia, and we prayed for them daily.

I wonder now as an adult….
would they still choose to leave their country,
leave their family and material possessions,
and face trials and persecution if it meant that just one soul was reconciled with God?
I believe all of them would answer “Yes”.

I imagine their “yes” is sometimes said through gritted teeth,
eyes heavy with exhaustion,
and determination tightening their body from head to foot,
regardless of how they might emotionally feel
And sometimes their yes flowed from a heart that danced victoriously.

Their “yes” didn’t come without heartbreak, heartache, or sorrow.
Neither did it come without blessings, laughter, and joy.
But their yes was worth it when
someone said their own “yes” to Jesus.

Following the example of believers like Paul, Silas, the other twelve apostles, and the many men and women who gave up their lives for the sake of the gospel, three men said yes to Jesus, giving up everything to follow wherever He led. Adoniram Judson and Samuel J Mills were two of the first missionaries sent out from the United States, while Hudson Taylor, a contemporary, was one of the most influential missionaries to China.

Adoniram Judson and Samuel J Mills were among the very first class at the very first evangelical seminary in the United States, Andover Theological Seminary in 1810. Together, they helped create the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Adoniram, and his young, new wife, Ann, headed to Burma. Shortly before they left, Ann wrote this to a friend:

“I feel willing and expect, if nothing in providence prevents, to spend my days in this world in heathen lands. Yes… I have about come to the determination to give up all my comforts and enjoyments here, sacrifice my affection to relatives and friends, and go where God, in His providence, shall see fit to place me. My determinations are not hasty, or formed without viewing the dangers, trials, and hardships attendant on a missionary life. (…) Now my mind is settled and composed, and is willing to leave the event with God.

While the Judsons were in Burma, Samuel Mills was forming several missionary and benevolent organizations in the United States while also carrying the gospel to Mississippi and New York City. In 1818, Samuel spent time in West Africa, locating a site for the repatriation of freed African-American slaves.
On his return, Samuel died on the ship.
His life seems short by our standards, but it was rich, and the fire in his spirit for spreading the Gospel ignited the flames of countless hearts. The Lord does not count our success by years or tasks completed, but only by our willing obedience to His heart of love!

Like Paul in the Bible and countless other Christ-followers through the ages, Adoniram also spent time in prison, but persecution and suffering did not deter him from obediently pressing into the Lord’s calling on his life. He opened a girls’ school, translated the Bible and other Christian books into Burmese, and faithfully kept following Jesus in His everyday life. Ann passionately worked beside him, using her love for Jesus and writing to encourage American women to pray fervently. She specifically asked women to pray for the rescue of child brides, the end of female infanticide, and other struggles for Burmese women. The Lord used Ann’s gift of writing in one final act before He called her home: helping to release her husband from his 21 months prison sentence by writing about the horrid condition of the prison in which he was contained.

Ann & Adoniram were normal, everyday people who chose, again and again and again, to love Jesus more than the comforts of life for the sake of even just one.

After Ann’s death, Adoniram also buried his second wife and three of their precious, tiny children before marrying his third wife. Like Ann, his second wife, Sarah, willingly held open her hands and life to the Lord. She used her skills as a linguist to continue spreading the Gospel to the Burmese by translating books, hymns, and tracts as well as the New Testament. Sarah fervently worked alongside her missionary-husband, while enduring the pain of losing her children. Her heart was not withheld from sorrow, she knew suffering well, but she knew Jesus was worth it, even for the sake of just one.

Adoniram’s met his third wife, Emily, when he enlisted her writing abilities to write about the life of Sarah. Unbeknownst to him, Emily had read many stories about Ann. As a result, she too felt the call to live missionally in Burma. After they married, she joined him in what would be Adoniram’s final job before entering Heaven: completing an enlarged edition of the Burmese dictionary to ease translation of the Bible.

Just three years after Adoniram’s death, another well-known Christ-follower made his way to a foreign land with one goal: spreading the Gospel.
As a baby, Hudson’s mother, on urgings from the Holy Spirit, had prayed he would be used in China.
China!

Her prayer was answered when he encountered the Holy Spirit one evening, and spent the next several years studying medicine, learning Mandarin, and growing his relationship with the Lord in preparation to move to China in 1853.
After marrying Maria Dryer, the daughter of Chinese missionaries, Hudson Taylor became incredibly ill and returned to England in 1961.
His return did not dampen his fervor, no!
He spent his time translating the Bible into Chinese,
studying to become a midwife,
and recruiting more missionaries!

Adoniram Judson
Ann Judson
Sarah Judson
Emily Judson
Samuel J Mills
Hudson Taylor
Maria Dryer
Seven individuals who chose the “just one” over their own comfort.
Seven individuals who counted the cost of following Jesus, and said yes.
Seven individuals who changed the world for countless souls.

Will you say yes for the sake of just one?!

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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 Ignite 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 Ignite!