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Pause VII Day 1 Preparing To Pause

January 22, 2024 by Rebecca Adams Leave a Comment

Pause VII Day 1 Preparing To Pause

Rebecca Adams

January 22, 2024

Adoring,Dwell,gentle,Humility

Read His Words Before Ours!

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.
²Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,
³though its water roars and foams
and the mountains quake with its turmoil.
Selah

⁴There is a river—
its streams delight the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.
⁵God is within her; she will not be toppled.
God will help her when the morning dawns.
⁶Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
the earth melts when he lifts his voice.
⁷The Lord of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Selah

⁸Come, see the works of the Lord,
who brings devastation on the earth.
⁹He makes wars cease throughout the earth.
He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;
he sets wagons ablaze.
¹⁰“Stop fighting, and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”
¹¹The Lord of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
SelahRead More Of His Words

At Gracefully Truthful, our Pause themes are an invitation to slow down and lean into the Word of the Lord. They call us to actively choose to “clear the clutter” of our lives and become willing participants in silencing the incessant cacophony of distractions, whether loud or just, persistent.

For an effective Pause, where our souls can slow down long enough to freely feast on the delights of God’s nourishing Word, we encourage you to set aside these three weeks as sacred, an offering of worship to the Lord. Be intentional with your rhythms and set up a routine that provides space to meet with the Sovereign King who sacrificed everything to redeem your soul, your life, and your everyday moments of messy mayhem.

Interesting note, He can’t redeem what we won’t surrender.
And if we are just too busy to let go of a handful of minutes each day, it’s no wonder we feel disconnected from Him and can’t hear His voice or see Him at work.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray by “go[ing] into your private room and shut[ting] your door”, it wasn’t a metaphor. He was serious and meant His instruction to be taken literally. (Matthew 6:6)

I know all the excuses because I said them for years on end.
“This is a busy season right now.”
“Every time I sit down, a child needs me.”
“I’m too exhausted to get up earlier and too tired at night to stay up later.”

I lived in the land of “I can’t surrender” and my result was a desert of loneliness, fatigue, and weariness that went far deeper than my body.

Three Weeks.
Just Three Weeks.

Doesn’t a Pause sound refreshing?

It won’t cost you the price tag of a massage, and your dirty “whatevers” that “need” your attention, will still be there waiting when you open your door again in a few minutes.

Take the time to make a sacrifice of worship,
close your door to your room,
open His Word,
and pause.
Every day.

As we’ve studied together as sisters and a GT Team, we’ve discovered some tools that have significantly helped us hear more from the Lord, and be distracted less, as we’ve come to His Word during Pause Studies. Here’s what we’ve learned…

1) If you’re blessed to be in a season with little voices and tiny toes, and they just keep clamoring for you, it’s okay to let them in and see you sit with Jesus. It’s also okay to let them make a horrible mess for a few minutes outside your door while you sit in the shade of the God who sees you.

2) Leave your phone outside your room.

3) Bring a candle and read His Word while warming your fingers and soul with a small glow.

4) Level up the Pause challenge and memorize our focal passage, Psalm 46. Even if it takes you the rest of the year to memorize it in full, trust us, it’s worth it. Rewards you can’t even fathom are waiting for you on the other side of memorizing God’s Word!

Don’t complicate it.
Just sit and open His Word with a heart longing to know Him.
Come away, Sister; pause with us!

Today's Pause Challenge

1) Read Psalm 46 quietly and prayerfully. Then circle back, re-read it, and write down every word that sticks out to you as significant. This is the Holy Spirit drawing you in with His tenderness. Wait with expectancy to see what the Lord will teach you through His Word by the power of His own Spirit in the coming weeks!

2) Close your time by praying for these truths to take root in your heart and for the Holy Spirit to remind you and teach you more about these things today. Be sure to write out any questions you have as you read! If you’d like to send your questions to us, we’d love to study with you!

3) Put your headphones in and listen to strong encouragement and practical wisdom from Pastor David Platt on meeting regularly with the Almighty!

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pause,quiet time,reflect,silent,worship

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Be Still. And Know. That I Am God. Cease your fighting, silence all your distractions, and be captivated by the stunning glory of the God who has come to you, making Himself known.

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Sketched VII Day 1 Being His

March 9, 2020 by Rebecca Adams Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

2 Corinthians 5:1-15
Exodus 3:1-15
Isaiah 43:1-7

Sketched VII, Day 1

It was January of 2016.
My heart was learning to love Jesus more each day, but the road was full of potholes with a constant up and down scaling of mountainous terrain. My marriage of 14 years was equally as roller-coaster-like. We still hadn’t found a rhythm of love and communication since walking down the aisle, giving birth to 6 children, and holding the ashes of our baby.

I loved writing with a passion so great it hurt my heart not to write, but again, I couldn’t find the rhythm to do what I dreamed. Kids, babies, laundry, dishes, homeschooling, church, marriage, tension, h a r d.

Raw footage from my journal in December of 2015…
So now, I’m curling into bed in the room where we’ve spent the last 52+ hours fighting.
Lost.
Alone.
Unknown.
Feeling as if I’ve aged 10 years in 2 days.

Tomorrow will come. I just don’t know how to face it.
how to look in their eyes.
how to look at the mess
in the kitchen
in our marriage
how to fix any of it…

Backing up farther to November of 2014, my marriage thick with perpetual conflict, God whispered, calling me to know Him better. Deeper. Every Single Day.
I had emphasized to others about regular, daily quiet time with God for years, but I was terribly inconsistent myself. A couple days here followed by weeks without reading my Bible. I blamed it on everyone and everything else except me. God called me out of my aimlessness, asking if I truly wanted to follow.

Did I?
Did I really want to follow Jesus?

His Spirit moved my heart to YES, so with blank journal pages before me and Bible open, I tentatively stepped forward in surrender.
Every Day. No more room for apathy.

It was horribly awkward at first, but inexplicably, as days turned to weeks and months, the Lord became everything to me. I was alive, despite the brokenness around me. It thrilled me! A few weeks in, the Lord’s voice came again, “Pray for your husband and write it down, every day.” I remember the moment clearly, and my heart seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting for God to recant. Of course, He didn’t, He only waited for my response.

Would I follow?
Did I even want to say yes?

Before I could begin telling God why I couldn’t, the Spirit within me moved me to YES. I opened a new journal, hesitant at first, writing casual and surface-level prayers, until the Spirit groaned within me, urging my heart into full transparency as I interceded on behalf of my husband, and asking God to change my heart.

I tell you these backstories because it would be easy to begin sharing stories of how God has used Gracefully Truthful to reach women, to encourage them, and to bring about depth and intimacy in their relationship with God.

In the telling, it could look like I had made this happen.
But, I did not.
I know the truth.
I know this journey, this ministry, is not, nor has it ever been, about me.
Because I am utterly broken without my Savior.

Even my Yes to follow has always been an act of God from inside me.

January 2016.
Disarray everywhere.
With the one exception of that solid ground space in my heart where
Jesus had become more necessary than breathing,
Here, Lord asked if I would follow again.

It came in a rush of ideas and dreams.
It was well after midnight and I was still jotting down ideas of what this next step could be as I huddled under blankets in my bed. My heart beat wildly as the Spirit leapt within me, opening my eyes to next steps. Journey Studies, women studying the Bible for themselves, truth being discovered and lived out, the Spirit calling women to life from the grave, equipping women, holding out the life of Scripture with gut-honest transparency, redemption stories, living in biblical community, and the thoughts kept spinning.

The next day, I pulled in three of my closest friends and asked if they would be in for this crazy ride, wherever it led and whatever it meant. They prayed with me, they gave wise counsel, we held hands, and when God asked if we would follow, He had already prepared our YES.

Saying yes isn’t glamorous.
And it really, truly isn’t about us.
It’s about obedient surrender.

Saying yes to following Jesus will always, always come with a price.
This particular yes has cost my countless nights of sleep, evenings lazily watching TV, precious time with my children, and space for hundreds of other activities. This follow has brought me to tears and frustration, tension in my marriage, and so many moments of wanting to walk away.

It has also cost me my apathy.
While following Jesus will always require sacrifice, it will also burn up the impurities in your life you never even recognized.
This is perhaps, God’s greatest goal in asking for our yes, because it means we will become more like Jesus in the process, bringing Him more glory.

With the apostle Paul, let it be said of me,
Since I know what it is to fear the Lord, I am trying to persuade you to follow Him as well. What I am on the inside is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to you.
I am nothing without Christ.
I am not commending myself to you, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of God’s work in me. For if I am out of my mind, it is for God. It is Christ’s love that is compelling me to follow Him because I know this above all else: Because Jesus died for all, all those who are alive should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised to give them life. (2 Corinthians 5:11-15, my paraphrase)

Let my story urge you forward, Daughter of the Most High.
Not into doing great things for God, but for being a delighted over daughter as you enjoy His presence. In that precious place, His own Spirit will teach you to follow,
and to rest while you trust Him in your obedience.

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A Note About Sketched
In this series, we are stepping into the shoes of various characters throughout history. Some are biblical, some are well-known in modern day times, and some are people our writers know personally. We do our best to research the culture and times surrounding these individuals to give an accurate representation of their first-person perspectives on life and the world, but we can’t be 100% accurate. “Sketched” is our best interpretation of how these characters view(ed) God, themselves, and the world around them. Our hope is that by stepping into their everyday, we will see our own lives a little differently!
Enjoy!
And keep watching for Sketched Themes to pop up throughout the year!

Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

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

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

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

Dwell Day 14 Quiet What: Digging Deeper

October 18, 2018 by Rebecca Adams Leave a Comment

Dwell Day 14 Quiet What: Digging Deeper

Rebecca Adams

October 18, 2018

Busy,Character,Design,Digging Deeper,Dwell,Faith,God,Grace,Help,Hope,Jesus,Peace,Power,Praise,Prayer,Preparing,Purpose,Relationship,Scripture,Time,Trust,Worship

Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Read His Words Before Ours!

Mark 1:35-38

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying. 36 Simon and his companions searched for him, 37 and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”

The Original Intent

1) What do these verses reveal about Jesus’ pace of life?

Quite a bit is packed into these few words. This tiny snapshot of Christ’s life compels us to slow down and linger here as we study Him. Jesus lived on earth for approximately 33 years and, as John records, He filled those years with so many things that “not even the world itself could contain the books that could be written” about Jesus. (John 21:25)

Curious then, isn’t it, that Mark, who wrote the shortest gospel about Jesus, chose to record this small, seemingly meaningless detail. Then again Mark records a similar scenario in Mark 6:31-32 . Mark was a disciple who walked with Jesus day in and day out for 3 years, he had a front row seat to watch the Messiah in the flesh respond to a million different scenarios.

Mark knew Christ’s character, and he knew that this habit Jesus had of getting up early, and going away to a desolate place was critical. This was as much a natural routine for Jesus as it was for Him to breath, wake, and sleep. Getting away to pray was simply how Jesus functioned.

The Everyday Application

1) What do these verses reveal about Jesus’ pace of life?

Jesus had people looking for Him likely from the moment He had nestled Himself in His quiet place. (sound familiar?! I always have someone looking for me!) Notice what the disciples did not say when they found Jesus. “Where have you been?! We thought you had been arrested! We were afraid you’d been killed! What are you doing out here?!”

No, the disciples knew exactly what Jesus was doing and why He was doing it. The disciples knew the pace of life for Jesus was crazy and chaotic and exhausting like they had never experienced. Crowds of people every single day, a constant barrage of beggars, wounded, terminally ill, and even parents of deceased children wanted to find Jesus. When they woke in the morning and found Jesus gone, they knew where He was.

He had gone out again, as was His habit, to find silence and solitude somewhere and commune with His Father, just as He had been doing for all eternity. This wasn’t anything new for Jesus, this was how He did life. So, I ask you and I ask myself, if Jesus Christ, the Lord of All, needed daily, deep connection with God, what should hold us back from doing the same? Regardless of how crazy the chaos is…

The Original Intent

2) Why did the author record such details about when and where and how Jesus prayed?

First, Jesus was exceedingly intentional. Mark makes a point of telling us how crazy early it was when Jesus set out to pray. Don’t get side-tracked with the time of day, focus instead on His persistent intentionality. Everyone knows it isn’t easy to get up in the morning, let alone get up “extra” early to pray. Everything inside of us screams “warm beds and soft pillows”.

But Jesus wasn’t going for comfort, it was simply more valuable to meet with God than it was to sleep longer. Second, Jesus “got up”. He didn’t lay on his mat and make a semi-half-asleep attempt to pray, He physically got up and went out; Jesus had to wake up and become alert before He could be fully present. Third, He “made His way to a deserted place”. He was purposed in having a specific location in mind. Specific time, intentional preparation, planned location. Fourth, He prayed. This is the obvious part, right? But Mark still includes it. Jesus set the time, prepared for worship, set out a spot, and followed through in connecting through prayer.

The Everyday Application

2) Why did the author record such details about when and where and how Jesus prayed?

What comfort are you willing to give up in order to consistently and intentionally meet with God. Jesus gave up sleep and a warm house, He even left the house so He could be fully awake and prepared to connect deeply and authentically with God. Have you ever considered how we prepare for quiet time and personal worship?

Being intentional is one thing, waking up and engaging is another. Before you sit down with God, think through what you personally need to do to “wake up, prepare, and be engaged”. Maybe it’s coffee, maybe it’s making the bed, maybe it’s going for a run, do what you need for the purpose of fully engaging God.

Jesus stole away to a specific spot, do you have a location set aside for prayer and Scripture study? Finally, even if we do the first 3 (specific time, intentional preparation, planned location), sometimes the actual prayer and Scripture part can be left hanging.

We get distracted by “to-do’s” as we finally sit down, kids come running, the phone rings, or our eye catches that dirty sock sticking out from under the bed. But we are faced with the choice, just as Jesus was, to either follow through or become distracted. What we really value most is made evident by our daily choices.

The Original Intent

3) What do these verses reveal about Jesus’ purpose?

When the disciples approached him, crowds had already begun to gather. “Everyone is looking for you”, they said. Regardless of the peoples’ plan, Jesus had intentional purpose for His ministry plans that day, just as He did for His prayer time. Jesus responded with, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too.” His daily life was purposefully directed because He had met with God as His first priority.

The Everyday Application

3) What do these verses reveal about Jesus’ purpose?

There will always be distractions, criticisms, mountains of “to-do’s”, and loud voices screaming for our attention, but the Lord has set up each day according to His rhythm and His purpose. All that’s required of us is to lean into Him, connect deeply, and live in step with His voice, letting all other shouts be drowned out as we practice tuning our ear to His lilting invitation to come away and be with Him.

Dwelling with the Almighty, consistently, intentionally, and full of purpose, will find Him to be a refuge, a fortress, and a deliverer against whom nothing and no one can stand. (Psalm 91:1-6)

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dwell,God,grace,growth,intentional,quiet time,scripture,worship

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