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Fruitful Day 13 The Gentleness Of Jesus

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Mark 5:25-43
Matthew 11:28-30
John 13:12-17
Galatians 5:22-23

Fruitful, Day 13

The crowds were gathering, pressing relentlessly on all sides.
With His power to heal illness and drive away demons, word was spreading quickly. People from all walks of life, with all manner of brokenness, flocked in masses in pursuit of Jesus, the Christ.

In the midst of this particular crowd was a well-respected Jewish man, high-ranking with authority and political clout as a synagogue official, for he too was desperate. Jairus was familiar with Jesus’ growing fame and His divine ability, as he had likely witnessed Jesus healing a man’s hand in the synagogue in the weeks prior. (Luke 6:6-11) None could do what Jesus did. While Jairus was surely intrigued, he entered the crushing crowd that day out of pure desperation.

His daughter’s life hung in the balance.

It’s easy to step back and critically analyze. One can afford to be curious at a distance, but when it’s your desperation, nothing matters but the pursuit of wholeness.

Jesus immediately responded to Jairus’ urgent pleas to come to his house and slowly they moved in that direction.

Again, the crowds followed.

Can you imagine being Jairus? Desperation met reality as faces swam in front of both men. The mob was filled with shoving and jostling, loud noises, body odor, and incessant pressing of desperate bodies running rickshaw over one another as one little girl’s life hovered between life and death.

I’m not really comfortable with crowds like that, but if I wanted to be near Jesus, I am certain I would have set aside my discomfort to join the throng in pursuit of Christ that day.

Which is exactly what one woman did. Like Jairus, her desperation drove her into the tangled mass of people. She’d endured twelve long years of uterine bleeding, living as a shamed outcast from her community (Leviticus 15:25-27), taken advantage of by doctors who promised cures but worsened her condition. (Mark 5:26) Ironically, she, who had lived over a decade in isolation, was now driven by desperation into a crowd of hundreds with one goal in mind. Wholeness.

Twenty-nine years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Like this suffering woman, I’ve experienced isolation from friends and even family because of disease. People are uncomfortable with such ravaging illness and don’t know what to say, so they stay away. They fear “catching” cancer themselves, and in their attempt to self-protect, they left me alone. I imagine this woman and I had many common experiences. Fear. Shame. Abandonment. Loss. Grief. Add to those woes the fact that her condition was neither diagnosable nor curable, despite the costly search for answers, and her desperation becomes nearly palpable.

Unrelated to cancer, five years ago I experienced intestinal disorders that no test or exam could identify. I too was neither diagnosable nor curable, and after six months of constant appointments, pokes, and prods, I was exhausted. I can only imagine twelve years of such! I can hear her heart’s cry, “What could it hurt to find Jesus? I’ve tried everything else. I have nothing more to lose.”

Jairus, desperate for his little daughter’s life.
This woman, desperate for her own.

Both were met with a radical gift surpassing their expectations.
Gentleness.

I’m sure the woman planned to press through the crowds, likely on her knees, to touch just the hem of His garment and then slip away unnoticed. But at her touch, despite many hands pressed against Him, Jesus’ voice of authority pierced the cacophony, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30)

My reaction would have been the same as the disciples’. “You see this crowd pressing in on you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” (Mark 5:31) Jesus knew the difference between the touch of physical nearness and the hope of desperate faith.

In His divinity, Jesus knew who had touched Him.
In His gentleness, He asked His question of invitation.

Tightness grips my chest as I think of her “being caught,” and then I relax, remembering Jesus’ gentleness has invited this woman to step out. I can envision His calm eyes searching the crowd for the woman’s face, fixing His gaze of compassionate love upon her. Scripture records the woman coming with “fear and trembling.” Aware of her healing, she came to Jesus, fell down before Him, and told the whole truth. (Mark 5:33)

Christ’s gentleness drew her to Himself, invited her to unpack the entirety of her brokenness, then responded by publicly calling her His own, “Daughter.” He made her whole.

Not just her body, but her soul.
“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Mark 5:34)

Amid a stunned crowd, a messenger for Jairus arrives with the tragic news his daughter has died. In the span of time it took Jesus to call one woman out of brokenness and into wholeness, another’s life passed away.

Yet, the gentle Jesus turns unhurried, peace-filled eyes to meet Jairus’ red-rimmed ones, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”  (Mark 5:36)

The nameless woman fades away into the crowd, no longer hiding nor walking with head bowed low. She dances in grace, for the gentleness of Jesus has called her His own, healing her body, heart, and soul.

As for Jairus’ daughter, the Gentle Christ takes her slim, cold hand in His as His divine voice awakens her from death to life. (Mark 5:41-42)

Our desperation, no matter how dire, is no match for the Gentle Christ.
So bring your exhaustion, your desperation, and your faith, and find wholeness in the gentle touch of our Savior.

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Beloved Day 4 Radical Love Of Marriage: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

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

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

The Questions

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

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

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

Song of Solomon 8:5-14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Original Intent

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

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

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

Everyday Application

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

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

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

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

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

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

This is Beloved Week One!
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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! ~ Esther Week 3

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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) How often would we rather avenge our own justice and make someone else see the folly of their ways when viewed through the lens of our own perspective? Um, Yes, Me, all the time! The reality is that, as much as we would like it to, avenging ourselves neither honors the other person nor God, and not even ourselves! God is the only just judge, it is His alone to repay and bring justice. Whose names are popping into your head as those you’d like to see come to justice? Maybe it’s a relationship you’re currently in, or maybe it’s one from the past that has left you wounded. Take some much-needed time before the Lord today to bring those people to the throne of God, surrendering them in faith that God will act justly.

2) On the whole, Esther’s story is one of radical redemption. Full of mind-blowing plot twists to keep any reader on the edge of their seat. If it was your story on display, what would be the plot twists for onlookers to wonder what will happen? Where are those dark corners that silently scream for redemption, but have maybe turned into cobwebs of hopeless resignation? What would it take for you to choose to surrender the drama of your story to the hands of the One who died to bring you redemption, even in the darkest of corners?

3) Esther’s heroic faith and Mordecai’s humble, wise bravery were tools God used to set His people free from the death sentence of Haman’s plot to eradicate the Jews. The celebration of freedom has rung every year in an annual celebration since that age-old victory. The story of Esther mirrors the victory story for every believer as we were once sentenced to death by Sin, but set free to an endless, rich inheritance in Christ! One of the best ways we can celebrate our freedom is by telling our story. Pray boldly this weekend for God to bring you an opportunity for you to share your freedom story! Then, step up and celebrate!

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 Revelation 7:9-10 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Prayer Journal
Truly, no mind can possibly comprehend the greatness You have prepared for that final glorious day when every saint, from every time, is finally gathered together as Your Bride to give You glory and praise! You will bind us together as One Beautiful Body, with Yourself as the Head, and oh how we will dance and celebrate in the Victory You purchased for us with Your precious blood! Oh Father, how the now matters to the then! Now is the time to declare Your victory to all. Now is the opportunity to be welcomed into freedom that will never end! May we be faithful stewards of this Hope You have entrusted to us, Lord. Spirit, may we give You freedom to speak and move in our lives to make You known!

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

The GT Weekend! ~ Captivating 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)  Fragrance. Just pause for a moment, close your eyes, count to ten, and breathe deeply as you think about that word. Smells often carry emotional attachment or strong memories along with them. Just catching a scent can instantly transport you to a different time and place. Share with someone close to you a few smells that are connected to something or someone significant for you. Draw those memories in and walk through them slowly. With this very physical sensation of smell, now consider how your life might “smell” to others who watch you from inside your home. Which specific everyday habits, phrases, or body language positions consistently drift a fragrance of the gospel to those you love most? Which ones send them reeling away? Consider asking each person in your home how they experience love through you, listening carefully to their answers.

2)  In what ways do you find yourself pushing away from engaging in friendships? What are the obstacles you commonly encounter to nurturing community that would feed and encourage your faith? As you write these out, consider which ones are blockades you have power to move, but don’t for whatever reason and circle those. As we were reminded of the critically important nature of living in biblical community, pray through your obstacles and ask the Lord to move ahead of you, preparing the way for you to engage well. Decide why or why not you will obediently take intentional steps to cultivating biblical friendships.

3) If your church had a fragrance of the gospel, would you be able to detect it when you walked in? If you carried the same sweet scent of the gospel, would others at your local church be able to stand up and testify that based on how you interact and serve at church, they could clearly detect Christ’s fragrance on you? Does it walk with you when you’re inside the church building only or does it linger as you run your errands, chat with your neighbor, comment on social media, and speak with your children, spouse, or friends? If I were to ask your friends if you love Jesus, what would they say? What evidence would they provide? Be encouraged! Christ is on display through every believer who genuinely loves Him and chooses to follow Him closely!

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 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

Prayer Journal
Lord God, the gospel story leaves me breathless every time! Radical love, unfathomable grace, such costly sacrifice, all to rescue us, your very enemies. Un-believable! Your forgiveness knows no boundaries, no sin or shame or secret is beyond Your ability, more so, Your desire to forgive! How can You love like this, Lord?! Then, Father, then You save us for a purpose, calling us into a lifetime of mission and intentionality as you actually give is the ministry of reconciliation. You call us to forgive as we have been forgiven, to love as we have been loved, and to declare this glorious, hope-filled gospel to all. Utterly Beautiful. Lord, I am continually amazed by You and Your plan. If all I ever knew was this small piece of Your love, I could be satisfied forever to look into its beauty. I praise you, God, for freedom, for purpose, for a mission, and a ministry within your Kingdom! I love You, 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

Freedom Day 4 The Compelling Gospel: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s
Journey Study?
Check out The Compelling Gospel!

Galatians 1:11-24 English Standard Version (ESV)

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

The Questions

1) Why is it significant that Paul received the gospel directly from Jesus, and not from any man?

2) What does Paul’s radical transformation say about the gospel?

3) Where are Arabia, Damascus, Syria, and Cilicia?  Why was it important where Paul was after his conversion?

4) What reaction did Paul’s conversion cause in the Judean believers?

The Findings for Intention

1) Why is it significant that Paul received the gospel directly from Jesus, and not from any man?
Paul wrote Galatians to combat heresies that were sneaking into the church.  He was making a case that the gospel he preached was the only true gospel, and that any other gospel was false.  In this time, before the Word of God was written down and available to all believers, it was important for a teacher to prove his credibility, so that his testimony about the gospel could be seen as coming from Jesus himself.

2) What does Paul’s radical transformation say about the gospel?
There is no doubt that Paul’s former life was completely hostile to Christ, and that his life after his conversion was spent working and suffering for Christ’s sake.  It is just as stark a transformation as if an ISIS soldier were to convert to Christianity and begin winning people to Christ.  This transformation is one of the proofs that the gospel is true.  Paul turned his back on his former way of life and stepped into a life of hardship and suffering that eventually cost him his life, all for the sake of Jesus Christ.

3) Where are Arabia, Damascus, Syria, and Cilicia?  Why was it important where Paul was after his conversion?
Arabia refers to the Arabian Peninsula, east of Israel.  Damascus is a city in Syria, north of Israel, and Cilicia is the southern part of what is now Turkey.  The point of Paul mentioning that he spent time in these places is that he was not in Jerusalem, being taught by the apostles.  Rather, he was receiving his calling directly from Christ.

4) What reaction did Paul’s conversion cause in the Judean believers?
Verses 23 and 24 show that the believers in Judea glorified God because of what they heard about Paul. This shows that they knew Paul’s change was due to the work of Christ in his life.

The Everyday Application

1) Why is it significant that Paul received the gospel directly from Jesus, and not from any man?
The early church did not have the New Testament, so they had to rely on the authority of the apostles to prove what was true and what was false doctrine.  We, on the other hand, are blessed with the written Word of God.  False teachers abound today, just as they did in Paul’s time.  Do you know the Bible well enough to recognize false teaching when you hear it?

2) What does Paul’s radical transformation say about the gospel?
The gospel is powerful, and no one is beyond Christ’s reach!  Is there a Saul-like person you know, someone who is hostile to the gospel and seems like the least likely person to give their life to Christ?  Don’t give up, but pray for them!  God can save anyone.

3) Where are Arabia, Damascus, Syria, and Cilicia?  Why was it important where Paul was after his conversion?
God orchestrated the events of Paul’s life so that, when he needed to prove his authority, even the places he had lived were a testimony.  God is always working in our lives, and we may not immediately know why He has us in a certain place, doing a certain thing.  But we can rest in His sovereignty and believe that He is doing a work in us.

4) What reaction did Paul’s conversion cause in the Judean believers?
When you see a life transformed by the gospel, do you give credit where credit is due?  Do you compliment the person on their changed life, as if it was their power that accomplished it, or do you give glory to God?  Likewise, when God transforms a part of your life and people take notice, are you careful to give glory to God, and not take credit that belongs to Him?

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I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
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!

The Community!

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

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

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. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? 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 :-))

The Why!

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.

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.
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See all past studies in Freedom!

Freedom Day 3 The Compelling Gospel

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Galatians 1:11-24
Acts 9:1-19
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 

I watched a movie the other night about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. It was a hard movie to watch, mainly because all I could think about was the evil that humans are capable of. We, humans, can do so much good, but we can cause so much pain and so much hurt. I began to question God, “How could there be so many people with so much hate in their heart? How do we ever stop this?” I thought of how cold and hard the hearts of terrorists must be and I began to get a little scared. But God quickly reminded me that He can change even the hardest of hearts. He loved Osama Bin Laden. Woah. Jesus died for Osama Bin Laden and he needed Jesus just as much as we need Jesus.

The next day, I watched with the rest of America as a young American man came home after being detained in North Korea for over a year. I read comment after comment about how terrible Kim Jong-un is and the wretched conditions in North Korea. My heart grew increasingly heavy and I began to wonder, once again, what hope there could be in a man like Kim Jong-un ever coming to know the Lord. The Lord quietly spoke to me, “Remember, Kendra? I can soften the hardest of hearts.” And peace flooded into my spirit.

It is so easy to doubt that the Lord really can change hard hearts. We imagine people with horrible and vile intentions, or those addicted to different substances for years upon years. I think of cruel dictators, terrorists, people in the human trafficking ring, and parents who abuse their children…
but God can change the most broken people,
and He has changed incredibly broken people.

Paul was born as Saul and was a Jewish man, born in the large city of Tarsus, who studied the Old Testament profusely and cared deeply about upholding Jewish traditions. He was a Pharisee. He was an angry and bitter Pharisee.
He hated that other Jews were choosing to follow Jesus, leaving behind treasured traditions, sacred scripture, and Jewish law. He hated that these Jews-turned-Christians were mingling with Gentiles (non-Jews) and were practicing idolatry with these new friends.
It wasn’t right! It wasn’t fair!
He had devoted himself to two things: his trade of tent-making, and his religion. These people were walking away from Jewish traditions for some “lowly man” whom they claimed God favored enough to raise from the dead?! Preposterous!

The hatred Saul held in his heart for these traitors, led him to become one of the loudest voices in encouraging the persecution of the Christian Church. He spent his days traveling from town to town declaring that disobedient members of the synagogues should be disciplined through ostracism or flogging or imprisonment or death.
It would take something huge to change his heart of stone.

But something huge did happen.

God called Saul, changed his name to Paul, and used other believers to minister to and disciple Paul.

In Galatians 1:11-24, Paul quickly shares his testimony… he once was a man who persecuted Christians, but because of God’s great grace, Paul was now preaching to Christians. The Good News of Jesus Christ was so compelling that he was transformed from persecutor to preacher. Paul was transformed!

See, God has transformed the hearts of people who are stuck in their religion and traditions. The gospel is transforming. It is powerful!
The Good News that Jesus died to cover our sins, redeem us
and now He LIVES, is POWERFUL!
The gospel changes people.
It melts the hardest of hearts and the coldest of souls.
And if we have seen the gospel change Paul’s life, if we have seen how the Truth was so compelling, Paul HAD to share the Good News, shouldn’t we want to share, too?
Shouldn’t we long for people to know the gospel so they can be transformed,
just like Paul was… just as we have been?

Pray with me.
Pray for the people in your life who feel like they will never change.
Pray for the people who shut you down every time you ask them to go to church with you,
or who comment negatively on any social media post about Jesus.
Pray with me for those who are so stuck in their religion and traditions that they refuse to believe that all they need is Jesus.
And pray with me for the people who we often refuse to believe could ever change… dictators, political leaders, terrorists… the people a lot of us forget to pray for.

We should never stop praying for people who don’t know Jesus because the Gospel is so compelling that we must pray and we must tell others about Jesus.
Just as Paul did.
Because the Gospel is so compelling, people will be changed and they will be saved!
Just as Paul was.

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
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Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

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

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

The GT Weekend – Borders Week 2

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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!

Journal With Us!

Journal Prompts

  1. Cultivating compassion is difficult and sometimes uncomfortable to practice. What are some concrete actions you can take to share radical love with a child today? Snap a picture and share it on Instagram with us #GTradicallove
  2. What’s your first reaction to an uncomfortable need around you? Often, it’s easy to glaze over and carry on as though nothing unusual was seen. Open your eyes this week to those situations and choose one instance to answer the need.
  3. The Lord can use a heart full of faith to bring huge amounts of glory to His name through miraculous situations. Will you open your heart today and show God how much you trust Him to move in a mighty way?

Worship In Song

Music Video: Meredith Andrews’ “Spirit of the Living God”

Pour Out Your Heart

Jesus, the way You invade a space and bring it to You for Your glory is beautiful to see. Your kingdom is over all. Forgive me when I take away that power in my life with my disbelief. I’m scared sometimes to ask for things in faith – what if You don’t answer? I look to You to be filled with a deeper faith, ready to act in obedience!

Lord, You’ve given me a spirit of “doing” and I’m so thankful for it. But that often leaves me too busy to do any “seeing”. Father, slow me down, open my eyes to the needs of people around me. Remind me its ok to be late to church to offer a cup of hot coffee to my neighborhood homeless man. Or to let my kids stop and chat with the elderly lady that looks lonely. Let me see people more and more as You see them!

Pray With Us!

In everything, with praise and thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God!
Click here to comment and pray with the GT Community!
Want to connect with a GT Partner?
Send your prayer request to prayer@gracefullytruthful.com
We are committed to praying over and walking with you!

Journey With Us

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How were you drawn near to the Father and encouraged in your faith?
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The GT Weekend – Inheritance Week One

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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!

Journal With Us!

Journal Prompts

1) Have you thought of what it means to have the inheritance of Christ? We have been justified, our suffering has purpose, and ultimately, we have been reconciled back to the Father! Your past has no hold on you and provides no direction for your future. Belief in the Father has changed all of your life!

2) Where do you need God to breath abundance into your life? He is not a stingy God, rather He is more generous than we could imagine. Don’t be afraid to ask Him in faith for a greater pouring out of His Spirit in your life!

3) Think for a moment of several ways you can practice agape love this week. Comment below or tell us about it at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com We’d love to hear how you’re being intentional this week!

Worship In Song

Music Video: “A Street Called Mercy” by Hillsong United

Pour Out Your Heart

Praise is due to You, O God, in Zion! I praise Your mighty name O Lord. God You have given me the greatest gift in Your son Jesus. You offer me the same inheritance you’ve that belongs to Christ! God, You give me more than I could ever think to ask. Give me boldness to approach You and ask for more of You, for bigger things as You lead me, Lord. Beyond the little day to day things that I can see with my eyes. Let me ask You for God-sized meetings. For God-sized encounters with Your Spirit.

Father, guide me this week as I choose to be more intentional with showing Your love to others. Prepare me for not getting anything in return; break my spirit from that expectation. I want to live boldly for You, show me how that can look this week as I step out of my comfort zone, trusting in faith that You’ll be leading me!

Pray With Us!

In everything, with praise and thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God!
Click here to comment and pray with the GT Community!
Want to connect with a GT Partner?
Send your prayer request to prayer@gracefullytruthful.com
We are committed to praying over and walking with you!

Journey With Us

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What were your thoughts from the GT Weekend?
How were you drawn near to the Father and encouraged in your faith?
Share with the community and encourage other women!

Safe Day 8
Do Not Be Afraid

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Deuteronomy 31:1-6typorama (4)
John 16:25-33
John 14

I’m a huge C.S. Lewis fan. When I was in college I read the “Screwtape Letters” for the first time and hung on every word. During a questioning season, I poured over “Mere Christianity”. Like most of us, though, my first introduction to Lewis’ writing was in childhood, when he swept me away through the back of a wardrobe, past a glowing, snow-covered lamp post, into Narnia.

One of Lewis’s quotes from “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” that has always stuck with me is, “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than me or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” asked Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

In Lewis’s writings, Aslan represents Jesus, so why wouldn’t he be safe?
Isn’t Jesus safe?
In short, no, He isn’t. But He’s BETTER!

Oddly, when I think of safety, I see bars on windows or strong barricades. If I were hiding from danger, that’s the sort of place I would seek out.
No one gets in, no one has to go out, zero risk!
But that sounds a lot like a prison, doesn’t it? Thankfully Jesus has called us to live out from behind bars. We dwell in the beautiful, intoxicating, completely UNSAFE world.  

Should we be afraid? Of course not! Deuteronomy 31:6 is just one of 365 verses in the Bible that declares, “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you.”

In his book, “Radical” (Highly Recommend!), David Platt says, “Radical Obedience to Christ is not easy—It’s not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And He is more than enough for us.”

As Mommy of three small children, the idea of living in a world of trouble where God doesn’t guarantee our safety is something I struggle with.
Doesn’t He want THEM to be safe?
I can’t go around taking crazy risks, I have tiny people to protect!
We can’t give too much money away, we want our kids to be well provided for!
Perhaps more honestly, I don’t want to do things that aren’t safe.
I don’t want to give things up that make me comfortable.
I don’t want to go to sketchy places and share Jesus with sketchy people and give up my time and do things that are scary….and potentially quite unsafe.
Frankly, I want to eat chocolate, watch some Netflix, and go to bed at a reasonable hour. But time and again, I know Jesus is calling me to more. As He calls each of us.

I recently watched an amazing documentary called, “The Drop Box”. It tells the story of South Korean pastor, Lee Jong-rak, who created a “drop box” for unwanted babies in his home. Lee offers a place for babies to be dropped off and he, with his wife and a few volunteers, raise many of them. Many of these unwanted babies have severe health problems or special needs. I’m crying just thinking about him, not because his actions are so beautiful, but because the grit of his situation, his breathtaking love, and faithful obedience point to a life of surrender to Jesus. What Lee Jong-rak does is dangerous, it’s costly, it’s difficult, uncomfortable, and will likely lead to his own death. It is not safe, but it is good.

The crazy thing is, the more I follow closely to Jesus, the more He actually changes my heart. The more I trust Him, the more my “wants” become different. I actually would rather share my story, than choose not to proclaim Him. Taking a load of food to downtown places and passing it out to bearded, unwashed men in hopes of sharing Jesus is something I willingly choose because of what Jesus has done in me. When we love Jesus, we don’t have to worry about all the “What If’s” and “Unsafety’s” that He will lead us to doing, we can simply choose to trust and know that we are never alone.
No, God didn’t promise safety, but He did promise to never forsake or abandon us.
I’ll take the promise of security over temporary safety any day.

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
Sign up to receive every Journey Study!

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 Safe 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 Safe!