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Screenshot Day 2 From Religion To Relationship: 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!
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The Questions

1) Who is the speaker in this passage and what is the context?

2) Wasn’t the Lord the one to institute the sacrifices and offerings? Did He get bored with them and change His mind?

3) What is the heart behind this heart cry from the Sovereign Lord?

4) What is the promise in this passage?

Isaiah 1:11-20

“What are all your sacrifices to me?”
asks the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams
and the fat of well-fed cattle;
I have no desire for the blood of bulls,
lambs, or male goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who requires this from you—
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing useless offerings.
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons and Sabbaths,
and the calling of solemn assemblies—
I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.
14 I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to me;
I am tired of putting up with them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.

16 “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.
Remove your evil deeds from my sight.
Stop doing evil.
17 Learn to do what is good.
Pursue justice.
Correct the oppressor.
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.

18 “Come, let us settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;
though they are crimson red,
they will be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land.
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Original Intent

1) Who is the speaker in this passage and what is the context?
In verse 11, the inquiry is from “the Lord”. In verse 10 above it, the audience is instructed to “hear the word of the Lord.” Going all the way to the beginning of the chapter (and the book of Isaiah), we gain a broader perspective and understand that what follows is the description of a vision given by Yahweh, the One True God, to Isaiah, son of Amoz. Later in chapter 6, we read of Isaiah’s commissioning by Yahweh to be His prophet to His people, wayward as they were. Isaiah’s audience is the Jewish people, God’s chosen ones, set apart from other nations in order to display God’s glory and draw others to Himself, but they were failing miserably in this high calling. They turned away, chasing other gods, inflating themselves, and breaking the heart of God, their One True Love.

2) Wasn’t the Lord the one to institute the sacrifices and offerings? Did He get bored with them and change His mind?
Yes, the laws listed here, both the general and the specific, were all originally instituted from Yahweh Himself. He first gave the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai when the Israelites were being led through the Wilderness towards the Promised Land. (Exodus 19-24) The Lord’s language here is intense, intentional, and weighed down with thick emotion. He says the people have “trampled my courts” and made “vain offerings”. The Lord says of Himself that He “cannot endure iniquity”, His “soul hates” the festivals and offerings, that they have become a “burden” to Him and He is “weary” of bearing them. It is not the laws itself that have suddenly become cumbersome and draining to the Lord, for these were never the end goal, rather they were simply the means He had designed for His people to draw near to Him. The Lord brings piercing clarity in verses 15-16 as to the reason behind His heavy heartbreak with phrases like, “your hands are full of blood”, “remove the evil of your deeds”, and “cease to do evil”. Even in the Old Testament, it was never about following long lists of rules, it has always been about pursuing a vibrant, deep, intimate relationship!

3) What is the heart behind this heart cry from the Sovereign Lord?
In a word? Redemption! The reason Yahweh called Isaiah to be His prophet in the first place is because His people do “not know” and “do not understand” His perfect design for them to be in relationship with them. They are a “sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity” who have “forsaken the Lord” and “despised the Holy One of Israel”. (Isaiah 1:3-4) God’s father heart wants His beloved children back (Isaiah 1:2), so it is to this end that He calls them to return to Him and leave their sinful ways behind them. (Isaiah 1:17)

4) What is the promise in this passage?
Life! The promise of fullness, of abundance, and blessing comes as a result of a choice given by the Lord at the end of the passage. “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat of the good of the land”, speaks of much more than just full bellies. These words are steeped in ancient promises dating back to when the Hebrew people, having been freed from slavery in Egypt, were led through the Wilderness to gain access to the Promised Land. Wrapped up in this phrase in Isaiah is the idea of rich inheritance, completely undeserved. When the Hebrews took possession of Canaan, the Promised Land, they were given “a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.” They had done nothing to deserve the wealth of the land, the work had already been done for them; Yahweh simply gave it to them because they were His children. In Isaiah, the Lord hearkens back to this old promise, reminding the Jews that abundant life can still be theirs. The rich inheritance is still available. They don’t need to continue in their sin and empty religion, because real relationship is waiting on the other side of genuine confession of sin! (Isaiah 1:18)

Everyday Application

1) Who is the speaker in this passage and what is the context?
Sometimes reading the Old Testament seems so far removed from us with its impressive visions and direct, verbalizations from God, we wonder if it has anything to do with our “right now”. Nothing the Lord did was done in a vacuum, and neither was it recorded and preserved for centuries just to bore us later in the reading of it. When we understand the original context, we can make good application to today. God chose an ordinary man, Isaiah, to be His mouthpiece to His people. Through Isaiah, God verbalized His great love for them, and desire to be in perfect relationship with them. Today, we don’t need visions, booming voices from above, or signs in the sky to show us what God wants for us. His heart desires are all found in Scripture, which He has faithfully preserved through persecution and thousands of years. Additionally, He has given us His Holy Spirit to live right inside of every believer to guide and teach us! (John 14:16-17)

2) Wasn’t the Lord the one to institute the sacrifices and offerings? Did He get bored with them and change His mind?
When we read the seemingly endless rules in the Bible, especially the ones in the Old Testament that seem to make no sense to our modern understanding, remember that it the Lord God has never been random or reckless, but always intentional. There was a specific purpose and meaning behind every instruction that was intended to bring life to His people, glory to God, and a deeper relationship between them. Again, it was never about adherence to the rule, as this passage makes clear, the distinct purpose has always been to remove the sin that stands between us and the Most Holy God so that we might enjoy sweet fellowship with Him! Whether it’s Old Testament law or modern-day church traditions, God’s heart has not changed. The precious treasure is not found in the “doing”, but in the “being” with Him.

3) What is the heart behind this heart cry from the Sovereign Lord?
God’s desire for you and me, your neighbor, and mine, the driver in the lane next to yours, and the mama in line behind me in the grocery is exactly the same as it was for the Jewish people of centuries long since passed. Redemption! This God who set time in motion, crafted our bodies from the dust of the earth, breathed His breath into our lungs, and created us for intentional purpose is the same God whose Father heart longs for our return. We have loved our sin, we have become enamored with ourselves, and in the doing, we have become enemies of Him. (Romans 5:10) We have traded worship to God for worship of ourselves, and it has utterly ruined us, rendering us forever separated from the Holy, Righteous God. (Romans 1:25) But God offers redemption, full and complete and eternal! (Romans 3:23-24) Where our sin cut us off from Him, He sent Jesus to take that “cut off” punishment for us, so that where we were once far, can now be drawn near. (Ephesians 2:13) We could never “make ourselves clean” or fully “cease from evil”, but Jesus did it for us. In exchange, He lavishly gave His righteousness to us, removing all sin, and presenting us blameless before God! Is this how you stand before the Almighty Yahweh?

4) What is the promise in this passage?
Deep, meaningful, relationally satisfying life was held out to the Jewish nation by the Lord God, and He offers the same to us. Escape empty religious rituals, become dead to performance driven acceptance, and become alive to a relationship hemmed in by love, grace, and boundless mercy. Walk into an inheritance your hands did not earn, your ingenuity did not attain, and your body did not produce. Walk into the Life Jesus offers. Worried about those test results? His life is eternal, His peace is real. Caught up in the too-tight-tension of marital conflict? His ways are good, the relationship He offers to you will always satisfy if you allow Him full reign. Overwhelmed? Anxious? Carrying shame? The inheritance of Christ, one you could not create or earn, is yours, full, complete, and eternal through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Like the Lord’s invitation in this passage, the pathway to true, free relationship, is through the confession of our sin to a Holy God. What is your confession, Sister? His life is waiting for you!

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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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Worship III, Day 6 Despised, Rejected, Cherished

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Read His Words Before Ours!

2 Corinthians 4:7-18
Matthew 16:24-28
Romans 6:5-11  

Worship III Day 6

On a hill far away
Stood an old Rugged Cross
The emblem of suff’ring and shame…

I read the words of this old, beloved hymn, and I’m immediately transported back to a musty university classroom surrounded by mostly older folks. Ray Koon stands in front of everyone, directing with his hand – his suit and tie perfectly in place. On one side of me are my grandparents, singing their hearts out, my Gamma’s sweet, soprano voice lifts above the other voices and carries throughout the room. My Papa’s voice, once a clear and perfect tenor, is starting to strain a bit, but his German accent and steady vibrato create a lovely sound. My little brother and my parents are to my other side. My mom’s alto harmony mixes in with the rest of the voices, and my dad holds my brother while rocking back and forth, singing quieter, but with pure and evident belief in each word he sang.  

And then me.  

I like to imagine that my voice was beautifully melodic, sounding like an angelic child. But I probably was singing in my “grown lady voice”, sounding like an opera singer wanna-be gone wrong. But the song… that song gripped me, even then.
I sang with my own conviction, but I sang noticing the convictions of the people around me, and trusting that what I sang would remain true, even as I grew into an adult.  

…And I love that old cross
Where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners 
Was slain  

 So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross
‘Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown 

When you analyze these lyrics, without testimony, heart, or conviction behind them, 

They seem almost strange. 
“I love that old cross”
A cross representing suffering and shame?
A cross where the dearest and best person was brutally murdered after being shamelessly attacked and recklessly beaten? 
I love that old cross?  

Oh, but I do!  

Because that cross,
as gruesome as it is,
held the sacrificial body of King Jesus. 

The body of the slain Lamb.  

My perfect, beautiful Jesus.
Fully God the Son, who chose to come to earth and wrap Himself in human flesh. 

To walk with us, teach us and love us, before finally tasting the bitterness of separation from God the Father as He died to pay the price for our sin.
My sin.
Your sin, Sister. 

When George Bennard wrote this hymn in 1912, it took him some time to complete, as the melody came first and the words slowly followed.
The only words that were steady and true were “I’ll cherish the old rugged cross”.
The rest of the lyrics developed, surrounding those first words.  

“I’ll cherish the old rugged cross.” 

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said,
“If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
Jesus was speaking of the suffering that accompanies a life spent following Him.

In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul wrote 
“We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that Jesus’ life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. So then, death is at work in us, but life in you.” 

Paul was describing the simple, yet confounding complex miracle that is salvation.
Our physical bodies? They are finite.
They become ill and age.
One day, they will breathe their last,
and on that day our eternity will be continued in a different way.

In the passage above, Paul was talking about the juxtaposition of our eternal soul, cloaked in and polished by the righteousness of Jesus, existing inside these bodies that deteriorate.
Our mortal flesh yearns for the things of this world,
but if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus,
we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit so our spirit craves the holy!

As our physical bodies age and deteriorate over time, His resurrection power is glorified when we deny our fleshly desires (read: sin) and choose instead to be refined by righteousness over and over again.  

Does that thought exhilarate you as much as it does me, Sister?
As we access the power of salvation in our daily lives and receive the refining redemption,
He alone makes us new; we are freed! 

Freed from the sin that used to bind us.
Freed because the sacrifice Jesus made on that cross 
severed the chains of (idolatry, greed, envy, lying, pride, fill-in-your-blank) sin 
we used to call our own. 

Freed from the guilt that once forced us to keep our head down and eyes lowered.
Freed because in paying the price for our sin, 
Jesus forever separated us from the guilt we rightfully deserved. 

Freed from the shame that used to haunt our trapped hearts.
Freed because Jesus’ death on the cross and miraculous resurrection 
sealed our righteousness in Him forever, 
effectively banishing shame because 
IT IS NO LONGER OURS TO CARRY! 

I love that old cross… and I’ll cherish it.  

*Written by Kendra Moberly and Merry Ohler

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Bride Day 3 Empty Identity

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Hosea 1 
Hosea 2 
Matthew 16:24-28 
2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2 

Bride, Day 3

Promiscuous woman. 
Harlot. 
Whore.  
Adulteress.  
Wife of Whoredom. 
Prostitute.  
 
I am Gomer.  
These, these names are my identity.  
I will never be anything but, these.  
 
I am enslaved to my lusts.  
No matter how much I take in, no matter how much I pursue it, it’s never enough.  
I have no satisfaction, but I cannot make a different choice.  
 
Sometimes I look around and wish for something deeper, more lasting; something trustworthy. But I can’t do it. I’ve tried. I’ve been pursued, but I find I cannot chase back. I’m powerless.  
 
Gomer. My name means completeness, fullness, a coming to the end, usually suddenly or with quick termination. Think of it like a cup that is so full, you can see the water cohesively forming a slight bubble just above the rim of the cup. One drop more and the cup would not contain the liquid. The cup is completely full and the water must stop immediately. 
 
I don’t remember a life different than the one I have now. Whatever memories I have are faded, like sketches of a dream leaving me wondering if different than now was ever anything more than a mirage. I see other women, women with children, women with husbands. True, some of those husbands I’ve seen on my street corner. But still, those women have husbands…families.  
 
Perhaps years ago, my heart would have trembled, crying out for mercy, wishing for what I do not have.
But I know I’m not worthy.  
 
But then there is Hosea.  
Foolish man, pursuing me when I have nothing to offer him.  
He is respected, has earned a fine reputation.  
He’s a prophet of Yahweh!  
Yet, he chose me as his bride?!  
 
I simply cannot fathom it.  
Surely, there’s an ulterior motive.  
More ridiculous, he has given me children.  
But I know I’m not worthy.  
I simply cannot accept this generosity.  
This kindness.  
This love? 
 
No, I will not accept it.  
All I have is shame.  
I will run.  
I will forever play the harlot.  
No one can love me like a husband, not Hosea, not Yahweh.  
No one.  
These empty identities, they are all I have.  
 
My name is Gomer, I am full.  
Full of brokenness and shame. 
 —
This was Gomer: full. 
This was Israel: full.  
Both were full of adultery.  
And the Lord was calling them into immediate obedience or suffer the consequences. The Lord’s patience was at maximum capacity for their wickedness.  
 
The Lord had watched the Northern Kingdom of Israel walk steadily away from His decrees, farther and farther into their own sin, and it broke His heart.  
He had called out, prophet after prophet, “Return, return, return!” 
But Israel refused time, after time, after time.  
Israel chased other gods, chased their own passions, lusted after others, and broke covenant with the Lord their God in ever intensifying grotesque acts of adultery.  
 
And so, one last time, the Lord God gave Israel a living picture, one they couldn’t possibly deny the reality of. He told Hosea, His prophet, to do the unthinkable and marry Gomer the prostitute while living openly among His people. 
Hosea would take her as his own and would love her deeply.  
 
But she would run.  
She would break his heart.  
She would refuse to be healed from her whoredom.  
 
The unthinkable would become the undeniable as Hosea and Gomer lived out the re-enactment of Israel’s own whoredom. 
 
This is how I love you, O Israel!  
This is how I love you, O Beloved (YOU!)! 
 
Gomer chose to run, despite Hosea’s dramatic, intentional, pursuant love.  
She held on to her empty identities and simply refused to believe that sacrificial love could truly exist for her. 
 
In the same way, Israel, the Northern Kingdom, also refused to exchange her identity.  
Israel could not, would not, believe that God’s love for her was better than any she could find on her own. Israel’s story ends here, she chose whoredom, and as a result, the consequences of her rebellion were meted out by the iron fist of the Assyrian Empire.  
Israel was destroyed.  
She chose to be her own savior and lost everything.  
 
Don’t miss this message, Sisters!  
Your Savior is calling you with the same pursuant love.  
Shame does not have to be your name.  
Regret does not have to be the skin you wear.  
Unworthy does not have to be the cloak you cover yourself with. 
 
Nothing to offer the God of the Universe? Exactly!  
Nothing we do could amount to anything, just like Gomer.  
She was powerless to earn Hosea’s love.  
And we can hope for nothing more before the Holy God.  
Which is why He did the work for us!  
 
Jesus Christ came to live the perfect live we never could  
and pay the penalty for sin in our place.  
His work.  
His righteousness.  
Our new identity.

There is a Savior.  
There is real love.  
There is hope for a new identity.  
One that begins and ends with the life of Jesus Christ as He offers Himself for you.  
Just like Israel, just like Gomer, we each have a choice to make.  
Stop running, girl.  
Drop your empty identities and be made new! 

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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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Remade Day 6
True Repentance

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Read His Words Before Ours!

2 Chronicles 7:11-14
Acts 3:12-26
Psalm 51  

“I’m sorry, Mama!” my little boy’s voice rang out. Nostrils flaring and fists tight, he glared at me in defiance. His demeanor made it clear that he was anything but apologetic. His sister’s cries grew louder as he huffed out his breath and kicked a toy out of his way, then turned and marched into his bedroom. I soothingly patted my daughter’s back, then gave her a storybook to keep her occupied and quietly approached my three-nager’s door. It was open, but I rapped gently on the doorframe anyway.

“Come in, Mama.” he mumbled. I sat beside him on the bed and waited quietly. “Why does she always want to do everything that I do? I wish she would just leave me alone!” he exclaimed.

“I know it seems that way, honey,” I responded. “Elle thinks that everything you do is awesome, and she wants to do the same things you do because she loves you so much. Listen, it is okay to feel frustrated and mad sometimes. God made us and our emotions, so it is okay to feel those things…but it is not okay to yell or push your sister. Or to kick toys. And it is certainly not okay to be mean to anyone.”

His little blonde head dropped. “I know, Mama.” He sighed. “Sometimes I just don’t feel like being very nice.” I ruffled his hair as I smothered a grin with my other hand and glanced away to regain my mom-face; I knew exactly what he meant. “I am sorry, Mama. I will try to be nicer to Elle next time.” He smiled, acknowledging that his world was a sunny place once again.

As much as we’d like to feign innocence, we can all relate to my son’s forced apology. We may have been quite convincing. We may have spoken eloquent words with concerned eyes and gentle tones, but if our hearts were unrepentant then our apologies were nothing more than wasted breath. Likewise, each of us can recall instances when we felt a shift in our souls and genuine contrition for our actions or thoughts. In those moments, the apology came straight from our hearts. There was no need for theatrics because we were genuinely distraught and we truly wanted to change. There is no mistaking true repentance in any age. In fact, King David of the Old Testament shared a transparent glimpse into his own repentance in Psalm 51.

David had fallen in love with a married woman…a woman married to a loyal soldier in his own army. Knowing that what he was doing was adultery, David sent for her and slept with her anyway. A short time later, David discovered that she was pregnant with his child. Desperate to save face and status, David did everything he could to cover his sin. Each of his plans failed. King David eventually staged the death of the woman’s husband, effectively murdering an innocent man to hide his own indiscretion.

When God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David and spark change in his heart, David acknowledged his sin and confessed it to the Lord. Throughout Psalm 51, we see the portrait of David’s repentance. His confession of sin…his heartfelt sorrow…his longing for relief from his guilt…his desperation to be made clean again…his loss of joy…his desire for God’s help to change and his request for restoration. We can find each of these aspects in our own hearts when we are truly repentant.

Just as my son’s attitude and posture made his own heart position obvious to me, we can be certain that we are just as transparent to God. We may be able to fool others (or even ourselves) with false apologies, but God knows our hearts even before we do. He is not so easily fooled, and His discernment is divine. As we usher in this new year, let us each beg God to open our eyes to areas in which our repentance falls flat. We are human and subject to human failure, but the One we serve is capable and desiring to remake us from the inside out!

May we echo David’s prayer: Father, we have sinned against You. Have compassion on us and clean us of our sin. You are our Judge and You are just. Create a clean heart within us. Restore to us the joy of salvation and make us willing to obey You

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

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Prodigal Day 2
The Story Teller: 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

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I John 3:1-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

The Questions

1) What do the references to “children of God” and “God’s children now” imply?

2) What exactly “will we be” when Christ appears?

3) Am I still a child of God even if I still sin?

4) Is there evidence for truly belonging to God?

The Findings for Intention

1) What do the references to “children of God” and “God’s children now” imply?
The apostle John is reminding his audience of their true identity as being fully adopted sons and daughters of the Most High God. Believers in Jesus no longer belong to the Enemy Satan, but it’s easy to forget or lose sight of who we really are in Christ because we are still living in the world, which is ruled by Satan. John wants to remind his readers of the vastly deep love God has lavished on us by extending sonship, literally heirs with Christ Himself, to our estranged hearts. He reminds us that we are adoringly adopted by a perfect Father. The “now” refers to that moment when our hearts step across the line of faith and choose Jesus for our salvation, making Him Lord and Leader of our lives as we acknowledge how desperately lost in our sin we are without Him. This identity isn’t a one-time moment, but an ongoing one. Christ’s salvation completely changes us and moves us from owned by Satan to owned and set free by the Almighty Father God.

2) What exactly “will we be” when Christ appears?
John says that we will be like God. Not that we will “be” God or know everything that God knows, but that one day our transformation that began at the moment we trusted fully in Jesus for salvation, will be 100% complete. We will have “grown up” to sincerely love like Jesus, which is at the heart of being made new in Christ. We will be completely blameless, fully righteous and without any hint of sin. We will love like God first loved us!

3) Am I still a child of God even if I still sin?
Jesus came to abolish sin and sin’s grip on us forever, which is exactly what happens in our hearts when we give them over to Christ in total surrender. We are a new creation, we have a new heart, we are no longer slaves to sin, meaning that we have no obligation to follow through on sinful desires. Rather, we have the full power of God living inside of us, which gives us the ability to choose love over sin. BUT, we still live here in the world, which is ruled by our archenemy Satan Himself and we can forget our true identity. Sometimes because we lose sight of Whose we are, we fall into sin, but that doesn’t negate our adoption. John’s point is not that we will never sin if we are really adopted, but that our hearts will long for loving like Jesus instead of lusting after sin’s desires.

4) Is there evidence for truly belonging to God?
Yes! Verses 9-10 make it clear that the evidence of belonging to God is found in our hearts, in our actions, in how we live out our lives. John points us back to Jesus’ words that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The greatest evidence of a new life surrendered to Jesus is a life of love. Not just loving those who love us, but loving the unlovable, loving others enough to share Christ, loving sacrificially the way the Father has loved us!

The Everyday Application

1) What do the references to “children of God” and “God’s children now” imply?
Being adopted by God carries significant weight of identity for us. Consider that today, in the middle of your laundry, your child’s rebellion, your relationship conflicts, your heartache, your loss, your heavy burden, you are God’s. You are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. You have access to the Father’s throne. You do not walk alone. You do not journey without hope. You have zero obligations to react sinfully, to act with selfishness, to grieve without hope, to stay empty. You have the same power that raised Christ from the dead alive and working inside of you. Will you surrender to the truth of who you are or will you lean into the lie of who you were?

2) What exactly “will we be” when Christ appears?
We aren’t perfect yet, obviously! But we are being continuously transformed! It can be too easy to make a list of all the ways we still fall short of honoring God, all the things we should do to manufacture Christ-likeness in our day-to-day, but we are called to shift our focus from where we are to where we are going. Like both of the sons in the prodigal story, we need to be reminded that it’s God’s responsibility to transform us. We cannot work hard enough to please Him. The most that we can do is fall into His arms and hold tightly onto His love and how He sees us….as His beloved child, whom He will one day fully transform into being exactly the person of perfect love He designed and intentioned for us to be. It’s His work, not ours. His glory, not ours. His love, not ours.

3) Am I still a child of God even if I still sin?
Knowing that we are adopted as children of the Father God, means that when we do choose sin over love, we have ready access to forgiveness. Dropping down to verses 20 and 21, John reminds us that when our hearts condemn us (or when we become aware of our sin), we have confidence before God who truly knows the identity of our hearts. Ever feel like you’ve messed up so much that God won’t take you back? Or maybe that you’ve walked away for too long and now God is mad at you? Stop holding onto the lie that we aren’t fully adopted and already forgiven and made righteous; we are infinitely loved and can never be removed from adoption status. Instead, take your cue from the prodigal son and run home!

4) Is there evidence for truly belonging to God?
Take deep, satisfying comfort in knowing that we can fully know we are adopted! And it looks like Jesus-Love. These aren’t just “good deeds”, kind words, or random acts of kindness. It’s a transformative, sacrificial love like Christ’s. It’s something we can’t manufacture on our own based on emotion or feelings of kindness for others. It’s much deeper and rooted in knowing our true identity as belonging to Christ. It loves deeply because we have been deeply loved. It’s a lifestyle love and one that you can progressively see increasing in proportion to how closely you are following Jesus. The more we focus on giving our everything to Christ, the more He changes us to love like 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 Prodigal 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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Prodigal Day 1
The Story Teller

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Luke 15:11-32
Matthew 18:10-14
I John 3:1-10attachment-1-26

“Speck story tonight, Daddy?! Please!” beg little voices hanging on Daddy’s arms before bed. A grinning Daddy swoops up one of our treasures and dramatically begins,
“Once upon a time in a far, far away land, there lived two little girls named HannahBelle and LydieBelle and their trusted horse named Jobo….

A couple of years ago, Daddy began telling “Speck Stories” before bed. Tales of grand, outlandish adventures filled with heroism and bravery sprinkled with faith, love, and sacrifice all benched in the world of people as tiny as “specks” of dust. Taking his inspiration from CS Lewis and a little of Dr. Seuss too, Daddy brings the Speck People to life at bedtime as little eyes light up and imaginations go crazy through fields of cotton candy and pools of licorice. He tells the story with images of their world, pictures they can relate to, and draws them in to think about heart and character issues.

Jesus was a story-teller too and the passionate fuel behind his stories was to help His children see the vast, deep love of the Father for them. He used the imagery of their current-day world to drive home His point and watched as, with every story, eyes widened and truths stuck deep in their hearts as they couldn’t deny the message woven behind the story.

The Prodigal Son is probably the most famous story ever told by Jesus and its imagery is rich, deep, and most often missed in our modern-day culture. Over the next three weeks, we are going to peel back the layers of culture and history and open our eyes to the simple, but rich, unfathomable love of a God who pursues each of us.

Did you know?
*          Both sons depicted in the story were heart-sick with rebellion, arrogance, and pride?
*          The story was told to an audience of Pharisees to help them see their own sin…an audience you and I identify with more than we probably care to admit, but one where God longs for us to see our sin so that we might see His hope and forgiveness!
*          Each gift the father gave the returning son (from sandals, to a robe, and a ring) were wrapped in a significance that reaches all the way to us right in the middle of our everyday life!
*          The original language is wrought with deep emotion and compassion from the father.
*          The significance of the son feeding pigs runs deep into the Law of Moses and the shaming disgrace it brings to the father holds important meaning for us.
*          The birthright given to both sons in the story carries strong implications for us today and begs us to ask the question, “what will we do with all the inheritance we’ve been given?”

If you’ve ever felt….
shame from sin,
burdened by a list of “to do” that you could never “do”,
jaded from all the good you’ve done without reward,
deserving of more than you’re getting,
the deep urge to control your circumstances,
confusion and loss for where you are in life,
fear,
abandonment,
loneliness,
you are irredeemable,
this study is for you!
The Father’s love is FOR YOU!
His grace and redemption is offered overwhelmingly to you!

At Gracefully Truthful, we are praying for your heart and ours as we dig in. We have cried over this story as we’ve seen God’s love with fresh eyes and it has transformed us! We are praying the same for you!
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Maybe you have a friend you’d like to encourage or you just would love for them to experience God in a new way, invite them to sign up!

Find your story woven into the details of this story Jesus told and discover with wide-eyes and new awareness that yes, Jesus loves you!

We are praying for transformed hearts over these next three weeks as we uncover the richness of Christ’s unconditional love; won’t you partner with us?!

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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 Prodigal 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 studies in Prodigal!

Brave Day 15
When Brave Isn’t Enough

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Read His Words Before Ours!

I Corinthians 13:1-3
Genesis 3:1-13
Isaiah 29:15-16
Luke 18:18-30attachment-1-17

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.” – André Berthiaume

“We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be.” – Patrick Rothfuss

Perhaps there’s no greater example of the above quotes fleshed out in the Bible than a couple who intentionally chose their masks and ended in death.

Enter Ananias and Saphira. Their intentions looked good, it was the perfect mask: give money to the church from a piece of property they sold.
Their masquerade: pretending to boldly give themselves away for Christ.
But their deviousness found them out.
Faking “Brave” will never work.
They sold the property and decided to keep back some of the profit, but chose together to tell the Apostle Peter (and God) that they were giving the entire sale amount to the church.

The stage was set and the script was written, the two were all in. The property sold, the money came in, and Ananias came to Peter and told his bold-faced lie…and Peter, with the help of the Holy Spirit, saw his deception as clear as day.
He confronted Ananias and the man fell to the ground dead.
Three hours later, Saphira came looking for her husband and told Peter the same story, only to end up breathing her last just as her husband had.

The thing about this deceiving duo is that they didn’t suddenly decide to boldly lie while pretending to live bravely.
They hadn’t been living authentically all along and then the idea of lying about their property suddenly showed up as an option.
Masquerades had become their life.

Maybe it started innocently enough. A stretching of truth here, a white lie there, or a covering for oneself when they felt cornered until eventually, the lies became easier to tell than the truth.
What once may have felt ill-fitting, was now like second skin, like a mask one had worn for too long. Eventually, they probably even fooled themselves. They looked like they really cared about the church. Probably looked like devoted Christ-followers. They were clearly involved in church life and were on a first name basis with the apostles. But somewhere along the way, they wrapped themselves in lies as they pretended to follow truth.

Starting to squirm?
I am.
I know there are times when lies are easier in my life. When chasing after the truths of Christ are a lot more work than just floating along, fading away into my own perceptions and setting up my own definition of truth, little by lethal little.
Masks are easier to wear than we’d like to think, but are always more deadly than they appear.

Remember another liar? The first one?
Yes, the Enemy Satan. His deception kick-started humanity’s descent into eternal separation from a Holy God.
Death.
Which is why our loving God set in motion His plan to send Jesus as our only possible redeemer because He Is Truth.

Masks aren’t brave.
And the God who died to restore our hearts to His,
longs for us to take them all off
so He can bring genuine, true redemption.

Lies are blossoms rooted in Death.
Truth is solidarity grounded in Life.

Brave appearances will only get us so far in life and will get us nowhere with God.
We can show up to church each week,
serve at the homeless shelter once a month,
give to charity at year’s end,
and it will all look great on paper.
But Jesus teaches that brave living without true love, is meaningless in the end.

No amount of kind deeds, encouraging words, or ornate masks we put on can cover up our fatal flaw….
we are dead because of sin.
Dead without Christ’s life.
Bravery can’t fake life.
Only Jesus’s transformational true love can bring about a bravery that brings abundant life.

I’d like to challenge you to re-read Ananias and Saphira’s story again and as you do, think about the masks you wear, the lies you parade in your heart, and beg God to make you new!
Christ-follower or not,
You can’t fake bravery before the Righteous God.
We all need to be made new!

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Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

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 Brave Week Three!
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Day Five
Desperate For Intimacy

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Click & Read!Desperate-Week1-Day3
Luke 7:36-50
Hebrews 12:28-29
Mark 15:33-41
Mark 16:9-10

Our nature is to hide our “bad choices” in life.  We are getting a healthy dose of this in my household as of late.  My two year old, Zai, is learning the difference between an accident and doing something on purpose.  It seems that every day we have the same conversation at least a handful of times.

“Mama, I took my boots off in the car and one just flew into the front seat.  It’s okay, it was an accident.”

“Mama, I made Elle cry when I took the toy away from her and knocked her down.  It’s okay, it was just an accident.”

“Mama, I ate a cracker I found on my car seat and it tasted weird.  It’s okay, it was just an accident.”  (Don’t judge.  Sometimes a cracker in the car is the difference between ten minutes of sanity or absolute meltdown DEFCON level six.  If you haven’t been there yet, just know that I love you, and it’s probably coming one day soon.)

I could keep going.  All. Day.  But you get the picture.

In the midst of the teaching moments (many as there are), it’s easy for me to forget that he comes by it naturally.  This is in my nature, too.  Transparency, responsibility, humility – these are all lovely intentions, but the application is rarely easy.  Nothing that goes against our base nature is simple.  My own gut reaction may not be to call something an “accident”, but excuses are never difficult to find.

My own “accidents” lie more along the lines of…

“I shouldn’t have said that.  But, I’m just so tired – this pregnancy is taking it out of me.”

“Okay, I may be overreacting a little here, but is it really SO hard to get a little help with the dishes/laundry/bedtime now and then?”

“I wish the conversation hadn’t gone that way.  But I am not in the wrong here.  He/she should be more compromising/compassionate/patient/fill-in-the-blank.”

I could keep going.  All. Day.

My “accidents” pile up and before I know it, I’m suddenly having difficulty finding intimacy with the Lover of my Soul.  You would think, at 32, that I would catch on a little more quickly.

I realized this week that I needed to take a lesson from another Mary of long ago.  She made mistakes, too.  In fact, that is how she was known by others…. Mary, the sinner.

The difference in our behavior is this:

She was desperate.  Desperate to worship.  Desperate to lavish extravagant praise upon the Son of God.  Desperate to experience intimacy with her Savior.

Despite her position.  Despite her reputation.  Despite her surroundings, her audience, her inner shame.  Mary was not naive – she knew how she was perceived.  But rather than let that stop her, she grasped for transparency and brought her broken self to the feet of Jesus in open, heartfelt worship.  She didn’t have perfection to give, she had only herself.
And she was rewarded.

Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Mary drew close to Him, and He to her.
She was there with His mother as He took His last breath.
She was the first person to whom He appeared after His resurrection.
He forgave her sins and brought her into His family!

Jesus Christ is the same Lover of Souls in this moment, with you and me, as He was with Mary Magdalene. He is no respecter of persons; He rewards our brokenness and transparency with His intimate love. He knows my heart and mind, and no amount of excuses can change my sin.  I need to recognize these little traps for what they are and instead approach Jesus in the same manner as Mary – desperate for intimacy.

Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

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 Fullness! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

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

Day Four
Desperate To Return: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper posts are intended to help us go farther into God’s word than a simple surface reading
and are designed to help us discover new tools in the process.
Curious as to why we Dig Deeper? Here’s Why! 

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s Journey Post? Check out Desperate To Return!

Genesis 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool[c] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for[f] your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.[g] 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

My Questions

1) What tactic does the serpent use to convince Eve to eat the fruit of the tree?

2) Why did God ask “Where are you?” when He already knew the answer?

3) What does Scripture say about how Adam and Eve felt after their choice to disobey God and how did their actions towards each other and God change because of that?

4) Who is the “Us” in v.22, I thought there was only one God?

5) In the last part of the chapter, what kind of relationship do Adam and Eve have with God?

The Tools

A trip to www.studylight.org is in order here.
We will get super cozy with this site as we study Scripture together!
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 Findings for Original Intent

1) In v.1, the serpent is described as “crafty”. Crafty in the original language means just that sly, shrewd, and subtle. The serpent in his crafty wordplay takes what God intended to be good and leads Eve to a place of questioning God’s motives in setting a boundary with the tree. When the conversation is over, Eve moves from understanding God’s boundaries to questioning God’s boundaries and motives. In v.6, Eve sees that the tree is good and the fruit is delightful to her. A subtle lie by the serpent plants the seed for sin and lust in the eyes of Eve.

2) God knows exactly where Adam and Eve are both physically and spiritually. There is no doubt what events have transpired in the Garden. God, despite what He knows is still pursuing Adam and Eve. He loves them enough not to leave them in their shame and sin. He is seeking them out even though they are hiding from Him. God desires relationship and communication and is giving them an opportunity to stand before Him.

3) In v.8, Adam and Eve are hiding. In v.10, Adam says he was afraid of God because of his nudity. The first part of the conversation is between Adam and God. Two emotions that have never been a part of creation before have now entered: shame and fear. Adam and Eve are shameful and hiding but are also afraid of God. Genesis 2:25 says Adam and Eve felt no shame. They had no knowledge of shame until their choice to disobey.

As that conversation continues in v. 12, Adam blames Eve for what has happened. When God confronts Eve she blames the serpent. The relationship between man and God now has enmity and shame and the relationship between husband and wife has blame and finger pointing. None of which existed before the Fall.

4) “Us” is a plural word referring to more than one person. Although it is a bit tricky with this verse, this is one of the first references to the Trinity. The same reference is made in Genesis 1:26 where God is speaking about the creation of man and says, “Let Us make man in Our own image according to Our likeness…”. God is one yet with three distinctions in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

5) Doing a little word research on the word “drove out” in v.24, the definition implies that God intended to expel, cast out, divorce, thrust away, and drive away Adam and Eve from the Garden. The relationship between man and God had changed for all eternity. Man is now separated from God and relationship is permanently severed. Well, at least for a little while until a Savior, in the form of a perfect infant, comes on the scene.

Some Applications for Our Everyday Lives

1) Check out how that crafty serpent leads Eve’s train of thought! We can so easily be tempted to question God, question His motives, and question His commands. We don’t sin by questioning, but by letting our doubt dictate our actions. For Eve, the delight for the fruit, the lust in her eyes and heart, lead her to make a fatal choice. 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Think about ways you may be trusting your own understanding instead of God’s and ask for His truth to be made evident so you can cling to it!

2) God’s pursuit is eternal. The moment the Fall happened, God begin pursuing His creation to make things right. He sacrificed His Son in pursuit of relationship with us, to rectify the gap between man and Himself. Romans 8:38-39 describes the type of pursuit that God has for us in that, “…neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is no sin too great for the pursuit of God. In other words, there is no past, no sin, no brokenness, no hurt that is beyond His redemption! 

3) With the Fall came death and eternal separation from God. With that separation comes fear (not the good kind), shame, and blame. This ugly trio shows up in our own lives! In our sin there is shame, blaming of circumstance or blaming others, but with Christ, we can free from that ugliness! Shame is not part of our eternal destiny once we accept Christ and live in relationship with Him. Turn over areas you identify as shame and let Christ’s freedom unlock you from Enemy territory!

4) The Trinity a word that you will never find in Scripture. Although the word itself is not there, evidence of the Trinity exudes. We know that God is one, 1 Timothy 2:5 states, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This is just one example of the delineation of the roles of God. God the Father, Abba…God the Son, Jesus the Perfect Sacrifice and Risen Lord….God the Holy Spirit, our Helper and prayer warrior until the Son returns. Take comfort in the fact that the One True God is complete and all encompassing as He guards our hearts!

5) When we read this passage, there is a temptation to stop and think the story ends there. That is powerful truth of God and His Word….the story just begins there! The entire Bible is written as a love story. It tells of God, the one True God, desiring to restore what was broken. All throughout the Old Testament we see God sending “saviors” for His people in the form of prophets and judges because He wanted to restore our relationship with Him. God desired to fix the problem of broken humanity because He knew in and of ourselves we could not. The Fall represents our brokenness, our shame, our need for God to make it right….and He does at the cross! If you’ve invited Jesus to be your Savior, you don’t have to live in the past, instead dance freely in the redemption of your return!

Want To Try It For Yourself?!

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!

Share Your Thoughts with the GT Community!

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

Looking for other journeys from this theme? See all past studies in Desperate!