Shame

Eden Day 15 Curse To Cure

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 3
Romans 5:12-21
Galatians 3:10-14
1 Corinthians 15

Eden, Day 15

Have you ever started a new book or series of shows, and before the first chapter or episode is over, you are hooked? As the story continues, you envision where the plot will go.

Then, out of nowhere comes a plot twist, and you are left wondering what in the world is happening! You MUST know, so you frantically skim future chapters or episode descriptions to grasp how the writers will redeem this awful thing.

We can do the same thing with the Bible. We may be reading in Genesis for our Journey Study today, but we can flip all the way to Revelation to learn how the story ends. Spoiler alert – Jesus wins!!! We can read other Bible books along the way to see how God has been masterfully weaving together all the details of history.

Each Journey Study in this Eden Theme has been an episode in God’s award-winning story.  Today’s installment is another emotional rollercoaster. (Genesis 3) The juicy fruit that once looked so delicious has fallen from Eve’s hand, dropped to the ground as the first man and woman realized their sin. The knowledge of good and evil left an awful taste in their mouths, and they hid in shame, cowering in fear. Still, God pursued them, graciously seeking them out in His goodness and love. Adam and Eve rebelled, but rather than turn His back on them, God set His redemptive plan in motion.

God wasn’t scrambling, trying to haphazardly repair the shattered pieces of His creation. No, if we look ahead to Ephesians 1:3-10, we see that before we were ever lost in sin, God knew the exact way we would be found. Restoration would come through the blood of His one and only Son, Jesus.

Yes, blood.
The payment for sin is death. (Romans 6:23)
In Genesis 3:21, we read, “The LORD God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and He clothed them.”

We could easily skim over this one line, but it holds so much significance. An animal was killed, its blood shed so its hide could cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness and shame. In the same way, Jesus would one day come in human flesh and take on the penalty of all sin for all time. His blood shed on the cross satisfied God’s just wrath; His holiness and perfection covered our sin. Through His death, Jesus would extend to us the free gift of eternal life. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Unless Jesus would sacrifice Himself, there would be eternal separation between God and man. God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden, to live out their days under the curse of their sin. (Genesis 3:22-24) This curse continues still, every man and woman born after Adam entering the world is separated from God, dead in our sin. (Romans 5:12-21)

But we are NOT without hope.

Let’s rewind to the scene where God is calling out for Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3:8-19) An eerie darkness has crept into the Garden, and slowly Adam and Eve come out from behind the bushes to face their Creator. The serpent is there too, for despite his craftiness, he cannot escape the consequences of his deception. We listen as God doles out curses, first to the serpent, then to Eve, and finally to Adam. In the midst of this heart-wrenching chapter, we find the most beautiful promise.

In the ashes of despair, God plants a seed of hope:

“I will put hostility between you [Satan] and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed [Jesus!].
He [Jesus!] will strike your [Satan] head,
And you [Satan] will strike His [Jesus] heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

With the hope of a coming Messiah, but no exact timeline, every generation after Adam would wait in eager anticipation for this promised One to deliver them from the curse of sin and death.

Satan, not knowing who would deliver the crushing blow to his head, determined to thwart God’s plan of salvation. He honed his skills, cunningly deceiving anyone who would listen as he whispered lies, stirred up doubt, and cast fear. (John 8:44; John 10:10; Ephesians 6:11-12; 1 Peter 5:8)

From Genesis to the opening chapters of the New Testament, this spiritual warfare raged on until FINALLY God’s timing is full and Jesus is born! (Galatians 4:4)

Jesus was God in flesh. (Colossians 1:19-23; John 1:1-18)
In taking on human form, He became a second Adam.

Whereas Adam’s (and Eve’s) sin resulted in physical and spiritual death for all mankind, Jesus’ death and resurrection would result in eternal life for all who believe in Him. (Hebrews 2:14-18)

This was God’s plan all along!!!! Jesus Himself would become the Cure for the curse. (Galatians 3:10-14) He willingly shed His blood, covering our sins with His righteousness and making it possible for us to stand before God justified and forgiven, free from all condemnation!! (Romans 8:1)

Every chain of sin, broken!
Our broken relationship with God, restored.
God’s promise, fulfilled.

Now, as we wait for Jesus to return, we live in light of that final victory!
The trumpet will sound, and all those who have died in Christ will be raised to new life, clothed with new eternal bodies, and joined together with God once more, just as God intended in Eden!!! (1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

I can’t wait for THAT episode to release!

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Eden Day 12 The Blame Game: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

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

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out The Blame Game!

The Questions

1) Why are Adam and Eve hiding? Do they actually believe they can hide from God? (verse 8)
2) What did God ask, “Where are you?” if He already knew the answer? (verse 9)
3) Once God “found” Adam and Eve, were there consequences for their sin and hiding?

Genesis 3:8-10

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

Original Intent

1) Why are Adam and Eve hiding? Do they actually believe they can hide from God? (verse 8)
When God created Adam, He placed him in the Garden of Eden to “work it and watch over it.” (Genesis 2:15) God gave him the entire garden but told him, “You are free to eat of any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) The Lord knew Adam needed a “suitable partner” for himself, someone like him, so God created Eve. (Genesis 2:18) They were both designed to live in the perfect place God had created, but they needed to obey the one command God had given. However, Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent and disobeyed God’s command. (Genesis 3:1-6) Immediately, they had knowledge of good and evil and became aware they were naked; in flustered panic and shame, they covered themselves in fig leaves. (Genesis 3:7) Adam and Eve were fully aware of their guilt and disobedience and when they heard God and their natural response was to hide in their shame. They thought they could cover up with leaves and hide from the all-knowing God, but as we read further, we discover they couldn’t really hide.

2) What did God ask, “Where are you?” if He already knew the answer? (verse 9)
God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were in the Garden. His question isn’t about looking for them but rather the relationship between them. God’s intention was to have a relationship with those He had created in His image. (Genesis 1:26-27) This moment is the moment where mankind’s relationship with God was broken. God, in all His perfection, desired a relationship, but their choice damaged that perfect intimacy. God calls out to them, and in that moment, Adam and Eve must admit their sin and face the God who lovingly created them. After answering and coming out of hiding, God asks them to admit their wrong. (Genesis 3:11) This is the beginning of their consequences, but before those were enacted, they needed to admit to their sin.

3) Once God “found” Adam and Eve, were there consequences for their sin and hiding?
God did not seek Adam and Eve with the intention of letting them off the hook. God is a holy God and, because of His justice, was obligated to respond as such. In order for their relationship to have any chance of restoration, they must first admit their sin (Genesis 3:11-13) followed by facing the fall out of their rebellion. As the narrative of Genesis continues, God lays out the consequences of sin for each sinner. (Genesis 3:14-24) God began with the instigator, Satan, for his role in the deception of Adam and Eve. Then Adam and Eve are both given individual consequences. Ultimately, Adam and Eve were forced out of the Garden of Eden and access to the Tree of Life was revoked. This meant they would eventually face physical death, along with spiritual death, as consequences for their sin. God used the skin of an animal to clothe Adam and Eve, this was the first sacrifice of an animal and is a direct result of sin. Blood must be shed to cover sin. While this was the first instance of bloodshed, it wasn’t the last. The Old Testament provides several references to bloodshed to pay for sin like Genesis 8:20-21, Exodus 29:10-14, Leviticus 1, Leviticus 17:11, and Numbers 6:14 to name a few. All of these point forward in God’s redemption plan to the final bloodshed of Jesus, who paid the ultimate price for sin on the cross, where He would bear the punishment for us all. God promised this redemption would come, even as He gave the first consequence to Satan in Genesis 3:15. One (Jesus) would come who would crush Satan’s head, defeating death and sin forever. The rest of the story begins unfolding from this moment in the Garden to be fulfilled in Matthew 26-28 (also found in Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19).

Everyday Application

1) Why are Adam and Eve hiding? Do they actually believe they can hide from God? (verse 8)
Adam and Eve attempted to hide their sin and cover their shame from God when they heard Him coming. We read this and may think them foolish for even considering they could even try this tactic. We know God is all-knowing and, from our perspective, we also know they would never be successful in their clandestine escape. However, how often do you and I make the same attempt? God is still the same all-knowing God from the Garden of Eden, but when we make sinful choices and are ashamed of our thoughts or actions, we make the same attempt to hide our sin and our thoughts from God just like Adam and Eve. In reality, we will never be any more successful than they were. God still knows all, and we are incapable of hiding.

2) What did God ask, “Where are you?” if He already knew the answer? (verse 9)
God knows the sins we commit before we ever admit them. Much like He did with Adam and Eve, He invites us to come to Him (where are you?) and confess what we have done. Forgiveness cannot be received without admittance of the sin committed. Unless we face our God, we can never enjoy the sweetness of restoration. You and I are blessed to live on the other side of the cross, a process God began in the Garden of Eden as He intentionally set in motion His plan to redeem His creation and offer forgiveness and restoration to every sinner. If we live in hiding and denial we will never experience the freedom found only in Christ who gave His life to pay the price for our sin and bring us back to Himself.

3) Once God “found” Adam and Eve, were there consequences for their sin and hiding?
Adam and Eve chose sin and could not escape the consequences for their rejection of God, but we are also affected today as we continue reaping the fallout of their sin which infected us all. We are each born sinful and continue sinning, bringing separation between us and God. (Romans 3:23) Remembering that God is just, all sin carries a price tag of offense against a Holy God and the debt must be paid. (Romans 6:23) This price is death and the payment requires bloodshed. (Hebrews 9:22) Expositor’s Bible Commentary says, “To us life is cheap and death familiar, but Adam recognised death as the punishment of sin. Death was to early man a sign of God’s anger. And he had to learn that sin could be covered not by a bunch of leaves snatched from a bush as he passed by and that would grow again next year, but only by pain and blood. From the first sin to the last, the track of the sinner is marked with blood.” The good news is God began His plan of redemption for us from the deadly clutches of sin in the very beginning of Genesis and came to fulfillment in Jesus. Christ shed His perfect blood as payment for our sin and when we personally choose to accept His sacrifice, His blood covers us our own personal sin. When we accept Him in total surrender of ourselves, we receive forgiveness for every sin, past, present, and future, and our relationship with the Holy God is restored forever. This is such good news!

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

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Eden Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

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

Sketched IX Day 14 Costly Surrender: 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 Costly Surrender!

The Questions

1) What does it mean to bear our own cross? (verse 27)

2) Why is it necessary to renounce your possessions to become a disciple of Jesus? (verse 33)

3) Why did Jesus use salt as an analogy? (verses 34-35)

Luke 14:25-35

25 Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.

34 “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? 35 It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

Original Intent

1) What does it mean to bear our own cross? (verse 27)
Crucifixion was an extremely horrific type of execution. It consisted of tying or nailing the victim to a cross until he died, usually hours or even days later. Before the actual crucifixion, the victim was flogged with a leather whip woven through with iron balls and sharp sheep bones. The scourging was meant to bring the victim to a state just short of death. (Robert Gidley) In this weakened state, the criminal carried the crossbar to the execution site upon his shoulders.  If he tripped or fell, he could not use his arms to break the fall and would most likely fall on his face to the ground, bringing further shame, humiliation, and pain upon himself. Jesus’ death by crucifixion shows the length and breadth of His rescue mission in order to save us from the punishment we each deserve for our sins, death. Christ’s death was the ultimate sacrifice because He, though completely innocent of all sin, chose to take on sin’s consequence out of deep love for us. To bear our cross, we must be willing to follow His example by dying (crucifying) to our sinful selves and living for Jesus in the new life He gives freely to all who surrender themselves to Him.

2) Why is it necessary to renounce our possessions to become a disciple of Jesus? (verse 33)
Before Jesus began His ministry, His cousin, John the Baptist, taught about money, possessions, and repentance. One day while baptizing by the Jordan, John told the crowd to share their clothes and food with those who didn’t have any. He instructed tax collectors to collect no more than required. He taught soldiers to not extort money and be content with their pay. (Luke 3:10-14) Jesus also told quite a few parables about the effects of accumulating wealth. For instance, the parable about the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21 teaches that focusing on storing up wealth for future use is senseless. The rich fool’s focus was not on God, but on himself and his accomplishments. So with all his plans, he died that very night, unable to enjoy the fruits of his labour, leaving everything he had for someone else. In Luke 18:18-25, a young ruler came to Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments, to which the rich ruler replied he kept from his youth. But Jesus told him he lacked one thing, which was to sell his possessions, distribute to the poor, and come follow Him. This saddened the ruler because he couldn’t bring himself to part with all his wealth. These examples demonstrate that accumulating wealth can easily deter us from serving God whole-heartedly. Jesus wanted total commitment from His disciples; commitment that would be impossible if they insisted on holding tightly to material things.

3) Why did Jesus use salt as an analogy? (verses 34-35)
In the biblical days, salt was not as pure as it is today. It was mixed with different forms of impurities causing it to lose its saltiness. Therefore, nothing much could be done with it. According to Zondervan, “such salt does not complete its purpose, and it lacks the resource, the saltiness, to do the job it was intended for.” (Zondervan KJV Commentary) Jesus used what was common, tasteless salt, to teach His disciples that if they chose to muddy their lives with other “lesser loves”, they are no longer suited for effective Kingdom purposes, just like flavourless salt. Every Christ follower must be willing to live for and worship God alone, continuously surrendering to His purpose for their lives.

Everyday Application

1) What does it mean to bear our own cross? (verse 27)
The Roman execution method of crucifixion was a slow and painful process. When Jesus used this metaphor He knew exactly what He was talking about, and so did His audience. This wasn’t intended to be an emotionally encouraging pep talk. He was telling His disciples that following Him would guarantee intense persecution, even death. While many today, at least in the western hemisphere, may not experience this level of persecution, being a Christian still guarantees a cost. To truly follow Jesus means whole-life commitment and sacrifice, and living for Him does not mean automatic happiness and an easy life. I was the victim of a crime committed by a close family member. I wasted no time in reporting the matter. Other family members begged me not to take action, but I could not turn a blind eye to wrongdoing and did what I knew was right. As a result, I lost favour with family members, and my relationship with the perpetrator has been severed for almost two years. It has been really hard, but I do not regret the choice I made. We must not condone sin, no matter who commits it. Our calling as Christ-followers is to live solely for Jesus and not focus on money, possessions, or relationships that are out of alignment with God’s calling to live holy. We will experience difficulty for following God and His plan; we must be prepared and willing to endure hardship because Jesus gave everything for us. If we try to save ourselves from pain and heartache, we will not grow into maturity, thus missing out on our intended purpose in following Christ.

2) Why is it necessary to renounce our possessions to become a disciple of Jesus? (verse 33)
True repentance means a radical change of lifestyle especially as it relates to money and possessions. As mentioned above, I was a victim of a crime. My entire life savings was stolen from me. While I had no choice to report the crime, the Lord told me to not attempt to retrieve the money. With His guidance, I rebuilt my finances and became financially stable once more. It took time, but during that time, the Lord provided and worked out His goodness in my heart as He taught me to trust Him instead of my finances. One passage of Scripture I have seen fulfilled in my life is Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you”. The whole incident of theft changed my life. I drew closer to God and He has demonstrated to me that He will take care of me once I give my life wholeheartedly to Him. By surrendering to Jesus, He proved a faithful Provider. If I had chosen to trust money instead, I would have missed out on the better thing, which will always be Jesus. Placing Jesus first in your life ahead of family, career, and wealth means building a relationship based on faith, trust, and commitment to God. Is it difficult? Yes. But this sacrifice means living a life of purpose and meaning far more valuable than money or human relationships could ever provide.

3) Why did Jesus use salt as an analogy? (verses 34-35)
Being a Christian means more than just saying, “I believe in Jesus Christ”. We are called to be doers (active followers) of the Word of God, not simply hearers only. (James 1:22)  Being a disciple means fulfilling the calling God has for you, whatever that may be. If you begin your journey of walking with Jesus, and then become distracted by other things along the way, you have lost your saltiness. There was a season when I spent a lot of time in Bible Study and sharing what I learned through writing. Distraction set in and “life” got in the way. My excuses were plentiful. I had children to raise and a career to develop, and I allowed “following God” to take a backseat. Just before the theft incident, I would have said my life was great. It was when my whole world turned upside down, God lovingly used that hardship to correct my course and bring me back to Him. I have returned to daily Bible Study and have begun writing and sharing about Jesus once again. I am fulfilling my purpose and the calling the Lord has given me. In the words of Zondervan, “Believers must determine never to be “useless Christians”, like salt that has lost its flavour. (Zondervan KJV Commentary)

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

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

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

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Sketched IX Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

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

Screenshot Day 2 From Religion To Relationship: Digging Deeper

Leave a Comment

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 From Religion To Relationship!

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 Kuntz 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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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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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.
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
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Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Prodigal!

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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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?!

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 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!