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Read His Words Before Ours! Hebrews 9:1-10 Leviticus 16 Isaiah 53 Hebrews 2:14-18 Hebrews 13:11-15 Sisters, the more I study the Bible, the more I write these Journey Studies, the more vividly aware I become of how little I know about God and His love letter to us. Familiarity with His Word will do that….make you hungry for more of Him. Transparency is central to all of us at Gracefully Truthful, so, know that we are right here with you, journeying and learning more of our Savior together. What we share on these pages…. you’re glimpsing our hearts, you’re seeing Jesus with the same fresh eyes that we are. These aren’t just cleverly crafted words to us, These are the result of hours and hours of pouring over His Word that we might know Him better. This precious Word, intricately crafted by the Father God as He wove together every single word to declare His love, making known to us the way of salvation and intimacy with Him. No detail lacks intentionality. Even the parts we think are boring. Just a few months ago, I didn’t even know that each portion of the tabernacle symbolized anything. I feel completely unworthy of sharing what I’ve learned with you, but the beauty in this is a reminder that we don’t need to be a certain age to study the Bible, we don’t need a degree in Theology, we don’t even need to be a follower of Jesus for a certain number of years. The first time I read the Bible cover to cover was in fifth grade. Even today I remember dozing my way through the Old Testament, specifically Leviticus and Numbers. Boy oh boy were those books a bore! I wondered why God even included them in the Bible! What did they really have to do with ANYTHING? In books and movies, the most fascinating characters to me are those who, being incredibly intelligent, are able to map every little detail of their lives. Their knowledge of every supporting character is so thorough, they know exactly how to evoke the intended response. Sometimes you may be confused by their response or action, but as the story unfolds, you realize that every action was part of a well-intentioned plan. I didn’t sidetrack there! That is a picture of how God wrote the Bible. The more we study His story, watching it unfold, it becomes evident that even those incredibly boring books, full of instructions and lists, are all part of His well-intentioned plan. The Day of Atonement is also known as Yom Kippur. One day a year, the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies (the most sacred section of the Tabernacle) to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people that God would forgive them and remove their sin. Throughout the year, people would offer sacrifices for their individual sins, but this one was corporate as a whole nation before Yahweh. Two perfect goats were selected for the annual sacrifice. One goat would be slaughtered and the spilt blood would be sprinkled in the Holy of Holies to “atone” (Hence, “Day of Atonement”) for the sins of the people. A second goat, a scapegoat, would be sent into the wilderness to “remove” the sins from off the people, carrying them away. The High Priest would place his hands on the scapegoat’s head, symbolizing all of Israel’s sin for that year being transferred to the goat. Then the goat would be sent into the wilderness, never to return again. God specifically set up the Tabernacle, the intricate details of the sacrificial system, all the feasts and countless minutia we will never fully grasp, to paint a picture with deep, beautiful strokes. A portrait of all the coming Messiah would be for us, both at the cross and beyond, into eternity. Jesus is our High Priest, giving us access into the Holy of Holies that we might have an intimate and close relationship with the Holy God of the Universe. Jesus is our sacrificial Passover lamb, offered up to free us from sin, just as Israel was freed from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. Jesus is the Scapegoat of the Day of Atonement, taking our sin, being crucified “outside of the city” (Hebrews 13:11) and removing our sin from us “as far as the east is from the west”. (Psalm 103:12) Jesus is the fulfillment, the perfect fulfillment. Every picture painted in the Old Testament, finds its beginning and ending in the heart of God as He very intentionally invites each of us to be partakers in the life that will never end. The delicate detail put in place hundreds of years before Jesus came, long before prophets even began prophesying of His coming – Is incredible! The Lord does NOTHING without a specific and perfect purpose. Nothing about Him or His love is reckless. How incredible it is to know that He loves us THAT MUCH! He had a great plan to redeem us, but it wasn’t a simple plan. The more I learn this, the more I realize I will never be able to grasp the great and mighty Love of the Lord. And the more I learn that, the more I fall in love with Him. So sisters… Leviticus and Numbers, and every “boring” book or chapter in between…all have a purpose. They all point to His redeeming plan and incredible love for us! This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For more studies like this one, visit GracefullyTruthful.com!
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Read His Words Before Ours! Luke 10:38-42 Matthew 25:35-46 Hebrews 13:1-2 “I have a gift for your girls! Are you home?” “Yes! Come over any time.” “Wonderful. I’ll be there soon. And Kendra? Do not clean a thing!” I sighed with relief as I looked around at my lived-in home. There was always laundry to be done, diapers I forgot to throw away lying around, and toys scattered about. It used to bother me much more, but when company comes over my stomach still turns a bit when they see… This is what my “real life” actually looks like. That sweet friend came, armed with presents for my girls, and conversation about her days of young motherhood. With her son in college, her days of picking up toys are long gone. As I showed her my twin toddlers’ infamously messy room, with books and dolls strewn about, she laughed and told me something I will remember for the rest of my life. My friend is known for her immaculate house. Her Christmas presents are wrapped in October with large, gold bows tied with precision. So, I was stunned to hear her tell me this: “Kendra, if I had it to do over again, I would spend less time worrying about how clean my house was, and more time with the people who came to visit. I can see now that I may have made family members and friends uncomfortable with my constant running around and picking up. I wish I hadn’t cared so much about how clean my son’s room was. I wish I would have just spent more time playing with him.” I smiled as I let her words run over me, knowing I would return later to process what she’d shared. I began to think of Martha and Mary, the sister duo who welcomed Jesus into their home when He came to visit. Imagine that! Imagine Jesus literally knocking on your door. What would you do?! I would probably pass out, which is totally biblical so that reaction would be justified. Then, I would honestly welcome Him in, while apologizing for my house being such a mess. I would excuse the clothes in the foyer, still needing to go into storage. I would laugh off the toys on the stairs. I would explain how I still needed to paint the top of the wainscoting we added. Then I would invite Him to sit on my couch, while laughing about the fact that I was actually going to clean the cover tonight, so that’s why it was dirty. How do I know how I would respond? Because that is literally what I say any time anyone comes over. But sisters… Jesus doesn’t even care! How do I know? Martha’s story. She began serving Jesus as soon as He stepped in the door. Which sounds totally acceptable! Except… she spent so much time serving Him, she wasn’t actually being with Him. She offered Him coffee (Or chai or whatever they drank… Wine?) She asked Him if He was hungry. She swept up after Him, hurriedly cleaning, and getting herself in a tizzy. Soon, as it usually does, that tizzy turned into frustration. “Jesus! Don’t you care that I’m working so hard to make You comfortable? I’m working hard and Mary just sits there!” Jesus turned compassionate eyes on her, telling her she was getting herself in a tizzy. He said she was anxious and worried and frantic and none of it even mattered. He just wanted her to sit and to be. THAT was her best service. There’s an age-old saying (which, incidentally, is not in the Bible!), that became popular thanks to Martin Luther: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” But is it? A pure heart, washed in forgiveness by the God of all righteousness? Absolutely; that IS godliness! Having a clean home? Being a clean person? Not. A. Chance. Honestly? Jesus was probably a pretty filthy man, physically speaking. Barely bathing and walking everywhere, mixing sweat with dust will do that to a person. (And you can’t get more Godly than Jesus because He IS God…so…) I digress… Having a clean home says nothing about your godliness. Only the status of your soul determines that. We will NOT get to Heaven and be drilled for those seven loads of laundry we didn’t do. God will not ask why we didn’t put away that bin of clothes before our guest arrived. Instead, His Spirit is ready to prompt us now, just as He did with Martha…. Why are we spending so much time cleaning, serving, running, and doing that we have a hard time slowing enough to listen to our guest? Why not take the time to pray with them or show them HOPE? Why work ourselves into an anxious tizzy (I’m clearly loving that word today) by expecting perfection in our own appearance, when the Lord has always cared only about the contents of our heart. God cares about our hospitality, NOT our house. Whether brick and mortar or skin and bones. I am so guilty of this, guys! If Jesus came today, I would be Martha. Trying to prove my worth by the appearance of my home and my ability to serve Him. I would completely miss the opportunity to actually be enthralled with Him. Cleanliness is NOT next to Godliness. Cleanliness can get in the way of Godliness. The need to clean, the urge to perform, it can fill our minds, consuming our actions, even becoming our idol. And that isn’t godly at all. Don’t let pressure and performance hinder you from investing in people and being at peace with Jesus. *In my struggle to spend more time with people rather than focus on performance, I’ve found the app “The Fly Lady” to be a helpful reset. Give it a try! This Bible study first appeared on Gracefully Truthful and is property to Gracefully Truthful, as well. For further studies similar to this one, check out Gracefully Truthful.
Read His Words Before Ours! Hosea 4 1 Peter 2:9-10 Hosea 1:10-11 Genesis 15 The word adultery makes me shudder. In my lifetime, I’ve watched so many marriages crumble, and all too often, an affair is the the last straw that completely destroys a marriage. “Not me.” I’ve thought, more times than I’d like to admit. “I will never be an adulteress.” But sisters, one thing I’ve learned, is that… I am. I am an adulteress. When I chose to give my life to Christ and walk in the grace that has been given to me, I entered into a covenant with the Lord. The theological definition of covenant is: an agreement that brings about a relationship of commitment between God and His people. In the Bible, covenants were a legal contract, and they were so extreme that blood was spilled to seal the covenant. Abraham sacrificed animals when entering into a covenant with God. (See Genesis 15:7-18 and this Digging Deeper Study) When I entered into a covenant with God, there was also bloodshed, but it was Jesus’. At the Last Supper, Jesus held up the cup of wine, symbolizing His soon-to-be-shed blood on the cross, and said, “this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28) When I accept Jesus’ sacrifice to forgive my sins, I enter into a covenant relationship with God. Not based on my works or ability to maintain good standing, but based on the shedding of Christ’s perfect blood. In the covenant relationship of marriage, the adultery of giving one’s heart or body to someone besides their spouse, breaks the covenant. When I give my heart or body to something besides the Lord. That is adultery. And I hate to admit this… but many things have captured and held my heart more than the Lord. I know that He is never going to be the one to leave me, hurt me, walk away from me… I have His full attention all the time. He will always uphold His side of the covenant. But I don’t. I haven’t. And I’ll probably fail again tomorrow or the next day. I am an adulterous. Some days, my phone and social media has my heart more than God. What is the first thing I check in the morning? What is the last thing I do before I fall asleep at night? Sometimes, motherhood has my heart more than God. Not my kids, but the act of motherhood; the busyness and craziness of it. Sometimes trying to uphold a certain image has my heart more than God. My appearance and my home. Everything needs to look shiny and wonderful on the outside. These idols… They are damaging. They fill me with envy, greed, low-self esteem. They make me feel unworthy and incompetent. They catch me in the trap of comparison. Inside of them, I give my love away to other, lesser things. Never being satisfied with my lesser loves, I find myself feeling miserable because I’ve completely broken my covenant with God. And yet, God never stops loving me. He never stops pursuing me. I am His, and I will always be His. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.” (Hosea 2:14) He is alluring me, calling me back into the wilderness, reminding me that He is present. Always here, always loving. Hosea’s love for Gomer and God’s pursuit of Israel, is a side-by-side comparison of His great love and pursuit of His people, of us. Hosea and Gomer entered into a covenant with each other when they got married and their children were fulfillments of promises God was making despite Gomer’s adultery. God has entered into a covenant with me, despite my adultery. He knew I would run just as far and as fast as Gomer, but He pursued a covenant relationship regardless. In Biblical days, when someone broke their part of a covenant, they could be put to death by the other person they were in covenant with. The sacrificial bloodspill of an animal when a covenant was made symbolized the two parties agreeing, “If I don’t uphold my end of this vow, then let what is done to this animal, be done to me.” Israel didn’t uphold their end of the bargain. They deserved death. But God was gracious and merciful and continued to pursue them over and over again. Gomer didn’t uphold her end of the bargain. She deserved death. But Hosea was gracious and merciful and continued to pursue her over and over again. I have not upheld my end of the bargain. I deserve death. But God is gracious and merciful and JESUS died FOR ME. Jesus died for me because there was no way I would ever be able to uphold my end of the covenant. I am an adulteress. And yet, God still loves me, He longs for me, He is jealous for me, He pursues me. He still takes my hand in His, pulls me into the wilderness and speaks tenderly to me. And just like Israel, Just like Gomer, I will come back. I am redeemed. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For studies like this one, visit GracefullyTruthful.com.
Read His Words Before Ours! Hosea 1:1-10 Hosea 2:7-9 Hosea 2:14-20 Hosea 11:4-9 Hosea 14:4-7 She doesn’t even know how loved she is. She doesn’t know her value. She doesn’t know her worth. Hosea was alone, once again. His emotions a mix of anger, hurt, jealousy, and sorrow. She gave herself and her love to every man except him. They had joyful and sweet moments, but then, she was gone, chasing other fantasies….other men. And Hosea was alone. Heartsick, worried; He missed his wife. And this, he knew, was how God felt over His unfaithful people. The Lord had saved Israel time and time again, He had loved her, pursued her, provided for her, yet Israel gave herself and her love to everything but Him. There were times of joy, sweet worship, and surrender, but then, just as it had happened before, they were gone… Chasing other nations and bowing before other idols, brazenly loving another. In Hosea’s emotion he saw the Lord’s heart for Israel. A burning jealousy for his bride. A steady flame in his belly, slowly growing until it became a lion within that had to roar. “Hosea, have mercy on your wife.” The Lord beckoned to Hosea. Yahweh, have I not done that before? She had already been loved by many men when I married her, and yet, I gave her all of me, and that wasn’t enough. I am not enough to satisfy her. Hosea, allure her. Bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. Give her beautiful things. She will know you again. Let her come home, shelter her from the wars raging inside of her soul. Give her rest. How do You do this, Yahweh? How do You endure this? I see your people, I see their sin! I feel your agony! How can you pursue us still?! Because I love my people. They have forgotten my ways, ignored the blessing I set before them, broken our covenant. The more they grow arrogant in their independence, the more they sin against me, and I will punish them for their ways because I want them back! They have forsaken me. They have left me… just as Gomer has left you. I am enough for them, but my Bride would rather believe lies. She forgets that I AM the One who has saved her and lavished gifts on her. All Israel has is because of Me. I give her value. I give her worth. I’ve fought for her. Yet, she still forgets me. Together, their hearts broke. The Lord’s broke for His children. Hosea’s broke for his wife, and with fresh eyes, he saw Israel’s faithlessness and he was broken for their sin as a people against the Lord. As Hosea spoke the Lord’s prophetic words to Israel, his voice broke and the tears poured. God was speaking to the Israelites, but Hosea was speaking to his wife. I led her with cords of kindness, with bands of love. I worked to ease her burdens. I’ve provided for her and given everything to her. How can I give you up, my dear one? How can I hand you over to another man? How can I let you destroy yourself? How can I let you feel like you are not worthy? How can I treat you like a whore? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I’m angry, but I will come after you. I will fight for you. I will take up my job as your husband and you will come back to me. Hosea found his wife, who had, once again, been loved by another man. The love that went far beyond emotion began to billow out as he ROARED: Return to me, your husband! No one else can love you the way I do! I will love you freely, I’m not angry at you anymore! Come back and live with me, let me protect you, and you will flourish, you will see your true value and worth. COME HOME WITH ME. I WANT YOU. I LOVE YOU. AND I WILL NEVER STOP LOVING YOU. He paid a price for her and brought her home. He stared into her downcast eyes and prayed, Yahweh, let her see her worth. Let her know her value. Let her know how loved she is. Gomer’s eyes slowly raised and met his, and there she saw love. There, she saw redemption. Sisters, the Lord’s heart breaks when we give ourselves to anything and anyone besides Him, just as Hosea’s broke when Gomer gave herself away to other men. Gomer willingly abandoned her family and husband to pursue something she thought was better. She didn’t know her true worth to Hosea. She couldn’t fully grasp the kind of love Hosea had lavished on her. The Lord chose Hosea to deliver His messages of coming destruction to Israel, but the Lord knew that Hosea would be able to deliver these messages in a way no other prophet could… because Hosea lived out heartbroken love in his marriage. God used Hosea’s heart, his marriage, and his life to showcase His own love for His people. Sisters, never doubt the trials God is asking you to endure, because He may just be softening your heart to reach people. And never doubt the great love God has lavished on you, because, just as Hosea deeply loved his wife, the Lord deeply loves you. This Bible Study first appeared on GracefullyTruthful.com and is also property of Gracefully Truthful. For more studies like this one, check out the website!
Read His Words Before Ours! Psalm 23 John 6:27-35 James 1:2-4 I had to sit and meditate on this verse for a long time. I read every commentary you could imagine. I read and reread the entire 23th Psalm. I thought about it all throughout the week, and still, I hadn’t had that, “AHA!” moment. But I think I’ve started to figure out why. As I sit at my favorite table at my favorite cafe just a few blocks from my house, the Spirit pokes at my heart… “when have you felt the Lord make you lie down in green pastures?” What moments in my life can I look back, and without a doubt, say there, He made me lie down? As those moments begin to flash in my memory, I realize that for some of those, I didn’t want to lie down. He literally had to make me. When my twin daughters were born, six weeks premature, and spent two weeks in the NICU, it was one of the most trying times of my life. If you’d told me God was making me lie down in green pastures, I would’ve snickered and rolled my eyes. But, almost three years removed, I can look back and say that He was there, holding me, making me lay down and rest. Providing for me. Being my sufficiency. I had hours upon hours to sit and hold my sweet girls, without being interrupted by the daily demands of trying to keep a house clean, prepare meals, or follow a newborn schedule. And while God never wants to His children hurting or suffering, sometimes He allows it. The very good God allowed my babes to spend time in the NICU, and in it, He showed His goodness by making me lie down. When my youngest daughter was hospitalized twice last year, again, I was forced to rest and be in the moment. Jesus was making me lie down in green pastures. I wouldn’t have seen it then. I’m not sure I would’ve seen it a week ago. But I see it now. Had I been offered those chances of rest, I wouldn’t have taken them. Which is why He had to MAKE me lie down. But the other part of that verse is just as crucial as the first… “in green pastures”. He wanted to feed me, good and nutrient-rich food. The Bread of Life. Jesus. Who is essential for life. God was giving me that time to be fed, to learn to fully rely and trust in HIM, to take Him in, and soak in His promises of love and protection. It reminds me of one of my favorite songs, “Blessings” by Laura Story. We pray for blessings We pray for peace Comfort for family Protection while we sleep We pray for healing For prosperity, We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering. And all the while, You hear each spoken need Yet love us way too much, to give us lesser things. What if Your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re here? What if trials of this life, are Your mercies in disguise? And here I am, crying all over again as I think about the trials I’ve faced in my life. What if God used the moments created by this fallen world, to show me His blessings, His mercies, and to make me lie down in green pastures? As I think about this coming year for me… a year I’ve dubbed my year of living “simply”. Simplifying my wardrobe. Simplifying the amount of things in my pantry, closets and drawers. Simply serving more by writing more notes and preparing more meals for people. Simply reducing the input I receive from social media. Simply eating a more balanced diet. Simply finding joy in the little things. Simple. Every time when the Father was making me lie down in green pastures… He was helping me simplify my life so I can spend more time with Him. As I’m striving for simplicity, I now see myself as trying to lay down in those green pastures. Maybe this year, God won’t have to “make” me. Rephrase that to… prayerfully, if I listen to what God is calling me to, He won’t have to make me lie down because I already am. In surrender. Ready for the rich and nutrient-filled grass that I can freely feast on when I’m in green pastures. And there it was… my “AHA!” moment. It came as these words flew from my fingertips because I was writing what the Lord was speaking to my soul… an invitation to come away, feast on Him, and know Him more deeply. Not overrun or overruled by my busyness. Rather, an invitation for me to lie down and rest. It is so simple. He makes me lie down in green pastures. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For more studies like this one, check out GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Luke 10:25-37 Luke 10:38-42 Psalm 46:10-11 Mark 6:30-32 “Being a mama is your most important job right now. It is your great calling and it is a wonderful calling with amazing rewards. It is alright to let other things go and focus on your little girls, it really is.” With everything in me, I wanted to protest that I knew that and I was able to do that while serving at the same time. But I couldn’t even protest, because I knew it was true. I am walking in a season of saying “no” and of letting go. This is a hard season. I’ve let go of potential job opportunities, I’ve said no to other opportunities. I’ve let go of ministries I’ve served in, and said no to serving in other capacities. For a woman who loves to say “yes” and loves to go, go, go, this season is a hard one. So, when an older, wiser mama spoke those words to me, I allowed them to wash over me and settle on my soul, and I cleared another day on my schedule. As I reread the parable of the Good Samaritan for what felt like the umpteenth time, I was stricken with a resemblance between my life and the lives of two of the characters… and not the ones I would want to resemble either. Have I been like the Priest and the Levite who were so busy traveling that they couldn’t even stop to help the beaten, dying man on the side of the road? They saw that he was physically broken, and yet they completely avoided him because they were too busy. They missed out. And so did the man. My entire life has been filled with event after appointment after assignment. I can’t help but wonder how many opportunities I’ve missed because of that full calendar. Was I too busy rushing from place to place that I missed a chance to love someone? In that same story, we read of one man, who may have been in a hurry himself, but wasn’t too busy to actually stop. This man, a Samaritan, an outcast from the elite “chosen people of God”, stopped in the middle of his travels, completely halted his plans, and loved a total stranger. Right after that parable, we read about Martha and Mary, two women who loved the Lord but showed their love in different ways. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home, scampering to and fro, preparing food for Jesus, making sure His water cup was full, attending to all of His needs and serving Him. Her sister, Mary, however, sat near to Jesus, listening intently to everything He had to say. She was so enthralled with Him, that she wouldn’t miss a moment. Unsurprisingly, Martha got rather annoyed with her sister, who wasn’t helping at all. It was almost as if Mary just expected Martha to serve her!Martha was working hard for Jesus! She was busy and tired from that busyness. So she asked Him if He cared that Mary left her to serve alone. I imagine Jesus answering her in the way men often answer women- we ask a man to fix our problem and he looks at us with amusement and gives us the obvious solution to our problem. Jesus’ answer seems so obvious we almost can’t accept it. Jesus looked at Martha, His eyes slightly bewildered, but full of compassion because He knew her so well. Then He said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary…” going on to tell her it was more important for Mary to sit and spend time with Him, learning and listening, than it was for Martha to serve Him. Let’s stop there for just a moment. Jesus said it was more important for Mary to spend time with Him than it was for Martha to serve Him. Sucker punch. So many times I allow myself to believe that I need a schedule jam-packed and full of serving in order to prove my love for the Lord. That isn’t what He asks. He asks for a schedule with space enough to love. Space enough to not miss out. Space enough for sitting with Him. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For more studies like this one, check out GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Exodus 3:1-12 1 Samuel 16:1-12 Luke 2:8-20 John 10:1-18 These are the real-life stories of four shepherds. The first was a man named Moses. He cared for his sheep while his wife cared for their children. The days of his own childhood would sometimes dance in his mind. Some days he would allow the memories to linger, and others he would quickly shoo away. He had been a prince of Egypt as a boy, after being adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, but now he was a shepherd, caring for sheep through pouring rain and sweltering days. The second was a boy named David. He was the youngest in his family, and quite a darling young man. He was fearless and strong and was learning to love the God of his people. David had defeated lions and bears, and he knew that if he relied on Yahweh, he could defeat anything. This third shepherd doesn’t have a name. While shepherding was often a lonely job, he had other shepherds for friends and companions. They didn’t notice each other’s stench or filth, and enjoyed the company after long hard days of herding sheep. They often risked their lives to save their livestock, and endured harsh weather to ensure no sheep would wander away from their herd. The fourth shepherd? We’ll talk about him more in just a moment. One day, Moses was caring for his father-in-law’s sheep. He led them to a mountain to graze, taking care to ensure each sheep was accounted for. There he saw a bush engulfed in flames, but it wasn’t actually burning. Moses moved nearer to the bush, his curiosity peaked at how such a phenomenon could occur. “Moses, Moses!” A deep, steady voice came from the bush. Moses responded, “Here I am”, while stopping in his tracks to see who was calling him by name. “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place which are standing is holy ground.” David was tending his father’s sheep, oblivious to anything else that was occurring. His people had begged the Lord for a king to lead them, and He had given them Saul, but Saul had become wicked and a new king needed to take his place. As Samuel grieved Saul’s hardened heart, God said, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel?” He then commanded Samuel to visit Jesse because one of his sons was to become the next king. Jesse was David’s father, but he had many sons who were grown, strong, and capable young men. David was just a boy. Samuel paused before each of these grown men, asking the Lord if which one was to become the next king. But the Lord instructed him to pass up each of them, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature…For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Our nameless shepherd was exhausted from a long day of herding his sheep, but his job was never done. Even in the still darkness of the night, he must still guard the sheep from thieving predators. He and the other shepherds occasionally talked for a moment before letting the quietness overtake their voices, listening for any sounds that might be out of place among the common bleating of sheep. Suddenly, a great light appeared and enveloped them! It was an angel! And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were speechless and terrified! The angel began, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people! For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” They were told to look for a baby lying in a manger and then, in an instant, the sky was filled with thousands of angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Now for that fourth Shepherd… This man wasn’t a traditional shepherd. It wasn’t His first career and He didn’t herd sheep. He shepherded people. Like Moses, He was adopted into a family different than His own and would fulfill His calling by saving millions of people from slavery. Like David, He seemed like the most unlikely of people; He was the son of a carpenter and born in a stable, surrounded by animals. He was not born into a royal family, but He was a great King, existing before time began! And like our Nameless Shepherd, He would protect and care for His sheep, guiding them away from death and rescuing them from the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. That fourth Shepherd… He is THE Shepherd. He is MY Shepherd. He gives me rest. He restores my soul. He lets me drink the Living Water. He walks with me when I go through deep valleys and in dark shadows. He disciplines me. He guides me. He is Jesus. Like shepherds of old, Jesus laid down His life for His sheep (that’s us, guys!). He knows us. He cares for us. The motif of a shepherd is incorporated throughout the entire Bible. It is another thread woven together that proves the Bible, and every truthful story in it, has a purpose, pointing to King Jesus. The Shepherd! The GOOD Shepherd! This Bible Study first appeared on GracefullyTruthful.com and is property of Gracefully Truthful. Check out their website for more studies like this one!
Read His Words Before Ours! Exodus 20:1-21 Matthew 19:16-24 James 1:22-25 When I was still pregnant with my twin daughters, they were given a book called, “The Jesus Storybook Bible”. (If you’ve never heard of this book, go order it right now! Or you can wait until you’re done reading… but seriously. You need this in your life. Not just for your kids… but for YOU. You’ll see why…) Anyways… This “children’s” Bible had beautiful illustrations with some of my favorite current color schemes bringing the truth of these Bible stories to life in a way I’d never seen before. The author wove God’s great redemption plan through every story. For the first time in my life, as I read these stories to my babies after they were born, I saw a connection between the Tower of Babel and Christ’s birth, or the Creation story and Jesus’ death, in a way I’d never seen it before. As I read this book aloud to my, often sleeping, babies, I found myself amazed. Some may call it hormones, or maybe it was the Holy Spirit, but I never cried over a book like I cried over this children’s Bible. So, I want to share with you one of the biggest things I learned while reading this book about God’s truths. Rules can’t save us. Guys, I knew this already. But I didn’t know it. I could have told you that “rules don’t save us”. I could’ve even told you that God gave us rules to protect us and show us that we really need Him. But I truly learned this one day while I was rocking my babes. In awe, I read and reread the last few sentences of the story of The Ten Commandments: “Only one Person could keep all the rules. And many years later God would send Him – to stand in their place and be perfect for them. Because the rules couldn’t save them. Only God could save them.” How many times have we gotten stuck thinking that we need to be perfect in order to be loved by God? How many times have we thought that following the Ten Commandments, or even the “rules” that have become tradition and standard in the modern Church, were the key to being given grace? Sisters… wearing dresses to church on a Sunday won’t save you. Praying before every meal won’t save you. Raising your hands during worship won’t save you. Listening to the Christian radio station won’t save you. Having a daily quiet time won’t save you. We’ve got to stop thinking that we need to follow those rules for God to keep extending His grace to us! Some of these are still great guidelines to follow to help us grow in our relationship with Him… but DOING will never equal GETTING when it comes to a grace-filled, saving relationship. Even further… following every single one of the Ten Commandments is utterly impossible for us because of sin. Go ahead, and take a look at the Laws and see how many you’ve broken. You aren’t alone, every human being falls into the category of “sinner” because we’ve all broken the Law of Holiness designed by God, who is Holy. We are doomed to Death because of our inability to perfectly fulfill the law! God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments for several reasons. Yes, He cared about their personal well-being and He didn’t want to see them hurt. He knew that they could greatly minimize the hurt in their lives by following these commandments. Just like we know that children are given rules to minimize the possibility of their getting hurt. And yes, He needed to bind His people with a common law, just like we are bound by the common laws and constitutions of our lands. But most of all… He needed to remind His children of their sinfulness. He knew that they would never be able to keep this law, and every single time they failed, they would be reminded of just how sinful they are, and just how perfect God is. James tells us that the law can be used as a mirror. Any time we start to think that we have it all together, we can just look in that mirror and realize that we have seven zits popping up, our roots are two inches long, and we haven’t plucked our eyebrows in a few weeks. We are so far from perfection. And there was only one Person who was ever able to follow every one of the Ten Commandments. Jesus. Once we choose to step into the grace that Jesus has extended to us, once we choose to fully embrace that grace, only then can the gap between “Us trying to follow The Law and miserably failing” and “The Law” be filled. Do you see it?! Do you see how the Gospel is literally woven through the Ten Commandments and every single law written after that? It is amazing and exciting! The Bible isn’t just a bunch of random stories placed together. Every single story has a purpose, and that is to point to Jesus and the redemption we can receive through Him! Hundreds of years before Jesus even walked this planet, God was weaving His plan of redemption from His heart straight to yours! This Bible Study was first published on GracefullyTruthful.com and is property of Gracefully Truthful. Check out the website for more studies like this one!
Read His Words Before Ours! Jonah 4 John 3:16-18 1 John 2:16-18 Matthew 20:1-16 “For God so loved the world…” The world. God loves the world. Not just the saints. Not just the Jews. Not just the believers. Not just the Christians. Not just the rule followers and law obey-ers. Not just the mamas who seem to have it all together. Not just the families that go to church every Sunday. Not just the women who can balance their whole lives perfectly. Not just the thankful. Not just the healthy. Not just the clean. God loves the WORLD. He loves the people overtaken with pride. He loves the Muslims. He loves the agnostics. He loves the rule breakers. He loves the mamas who get a little too angry a little too quickly. He loves the broken families. He loves the women who put on their lipstick while trying to drive a stick shift in traffic. He loves the dissatisfied. He loves the sick. He loves the dirty. God loves everyone. It doesn’t always seem fair that He has the same amount of love for the person who doesn’t even try to live a godly life as He does for those who are working daily to grow their relationship with Him. And as embarrassing as it is to admit, these thoughts cross my mind sometimes: “I’m such a better mom than her.” “I’m so much nicer than her.” “I give so much more than them.” “I present myself better than her.” “My house is so much cleaner than hers.” “My walk with God is a little shinier than hers.” I bet I’m not the only one that thinks these things… (Read: Please tell me I’m not the only one that thinks these things!) And even if I am today… I know I’m not the only one in history who has had similar thoughts. Pharisees. Adam. The Prodigal Son’s brother. James. John. The Rich Young Man in Mark and Luke. Saul. Joseph. Jacob. I mean, just to name a few. But one that stands out to me the most is this man we’re going to be talking about for a little while… Jonah. Jonah. The prophet infamously known for being swallowed by a giant fish because he refused to go where God called him to go. But, why did he refuse to go to Nineveh? He was a prophet of the Lord! Shouldn’t he WANT to go where God’s love was greatly needed? He thought the Ninevites didn’t deserve grace. They were too far gone. Too dirty. Too lost. Way too sinful. And this is where my breath catches and my eyes start to tingle with tears of guilt suddenly threatening to spill over. How many times have I been Jonah? How many times have I looked at someone and refused to show them love because I thought they were too far gone? They were too dirty, too lost, and way too sinful for me to even consider offering them the grace that God gives freely to ALL? Sisters, if my answer is even “just one time”, that’s one time too many. And, unfortunately, my answer is way more than one. My prejudice-ness, pride, judgment, and self-entitlement clouds my perception of others and their need for grace, while also radically fogging other’s viewpoint of God’s character of pursuit of His children. We all have our own ideas of what “too far gone” looks like. For Jonah, it was the Ninevites. For some, it might be murderers, child abusers, prostitutes, politicians, dictators. For me, sometimes it looks like another woman who is struggling to find her place in this world. And realizing that ugliness in me, breaks my heart. I can’t believe that I could ever limit the love that I show someone based on my perception of them. Until I remember how dirty and lost and sinful I am too. Jesus saved me, despite all of it, and in the sight of the Lord, I am absolutely no better than anyone else. Love can be so messy. It can be so dirty. But if Jesus can love the entire world… the abuser and the victim, the prostitute and the pimp, the dictator and the citizens, you and me… then surely I can love the people that can seem the hardest to love. Let us learn from the sad life of a man who would rather die than watch the Lord extend grace to people he deemed unworthy. Because we are all unworthy. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful where it was first published. For more studies like this one, visit GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Luke 1:46-55 Luke 1:67-79 Isaiah 9:6-7 Mary and Yosuf had be traveling for many days on their way to be counted in the official census as decreed by Caesar Augustus. The sun burned hot on Mary’s body, while she alternated walking and riding their donkey. She had been having contractions for several days now, and she could feel her baby settling lower and lower. “Please, Yahweh, keep Yeshua inside for just a few days longer,” she continually whispered under her breath. She and Yosuf laughed together and enjoyed their journey, she was afraid to mention that she felt the baby was going to be born soon, but he could tell without her saying. He saw her quietly grab her stomach and breathe slowly through contractions. Every time, he nudged their donkey to move a little faster. Anticipation. It filled the space between them and the silent moments of travel. Yosuf was anxious to hold the son Yahweh was giving to him. His heart leapt as he imagined teaching him carpentry and watching him learn many things. His thoughts lingered on how to care for Mary during birth and where they would stay when they arrived in Bethlehem. A small fear began to bubble up in Mary, as she imagined giving birth, but she would pray and peace would soothe that fear. She imagined nursing and snuggling her baby boy and she knew she already loved him. Mary quietly hummed the song she’d been singing throughout her pregnancy: My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, For He has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. Savior. Oh how they needed a Savior! They needed one to come and save them from persecution, to take on the government and reclaim the throne for the Jews. And here was Mary, about to give birth to the One that would do this! But Jesus was coming for so much more! He came to redeem the world as it was. A world that was stuck in following the laws of their forefathers. A world that was stuck in tradition, repetition, and mundane days. A world full of death, destruction, and disease. A world that believed that it all began and ended with being a Jew. Mary, Yosuf, Elizabeth, and Zechariah were the only ones who knew that Mary would be giving birth to the Messiah, the Savior of the World, but many were waiting in anticipation for the Messiah to come! Mary and Yosuf were anxious to see the Lord’s promises to them be fulfilled, they were curious about how the world would change once Yeshua was born, and they wondered what the future held for their son. The future… where Jesus would teach, heal, serve, and save. Where Jesus would ultimately die a horrific death on a cross, in order to redeem the world. The world as it was 2,000 years ago, and the world as it is today. Oh how we need a Savior! This world is stuck in trying to love better than our forefathers, without actually knowing the source of that love. This world is stuck in tradition, repetition, days that we try to fill with excitement by seeking worldly pleasures instead of the Lord. This world is full of death, disasters, destruction, and disease, that take place because of sin. WE NEED A SAVIOR. WE NEED A REDEEMER. But we need Him for so much more. We need Him so we can dwell with God as was His plan all along! We need Him to make all things right, restore the broken world, and deliver us from evil. The next day, Mary delivered Love into the world. And now, through love, Jesus has delivered us from the world. He came. He’s here now. And with the same anticipation Mary and Yosuf felt the day before he was born, We await His return. Jesus came. Jesus come! This study first appeared on GracefullyTruthful.com and is property of Gracefully Truthful. For more studies like this one, check out the website!
Read His Words Before Ours! Genesis 4:4-24 Revelation 21:1-8 Romans 8:18-25 Adam and Eve… They knew no guilt. They felt no shame. And because they were perfect, they got to walk and talk with the Lord in a perfectly, beautiful garden that He created just for them. They knew what it was to have a perfect relationship with God, there was nothing separating them, there was nothing between them. They were flawless. Their relationship was something extraordinary. Oh I long for that! And I should, because that’s how it was meant to be. We were created to be in community with God… Adam and Eve strolled through their home, enjoying the beauty of the flowers while they watched small creatures running through the woods. All was good. All was peaceful. They joyfully laughed as they played with the chipmunks, and stopped to eat some delicious fruit. The juice ran down their arms while they slowly ate the fruit, savoring each bite while thanksgiving spilled from their hearts. There was no over eating. No bickering. Adam didn’t wonder how he would provide for his family. Eve didn’t have to worry about finding a balance of eating healthy, being a good wife, and exercising. There were no bills. There was no chaos. There was no illness. There were no messes. But one day, God knew it would be the last. It would be the last time He could walk with His children the way He did. It would be the last time He wouldn’t have to watch His children suffer. Everything was about to change. God treasured these “lasts” with His precious creation. He lingered a little longer on their final walk through the garden. He savored their praise and worship without shame or guilt standing between them. Tomorrow would come and sin would enter the world. Tomorrow, God’s great redemption plan would begin. Tomorrow would start the countdown until God would walk the earth again, the next time as a human who would eventually die to cover the sin that was about to occur, and all other sin that would take place after the first. Tomorrow. But today, the eve of Tomorrow, God relished in the fact that all was good, all was perfect, all was as it was always supposed to be. While mountains of hurt, millions of deaths, and an abundance of sin would occur, He knew that… One day, all will be right again with no sin to stand in the way of our relationship with the Lord. We will walk with Him. We will talk with Him. He will see us, and because of redemption, grace, and Jesus, He will see perfection in us. We each have had our own Eve. The Eve of The Day We Found Jesus. The Eve of the day that sin will no longer separate us from the Lord. The Eve of the day that we recognize that we, like Adam and Eve, have sinned and that sin keeps us from a precious relationship with God. The Eve of the day that we choose to give our lives to Jesus, to allow Him to cover our sin. And thanks to Jesus, thanks to God’s great redemption plan, thanks to His never ending love for us, we are able to walk with Him and talk with Him, just as Adam and Eve did on the Eve of when sin entered the world. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For more studies like this one, check out GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Psalm 42 John 4:7-15 Psalm 84:1-7 I try so hard to keep my busyness at bay. I practice saying “No” to many things and try keep my projects to a minimum… but slowly the chaos has crept back in. This time it has disguised itself as buying a home, moving, never ending doctor appointments, and mostly, motherhood. And, for me, excuses always piggyback busyness. “Too tired.” “Too busy.” “Too much else to do.” “Too late.” And before I know it, I’m thirsty. Yes, thirsty. My throat is dry. My voice is raspy. The smallest flicker will light me ablaze. I’m panting. As the deer panteth for the water So my soul longeth after You With hot tears I remember why I am thirsty. It is so simple, and yet I make it seem so complicated. Like when I’m working on a project and need a drink of something cool and refreshing. I could stop at any point and go get a drink, but I don’t. I keep working while the thought of my parched mouth consumes me. How silly is that? The answer is literally steps away! My soul is spiritually parched and I need a cool, refreshing drink. The answer is simple and satisfying, just moments away, but I don’t solve my problem. You alone are my heart’s desire And I long to worship Thee I long for a drink. I long to be filled. I long to sit and worship my King. My heart’s desire truly is to sit and worship Him. To just be. To press pause on the busyness. To let go of the chaos. But my actions prove different priorities. You alone are my strength my shield To you alone may my spirit yield If He is my only source for my strength, no wonder I am weak. If He shields me from the things the world tries to throw at me, no wonder I’ve felt hit and bruised. And for Him my spirit now yields, my world slows, my busyness stops. You’re my friend and You are my brother Even though you are a King I love you more than any other So much more than anything My King. My Great, Almighty King who has the power to breathe life and is the Lord of all things, you are also my friend. My unchanging, never failing, friend. The friend who has the ability to grab my face, point it upwards, and say, “Child, you’ve got to slow your life down.” The friend who doesn’t demand my time, but longs for it. The friend who deserves all of my worship, but doesn’t stop loving me when I fail to give it. I know I love Him, but I don’t always show Him. “Lord, I love You. I love you so much more than anything.” I want you more than gold or silver Only You can satisfy You alone are the real joy giver And the apple of my eye I want Him more than I want a pretty home. I want Him more than I want my walls to be gray or my kids to eat food made from scratch (the things I typically busy myself with). Those things feel nice, it feels incredible to walk into a home that I love, but they can’t replace God. Hustle and bustle will never quench my thirst. Even quiet moments won’t satisfy if He isn’t part of them. God, and only God, gives joy. Sometimes He gives it through my sweet children, through peaceful mornings with my family, or when laughter fills our house. But the joy is there because of the Almighty. He is the giver of joy. He is the giver of love. He is the giver of living water. So, I sit, and allow myself to drink. Long, deep gulps of the living water. But while doing so, I am reminded that I need to be drinking daily, or I will find myself where I was just before – thirsty and faint. You alone are my heart’s desire And I long to worship Thee. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was also first published. For more studies like this one, visit GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 Matthew 5:2-12 Psalm 56:8-11 “Why do you want to go on this trip?” she asked over the phone, while I paced back and forth, my bare feet hitting the edge of the grass before returning to the cool cement. “Well, I feel like my life is pretty comfortable. And I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.” I responded with words I’ve heard dozens of times from other believers. Maybe you’ve found yourself in the same boat I found myself at times. You’re comfortable. You have got it made. You have a great home, you love your job, you attend church every single Sunday and spend time with your community group on the days in between. Sure, sometimes momming is hard, or you have a rough week at work. Money can be tight but it always works out. But really, life is great. It is smooth sailing. You’ve worked hard and now you’ve arrived. Your life has almost plateaued. It is almost… Stagnant. And, friend, stagnant is dangerous. Think about this: You have a vivacious niece who is five years old. She’s not in kindergarten yet, her mama makes all of her meals and she fills her days with playdates and pretend. She comes to you one day and says, “Auntie. I love being five. I’m going to be five forever. I don’t want to go to school. I don’t want to do anything else except be five!” “Well, sweet girl,” you say, “being five is fun! You get tucked into bed every night, you only have a few chores, you don’t have to go to work like mommy and daddy do. But there are so many fun things that come when you turn six! And every time you grow up a little more, even more special and exciting things get to happen! You will make so many new friends and visit so many new places. You might get married one day, you might become a teacher, you will do so many amazing and fun things that you can’t do if you stay five forever!” I feel like this is what the Lord says to us! “Oh child, I know it is amazing being right where you are. You have a beautiful home and a stable career. I love that you come to worship Me every week. But there are so many amazing things that will happen as you grow closer to Me.” God wants us to find our comfort in HIM instead of our belongings! He wants for us to learn that our comfort doesn’t come from how much money we have, our career, our health, our relationships with other people. Our comfort needs to come from Christ alone. Here’s the deal: sometimes God allows things to happen in our lives that are uncomfortable because He wants us to learn that HE is comfort. Sometimes we just need a little wake up call when our lives are so free and easy that we aren’t growing closer to Him anymore because we aren’t relying on Him! We are depending on things and praising God when our things don’t fail us. We need to depend on HIM and praise God because He never fails us! Our little wake up calls can come in the form of a health scare or a job loss. Or it can come in the form of a fellow sister in Christ who has walked in your shoes, struggled like you are, and can still testify of God’s pursuant love! He wants you to find comfort in Him so you can grow as trials come your way! He wants you to GROW and experience His fullness and all of the beautiful things that He has in store for you! Things you will never experience if you keep placing your comfort in everything and anything but our Father. Oh friend, we can be too comfortable. We can become stagnant. And stagnant is dangerous because it means there’s no growth. Do something today that makes you completely uncomfortable. Something that leaves you relying on God instead of your smartphone, your credit card, or your own ability. You may just discover a new level of comfort in the arms of your Savior! This Bible Study first appeared on Gracefully Truthful and is property to Gracefully Truthful. For further studies like this one, check out Gracefully Truthful!
Read His Words Before Ours! Galatians 1:11-24 Acts 9:1-19 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 I watched a movie the other night about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. It was a hard movie to watch, mainly because all I could think about was the evil that humans are capable of. We, humans, can do so much good, but we can cause so much pain and so much hurt. I began to question God, “How could there be so many people with so much hate in their heart? How do we ever stop this?” I thought of how cold and hard the hearts of terrorists must be and I began to get a little scared. But God quickly reminded me that He can change even the hardest of hearts. He loved Osama Bin Laden. Woah. Jesus died for Osama Bin Laden and he needed Jesus just as much as we need Jesus. The next day, I watched with the rest of America as a young American man came home after being detained in North Korea for over a year. I read comment after comment about how terrible Kim Jong-un is and the wretched conditions in North Korea. My heart grew increasingly heavy and I began to wonder, once again, what hope there could be in a man like Kim Jong-un ever coming to know the Lord. The Lord quietly spoke to me, “Remember, Kendra? I can soften the hardest of hearts.” And peace flooded into my spirit. It is so easy to doubt that the Lord really can change hard hearts. We imagine people with horrible and vile intentions, or those addicted to different substances for years upon years. I think of cruel dictators, terrorists, people in the human trafficking ring, and parents who abuse their children… but God can change the most broken people, and He has changed incredibly broken people. Paul was born as Saul and was a Jewish man, born in the large city of Tarsus, who studied the Old Testament profusely and cared deeply about upholding Jewish traditions. He was a Pharisee. He was an angry and bitter Pharisee. He hated that other Jews were choosing to follow Jesus, leaving behind treasured traditions, sacred scripture, and Jewish law. He hated that these Jews-turned-Christians were mingling with Gentiles (non-Jews) and were practicing idolatry with these new friends. It wasn’t right! It wasn’t fair! Saul had devoted himself to two things: his trade of tent-making, and his religion. These people were walking away from Jewish traditions for some “lowly man” whom they claimed God favored enough to raise from the dead?! Preposterous! The hatred Saul held in his heart for these traitors, led him to become one of the loudest voices in encouraging the persecution of the Christian Church. He spent his days traveling from town to town declaring that disobedient members of the synagogues should be disciplined through ostracism or flogging or imprisonment or death. It would take something huge to change his heart of stone. But something huge did happen. God called Saul, changed his name to Paul, and used other believers to minister to and disciple Paul. In Galatians 1:11-24, Paul quickly shares his testimony… he once was a man who persecuted Christians, but because of God’s great grace, Paul was now preaching to Christians. The Good News of Jesus Christ was so compelling that he was transformed from persecutor to preacher. Paul was transformed! See, God has transformed the hearts of people who are stuck in their religion and traditions. The gospel is transforming. It is powerful! The Good News that Jesus died to cover our sins, redeem us and now He LIVES, is POWERFUL! The gospel changes people. It melts the hardest of hearts and the coldest of souls. And if we have seen the gospel change Paul’s life, if we have seen how the Truth was so compelling, Paul HAD to share the Good News, shouldn’t we want to share, too? Shouldn’t we long for people to know the gospel so they can be transformed, just like Paul was… just as we have been? Pray with me. Pray for the people in your life who feel like they will never change. Pray for the people who shut you down every time you ask them to go to church with you, or who comment negatively on any social media post about Jesus. Pray with me for those who are so stuck in their religion and traditions that they refuse to believe that all they need is Jesus. And pray with me for the people who we often refuse to believe could ever change… dictators, political leaders, terrorists… the people a lot of us forget to pray for. We should never stop praying for people who don’t know Jesus because the Gospel is so compelling that we must pray and we must tell others about Jesus. Just as Paul did. Because the Gospel is so compelling, people will be changed and they will be saved! Just as Paul was. This Bible Study is property to Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For more studies like this one, check out GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Exodus 12:21-28 Matthew 26:17-29 Ephesians 5:25-33 Matthew 25:1-13 My mind tends to work like a puzzle. I hear a little bit of something over here, and I learn a little bit from over there, and I read something at the doctor’s office and suddenly… an “Aha!” moment has occurred and every piece fits into place. I typically don’t “get” things instantly. I distinctly remember sitting in a science class one day and it was as if everything I’d learned that semester was slowly being put together and all of a sudden, I could see the whole picture. That is exactly what happened four years ago, sitting on a balcony at a camp called Windermere. Everything I’ve always known about “The Lord’s Supper” and “Communion” and “Christ and the Church”… it all just CLICKED! Today, as I begin writing, I pray that the same revelation happens for you. I pray that you will be able to understand and comprehend this precious practice we call… Communion. What exactly is Communion? The first communion is often known as “The Last Supper”, when Jesus and His disciples were gathered together to celebrate the Passover right before His crucifixion. In this incredible moment, Old and New Testaments collided in one epic evening. First we go back, way back…to when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Through Moses, the Lord told the Israelites to sacrifice a perfect lamb and smear his blood on their door frame because the angel of death would soon “pass” “over” (hence, “passover”). Whoever was not covered by Lamb’s blood, their firstborn son would be dead by morning. This was the final plague that drove Pharaoh to release the Israelites into freedom. As a reminder of this freedom, “Passover” was to be celebrated every year. Fast-forward to the night before Christ’s death… and we find Jesus celebrating the Passover with His disciples. While they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it before telling His disciples, “Take, eat; this is my body.” He then took a cup and told the disciples to drink, “…for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” He was foretelling what was to come later that night. You see, Jesus became the sacrificial lamb that both Hebrews and Egyptians had to use to cover their doorframe to save their sons. As you read in Exodus, it wasn’t just any lamb the Israelites were called to use, it was a perfect and spotless, male lamb. Jesus is the perfect sacrificial lamb. His blood covers us, just as the lamb’s blood covered the door frame, and we don’t have to worry about spiritual death because of His victory over death! We celebrate and remember His sacrifice as a Church – His bride, by taking communion together. The bread is a symbol and representation of Jesus’ body. The wine (or grape juice), a symbol of His blood that was spilled. When we take Communion, it’s to remember the great sacrifice Jesus made to save us! So what do Communion and marriage have in common? This is the part that just gets to me. It is so incredibly amazing that the Lord put this much detail into His relationship with us and the relationship between a husband and wife! The literal definition of communion is: “the service of Christian worship at which bread and wine are consecrated and shared.” When we take the bread and drink the wine, and remember the great sacrifice of Jesus, we are remembering that because of Him, we are His bride. There is so much about this that we could study, but for now, I’m going to point you to a study Mike Bickle has done on how the Church is Christ’s bride, for more on this. The act of consummating our marriage (devoting ourselves to a holy relationship with our spouse), is a representation of taking communion (remembering and devoting ourselves to a relationship with Jesus). God created marriage as a physical example of what He wants His relationship with us to look like! Husbands are commanded to love their wives just as Christ loves the church! That is why our marriages are so incredibly sacred. Not only because we’ve taken a vow before God to choose love over our own feelings, but because marriage was designed to imitate the Lord’s great love for us. God would never leave us. He would never forsake us. He chooses to love us despite the fact that we often forget to spend time with Him. We put other things and people above Him, but He never stops loving us! The Old Testament beautifully points towards Jesus being our Bridegroom, our heart’s true soulmate. Song of Songs poetically describes the incredible love between a groom and his bride. In Hosea, God calls a man to marry an adulterous woman to visibly depict His boundless love for us as His own bride, even though we stray often from His love. Can only Christians take Communion? If someone doesn’t know Jesus, if they don’t know why they even need to be covered by His blood, then there is no point in taking communion because there is nothing sacred or special about it for that person. Paul even warns Christians about taking communion without actually stopping to think about why we are taking it. So, yes, only Christ followers are invited into communion. Author and pastor Francis Chan states that if we all just take a few moments before praying and think about who God is, His power and glory, then we can more reverently pray and approach His throne with a holy fear of the Lord. I believe this to be the same about communion. If we pause before communion to remember why we are taking it, then we can more reverently participate in this remembrance and celebration of the wonderful gift God has given us in His Son… the perfect, spotless Lamb. This Bible Study first appeared on Gracefully Truthful and is property of Gracefully Truthful. 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Read His Words Before Ours! Romans 3:23-28 Romans 10:9-10 Acts 4:12 Ephesians 1:7 Romans 5:1 What does Salvation mean? The very first thing I always think of when I hear “salvation”, is the scene from Guys and Dollswhen the Salvation Army band marches through the streets to “convert” people. It’s probably the image “salvation” has for many people: high-nosed, goody-goodies parading around trying to get people to hop on the bandwagon. Sometimes they try scaring the hell into people, or by making life with Jesus sound like having a genie in a bottle with never-ending wishes. “Just say The Sinner’s Prayer!”, they chant. But Salvation is SO. MUCH. MORE. To summarize the entire Bible: God created the earth and everything in it, declaring it perfect until sin. The horrible cancer of sin kept multiplying, infecting everything once it entered the world. What is sin exactly? The Ten Commandments are God’s standard of righteousness; anything deviating from that standard of perfection, is sin. Ever lied? That makes you a sinner. Ever lusted? Sinner. Ever stolen? Even a pen from work? Not a “mistaker”…a ”sinner”. Though there are ten, you only have to break one of them to be a complete sinner. But, here’s the amazing news! Jesus! Being fully God and fully human (more about that in another Journey!), Jesus was the only 100% sinless person to ever walk this earth. Ever. He lived out the perfect life for us because we can’t! Along with the Ten Commandments, we can look at Jesus’ life and see just how dirty we are. (Kinda’ like when you think your teeth are white, but then you hold up a piece of actual white paper next to them and you realize they are actually a lovely shade of brown.) We can never actually be with God because of our disease. His holiness cannot be stained with a drop of our sin. So here we are, looking nasty and sinful – like a face covered in oozing zits. In order to be with God, we need more than a facelift and some spa treatments, we need a transplant. Jesus gives us His own flawless face! We are still us underneath, but His righteousness is now ours and Sin is no longer our master. His righteousness cleans us from the inside out, so we, on the inside, actually start to look more and more like the face of Christ – perfect, and smooth and completely whitehead-free (we call that sanctification). Now, that’s a pretty interesting way to look at salvation. But it’s true! Salvation is Jesus, taking our nasty sins and saying, “Trade me your sins for my perfection so you can be with God.” That trade was made possible when Jesus – the perfect God-man – died on the cross (a sinner’s death). Salvation becomes our own when we recognize that we are indeed horrible, brown-teethed, acne-faced sinners who need Jesus. When we say yes to His exchange, we are given Salvation! Salvation is a one-and-done deliverance from sin and its eternal consequences, granting us access to a relationship with our Creator. Salvation happens at a single point, when we surrender our hearts to Christ, but its benefits reach into all eternity! What exactly is Justification? Justification is “the act of making someone right with God”. Remember how we are yucky, sin-filled people so full of gunk that we can’t actually be with God? That makes it literally, physically impossible for us to be with God unless we are made completely clean, which is impossible! No matter how many times you volunteer at the homeless shelter, how often you travel overseas on a mission trip, how many Bibles you hand out, how many church services you attend, how emotion-filled prayers you say, how passionately you raise your hands, how many children you adopt, how modest you dress, or even how many sermons you preach, you cannot be “justified” on your own before a Holy God! WE NEED JESUS. We need Jesus to make us “right with God.” Is there any other way to achieve Salvation and Justification? All of this leads to one very hard question: Is there any other way to be with God besides Jesus? Can we be justified by any other means? Don’t all “religious roads” lead to eternity with God? The Bible says no. The world is filled with many good people. I’ve watched just as many videos of humans saving puppies and helping little ladies cross the street as the next guy. But for all of the good humanity does, there will always be sin. We are infected with this disease and we simply do not have the ability to heal ourselves. We can never ever DO enough good to earn our way to heaven. “But how can a loving God send so many people to hell?” Guys, He isn’t sending anyone anywhere. We deserve to go to hell. Here’s the truth…. When we choose to sin, we choose separation from God. We Choose Hell. It’s God who chose to save us! He offers to rescue us! A loving God is SAVING His precious children from hell! But we can only be saved if we choose to be saved; if we accept the free gift of salvation and allow Jesus to justify us before the righteous God. Yes, hallelujah, Jesus is the ONLY WAY to be saved! Friends, some of you have already experienced redemption and claimed salvation and some of you haven’t. Some of you believe that Jesus is God’s Son, and you’ll tell people you go to church or are part of a small group. BUT you have never actually claimed the salvation that God is giving you. You have never admitted that you are a terrible sinner who NEEDS Jesus. If you are ready to admit that you need salvation, then tell Him! Tell God right now! If you still have some questions, please feel free to email us!We want to pray with you! This Bible Study first appeared on GracefullyTruthful.com and is property of Gracefully Truthful. For more studies like this one, check out the website!
Read His Words Before Ours! Psalm 27:1-14 Proverbs 3:5-6 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 There are moments distinctly marked because they shape and direct who you become. Then there are moments, hidden and minuscule, that they can almost be forgotten, but they create your path just as much as those grand moments. When I was a young teenager reading about millions of Chinese people who didn’t know Christ, a marker went up in my heart and my mind. It shifted the direction of my heart. Another defining moment was when I surrendered to the call to missions when I was 18. The revival was special, and I can still remember the sweet hymns of praise we sang that night, because the call is what defined me. The Lord’s tender voice told me that England wouldn’t be home forever. There was another marker, another shift of my heart. But the minuscule moments come quietly and sometimes they are longer than a moment. Sometimes they are several months or several years. Working as a parlor maid for four years never felt grand or special, but I can see now that it shaped me and helped me learn how to serve with an understanding of hospitality. Attending missionary school was supposed to be a grand moment, but it turned into months of little lessons before something grand happened. I wasn’t allowed to become a missionary in China. I can hear his voice still, “Miss Aylward, we have no doubt the Lord has called you to serve, but it wasn’t to China, you’ll never be able to learn the language.” That moment gave me determination, fanning the fire in my belly. I knew I was called to China. I am quite the sight right now, a young English woman traveling on a mule through Chinese mountains. If I had been told two years ago that this is where I would be, I would have guffawed. Yet, here I am. I should arrive in Yangchen in just a few hours, where I will meet Mrs. Lawson, the missionary I will study under. Together we will share the gospel with all who will listen in this small Chinese village. I’ve waited twelve years for this moment! Many times I knew what it must have felt like to be an Israelite waiting in the desert those 40 years. Or even how Sarah and Abraham felt, waiting on the Lord’s promise of abundant generations when they had no children of their own. I had the Lord’s promise. I had His calling. I had His great love and my small faith. That was all. In waiting, the Lord grew my patience. He knew I’d need it for this journey to China, as it has taken many more weeks than I’d planned. In waiting, the Lord grew my knowledge. While the China Inland Missionary Center told me I wasn’t good enough or a fast enough learner, God placed me as a parlor maid in a home with a marvelous library where I could read as many books as I wanted. In waiting, the Lord grew my patience. It hasn’t been easy, and many days I wondered if this day would ever come, or if the Lord even spoke to me at all. But here I am. I waited on the Lord. Jesus Himself waited nearly 30 years before His work began. He may have felt ready, but God knew others weren’t. I supposed while God was working on my heart, He was also working in the souls of the Chinese people I will meet soon. I think I see it! That must be the village up ahead! I wish I understood more of what that man was saying, but he must be showing me where Mrs. Lawson is. Just over that little hill? This is it. I am here! And this – this is another marker. A defining moment. My first glimpse of my new home! -- Gladys Aylward lived from 1902 to 1970. At the age of 18, she was called to be a missionary to a place she had been drawn to for years…China. However, Gladys didn’t move to China until she was around 30. She heard of Jennie Lawson, a missionary in her 70’s, and found a way to get there. Gladys spent months saving money for a train ticket from England to China and eventually reached hundreds of people for Jesus! She opened an inn with Mrs. Lawson, and together they shared the gospel in story-like form every night. These travelers would share the stories with their friends, which spread the gospel all around! One of Gladys’ most known legacies is walking across China with over one hundred orphans that she cared for while Japan invaded China and offered a reward for Gladys – dead or alive. After 27 days in treacherous conditions, Gladys and the children boarded one of the last trains to freedom. Upon arrival, she was incredibly ill and fell into a coma for several weeks. She eventually moved back to England for a few years, but knew that she was needed in China and served there for the last ten years of her life. Gladys’ life was marked with incredible faith and heroism, but it didn’t come suddenly. Don’t miss the first part of her life. The waiting part. Gladys waited twelve years before she coming to China! I can only imagine the frustration, antsiness, anticipation, and longing that occurred while she waited on the Lord. Waiting can be so difficult. Waiting for test results, waiting on a heart to change, waiting for answered prayers, waiting for the next payday, waiting on the end of an incredibly difficult season… waiting on the Lord. But take heart, dear sister, and press on. The Lord fulfilled His calling to Gladys, and we know from her life, and countless examples in the Bible, that His timing is perfect. She needed to be in China exactly when she was. She was there “for such a time as this”. And you are waiting where you are, “for such a time as this.” Let this season of waiting be a marker in your life by drawing closer to the Lord and letting Him grow you during this season. Curious about Gladys Aylward? click here. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. 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Read His Words Before Ours! Luke 21:1-4 Mark 12:41-44 Matthew 6:25-34 His name was Tony. He had a long gray beard and wore tattered clothes and a backpack. I can’t tell you the first time I met him, but I know that he became a part of our story when my mom asked him to meet her at McDonalds so she could buy him a meal. After that, his name became a common word in our house. “Tony this..” and “Tony that…” And then, Tony came to church with us. My dad brought Tony a tie and some clothes before we showed him to the bathroom of our tiny church to give him time to change and freshen up. The mixture of the Las Vegas heat, his thick beard, and wearing all of his belongings on his back made for a man with a distinct smell, and not necessarily a pleasant one. Tony walked into the bathroom and didn’t emerge for a long time. It may have been 15 minutes, but that is a long time for a little mind. When Tony opened that bathroom door, he still looked like himself, just a cleaner version that smelled a little nicer, too. But Tony was so proud. He walked taller, he held his head higher, and he was excited and honored to go to church with us. That day, Tony gave all that he could to the Lord. The only thing he could give was his appearance and his best effort to freshen up. He cleaned himself and clothed himself because he was going to meet with God, and he was going to bring God his very best. Tony reminds me of the widow in the 21st chapter of Luke. Imagine this… There, Jesus sat across from the offering box in the temple, His legs crossed before Him while He watched offerings being placed into the box. One woman came forward with a bag bulging and jingling as she walked. She looked around to see who was watching before dumping the contents of the bag into the box. Her eyes gleamed as she thought, “The Lord will be so proud of me for giving so much!” Another woman approached the box, not haughty as the one before her, although she also brought an offering that equaled quite a large sum. She was excited to give, and didn’t do so out of obligation or pride, but she gave knowing that she still had money left over to purchase food from the market for her family’s dinner that night. Then a third woman came, as Jesus continued to watch. She approached the offering box without a bag in her hand, but her fist clenched tightly. Jesus knew her, because He knows us all, and He knew that she was a widow, among the poorest of people. This woman had no husband to provide for her. She was vulnerable. She was alone. He continued to watch as she drew her arm up and dipped her hand into the box, silently releasing what she had held her in hand. Two copper coins. Combined, they didn’t even equal one penny. And that was it. That is all she gave. But she gave all she had. And Jesus saw. Jesus saw the widow’s heart. He saw her courage. He saw her trust and her faith. He saw her longing to bring her Lord a gift, even if that gift seemed like nothing in comparison to the others around her. The widow gave everything. Tony, he had nothing, yet he still found something to give, and when he did, he gave everything. Jesus sees the things we often don’t see. From the outside, it might not have appeared like Tony gave anything. He still wasn’t dressed in the nicest of clothes. His beard was still scraggly and there was still dirt under his fingernails. If I didn’t know Tony, I never would have seen his gift. But Jesus saw. Because He sees every little thing. Giving everything we have doesn’t always mean giving money. It did for the widow, but for Tony it was giving his absolute best to his appearance as he went to worship God. It means giving when it’s scary by laying down our pride and trusting that God is going to provide, He is going to care for us, He is going to see, and He is going to love us no matter what. Sometimes it means giving up your comfort and everything you’ve ever known to live on the mission field (Like this family!), and sometimes it means giving the last $20 in your bank account to someone even though you aren’t sure why, and sometimes it means giving a homeless man your nicest tie and a delicious meal, when you can’t even afford to take out your own family. Give boldly, friends. Give with faith, friends. Give with everything you have. And Jesus will see. This Bible Study first appeared on GracefullyTruthful.com and is property of Gracefully Truthful. For more studies like this, check out the website!
Read His Words Before Ours! Mark 10:13-16 James 1:27-2:9 Mark 9:36-37 The image of Jesus with children surrounding Him is pictured on the cover of children’s Bibles and displayed in Sunday School rooms all over the country. You’re probably imagining a specific version of this picture as you read. I am, too. Jesus is in His white gown with a red sash, a light brown beard and sandals drawn on His feet. One child sits on His lap while His other arm is spread wide, welcoming the other children around Him. This image has almost become a cliche. “Let the little children come to me…” I can imagine this scene so well, because I’ve been imagining it for over 20 years. But, listen with me to hear Jesus’ tone. Don’t read these words in the lofty “Jesus” voice we tend to give Him. Read it as if your kids are about to run on stage during church and when you go to grab them by their squirmy little arm, the pastor says, “No, no, no! Let them come up here. It’s no big deal!” Then reread it again. This time, read it like they’re about to run into their daddy’s office where he’s working and after you call out, “Kids, don’t go in there!” you hear, “Babe, it’s fine. They can come in!” Reread it for a third time, this time remembering how you felt as a child. Imagine running next door to say hello to your elderly neighbor. Your mama shouts, “Come home and stop bothering Mr. Al!” But Mr. Al responds with a hearty, “Let her come over! I have some lemon cookies to share!” See, when Jesus said, “Let the children come to me”, He wanted His disciples and the parents to know that He not only didn’t mind the children coming, He wanted them to come! He wanted them to hear Him and learn about His Father. He wanted them to climb up on His lap as He continued doing His Father’s work. He wanted to bless them with gifts and precious memories. These children were desperately wanted. All children are desperately wanted by our Jesus! But friends, not all children know just how wanted they are by the Savior. Maybe they know their parents want them, but they don’t know Jesus does. Or maybe they feel unwanted by so many, not realizing that Someone does want them to know Him and love Him and know they are loved by Him. These children are everywhere. They sit next to your daughter in class. They play on your son’s baseball team. They stand in front of you at the grocery store. They go to church with you. They walk miles to and from school every day in the heat of the African sun. They care for their younger siblings while their parents farm in fields. They ride on boats across treacherous waters to find safety. They are used to fight in wars. They are used for addictions and to cater to disgusting desires. They are sold and exploited. They are brought to America with their families. They are mutilated and married off to men as old as their fathers. They cover their entire bodies, and they wear nothing at all. They eat until their bellies can’t fit anymore, and they eat mud cakes to quiet their aching tummies. They sing songs loudly and learn chants, and they are sworn and scared into silence. They come from wealthy families, and they come from the poorest of the poor. These children live in America and they live in New Zealand and every country in between. These children are everywhere. And Jesus wants them. Jesus took the children before Him into His arms, and blessed them. He gave them favor and protection. He took them into His arms, those same arms that would be spread out on a cross with nails driven into them, and He held these precious children. Because He wanted them. Jesus wants you. But Jesus also wants you to want these children. He wants you to love them and serve them and bless them. The Bible says over and over again to love and care for the orphan and the widow… the weak, the poor, the vulnerable, and the lowest in the caste system. Start praying about what wanting these children means for you. It can mean deciding to work with children in foster care. It can mean sponsoring a child overseas. Maybe it means teaching Sunday School or even volunteering in your kids’ classrooms. It could mean a mission trip. It could even mean stepping outside of your political stance or your immediate emotions to give in capacities you never imagined giving. But I believe, with all of my heart, that Jesus wants us to look at the children in our lives and say, “Hey! It’s ok! Come over and sit with me. I want you.” And then teach them about the One who wants them more than He wanted His own life. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For more studies like this one, visit GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Luke 5:17-26 Matthew 9:2-8 Isaiah 35 This is a story about a man named Rick. Rick was born to a German immigrant daddy and a seventeen-year-old mama. Throughout his childhood, he captivated hearts with his white hair and darling glasses. His big brother was eleven months older and quite the trouble-maker. His sister directly below him, was a quiet spirit who didn’t speak until she was three. He had four other siblings besides those two, all younger than he. His dad was a painter by trade who had studied under incredible painters in Germany before coming to America. Because of his dad’s hard work, Rick and all four of his brothers, learned how to work with their hands. A few of them became great painters whose work can still be seen in famous hotels. One became an incredible chef. Several of them learned mechanics and would restore vintage cars. These five brothers found themselves in trouble throughout the years. There is no doubt the Emergency Room staff knew this family by name. Broken bones, allergic reactions, accidents, blood, and guts… you name it and Rick or one of his siblings had it. Near tragic incidents seemed to strike Rick’s family over and over again. But none became so tragic or visibly life-altering as the one when Rick was just 19. While working on his vintage truck, Rick headed out to pick up some parts at the auto store, just six blocks away. In an instant he found himself sprawled out on the road. He’d been in accidents before, but this one was different. For nine months, the hospital was his home, and when he finally left, he was permanently wheelchair bound. He was paralyzed. A quadriplegic. My Uncle Rick has been in a wheelchair my entire life. I grew up riding on its battery and helping him put a fork in his special device to eat. I grew up learning by listening to his instructions rather than watching his example. Many childhood memories revolve around my sweet uncle, who was a psychologist by the time I was born, and had his own practice with toys that I played with when I visited. For as long as I can remember, I longed for a miracle for him. In Sunday School, I learned about the miraculous wonders Jesus performed and I prayed, oh how hard I prayed, for a miracle for my uncle. My little heart couldn’t fathom the idea of never running or walking again. I could literally picture Uncle Rick getting out of his chair and walking. I had so much faith! And if my faith felt so great in my heart, imagine then how immense the faith was of these incredible friends in the Bible. You see, these friends had heard that Jesus was coming to town. He was a miracle-worker! They’d heard the stories of blind men seeing, lame men walking, and incredibly ill people becoming instantly well. These men longed for a miracle for their friend as much as I’ve longed for a miracle for my Uncle Rick. They had seen their friend’s bed sores from laying one position too long, helped care for him, and dress him. They’d watched him struggle to accomplish simple daily tasks. They wanted a miracle for him! So, with an almost tangible excitement, they heaved and hoed and lifted their friend onto his mat, carrying him to the house where Jesus was. Anticipation was high, but their faith was even higher. They knew that Jesus could heal their friend. They arrived at a house so full, that people were flooding out the doors and onto the street. Some were nearly crawling over others just to catch Jesus’s words. These friends had to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. So they did the only logical thing they could do… they climbed to the roof. (Ok, I’m not sure how logical it actually was… but hey! They got the job done!) Because once they reached the roof, and “logically” tore it apart, they lowered their friend down. Because that totally makes sense. But I want to pause here for just a second. I’m joking about these men using logic… but the truth is, when our faith is so radical that we believe the impossible is 100% possible, there isn’t really room for logic! Jesus never operated out of logic and these friends weren’t either. They were operating out of faith. Unpause. *ahem* Play. These men slowly lowered their friend through the roof, catching the attention of everyone in the house, and one very irritated homeowner. And there he landed, right before Jesus’s feet. Jesus wasn’t surprised. He knew these friends were coming. He knew they wouldn’t be able to get in to see Him. He knew they would need to display their faith in some crazy, unconventional way. Jesus forgave this man for his sins, healing his heart, and then healing his body by commanding him to get up and walk. This paralyzed man, who’d been made whole, had the faith to actually stand up and walk. This man’s healing, both spiritual and physical, was the result of outrageous, radical, faith that wasn’t defined by borders and edges of “realistic”. Here’s the thing, there was something that my little mind didn’t understand when I was praying for a miracle for my uncle… I didn’t understand that the miracle had already happened. It happened when he decided to give his life to Christ. Even further, it happened 2,000 years ago, when Jesus died on a cross, covering my sins, your sins, and the sins of my Uncle Rick. Because of an outrageous, radical act of love, and my uncle’s own act of outrageous, radical faith, He had received his great miracle. He was forgiven. Sometimes, miracles happen in ways we would never expect. They happen when we step beyond our borders and into an incredible faith. This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful, where it was first published. For more studies like this one, check out GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Luke 23:32-49 Matthew 27:45-50 Psalm 31:5 How do I even begin talking about the death of Jesus? If we only focus on the joy of His resurrection, we miss the pain Jesus endured and the magnitude of His suffering. We have to talk about His death, we have to talk about His final words, because, if we just try to wrap our minds around everything that Jesus went through in His final hours, only then will we be able to try to comprehend how mighty and vast His love is for us. When we begin to understand His love, we can then understand the Gospel. “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” Father Jesus has referred to God the Father throughout His entire life. The only story we have of Jesus during His youth, He says, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Later, He instructed His disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven.” Jesus made it clear who His Father is. In this very moment, when Jesus is in more pain than you and I could ever imagine, when He literally has to use every ounce of energy just to breathe, He calls out to His Father. His Daddy. I have an amazing relationship with my earthly daddy. He has demonstrated the love God has for me my entire life. The only way I can even begin to try and understand Jesus calling out to His daddy is by remembering a time when I called out to mine. I’m sure there were many times I called for him when I fell down or stubbed my toe as a little girl. However, when I was 17, I found myself in a pain that was deeper than I’d ever experienced before or since. I was wounded and hurt with battle marks that covered my heart. I sat on my parents’ bed and they watched me crumble as the hurt and burden became more than I could bear alone. And there, my daddy saw my pain, he heard my hurt, and he held me. When I imagine Jesus’ relationship with His Daddy, I can hear the desperation and the hurt in His voice when He calls out, “Father”. Even further, just moments before, Jesus called out, “My God, My God! Why have You forsaken me?” God had to separate Himself from Jesus because Jesus carried sin’s consequences for the entire world on His shoulders and God literally cannot be a part of sin. Yet, Jesus still called out to His Father. Into The definition of “into” is “expressing movement or action with the result that something or someone becomes enclosed or surrounded by something else.” His life was ending, He knew just as He had taught and lived, that the only safe place for an eternal soul is when we are not claiming our life for ourselves, but rather entrusting it to the Author of Life. Out of His control, and into the Eternal Keeper’s. Your God. Elohim. The beginning and the end. The Author of Life, the One with whom Jesus and the Holy Spirit shared the godhead. The Father, with Whom Jesus shared community and oneness, but had now been severed. Hands God’s hands. His great and mighty hands. The hands I pictured as a little girl when I blissfully sang, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” Now, I picture hands that are worn with age and hard work, but hands that are gentle and can mold the most delicate piece of art. Wise hands. Hands that have been intricately weaving His redemptive love into the cloth of history. I Jesus. The Son of God and a young man who grew up with an earthly mama and daddy who passionately loved Him. A young man who had never felt shame, guilt, or the weight of sin until this moment. Almighty Jesus. Commit “To pledge or bind”. In His last moments, Jesus handed over His life in full commitment to the Father, not for the first time, but as a continuation of what He had already pledged from the beginning. My His. Jesus’s. Just as He calls us to surrender of ourselves, giving our all to Christ, so led us by His example. Giving up His own will, His own volition, to save us. Spirit In this sense of the word, it means Jesus’ physical spirit, His breath. He set aside His rights as God to be wrapped in human flesh, and now, as His body dies, He relinquishes Himself fully, knowing that there is much, much more than physical life. Jesus, covered in so many wounds and drenched in so much blood that He doesn’t even look human, is hanging on the cross grasping for each breath. As He breathes in, He lifts His head and with everything in Him, just loud enough for those around Him to hear, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” In this moment that seemed the most hopeless, Jesus speaks hope. He is binding His spirit to His Father, trusting His spirit to be surrounded by the mighty hands of God by doing what He has done His entire life: quoting scripture. That’s right, even in this moment, Jesus is quoting a Psalm. Psalm 31:5 “Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” In these last moments, Jesus is speaking truth. Jesus is reminding us that His Father is faithful. He is a redeemer! And in this moment, as Jesus draws His final breath…. WE. ARE. REDEEMED. Jesus is DECLARING THE GOSPEL even in His last few heartbeats. Without His death, there is no Gospel. Without His redemption, there is no Gospel. Without His love, there is no Gospel. Without His victory, there is no Gospel. These last words before His death, remind us of the redemption coming, displaying His love, and pointing to His victory. “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” This Bible Study first appeared on GracefullyTruthful.com and is property of Gracefully Truthful. For more studies like this one, check out the website!
Read His Words Before Ours! John 21:1-14 Romans 12:1-2 Colossians 3:23-24 “I am here to work hard for His Kingdom,” she said, as sunbeams seeped through the porch roof and onto her face. I stopped and let her simple, yet powerful, words resonate in my soul. I looked around at my surroundings, the simple church with the tin roof sat in the distance, and mountains surrounded the little house we were staying in. I could hear the cooks speaking in their mother tongue through the screen door and the smell of the cooking cabbage wafted out towards us. “I am here to work hard for His Kingdom.” I thought of the many times that I haven’t worked hard for his Kingdom, times I only gave 50% and only tried enough to make me look good. Here was a woman, just recently married, who had given up everything in the United States to move to Kenya with her husband. They came with one broad goal: to teach Africans about Jesus. And they committed to doing so, even when it was incredibly hard. I watched her fight through sickness and exhaustion to bring the Good News to anyone she could. She and her husband had been given the gift of teaching, so they taught. One day, we loaded up in an old Range Rover to venture on a journey that was over an hour away. We drove up a steep mountain, through some rough terrain, and picked up a few women who were carrying water to their homes before stopping at a hut to let me out to meet a family that I was told to visit with and pray for. She and her husband continued on the road to a little church where over 30 women were waiting for them. When my visit ended, two hours later, I was taken to the church, where I watched her teach these women about Jesus. The women listened intently, several shushing and rocking babies as they learned. She spoke first, then the translator would speak, and this lasted for over four hours. Yet, she didn’t stop. I truly believe that if this woman’s feet started bleeding while she spoke, she would continue to speak and share Jesus’ love. She would work hard for His Kingdom, even when it was incredibly difficult. I would venture to say that standing in front of those thirty women for over six hours, wasn’t necessarily fun. Her voice was probably tired by the time she got done speaking, and her legs were probably sore from hours of standing and pacing the stage. But the Lord had given her the gift of teaching. And so she taught. Even when it wasn’t fun. Even when it was incredibly difficult. I don’t remember if there were any women who came to know the Lord when she was done. But I am sure that there have been times that she hasn’t gotten to see immediate results from her hard work. But she has always persisted. Even when she could’ve been discouraged. Jesus called her to it. And He will carry her through it. In John 21:11, we read about Jesus providing fish for his disciples after they spent the entire night trying to catch fish. Imagine this: You are exhausted. You just stayed up the entire night casting out a net and pulling it back in, just trying to catch some fish. Your arms ache from the constant motion of throwing and pulling the net through the water. Your eyes are starting to feel a bit sandy and dry while they fight the soreness that comes with being open for too long. The sun begins to rise in the distance, and you can see the steam coming off the lake, while the sun reflects onto the waters. The sight is beautiful and seems to give you just enough energy to start heading towards shore. When, suddenly, you see a man in the distance waving his arms and yelling, “Did you catch anything?” A slight frustration sets in, as you look around at your very empty boat, and your stomach rumbles a reply before you can. You muster up enough energy to yell back, “No!” He waves and yells back, “Throw the nets on the right side of the boat! You’ll find some!” You look at your friends, with a slight look of exasperation, but figure that you might as well try. With a heave and a ho, you toss the net to the right of the boat and begin to pull it back in, simply to prove to this man that his idea is pretty worthless. But to your surprise, the net doesn’t just pull back in! It is heavy with fish! You and all of your friends run to the edge of the boat and begin bringing in the net full of fish, pulling with all of your might. The exhaustion is gone and adrenaline has set in. It is in that very moment you realize… that man on the shore… that’s Jesus! Sometimes we don’t work hard for His Kingdom. Sometimes, we only give 50%. We know we are called to do something, and we begin trying hard, but we get tired and weary. Our eyes begin to feel a little dry and we start to lose focus. But I am here to tell you… if Jesus calls you to something, He will give you the strength to pull you through! Jesus called His disciples to cast their nets onto the other side. And when they did, He gave them and their nets the strength to pull all the way through. Working hard for His Kingdom by living out the gifts He has given us, isn’t always going to be easy or fun. Sometimes, we aren’t even going to feel passionate about it. But we are called to work hard for Him… no matter how we feel, no matter the results we are or are not seeing, no matter the discouragement. If we do that, He WILL give us the strength to pull through and complete the task he has given us. This Bible Study first appeared on Gracefully Truthful and is property to Gracefully Truthful. For more studies like this one, check out the website!
Read His Words Before Ours! 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Romans 12:3-8 Ephesians 4:11-16 Three years ago, I got snowed in…in Texas. That’s right. Snowed in. In Texas. Part of the reason I was snowed in was because Texas just doesn’t know how to handle snow, so the runways at the airport weren’t prepped for the icy snow. Plus, there weren’t enough snow plows to cover the entire city. So, after spending an amazing few days with one of my dearest friends, we headed to the airport in Dallas, and there I was stuck. After a couple of hours of frantic phone calls, many texts, and a Facebook post, I was connected with a friend’s parents, who welcomed me into their home to stay as long as I needed. From the moment I met Melanie and Craig, I was amazed at the joy that exuded from both of them. Have you ever had that moment where you look at someone and you just know that they must love Jesus because they really look a lot like Him? That is how I would describe this incredible couple. They took me out to lunch with their youngest daughter, paid for my meal, and before we went to their home, they stopped at Target and asked me if I needed anything… anything at all. I didn’t. But they asked. Generosity was an extension of their daily lives. One day turned into two which turned into three, and every single day I found myself more enamored with this family. They opened their kitchen to me, bought my meals when we went out, and continuously asked if I had everything I needed. We spent evenings around their table playing games or on the couch snuggled in blankets, and spent our days visiting and touring a very cold and snowy Dallas. Hospitality seemed to come naturally for them. On the fourth day, Melanie and Craig drove me to the airport, where they prayed over me and, once again, asked if I had everything I needed. Craig pulled out his wallet and tried to give me some money. It was in that moment that I realized that they not only had welcomed me into their home, they had cared for me as if I were their own daughter. Action quickly followed their faith. Melanie and Craig ministered to my heart in a way that I had never experienced. I had spent my life surrounded by people with a gift in ministering to others, but I have never known it in the way I did that week. As we’re journeying into Repurposed, we are discovering the beauty that comes from Christ’s vision of the body of Christ working together as one body, each of us using our gifts to impact the Kingdom and bring glory and honor to Him. Each of us possess different gifts because if we all had the same purpose, other areas would be lacking. Speaking specifically to those called to minister to others by showing hospitality, giving generously, proving their faith with actions, and extending mercy and compassion to others… Your spiritual gifts are important. They are needed. What makes these gifts so incredible is that they are needed by both the body of Christ, and people who still need Jesus. When the word “minister” is used as a verb, it means: “to attend to the needs of someone”. Spiritual needs, physical needs, emotional needs… people with these giftings are able to meet so many of these needs. Sometimes, those of us who have spiritual giftings that allow us to minister to others, we can feel small, or like our gifts aren’t as noticed because we only impact one person or a smaller group of people at a time. The Lord wants to snuff out those thoughts completely! As you read before beginning (and if you didn’t, pause and go back to read the references at the top!) “…the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable…” Indispensable! And while you may not feel like your role in the body is “weak”, you may feel like it is “small” or perhaps “unnoticed” or even “unnecessary”. But you… you are in INDISPENSABLE. You are NEEDED. You are an important part of the body of Christ. Go, and continue using your incredible giftings to bring glory and honor to His KINGDOM! Let your gifts be repurposed for *much* in His Kingdom! This Bible Study is property of Gracefully Truthful where it was first published. For more studies like this one, check out GracefullyTruthful.com!
Read His Words Before Ours! Matthew 22:36-40 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Romans 12:1-2 Psalm 51:1-13 Five years ago I heard a statement for the first time that completely revolutionized the way I thought of my faith. “God told us to do two things. Love Him and love others. If we are doing those two things, then we are living in His will.” Sometimes I hear something that just sticks with me. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get that phrase out of my head, which leaves me pondering and wondering for days, sometimes weeks, what it actually means. Everything in me wanted to find something completely wrong with the statement I had heard. But like dominoes, the revelation of the truth behind those words kept falling. If we love God with everything in us, then we will want to spend time reading His love story to us. If we love God with all that we have, then we will want to spend time in prayer, talking with Him and listening to Him, because people spend time with those they love. If we love God passionately and boldly, then we will fall more in love with who He is, and the more we love Him, the more we won’t be able to hold that love inside. If we love God, then we will want to serve Him and we will want to do that by doing what His word tells us to do… loving others. If we love God, then we will begin to look more and more like Him, because we always begin to resemble the people we spend the most time with. I mean, clearly I could go on all day. If we really are living out and doing exactly what Jesus tells us are the two most important commandments, then everything else He tells us to do will fall into place… because, by living out these commandments, we are allowing transformation. When our minds are transformed, then our actions will follow suit. We are told to “Love God and love your neighbor”, or “Love God and love others”. But what exactly is Love? Love is patient. It is kind. It doesn’t envy or boast. It isn’t arrogant and it isn’t rude or self seeking and it isn’t irritable or resentful. Ladies. I suck at love. But, if we are called to love God and others, that means practicing what love is every single day. That won’t happen just by actions. I’m not going to wake up one day and all of a sudden never have an impatient bone in my body again. I’m human! You’re human. We are probably going to forget to show love in the next ten seconds. But, the more we spend time with God in prayer and His word, the more we will become like Him. Love, by definition, changes us. It’s simply the nature of love. By spending intentional time with Love Himself, everything about us will be remade, starting with our hearts and minds, which overflows into our actions. So maybe in ten seconds I’ll forget to show some love, but in ten days, I’ll do a little bit better. I won’t snap so quickly. And in ten years, I pray my mind has transformed even more, where maybe some days, I don’t snap at all. I’m confident that Love will continue to remake me, not because of my effort, but because I’m submitting to the law of Love Himself. Love God, Love others, and Jesus will remake me in the process! My dad always says, “If you are what you were, then you’re not.” Meaning, if we are today, who we were when we first chose to give our lives to Christ, then maybe, just maybe, we aren’t actually living for Him. Maybe we don’t actually love Him with everything we have. Maybe we aren’t allowing Him to renew our minds and make us more like Him! For some reason, the entire time I typed this, the old song, “Sanctuary” played in my head. A sanctuary is a place of refuge and safety, which is what I believe we become when we are people who passionately love God and love others. Let’s keep falling more and more in love with the King, and as a result, I know we will continue to be remade as He shapes us to look more like His own love. Oh Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary Pure and holy, tried and true With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living Sanctuary for You This Bible Study first appeared on GracefullyTruthful.com and is property to Gracefully Truthful. Check out the website for more studies like this one!
Read His Words Before Ours! Romans 4:13-25 Romans 5:15-21 Romans 7:13-25 I slowly lifted the teacup to my lips and breathed in the cooling peppermint before sipping the tea. She sat across from me at the table with her own peppermint tea steaming in front of her. Her dusty blue shawl wrapped around her shoulders to keep away the cool air slipping in from the window behind us. And I waited. Surely she would begin again soon. After another sip of her tea, she took a deep breath and began. “Many months passed for the beautiful woman with the brown hair. As time went on, she heard the Voice speaking to her, and each time, it was a little louder and little more clear. The Voice told her she was loved and adored, and made for greatness. As she grew familiar with the Voice, she became more and more aware of the emptiness that lingered inside. The light she had seen glowed brighter. Her routine became standing on the shore, watching the light grow nearer, while listening to the comforting Voice. Sometimes she spoke back, but most of the time, she just listened. “The light continued to grow closer, until one day, a little boat appeared. On that boat was a man, and with him, a woman holding a lantern. They invited the brunette woman to come with them, for they wanted to take her to another Kingdom. ‘But, this is home. This is all I’ve ever known. I’m comfortable here. I’m loved here.’ ‘But you are empty, aren’t you? We are inviting you, as ambassadors for the Voice, to come away and be filled! The Voice is the Maker, the creator of everything. He created us and He created you. He loves you and doesn’t want you to feel empty anymore. Come with us, please. We will take you to Kingdom of Light.’ “The woman on the boat held out her hand to the brunette woman who took it, and stepped into the boat. She sat, as the man grabbed the oars and began to row. The small waves caused the boat to rise and fall as they began to float away. And the beautiful, brown-haired woman didn’t look back once. She was going to be filled. She was going to the Kingdom of Light. “As the Kingdom of Light came into sight, the woman could see hundreds of people gathered on the beach. Some waved white flags while some danced and jumped up and down. The stillness of the sea was overtaken by the sound of trumpets, cheers, and song. It wasn’t until she stepped out of the boat that she realized this great commotion was for her! “Over all of the shouts, and above all of the music she heard Him yet again, the Voice. ‘I love you, my daughter. I am so pleased with you. Have hope. Have faith. Believe, and be set free.’ “‘Oh, I believe!’ She cried. ‘I believe! Make me new, make me clean, fill me until I cannot be filled anymore!’ “Just then, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Light approached her, He was Life. He gave life. He gave hope. He was the Voice.” With that, she stopped, the lady’s gaze catching mine. “Well, my child? What do you think?” She asked. My eyes told what my lips did not, and she knew I was confused. “Oh dear, can you not see that the Kingdom of Light is where you stand now? You, love, were once a citizen of the Kingdom of Sin. You spent your days trying to become someone, trying to fill yourself up, but never finding satisfaction. And when you chose hope and faith, you chose to become a citizen of the Kingdom of Light. That beautiful brown-haired woman is you.” -- Once again, this story isn’t true but simply metaphorical. Just as the Kingdom of Death resulted because of Adam, the Kingdom of Light resulted because of Christ, the Ruler of Life. The curse of Adam caused death, while the gift of Christ brought life! As you read the other day, the law was given so we would know sin. Anytime we fall short of the law, we sin. As people sin more and more, the beauty is truly revealed in God’s grace, as it abounds more and more. There is no room for legalism in this Kingdom. While many are unaware when their citizenship lies with the Kingdom of Death, those who call the Kingdom of Light home, know it full-well, as they made the decision to call it home. The uniqueness of the Kingdom of Light is that the law hasn’t vanished. There is still law. But first there is faith. We read in Romans 4 that Abraham was accepted by God, first because he had faith, and through that he followed the law. Faith in the Ruler of Life is what brings the light, but because of that faith, citizens of this Kingdom long to follow the law. They still fall short, but faith in the Ruler fills those gaps. He accepts us first because of our faith, and through that, we learn to follow the law. Religion is not something that members of this Kingdom follow to become filled. They don’t need to climb a certain number of steps and bow a certain number of times. There is freedom in that they can worship the Ruler with faith, knowing that they will be filled! The Kingdom of Light is a Kingdom of freedom. Maybe you’re learning that while you call the Kingdom of Light home, you still get stuck in the habits of your old home. You find yourself tracking the number of times you go to church, or you turn to money or sensuality to fill you, instead of Christ. Remember that with this new citizenship comes change. You will no longer be the same person, the old is gone! Do not allow yourself to fall into old habits and old beliefs. You are a new creation. You are a citizen of the Kingdom of Light. This Bible Study first appeared on Gracefully Truthful and is property of Gracefully Truthful. For more studies like this one, check out the website!
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Kendra LeeAnneFrom Bible studies to blogs, articles to musings of the heart, Kendra's writings are unbarred and raw - exactly how she speaks. 
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