woohoo!! Despite the polar vortex blasting truly stunningly cold winds and class-cancelling snow our way, we ARE progressing beautifully through our study year!! THANK you to everyone for your dedication to study as we continue to work our way through wonder-filled HolySpirit-driven musings and amazing HolySpirit-led discussions both in class and on the blog. Keep it up, ladies! Even busier times are coming as we all anticipate the approach of the perhaps warmer, hopefully less snowy weather of March with its ever fuller event schedules...and the meditative season of LENT! Can you believe it? So keep up the ever-strengthening disciplines of prayer and taking time out for long intimate conversations with God--and, best of all, keep up with the sharing!
Ok, so far our study has led us into deeper consideration (and hopefully better!) understanding of what is FEAR--and why we FEAR...then what is TRUST--and what it takes to truly walk confidently in it...to what is HOPE--and how and why it is life-giving, life-saving, life-sustaining...and finally, most recently wrapping up some truly amazing contemplation and discussion on the almost intangible indescribable HUGE concept of JOY--and how the nature of JOY is all about the experiential presence of the HolySpirit dwelling and working in our every moment within us. How awesome is our journey so far, yes?
As we progressed through our discussion these past weeks, we started noticing that the same word kept popping up--Truth (with a big "T"):
"...it's like a direct conduit to God--I hear Truth and it fills me with JOY"
"...through God's eyes, I can know the Truth about a situation... a person ...a circumstance"
"...this perspective will allow me to act without bias or fear--to act upon and react only to the Truth"
"...Truth allows me to have JOY no matter the circumstances"
And so we have decided to follow the HolySpirit promptings and dive into the concept of TRUTH for the next few weeks!
To jump start us, let's consider the very words of Pilate as he tried to find reason in the accused Jesus:
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him..." (John 18:36-38, NIV)
(Just for an interesting thought experiment--try to imagine the situation: How did Pilate speak those words? Did he snarl it under his breath in annoyance and impatience? or perhaps sneeringly toss the words out loud with scorn and derision as if to someone who couldn't possibly understand greater things? or maybe did he stop and suddenly stare at Jesus, and then speak the words with bewilderment and perhaps a touch of sadness, wondering if maybe, just maybe Jesus could actually give him THE answer...? lol, ok, ok, so working on that scene in Jesus Christ Superstar a few years ago really put some thought into my mind!)
So then...What IS Truth, ladies? And to make sure that we focus on Truth with the big "T", how about starting our journey with the Greek word aletheia, from which the word Truth is translated. It means: "in fact; certainly; reality". I LOVE the concept of Truth-with-the-big-"T" being REALITY. Always takes me aback and makes me wonder: am I seeing the "reality" of this situation/person/problem as man sees it? ...or am I seeing the REALITY of this person/situation/problem as GOD sees it? Let's keep this consideration as our viewpoint as we read through our Scripture verse choices this week!
So, here we go:
WEEK ONE HOMEWORK : (as always, pray before you start working--and keep an open line of communication with the HolySpirit as you consider your responses to God’s Word throughout your week. Please write down the following in your journal):
-Topic: What IS Truth?
-VERSE(S) that speak into the concept of REALITY/TRUTH for me
-Answer the following questions:
- Why did I choose the verse(s)?
- How and why might the HolySpirit be using the verse(s) to speak into my life right now (or might have in the past)?
We will keep in touch with everyone regarding weather-related cancelations, etc. Oh--and I will try to get a summary of this past week's discussion out as soon as I can! In the meantime--add your own thoughts from our discussions on JOY to a new POSTing or comment on the blog!!
love you all
maggie
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