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BIS Study Guide Ebook 2
BIS Study Guide Ebook 2
F A I T H
01
Act, and God will act. Saint Joan of Arc
The world has lost its sense of action, of doing. So many things are
done for us that we can easily forget that some things, especially in
regards to our faith, take hard work and perseverance.
This is what makes a life of faith all the more unique in this day and age.
Ask, seek, and knock are all verbs. Each requires us to be proactive
because a life of faith is a life of action. One cannot push a button to
have a relationship with God, nor can one simply hope that the
Kingdom gets built here on Earth. We must act, because God delights
in responding to us. God expects us to act because it is in being
proactive that we learn and it is based on our very actions that he can
respond to us. It is in seeking the answer to a prayer or being
persistent in following our hearts desires and callings where we can
learn more about loving God, ourselves, and others.
Take action in your faith today, and allow God to respond to you. But
be careful about all the asking . . . seeking and knocking require you to
stand up and go and live. And you and I both know we could all afford
to do a little more of that.
// What can you ask for right now in prayer: where is your heart's
desires, where do you feel called?
Faith
J O U R N A L
Faith
02
H O P E
02
There have been a few times that, quite memorably, I was so horribly
distressed by a situation that I was unable to say anything beyond the name of
Jesus. I remember being so terrified yet so utterly grateful that His name came
to my lips, as I truly believe His name alone is an extraordinarily powerful
prayer.
In the early days of the Church, the Apostles were flogged and ordered by the
Jewish authorities not to speak in the name of Jesus. Those same men left the
Sanhedrin, according to the Book of Acts 5:41, rejoicing that they were
counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Why were the authorities so
afraid of Jesuss name, and why did the Apostles rejoice?
Later in Acts 21, Saint Paul says he is willing to be imprisoned and to die for the
name.
Not even too long ago, twenty one men proclaimed, Ya Rabbi Yasou (My Lord
Jesus), before they were brutally slaughtered for their Christian faith.
Because, my friends. The name of Jesus is not just any name. It is THE NAME
above all names. As Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians:
Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is
above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (2:9-11)
That passage gives me chills. Every time. Because there is no name greater
than the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. His name causes demons to flee. His
name casts out all fear. His name heals all our infirmities. His name frees us
and sanctifies us and makes us holy. And, my sisters, His name saves.
Hope
J O U R N A L
Hope
03
L O V E
03
A widow walks behind the coffin of her only son, surrounded by her
community, weeping.
She is not alone, but she is lonely and deeply wounded. Who could know the
depths of her grief? Who could understand her sorrow and remove it?
A Man she has never met, His eyes full of love and brimming with tears,
touches the coffin. With one brief phrase He reverses death.
Would she run to her son first, or to the Man who raised him from the dead?
How marvelous a story Luke 7:11-17 tells in so few words, .
It strikes me that the writers of the Gospels revealed much by what they did
not say. In leaving room for the imagination, they encouragewhether
purposely or not, I do not knowour God-given capacity for empathy.
Luke's Gospel strikes a chord in my heart not only because I have a newborn
son, but because there are lessons here for each of us as women in all our
different stages of life.
Today, put yourself in the shoes of this woman, bereaved of both a husband
and an only son.
What have you lost? What or whom have you loved that has been taken from
you?
Remind yourself that, as Jesus looked upon her and was moved with pity, so
He will also look into your heart and be moved. Jesus is not a God of
transactions or legal exchanges, but of personal, rich, and entirely whole Love.
Relish and savor the rich, personal, entirely whole Love of Jesus todayfor you.
// What do you do when Jesus raises your son from the dead?
How is your heart moved?
Love
J O U R N A L
Love
04
M E R C Y
04
There Matthew sat in his sin. (Matthew 9:9-13)
Everyone knew tax collectors took more than they should, keeping the extra
for themselves. They were liars and thieves. They werent respected or trusted.
Perhaps as Matthew sat in his sin, he was inwardly crying out to God, begging
for a savior, hoping someone would restore his dignity.
We all have a sin or at least a temptation that, if we let it, can define us and
become the sum of who we are. Every other characteristic about us, all the
intricate details God added while He lovingly shaped us in the quiet, they can
all be wiped away by the word we allow to define us.
Bitter. Lazy. Mean. A gossip. Jealous. Afraid. Lustful. Prideful. Angry. Timid. Self-
centered. No self-control. Unreliable. We sit with these sins and we begin to
believe them. Maybe it starts out small but when we allow it, they will take over
until we reach the point where we doubt our own worth.
You are a daughter of God. You are His beloved. You are His creation. God
does not create, love, or redeem crap.
Right now, Christ is calling out to you, just as He did to Matthew. Just like
Matthew, you have nothing to lose but everything to gain. Get up and follow
Him.
// How has your past or your decisions shaped how you view
yourself?
Mercy
J O U R N A L
Mercy
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