Good morning ladies!

We’re embarking on a new chapter together, and I am SO excited about it!

If you’re just seeing this for the first time, today I’m starting a new feature on my website that will be a weekly Bible Study/Devotional. It’ll be at your own pace, and it’ll be similar in style to what I do at our retreats. In fact this first series will be based off of last years theme:

“Let us be Found Faithful”

It will start with a devotional part, then it’ll have a couple questions for you to pray over/answer in a journal, and it’ll end with a “creative application”. (That just means I’ll give you some ideas to journal creatively in a Journaling Bible or Art Journal) You could also use a Travelers Notebook, especially if you’ve been to one of our retreats and you have the TN I gave you. You can do as much or as little as you have time for.

So let’s get started!

God is faithful. 

Do you believe this statement to be true? 

This statement is one of the foundational truths of the Bible, and in this study we’re going to unpack the truth of this claim.  Some of you will have an easy time believing this to be true, and some of you may be struggling to believe it.  Wherever you are in your  journey of faith, I want you to know that it’s ok. God is faithful, even when we are faithless, and He is also patient and loving.

2 Peter 3:9 reminds us: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

My heart in this study is to point you to scripture, encourage you to look deep into what God’s Word says about faithfulness, and realize how understanding these truths can bring immense joy and peace into your life.  And, I know it will strengthen your faith in the process.

Most likely over the years you’ve heard many say “God is so faithful", and you may even believe it in your heart, but how do we know this to be true?  It’s not just a feeling, or something we blindly believe, so where in scripture can we learn about God’s faithfulness, unfolding throughout time, for all generations?  And, is He revealing this truth to this day? 

Let’s take a look at one of my favorite Bible verses:

“Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”  Hebrews 10:23-25  

These verses in Hebrews 10 have been the inspirational foundation for our retreats.  They are the WHY to my heart's desire to gather women together, in Jesus name. But let’s look back even farther at the heart of God… all the way back to the very beginning.

Let’s look at the One who keeps His promises.

From the beginning of time, and even beforehand (we’ll get to that later) we see the faithfulness of God through His covenants and through His gift of grace, through Jesus Christ.  We’re going to explore what is the object of our faith, our Promise Keeper, and how we can know that He IS faithful throughout all of humanity. In this study we’re going to look at why He is faithful, and what our responsibility to His faithfulness should be.

One of the biggest and most beautiful ways the Lord teaches us about His faithfulness is through His covenantal promises throughout Scripture. And maybe like me, you hadn’t studied this part of the Bible in-depth before, or realized how important it is to see God through this lens.  In our culture today we don’t hear much about “covenants” and our modern day world isn’t high on keeping promises (or contracts), but it’s so important to see how faithful our God is, even TODAY in your life and mine, and find strength and peace in knowing that He will never break His promises!

Next Monday we’re going to dig deeper and learn more about His covenants, and I believe in turn it will really help us see the BIG picture of our Good and Faithful God!

For this week I’d love for all of us to take some time to read the following Bible verses, and ask ourselves a couple questions.

Bible verses to read:

1. John 17:1-5

2. Ephesians 1:3-10

Questions to ponder:

1. Both sections of scripture talk about beforehand… “Jesus came to do what God gave Him to do” … “for He chose us in Him before the creation of the world.” Have you ever thought about your life in the scope of these verses? The magnitude of God’s sovereignty and grace in just these two sections is astounding! Write in a journal what that means to you.

2. We’re going to look specifically at each covenant in scripture next Monday, but take some time this week to journal your thoughts on how God is working all things together for good. (Romans 8:28) He is tying the past, present and future together, and that is amazing to contemplate.

Creative Application:

If you have a Journaling Bible, take some time to draw, paint or journal one of the verses we’ve talked about today. Maybe you want to write “Promise Keeper” in an art journal and write down your thoughts as you creatively work on this page. Or you love the verses in Hebrews 10 (like I do) and you feel like painting something to signify a gathering of believers together? Whatever you have time for or want to create is for your time alone. I always encourage everyone to pray before you start, have some Christian music on and see what comes out of this beautiful time worshiping the Lord with your hands!

Have a great Monday everyone.

Hugs to all,

Laura McCollough