What a playlist to start the day! First Mary’s world-renown Magnificat. Then Zecheriah’s prophecy. Both filled with wonder and awe of God’s faithfulness, mercy, grace, power, salvation, tenderness, Presence that is always with us. May we proclaim as Mary did, “Holy is his name.” May we be encouraged as we lean into the fact that God’s mercy is for us, that God “helps his servant”, “shows his strength” and “fills the hungry with good things” for he is FAITHFUL.

There’s more! But rather than try to list it all, here’s the link for today’s chat.

What a great start! We hope you have been encouraged as much as we have by even the very beginnings of Luke’s Gospel. Luke invites us to come alongside as he “compiles a narrative of the things that have been accomplished” that “have been declared” by “eye witnesses and ministers of the Word”, an “orderly account for Theopolis and for us.

He begins where the Old Testament ends – faithful servants of God (like elderly Zecheriah & Elizabeth as well young Mary) putting one foot in front of the other in faith and in hope based upon God’s promise. But rather than go into it all, here is a link to our chat:

What a terrific morning. It was such a pleasure getting together in-person and virtually. It’s safe to say that all of us were inspired by God’s hand in each of our lives. Thanks so much for sharing what God has been teaching you in these Covid days. We were inspired, encouraged and blown away by what was shared! Here are just a few so that we can linger in God’s goodness, faithfulness and love :)

God does/is:

But rather than go into it all, here’s a link to our chat:

“I am Yahweh your Elohim, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…” who declares, “you are precious to me, you are honored and I love you.” (Isaiah 43: 3a, 4a)

To wrap up our study, we look at Isaiah 55 then circle back one last time to Isaiah 43 where we linger in God’s declarations about himself as well as what He has to say about us. To hear the words, “you are loved, seen, known, precious, … ” are one thing; but to understand who says them makes them absolutely believable. Here’s what we outlined together in Isaiah 43:

But rather than go into it all here – we hope you will enjoy our wrap-up chat:

Also, here are a few things we outlined together in Isaiah 43:

Plus, this week’s playlist song: Highs & Lows (Hillsong Young & Free). Thanks so much for joining us for WHO you are, says WHO study. We hope it has blessed you as much as it has us!

XOXO

Behind our believing — behind our coming to Jesus — is grace alone. There is no ground for our being chosen beneath the all-wise and incomprehensible love of God. Oh, the vastness of the repercussions of this unfathomable truth!
– John Piper

Here’s the link from last week’s chat on being chosen according to God’s name Adonai, Lord & Master over all.

And from our Spotifiy playlist for this week:

Abba– Father denotes personal relationship at the most intimate level made all the more sweet by the fact that not only are we God’s as His creation, but also as His children, adopted into His family.

Adoption isn’t an accident. It is premeditated and proactive. It is a forethought with a plan. It costs. Adoption is the essence of being sought, of being wanted, of belonging, of chosen. It brings with it a new name.

“They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After…”  Isaiah 62:12

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children”. When we cry out to God as “Abba,” the Spirit of God somehow comes alongside us (“with our spirit”) and gives us assurance that we truly are in God’s family.

Tim Keller

But rather than go into it all, here’s the audio link from our chat:

And … for your listening pleasure from our Spotify playlist, No One But You (Hillsong Worship)

We are not alone.

According to God. In Matthew 28:20 Jesus tells us, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” In Hebrews 13:5 quotes the book of Joshua in God’s declaration of, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” In the book of Joshua (1:9), the LORD encourages him to be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” It’s a promise to us as well.

Max Lucado beautifully shares:

God wants to bring peace into the storms in our lives. He doesn’t want us living in fear or losing our hope. When the storm rages around us, we can find comfort knowing that we are not alone.  The God of Peace is in the boat with us. We are not alone. We are not facing the storm alone. He is with us and he is for us, if we will call on him.

Here’s a link to our very interesting chat led by Candy:

And this week’s song from our Who,Who Spotify playlist:

We can always use a blast of God’s declaration of “steadfast love” on us. And what a blast we got as we contemplated being loved as declared by Jehovah Jireh, our provider. Henry Nouwen said it well:

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, he heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). These words revealed the true identity of Jesus as the beloved. Jesus truly heard that voice, and all of his thoughts, words, and actions came forth from his deep knowledge that he was infinitely loved by God. Jesus lived his life from that inner place of love. Although human rejections, jealousies, resentments, and hatred did hurt him deeply, he remained anchored in the love of the Father.

As those words “beloved” are spoken over us, may we grow in knowledge and power that comes with it.

Here is a link to audio only:

What a delight to contemplate such a deep concept of Honored, especially as it (and all that God declares upon us) is in God’s sight.  Here’s the link to our discussion. We hope you are as encouraged as we have been, even this week lingering on God’s declaration upon us.

You only are a people holy to GOD, your God;
GOD chose you out of all the people on Earth
as his cherished personal treasure.
Deuteronomy 14:2 (MSG)

And the song for this week from our Spotify playlist:

Precious is an adjective meaning of high price or great value; very valuable or costly; highly esteemed for some spiritual, nonmaterial, or moral quality. Segullah, the Hebrew word translated as “treasured possession” refers to a royal treasure of gold and silver, but most of the time it is used in reference to God’s people. So beautiful. God determines our identity (“redeemed”) and declares our worth (“precious,” “treasured”).

First of all, you have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: ‘These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting belief.

― Henri J.M. Nouwen[

---

In Hebrew, shalom is translated as completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, perfect, full, harmony, wholeness and the joining together of opposites. In part, this is why shalom is used as a greeting and farewell – the epitome of opposites brought together to make endless ends meet as only God can. Dare we take it to the deepest, most significant place where the shalom of Christ: light in darkness, life over death.

God gave everything because to God we are worth it. Dare we allow that to inform our worth? And to inform the undeniable worth of the people walking next to you – today and every day.

Here’s the link to Lesson 5 in which we discussed our identity and worth PRECIOUS/TREASURED says JEHOVAH SHALOM (Peace). I hope you are as encouraged as we have been, even this week lingering on God’s declaration upon us.