Browsing Tag

Glory

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Digging Deep 2024–Reveal is 3 days away!

Posted on August 16, 2023

Photo courtesy Rachel Valentin

I can hardly wait. But waiting is the least of my worries this morning. If God lets us get to Saturday on this planet, something important is happening. I mean it’s surely not important because of any merit of any person or group of people. This importance is not because of financial, cultural, or political impact. In fact, what’s happened in the last year, in Digging Deep, is more impactful than decisions of state and party. What we are doing on Saturday, as we unveil a new year’s study in Digging Deep has the potential to influence eternity (an infinite time and space) for some soul (the most valuable commodity known to man)! I can’t really tell you how happy it made me each time last year I’d hear about some seeking soul who found salvation from hell and to eternal life as she studied along with us. I’ve prayed so hard for this impact from Digging Deep and, at last, it is occurring in our groups.

Last night, I spoke with a group leader in Kentucky. This group, which started with one person who was willing to invite others, now has 24 signed up to study this year. Two of these women are not members of the church of Jesus. In Arkansas, a group of four (last year) has grown  to 14 this year. Some were baptized to be in Christ and have the hope of heaven for the first time in their lives in 2023. And every time I open Messenger, it seems there are good growth comments and questions. I see Him answering and I see His providence working through our study. I know He has worked through His Word in all kinds of venues through the centuries, but getting to see this kind of working this close up is the blessing of a lifetime.

I am just profoundly thankful. I know you are, too, as you invite and study and explain and as you are bold for Him. I spoke with a woman who facilitates a class in another state yesterday who said “I am so happy about this growth, but I am just nervous about my own abilities as these non-Christian women are joining us.”  Oh, we all are nervous about our own abilities. Thank the good Lord who made this salvation possible that it is not your ability or mine that has any importance! It is the Word that is the power to salvation (Romans 1:16). It is God who gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7). And it is Christ, though whom we can do all things (Phil. 4:13)! If I can always just remember that it is weak little me, who has been outfitted by God–given the sword of His Spirit and the shield of faith, and wearing the shoes of the preparation of the gospel that brings peace to people–If I can remember that the power is in what God is doing through His word, I can be bold in my invitations, and unashamed in my presentations. I can just be a conduit for His glory! This is the amazing privilege that has been the biggest blessing of Digging Deep.

You can do these four things that I truly believe will bring Him glory this year:

  1. You can be bold to invite. (even if you think she is not the person who will respond positively.) Invite through your facebook page as I have seen many of you do. Be sure you tell girls they can contact you for information.  
  2. You can share the “How-to” video that is pinned near the top of the Digging Deep facebook page. Link women up to the page. 
  3. You can pray daily and deeply for souls that may be reached through this avenue. 
  4. You can be present in the ballroom at PTP on Saturday at 12:30 EST or watch the video that will be aired on the DD Facebook page simultaneously with the PTP event (and from there, spread the Word about this year’s study.) 

You can do all of this without financial burdens or extensive preparation. But it is mission work. It is truly evangelism.  It is a mission and we are a mission team. If you are inviting folks to dig, don’t ever say you have not done mission work. You’re in the trenches! This is one mission among many happening in our churches, but some of you are on your first missionary “journey”. I pray God will continue adding to His church those who are being saved (Acts 2:47) and that he will keep calling women disciples “Christians” (Acts 1126) as a result of invitations by common women of God like you and me. He does, consistently, more than we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Digging Deep is personal and powerful evidence that we serve the God of  more. He still saves to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25)! I know we will praise and glorify Him together this year!

(And now, back to the packing, the making (bracelets and keychains and– oh yeah– breakfast), the study for all those lessons, the powerpoint and the frenzy of getting to Saturday! And I am way excited about all the hugging. That’s the best part between now and Saturday! When you watch God work from afar through the lives of women all around this country and then you come together, the hugs and the stories and the spiritual feasting just may be the highest mountaintop this side of the Jordan! I cannot wait to “wander in that Wilderness!”)

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

That Last Child Will Not Be Upstaged!

Posted on April 21, 2023

photo credit: Leah Wright

Ezra’s mom keeps telling him. “You better be careful what you do and say, because you have two little sisters who are watching you and they want to be just like you.”  Books have been written about birth order and its effect on personality and character as children develop. I think that some of the birth order differences are due to the fact that parents mature (sometimes, a lot) between their first and last children and they are at varying stages of maturity with each child. So, we’re different parents with child number one than we might eventually be with child number three or four. There is a very real sense in which two children raised by the same parents, were really not raised by the same parents.

But some of the differences in first, middle and last children are caused by the realities of birth order, itself. The very nature of being the first implies that the oldest child will be the first to experience almost everything. He or she will be the leader into virtually all natural growing experiences.  While that’s an obvious reality, its ramifications are sometimes more nuanced than at other times.

Like last weekend at the very large Lads to Leaders convention in Nashville. Hundreds of people were assembled in a large ballroom. Awards had been given for the past hour-plus. Suddenly, Ezra’s name was called very loudly as a high scorer in Bible bowl. He made his way quickly to the stage. Now, if you have ever been to Lads to Leaders, you know that getting to that stage is a pretty big deal to the kids. We’ve stressed all year that getting to the stage means you committed and carried through. It means, in this case, that Ezra did his best to learn the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and he took a test–really just competing with himself–and he knew a bunch of the right answers from the Word.  All of the children who knew a certain percentage of the answers from the Book were up there, as well.

And then there was Eliza. She’s the last of three and all of those last child adjectives–persistent, charming, fun-loving, free-spirited, outgoing, risk taker–went into action mode. The result was a physical feat of kicking,  in a fashion worthy of an Olympic balance beam, her right leg up onto the stage, and proceeding to try and hoist herself up there to join the accolade-receivers.

She was directly in the lens of her horrified mom’s camera. Photography was suddenly unimportant and getting that baby off the stage was happening fast. I’m pretty sure the photo that Leah Wright caught of Eliza’s attempted moment of glory will be included in her senior slide-show in 2038.

A grandmother’s take-aways (things I hope to put in them whenever I get the chance):

  1. I’m going to keep telling that oldest child, in both of my kids’ families, that someone younger is very determined “to be a lot like you.” The responsibility is large and rewarding. “You are a leader.”
  2. I’m going to keep telling all of them that there will be people who try to take shortcuts to glory. But, in the end, giving God that glory takes dedication and hard work on the part of His servants. If we try to “climb up on the stage”, at the last minute without having done His will, there’s no glory for God. There’s no reward in heaven for us, either.
  3. I’m going to keep telling that youngest child, that he/she can do anything he/she sets his/her mind to do. But the mind-setting implies a fierce determination to follow through. It’s a daily grind to accomplish what we set out to do. It’s a daily privilege to set small daily goals that are stepping stones to true success.

And…

I’m going to tell Eliza, one day soon, that ladies don’t hoist their legs up onto objects that are as tall as they are, with two thousand people behind them.

…and here’s the fun reel when she really did get her moment to walk across with the other pre-k to 2nd graders (Not sure “free-spirited” even starts to describe):

https://www.facebook.com/100082639660170/videos/155855607119567

 

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Digging Deep Israel–Stop #7: The Sea of Galilee (Kabad all Around!)

Posted on October 10, 2019


Writing about this stop, I feel like the apostle John when he said, “…And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:30,31).

So many things occurred in Christ’s life in and around this beautiful body of water that I could scarcely scratch the significant surface if I was writing a thick volume, much less a blog post. It was the area from which the apostles predominantly emerged. It was the large lake from which miraculous catches of fish were brought in and cooked by apostolic families and even, on occasion, by the Lord himself (John 21:1-14)…and where once, a fish was caught in a display of glory holding a coin in in it’s mouth—a coin that would teach a lesson that’s still teaching (Matthew 17:24-27). These are the waters that were quieted during a storm by the Master (Mark 4:39) and solidified for His steps (Matthew 14:26). These are the waters that gave him a platform for teaching multitudes and gave Him solace for approaching His Father (Matthew 14:22,23).  If the waves today could talk, they would boast of the privilege of being the sea of the Lord.

And yet they do talk; not miraculously, but they surely whispered his glory to me as I was privileged to sit with Kate and talk about the Lord’s authority in the Digging Deep podcast. The gentle roar of the Galilee wind in our microphones whispered His peace that still solaces. The depths of those mid-sea waters re-told the story of Jesus’ ministry in my meditation as we took our excursion by ship. And as we watched the rising sun from its shoreline singing “Tell Me the Story of Jesus”, moved to tears, I contemplated the reason He was walking this same shore and the dread that, because of His humanity, must have filled each busy day as He grew closer to the cross. As I saw the remains of a first-century fishing boat, recently discovered when the waters of Galilee were very low, I could picture the Lord standing on it’s bow, addressing the shoreline crowd, as he did on that borrowed ship 2000 years ago.  (Luke 5:1-4). (Isn’t it profound to think of the Creator stooping to borrow…anything?!)

From our little excursion ship, we surveyed the beautiful and surprisingly large lake, also called Gennesaret, and we sang:  

The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will…Peace. Be still. 

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, 

Or demons or men or whatever it be,

No water can swallow the ship where lies

The master of ocean and earth and skies. 

They all shall sweetly obey Thy Will

Peace. Be still.


Kabad was everywhere around us!

 

(Master, the Tempest is Raging;

Text: Mary Ann Baker, ca. 1874′ ,Music: H. R. Palmer, 1834–1907)

 

           

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Digging Deep: “Glory” fits us to a T!

Posted on September 5, 2019

We’re off and running. The first Dig-a-Bit is coming soon, the first typos in the study have  already been discovered, and the t-shirts have sold out in several sizes. But those things are unimportant, of course. The main thing is that hundreds (maybe thousands) of women are in the Word (translations of His Will in two languages) and that we are already taking baby steps toward reflecting His glory in larger aways than we’ve been able in the past.  This is making me happy…

…And crazy! Glenn and I left home for a few days of R&R. We had caught up on shipping books, but we carried a couple of cases with us, along with packing materials, just in case there were more orders to fill. Suffice it to say, we turned right back around and headed home within a few hours because the orders were still pouring in. This is VERY encouraging and we are hard at work once more. We are going to try this road trip again in a few hours and take three more cases with us this time! 

About the T-shirts…that was a quick sell-out, so we are going back to the t-shirt company and run another batch. Since it’s hard to tell just how many to buy, this time we are only going to print those that you pre-order. You can pre-order here:   https://thecolleyhouse.org/store, but do so by September 12th, This will be the last batch we print of the GLORY shirts. I might get another one, because mine is in the laundry all the time…wearing that shirt several times a week! 

None of these little details are “kabad”, but the study is. This month, we are learning that the word, that will later most often be translated “glory”, was often in the early Old Testament translated as “heavy” or “rich” or “ grievous” or “sore”. We are learning that the Holy Spirit wants us to know that the combined attributes of Diety are very weighty. They are, in fact, infinite. 

The Holy Spirit described this in chapter 55 of the book of Isaiah, the prophet: 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So why? Why are we studying His glory, when we know, before we begin, that the full understanding of his attributes is unattainable for us, as mere human beings? The answer is in the same passage in Isaiah: 

For as the rain cometh down,

and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,

but watereth the earth,

and maketh it bring forth and bud,

that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:

it shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

We have this amazing promise. His Word will not return to Him without accomplishing its purpose. What is its purpose for Cindy Colley? I praise Him that the purpose is to give me saving faith (Romans 10:17). I praise Him that the purpose for my having His Word is that I might be saved from sin, from hell, from darkness. I praise Him that the purpose for me is that I might have a share in His GLORY!??? Would that even be possible, that I could share in an entity so majestic as his GLORY? Romans 8:17 tells me, in no uncertain terms, that, as his child, I can!

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Praise Him! Glorify Him!

 

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Sister to Sister: Grace and Glory and Authority

Posted on September 13, 2018

Embarking on a study of God’s authority without having a heart attuned to His grace is likely to frustrate our best intentions of getting deeply into His will and applying it to our lives. In our study, we are learning that He “gets” to tell us what to do (He is the ultimate authority), because he made us from nothing  and because He bought us back at Calvary. He owns us twice over! We were made for His glory (Is. 43:7) and then bought by His grace (I Cor. 6:20). When our lives are full of His glory and grace, we live His way with the full realization that we must respect his glory in order to be saved in the end. But we do so because we appreciate His grace. We want to live for Him. We live for His glory and in His grace.

Most are familiar with the words of the old gospel hymn: “Amazing Grace – how sweet the sound – that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found – Was blind, but now, I see.” The concept of God’s grace is both humbling and fascinating. It is the greatest and most majestic theme in the New Testament, and perhaps is the ‘key’ to unlocking its mysteries. One may know every word of the New Testament by heart, but unless the concept of God’s grace is understood, one can never fully comprehend the profound truths of the Gospel.

The English word ‘grace’ comes from the Greek word charis, and various forms of the word are found 157 times in the New Testament. Charis, or grace, has been commonly defined as “undeserved kindness” or “unmerited favor.” These definitions, however, fail to reveal the full extremity of the meaning of grace.  Grace is not merely “undeserved” or “unmerited.” Rather, grace is the exact opposite of what is deserved or merited. When we declare our unworthiness of God’s grace, we are actually saying we are worthy of the exact opposite of God’s grace!

This is highlighted by what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-10. In verses 1-3, we are described as having been “dead in our trespasses and sins,” “following” the “sons of disobedience,” “carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,” and “were by nature children of wrath.” However, in verses 4-6, Paul tells us that God mercifully put aside the “wrath” that man deserved, because of His great love for us.

It is God’s love for us, or more specifically agapē love for us, that prompted God’s merciful grace toward mankind. Agapē love is willful love; love that is not characterized by emotion or gratitude, but by a willful desire to do what is best for the one being loved. It is love that merely says “I love you,” not “I love you because…” or “I love you if…”

We deserved “wrath” and death (Rom. 6:23), but received the opposite, namely, ‘love’ and ‘life.’ This is the definition of God’s grace. “By grace [we] have been saved” (Eph. 2:5). It is both undeserved kindness and an expression of God’s agapē love. What did God’s grace accomplish? It “made us alive together with Christ” (v. 5), “raised us,” and “seated us in the heavenly places in Christ” (v. 6). Paul tells us that our faith, through baptism (Col. 2:12-13), is how God’s grace is administered in one’s life (v. 8).

What God’s Grace Means

God’s grace has been made manifest in Christ. When we only deserved wrath and death (Eph. 2:1-3), God – because of His agapē love – sent His Son into the world, “that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). Therefore, we have been bought at a price (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23). An enormous price, I might add. We no longer belong to ourselves. When one believes and is baptized, he or she puts to death her former self (Rom. 6:4) and becomes a new person under new Ownership. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, we have been “born again” (John 3:3, 5). We “have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God” (Rom. 6:22).

When we try to understand God’s grace, we must recognize that it is something to which we are by no means entitled. Though we live in a society where many feel ‘entitled’ to everything (i.e. government handouts, healthcare, security, etc.), the last thing we are entitled to is God’s grace. Though it is a “free gift” (Eph. 2:8), it is not cheap. We must hold on to our gracious salvation (1 Cor. 15:2) with both an attitude of humble submission to God and an eager spirit to selflessly serve His Son (Jas. 2:17). Without an attitude of humble submission and thankfulness for God’s grace, we will fall (Gal. 5:4). (And without it, we certainly will not find comfort in a study of the authority of God.)