Relational Spirituality Study 1

Relational Spirituality Week 1

“As a communion of three persons, God is a relational being. He originates a personal relationship with us, and our high and holy calling is to respond to his loving initiatives. By loving God completely, we discover who we are and whose we are as we come to see ourselves as God sees us. In this way, we become secure enough to become others-centered rather than self-centered and enables us to become givers rather than grabbers.”

Part 1 Loving God Completely

“Since God is a relational being, we who are created in his image are also created to right relationships, first with him and then with each other.”

This Week’s Focus: Appreciation for the Greatness and Glory of God

Directions: There are assigned passage(s) for five days each week. Read them in light of the Relational Spirituality theme and the Week’s Focus found directly above.

A daily spiritual discipline is to learn to hear God’s voice from his Word. Please don’t look at this as a homework assignment.

Find a quiet place each day to read the passage(s) slowly a couple of times through. 


Summarize the passage(s) under the questions:

“What was said?” 
Write down what the author was saying to his original audience.

“What was God saying?” 
Write down what God was/is saying.

“What was God saying to you?” 
Apply the passage’s meaning to you today.

Be prepared to share how some of the Bible passages impacted you and how you can apply this in your life in your weekly group meeting?

Day 1

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

“What was said?” 
If we profess “Jesus as Lord” then we need to hold strongly to that profession and if and when we are tempted, draw near to God and His throne to get the help we need to fight.

“What was God saying?” 
God was telling us that Jesus endured temptation just like us, He sympathizes and understands the struggle, but never caved. He will give us the strength we need to resist. He also is our Great High Priest, He sacrificed Himself and intercedes for us and our victory. This is how great our God is!!

“What was God saying to you?” 
In my times of temptation is my desire to draw near to God or to pursue my sin? If God and Jesus understand my weaknesses, sympathize, and desire to strengthen me to victory, what keeps me from going to Him? Our God is good, loving, has won the victory for us, and He is approachable and desires to help us in our times of need.

Be prepared to share

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

“What was said?” 
Again the author encourages us to hold tightly to our profession of faith and what that should mean in how we live, act, don’t sin, etc. Also, another reminder of what Jesus has done for us in giving us access to the “holy places”. But, as we come, we must come “clean” before we sin, not always after asking for forgiveness.

“What was God saying?” 
You need others in your life, to stir up and to be stirred up by, for godliness. Isolation brings sinfulness. Also, we can come to Him confidently and assured in our faith, we have the access as family that Jesus bought for us and gave to us. Look what Jesus has done for us, guaranteed us, we don’t need to waver if we’ve truly made Him our Lord.

“What was God saying to you?” 
 Who is in my life who knows me and my struggles and is walking with me? Can I call him at any hour for prayer and strengthening? Live clean and pure, if and when I mess up, which I’m trying desperately not to, repent, confess, receive my cleansing and draw near again with confidence in our forgiveness and restored relationship.

Be prepared to share

John 15:15–16 ESV

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

“What was said?” 
Jesus called the disciples friends, not servants, it’s how he viewed them and I’m sure how they viewed Him, and yet they were His servants. They are insiders, with knowledge and understanding, they have been chosen and appointed to “bear fruit” living and lasting fruit, fruit that’s rooted in Christ and what we desire from God.

“What was God saying?” 
Even now, we are servants of Christ and yet friends and family. We know the Father’s business and have been appointed to carry it out. Fruit is alive, it’s for others and our desire needs to be for more fruit.

“What was God saying to you?” 
This is how He see’s me, has done for me, is doing in me so He can do through me and He will give me what I need in order to carry on His business.

Be prepared to share

Day 2

Psalm 8 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

“What was said?” 
The creator God of the universe is mindful of man and given him a very privileged position.

“What was God saying?” His majesty is all around us if we stop and look. All of creation screams of the glory of God. And yet, of all creation, He is mindful of us because we’ve been crowned with glory and honor as His image bearers and He’s put all things under our feet as He’s given us dominion over His creation, amazing.

“What was God saying to you?” A reminder of how I fail to view myself and realize that God is mindful of me. Also, of how I fail to see God in all of creation, not worshipping creation, but allowing it to move me to worship of God. 


Be prepared to share

Day 3

Isaiah 40 ESV

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

“What was said?” 
A reminder of the greatness of God and His plans to save and redeem from ages past.

“What was God saying?” 
Do you not see Him, know mHim. Do you not realize that He will save you, that He loves you, will care for you? How can you ever encapsulate Him in an object made by man?

“What was God saying to you?” 
 Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Be prepared to share

Day 4

Romans 8:32–39 ESV

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“What was said?” Nothing can come against God’s elect, nothing can separate us from His love. 


“What was God saying?” 
He gave up His Son for us, He justifies us, intercedes for us, loves us and made us conquerors through Him and we are now inseparable from Him and His love.

“What was God saying to you?” 
See the great lengths He’s gone through for me, what He currently is doing for me and how secure my future is because of His love.

Be prepared to share

Day 5

Psalm 19 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

“What was said?” 
The beginning is again about recognizing the greatness of God in creation. At the midpoint the author shifts to the ways of God using “law”, “testimony”, “precepts” and “commandments” , “fear” and lastly “rules” as words to describe what God has given us to live by and be right with Him. He indicates how valuable they are and should be to us so we can be right and avoid wrong living.

“What was God saying?” 
He has given us what we need for right living (1 Peter 1:3) and if we stick to them we will be right in His sight and avoid great calamity and self-inflicted difficulty in this life.

“What was God saying to you?” 
 Value Gods laws etc. as more valuable than gold and silver. Search them out, dig into understand them better, and apply them to our lives.

Be prepared to share