Week Four | Everyday Lovely

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Week Four Reading Assignments– Pages 110-143 | Sushi • b.fab.fitness • Monet’s House • My People

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“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
—2 Corinthians 3:17, NLT

Freedom.  I looked it up in Strong’s Concordance.  The Greek word for freedom is eleutheria.  Do you know what it means?  Liberty/freedom.  That’s it.  I was expecting something truly enlightening, but then I realized it already is.  Freedom is something we can exult in.  Throughout this book and especially these chapters, I have felt God really speaking to me about authenticity.  I think that we most experience what the Lord has to offer when we allow for authenticity.  Real, raw and honest.  And, if we are honest, I think most of us crave these kind of relationships.

“There wasn’t anything artificial in there. It was all real and orderly, and it made me cry because I saw the lovely, and I wanted it in my life.  It felt like God whispered something into my heart about seeing how He does things and trying to be like Him.”
—Annie F. Downs, Looking for Lovely (Pg. 115)

Throughout these four chapters, Annie experiences real authenticity with God in who He is, who that makes her, and how she relates to other people.  Freedom in God is found when we allow Him to order our lives for us and when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable with Him and other people.

“God is ordering my steps. God is ordering all things, and I rest in that.”
—Annie F. Downs, Looking for Lovely (Pg. 117)

Being able to have such rest and trust in God is what true freedom looks like.  He gives us the freedom to love who we are in Him.  It’s finding the lovely within ourselves because we are becoming more like Christ every day.  Freedom doesn’t mean doing life on our own, but developing real genuine relationships with God and others.

“It’s not about the number of people you have; it’s just about having even one person that can hold your arms up when things get hard.”
—Annie F. Downs, Looking for Lovely (Pg. 142)

How can you be intentionally authentic with God and with others?  Are you seeing the lovely that is Christ in you?  In what ways are you experiencing true freedom?

Share with us in the comments, won’t you? Or on your own blog if you have one, on social media—and be sure to include #intentionalfilling and #livingoutlovely so we can be a part of your own journey into looking for lovely.

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To help keep you on track, we’ve developed a suggested schedule.
Of course, this is your study, so please feel free to approach it at a pace that works with your schedule.

Download the Weekly in the Know PDF below…

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Community Chat

Let’s chat!  We’d love to hear from you once you’ve had some time to read through this week’s reading assignments.  Come back to this space & share your thoughts in the comments below about:

Identify – In this week’s reading we’ve learned from Annie that freedom can be found in the most unexpected places.  In what places or relationships in your life have you found freedom and peace?

In the Word – This week’s Scripture focus is from 2 Corinthians 3:17.  Take a few minutes to read through these verses in your favorite translation.  How do these verses speak to you in the present moment?

•  Download our weekly Scripture card.  Print it and hang it in a place where you’ll come across it often this week, to aid in memorization and the reminder of the lovely God brings to our lives.

Application – This week’s theme is Everyday Lovely.  Share with us where you find the lovely in your everyday life that you may have overlooked previously.  In the pursuit of collecting moments that matter, we’d like to invite you to join us on social media (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) to share how you’re living out “everyday lovely” this week.  In the caption of your post, include the hashtag, #livingoutlovely.

[divider type=”solid” color=”black”] [one-fourth][/one-fourth] [three-fourths]Jenny Johnson is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mama of two, and a wife to a military man.  She is passionate about Jesus, marriage, motherhood, and holistic living through essential oils.

She’d love to connect with you on Facebook.[/three-fourths]