Since 2012, She Reads Truth has maintained a singular mission: to be women in the Word of God every day. Ten years later, our community includes “Shes” from across the globe, but our mission hasn’t changed.
Reading Scripture together is the centerpiece of what we do at She Reads Truth. As we spend time as a community reading This Is The Church, we encourage you to start by reading the daily Scripture on your own. Then join us here to engage and encourage one another as we respond to what we’ve read. Each day for this series, we’ll include a brief summary of the reading along with a prompt for conversation.
The Church is called to faithfully teach the gospel of Jesus as presented through Scripture, passed down from eyewitnesses and the apostles. We are to guard against false teachings and ideologies that alter or distract from the good news.
Discussion Question: Who in your community can you encourage with what you’ve read this week?
Take time to reflect on your Scripture reading and today’s question. Share what you are learning with others in the community in the comments.
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60 thoughts on "Preserving the Message"
I found the Bible readings earlier in the week about the gospel very encouraging- it’s inspired me to be intentional about sharing the gospel with those I meet
Incredible God deserves incredible praises!
Here I sit on the day after the midterms and at peace…not because God worked things out my way. LOL (spoiler alert—-he didn’t) but I prayed all last month asking him to take my thoughts, my anger and my resentment and help me not only to accept the outcome but trust Him. He has this if we just listen and open our hearts. It is not always easy but n the end “love wins”. I am trying to pay attention to the righteousness he desires….& not my own self righteousness or other rules of the world or powers that be. May others see Christ in me as I don’t involve myself in crazy politics. Amen
We are to share the good news of the Lord with everyone we meet. I believe it is our jobs to spread Gods word everywhere we can.
I feel like it is really important to invest in relationships with other believers.
Everyone around me. I feel like we are supposed to lead as many people as possible so having a positive mindset will make people want to and give people the since of hope through me with the help of God.
Well, even though I’m ten days late to comment from when this study day was posted, I just have to say I loved reading all the previous comments. I felt very encouraged myself reading through people’s comments! Amen to Kelly (NEO)’s comment about Paul being an expert in the Scripture, then being able to see the truth of Jesus in them when he became a believer. A lot of people are still like that, where they know God, know Scripture, pray, and say they believe, but the truth of Jesus is not something they’ve grasped. Jennifer Loves Jesus was also spot on with what she said about preserving the truth of the Gospel, the central truth that Jesus was the Son of God, whose birth, death, and resurrection allowed believers to be adopted into the family of God. As long as believers agree about Jesus, all other confusion and disagreement can be worked through with the help of the Holy Spirit, and the Word.
Although I certainly appreciate the longer devotionals after the reading as well, I can also appreciate this format of reflection and discussion. It does require us to dig a little deeper, rely on the Holy Spirit for help when we get confused, and really just think deeply and longer on what it means to follow Jesus and how to be a community (the Church) in light of that. I find it very encouraging to see so many women be engaged in discussion, learning from and encouraging one another, where as there are so many fewer comments when it’s a longer devotional after the readings.
As for who I can encourage this week, that would be my mother- and father-in-law. We’re going to visit them for a few days, and there has been a lot of division over the past five years or so between them and my family. They are not believers, they are guided daily by their fear and anxiety, and my MIL especially has a habit of sowing discord between her and my husband. I pray the Spirit would speak through my husband and me, and our conversations would be encouraging and truth-filled.
I have been searching for a church for a long time now, but I think I have finally found a church and this week, this whole study really, has shown me I need to get active in this ministry.
There is freedom in the gospel message. That message that we don’t have to save ourselves. That we just have to rely on God’s grace! Happy 4th of July!!
I have really been sitting with Day 23, The Church is…A Gospel Community. Fellowship, breaking bread and hospitality are all so important to me, and it was really helpful to me to see how powerful they are in the context of a faith community. I always knew they were important, but something clicked differently and deeply for me this week. At church yesterday, I met a couple new to our church who also happen to live just a block up from me. They have two small girls – one just weeks old – and I could feel how much mama is craving community, support, encouragement. This week I plan to pop up to their home with a card, some cookies and a Starbucks gift card to welcome her to our community and our church, and encourage her that she’s doing great. Hospitality is POWERFUL and I never want to forget how important it is as a spiritual practice.
Our church is an encouraging example of being a Bible based and scripture focused church. At Sunday services the pastors teach verse by verse. They will pick certain sections of the Bible as they feel lead but they go verse by verse. We also see them honor the scriptures in how they run the church with a plurality of pastors (no one lead pastor) and pastor accountability. It is a good and beautiful thing.
It’s been helpful for me to say the words out loud each day “The Church is…” and add the topic of the day (ie. Preserving the message) before launching into the daily studies. It makes each day more meaningful and thought provoking. How am I Preserving the message? Every day it looks a little different depending on the demands on my time and my response to those demands. I find people who need encouragement every day. Ultimately I pray I’m encouraging them how God wants me to. Not how I want. It can be daunting and sometimes (often) I mess it up. But I want to keep trying because so much was done for me by Jesus.
Hit send too soon. Anyway we have found a church that takes sound doctrine to heart and looks at the entirety of scripture.
We recently left a church becauae they refused to look at a community issue in light of scripture. Without going into all of details, the pastor ignored scripture when we brought it before him. We have taken our time finding a new church that takes sxriptiee
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Praying for you!
I can teach to my sister, who I love very much :)
I could encourage my mom. Her church went through a transition recently when the lead pastor they hired to replace their long term pastor left the church somewhat abruptly after only a few months. I’m not in a place to judge his decision, but it did create some uncertainty and disappointment in her church. But this study lists out so many things a church is and they don’t depend on one person, it is all of us. So it will hopefully encourage her to be reminded of these traits of the church.
I can teach to my friend who is coming to visit me tomorrow what the Lord says and has done for us.
My community is my church, and specifically my small group!
Late to yesterdays message. But I want to encourage myself first because without that I will not be able to encourage anyone else.
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First and foremost I want to continue to encourage myself! I want to begin to search for the right church for myself and my family. I also want to encourage my husband to help bring the Word and Love of God to our almost 3yr old twins.
First and foremost I can continue to encourage myself! I want
I definitely need to encourage not only myself, It’s been a hard week, but also my family, and anyone else I can reach out to. The word is sometimes difficult to understand or to see how to implement in our lives, but we still have to keep trying!!!
Have a great weekend SRT readers! Stay safe!
Don’t know too many people here in Utah yet, but the Lord has been bringing new friends to me through the church. One of my new friends is a recovering alcoholic who is 5 years new in the Lord, after coming out of the LDS church here. We met in weekly table groups at our church. Amazingly enough, we both signed up for the same 3 groups…pretty sure this is a relationship the Lord has orchestrated. She has been sharing with her AA group that trusting Jesus is much better than trusting a “higher power” as you know it. She’s dedicated to searching out the Lord and Christian fellowship. We’ve already begun having some deeper discussions about the Lord.
I can encourage my family, friends, and neighbors by sharing and speaking the truth over them and praying for them, especially for the hearts of the people in my life who do not know Jesus.
Reading different feedbacks on devotional style, I do appreciate the work of SRT team putting out different formats. Well written, broken down into small pieces style with built-in question does all the leg work for us, easy to digest, which is a comfort zone. While this style we currently have, on the other hand, minimally presents Scriptures and a practical question. I could see the good intention behind this, from my humble opinion, is to initiate us the readers to do our own thinking, self reflecting with God and fill in the gap (not the milk phase, but the meat and nugget phase). This style surprisingly has given way to the wonderful ministry of the Holy Spirit which is often overlooked, the Greatest Teacher of all time, to step in and unknot our confusion, leading way to the realm of supernatural understanding. We, who were once the readers, are now given the chance as partaking writers inspired by God. I would encourage any readers to always ask and engage with the Holy Spirit when you hit a wall, not too hastily jump to human aid and Google search. We have within us the Professor of all Truth and Wisdom that can impart all knowledge and understanding, hard to believe but true. Do you believe so? Have you experienced Him that way? If not, time to start. I love the comment section showing different revelations/perspectives. With one same scripture, the Holy Spirit can give 2000 revelations to 2000 different people. That’s the golden part. Tune in to the comment section and engage with your community, together we learn and share knowledge. Knowledge can save lives (My people perish for lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6). Be blessed dear sisters. Happy Canada Day to our beloved fellow Canadian she’s. Hope you all have a nice long weekend.
@Lexi: thank you for voicing your journey, it was a confirmation on my part that God spoke through you. Sending prayers for your greater success (Psalm 1:3).
As a new small business owner, I find that I need a lot of encouragement, but…since starting this, I have found that I’m seeking to encourage others more. Entrepreneurship is hard and there are many days where you think, ” What have I gotten myself into?” But when that happens, God always brings encouragement, through a text, or a business deal going through. It’s wonderful. So I now seek to do the same, to encourage more small business owners in their journey, letting them know they are not alone.
I can also encourage any clients I come across. I often wondered what business has to do with spreading the gospel, but then I realized that I am meeting so many people this way, and every new person asks me how I got started. It gives me a chance to share my testimony and how God started this business (I was very reluctant because I sought security), not me. God is good and will find ways to spread His message, even if it seems strange to us :).
I believe there is no better time then ever to show young kids the word of God. In a world where things are very dark they need to see how good and faithful god really is.
2 Timothy is a favorite of mine….”Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Jesus Christ. Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. “
I’m starting my volunteering time at Vacation Bible School this week and I am very excited to show the children the glory of God and the fun that we have as a community in Church.
Let us, the Church, hold fast to the Truth. Let us not stray from the teachings of Jesus. Let us be the light the world so desperately needs.
Praying for the global Church to hold fast to the Lord’s instruction and to seek Him in all we do.
I too miss the daily devotions.
But today I was struck by this verse from our readings from Timothy.
“3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.”
Oh my, don’t we live in an age of people demanding to have it their way?
We are called to be the salt and light. Today!
Use me Lord!
Amen Jennifer! I miss the devotional daily readings as well, and yours is always so good and convicting! You definitely have the gift of sharing your heart in a way that is so beautiful.
I loved today’s scripture, sometimes it all seems to get muddled in all the different religions, But God, He only calls us to die to ourselves and follow Jesus in a relationship. That in itself begins the life-changing transformation, but we must stick close to that. The devil does come to steal, kill, and destroy (which sounds weird in today’s world because not talked about! We should teach that to our children, not just the “sound good parts!”) Let’s rise up and rejoice that we have something to fight with, we have a Big God!! He is proving it! Every Day! Let’s get excited, let’s raise the roof! Let’s SHARE the light and the LOVE of Jesus! He Saves, He redeems, He sanctifies, He draws us near and comforts us. Amen!
Thank you “Jennifer Loves Jesus”! Your reply was like a mini-devotional…which I’ve also been missing during this series!
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I echo Erica Wilson’s response. I have the privilege to lead a group of high school girls along with a coleader. Also this prompted me to let our front office manager know that she is appreciated. She’s A believer. She greets everyone with a beautiful smile and has the most contagious laugh.
Amen!
I’m missing the devotionals after the readings too, Tori ♥️
I have three people I can encourage, my sister, Carol, because my nephew is finally going to go to somewhere to get help for mental health disabilities. She had to sit through an online court hearing yesterday of his sentencing of this and she found it very difficult. Please pray for both of them. The other two are my son and daughter-in-law, Andrew and Danaile, they are trying again, through in vitro, to have a child. Prays would be appreciated at this time.
Be blessed and reach out to someone this weekend sisters, have a great weekend.
I want to make sure I am wisely and faithfully teaching the girls I get to lead in youth group, so that they too can pass on the truth.
I want to encourage my pastor, elders and deacons who so faithfully live out and pass down the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m thankful for their godly leadership.
My parents
I am really missing the devotionals after each day’s reading. I get way more out of them than the reflection questions.
I agree- I was excited on the first day when I saw there would be reflection questions. Instead of inviting us to reflect deeper on the passages, most of the questions have had nothing to do with what we read. Perhaps a question exhorting us to consider if we have added on to the gospel and believed any false teaching would have been more thought provoking and reflective question for today instead of “who do you know that you could share this with”
Today’s message was such a great reminder to remember what we’ve been taught about the gospel, to pray, stand firmly in the word, & guard our hearts. Many within our own churches would impose unnecessary rules or restrictions on us & there are too many false beliefs & ideologies in this world that would lead us astray. We must remember the beautiful, simple gospel message we have been taught and seek always to live according to God’s will, obeying God, but living in the freedom of his grace through our dear savior Jesus Christ ✝️ Lord, I pray that you protect our hearts & hold us close to you always as we seek to live out our faith
I am encouraging myself because things have been hard for me the couple of months and now I am in a new relationship and I have been wondering if it is the right relationship for me.
I can encourage my friends and family all who are going down different paths and in different stages of life. New moms, health issues, divorces, work drama, etc. I stand in the true word of God and I pray that I can encourage others with it, pray the words over them and be there for them as a trusting and loving friend.
Preserving the message. As I thought about what this means, I am encouraged by the fact that the Gospel message is preserved through the miracle of God. Just as pickling or canning, through the right process, food is changed from the inside out and preserved. We have many English translations and sometimes we get stuck or confused when they differ. There is encouragement in the essential message that does not change; the truth of Jesus transcends time, culture, and language. Through the Gospel, the process of saving, we are changed from the inside out, preserved. In the journal I am currently writing in there are random quotes written on some of the pages. Many are obviously secular, and I just write Jesus or God over them (ha). But sometimes, like today, they echo the wisdom of God. As I opened up to write my response to today’s prompt, the quote by Henry David Thoreau was, “In the wilderness is the preservation of the world.” God’s Word has been preserved in the wilderness. We are living proof as His Word is preserved in us, even as we wander in this wilderness of the world. We will not get lost if we follow the Light of Christ. He guides us and preserves us with His truth through the Holy Spirit showing us the Way. There should be unity with other believers as long as the essential message of the Gospel is the same. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God sent to us for the salvation of the world. Through His birth, death, and resurrection we are adopted into God’s family by our faith and testimony of this truth. All else can be worked out with love and patience, using the Word of God as our ultimate resource. There is beauty in this adventure through the wilderness, and as long as we are equipped with Jesus, we are good to go. Truth does not depend on us, it is already preserved by God. Selah. Maranatha. Amen.
My children, other believers and my struggling non believer friends.
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So many try to dilute the message of the Word of God so as not to “offend” anyone. Jesus called sin “sin”. Without confession & forgiveness of sin there is no salvation.
Every day after I read the SRT devotion I forward the image for the day to my children along with another verse or something I learned and I pray it encourages them throughout their day.
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The verse 2 Timothy 4:3 stood out to me today as I watch so many people deconstruct their faith. It’s hard to watch people change God’s truth into man’s truth to meet their needs. I know we have been in the End times since Christ ascended, but it certainly feels closer and closer than ever before. Lord be with us. Guide us on who we should minister to in these times. Helps us to hold onto your sound doctrine.
God is ever-faithful; I need to remain steadfast in living in his way. I have been struggling with my church youth group and feel committed to continuing to try to pull it back together now post-Covid.
Jesus spent time teaching His followers God’s will through the Scriptures. Paul was an “expert” in the Scriptures and once he became a believer was able to see the truth of Jesus in them. The Scriptures are a Christian’s operation manual. It is our responsibility to keep them from being twisted or distorted for evil or self-serving purposes. We have the Spirit to help us discern false teachings. May we listen to His promptings.
Jesus the same today,yesterday and tomorrow