Life of Jesus

Every woman matters and is valuable to God. Yet often life speaks a different story to our hearts, and we find it hard to believe God’s truth about who we really are. Our compass to navigate life shifts away from our Creator and moves toward outside sources, slowly pulling us away from living the authentic faith-filled life God created us to live. 

But Jesus invites us to live differently by seeing differently.

Walking by faith in his Word, written on our hearts through the Holy Spirit, we can discover the truth to right the tide and return to our authentic purpose.  

Walking by faith is a lifestyle that carries principals which often contradict what we perceive with our natural eye inviting us to see differently. 

Over the next three weeks in our Sweet Sixteen series, we will review important principals on what it means to walk by faith. 

Walk by Faith

See a lack of resources as an opportunity to build your faith and create an abundance mentality so your actions can bless many.

Splashed all over this week’s Nourish Scripture are signs of a Savior who cared for those around him. From Jairus’s daughter to the blind man, Jesus paused in his travels to relieve people from suffering. He called his disciples away for the time of rest they needed (Mark 6:31). When he sent his disciples out, he blessed them supernaturally to empower and equip them for what they would need to fulfill their calling (Mark 6:7). He looked out over the crowds that were following him and fed them spiritually and physically. When they ate, all were satisfied. He met their needs.  

But also, in our Nourish Scripture this week, Jesus could not perform miracles around the people in his hometown because of their lack of faith (Mark 6:5). These verses struck me to the core this week… 

Is there any area of unbelief that is limiting Jesus’s work in my life?  

How a Scarcity Mentality Develops

Sometimes when we are lacking resources our faith can waiver and a scarcity mentality surfaces creating fear. A scarcity mentality says what I have is not enough. But what if these circumstances were provision to build our faith and create an abundance mentality, so that our actions could bless many?  

Limited resources open a door to depend on Jesus and build your faith. 

Many times Jesus will lead us into circumstances where we have little and will ask us to do a lot. He asked the disciples to feed thousands with five loaves and two fish (Mark 6:38). When Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, he asked them to travel lightly. “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic” (Mark 6:8-9). Often the Lord will send you out with little in your hands—little talent, little time, little treasure—to teach you to depend on him. In this way, he shows us and teaches us how to live with moment by moment faith and trust in him.  

Jesus is the bread of life and compared himself to manna (John 6:35). Manna was the daily food the Lord provided to the Israelites in the wilderness. God used manna to teach the Israelites to depend on him daily and —that he would meet their needs.  

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.” Deuteronomy 8:3-4  

Have faith that God loves you, cares about your needs, and wants to bless you so you can be equipped to bless others (Philippians 4:19).

Jesus is a giver. He is generous in his very nature. Just as he cared about the people during his ministry on earth, he cares about your cries and sees your deepest needs. His love knows no bounds.

Place your faith in him. He will meet your needs—in his way and in his time.  

Nourish Scripture: Mark 6 

It can be hard to believe God’s truth about who you really are. Download Nourishing Your Heart today and discover the key to connecting to God’s Word. 

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 Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

Our Nourish Scripture this week is one of those weird passages that makes me squirm. Mark chapter five sits you square in front of evil.  

“When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.” Mark 5:2-5 

I would rather forget about the pain the prince of darkness causes inside of this world.

I would rather not watch the news.

I would rather not hear another story of a woman’s broken heart at the hands of abuse. 

But evil is a reality inside our broken world. To look away …does not make evil go away. Rather our Lord calls us to face evil with the force of his power and overcome evil with good. 

Far beyond what we can see there is a battle going on. And while the weight of evil in our broken world can make us feel powerless, we are not.

You are never powerless when you belong to Jesus. You do not fight alone.  

When we stand under Jesus’s strength through faith, we align with his power.  

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world”. 1 John 4:4 

“The Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

Receiving God’s Power

When faced with a battle, we can be tempted to put on the armor of the world, to fight with the world’s battle plans. We try to take the reins of life, fighting our way to take power the world provides to fix things. We can see our source of power from seeking possessions, positions or people. 

These are just some of the worldly ways we sought to find power from external sources when we felt powerless.  

But now we belong to Jesus, the Shepherd, and overseer of our souls. He invites us to receive his power by standing in his mighty strength (1 Peter 2:18–25).  

Sharing the gospel is our precious privilege but one that the enemy of our souls would love to shut down. If he can get us so wound up and worn out fighting our battles the world’s way, we may become so discouraged, distracted, and directionless that we stop sharing the gospel altogether.  

Embracing Your Godly Girl Power

Godly girl power is God’s all-surpassing power. This is different from worldly power.

• Worldly power is outward control dependent on other people and things and focuses on self.
• Godly girl power is the inner strength of a woman led confidently by God to walk in love and live for his glory no matter what circumstances she faces. 

Love is the most powerful force and that is what Godly Girl Power is all about. 

Looking inside Mark 5 can cause confusion just like when we confront evil in our own personal lives and the lives of those we love. However, inside this passage we find confidence and keys to align with God’s power and fight his way.  

Christianity that requires courage—instead of Christianity that demands comfort—requires that we stand in the strength that only God can provide. ONWARD! 

Nourish Scripture: Mark 5 

Learn how to THRIVE on God’s Word and embrace his power by downloading Nourishing Your Heart!

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Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

The pathway we choose for our thinking determines the direction we travel. Faith and Action walk hand in hand. Belief always affects behavior.   

Let’s face it. Sometimes choosing to think God’s way and not our own can be a fierce battle.  

Jesus knew we would face battles and taught kingdom principles to equip us to navigate through this world—his way. He often used parables to teach, but the parable of the seeds seemed to prepare the way for the others…

Understanding the Lesson in the Seeds

Jesus told his disciples if they did not understand the parable of the seeds, they would not be able to understand the parables that would follow (Mark 4:13). The lessons it contained on hearing and receiving God’s Word would lay a foundation for their new life in Christ. 

The seed of God’s Word endures forever. Truth is truth and it never changes, but we can choose to accept it or reject it.

Hearing and receiving God’s Word in our heart sounds so simple, yet as Jesus taught his disciples in the seed parable in Mark 4, sometimes the harvest does not come easily. 

“The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.” (Mark 4:14–15). 

As sure as there is a God who loves us and wants to plant seeds of truth for an abundant harvest in our life, there is also an enemy of our soul whose lies can prevent the seed from taking root. He knows our thought life is powerful and would love nothing more than to fill our head with lies and turn us from God’s path. 

This scripture passage says those seeds Satan took had fallen along a “footpath.” The Greek word for path is hodos and literally means “a traveled way.” Metaphorically, hodos also means “a course of conduct or a manner of thinking.” 

Negative experiences in our life can create pathways and patterns of thinking that do not line up with God’s truth. We often stay on the old paths because they are comfortable and familiar—even though they are destructive to our life. Traveling down footpaths overtime can make them familiar and deeply ingrained in our subconsciousness.  

Satan has observed your footpath and knows your ingrained patterns.

• He knows your history.
• He understands how wounds have affected your thinking.
• He knows just the right lies to feed you to play on your past hurts and block the truth God wants to plant in your heart.

Ahhh—but Jesus will help you take the road less traveled to create a harvest in your life! God’s Word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psalm 119:105). When you bring the lamp of his Word into your life, it exposes pathways of wrong thinking and gives you a new road map to follow (Mark 4:21–25). 

Creating New Pathways by Changing Your Thought Life

Each moment is a new opportunity to create new pathways of thinking by hearing and accepting the truth. This is a process that takes time. It took time to create the destructive paths of wrong thinking in your life, and it will take time for you to renew your mind to God’s truth. But this is time worth taking. 

As we renew our minds to the truths in his Word, those truths will begin to transform our minds. 

This is why step three in the Nourish Bible Study Method is devoted to renewing your mind to truth. When I walked through the most difficult season of my life four years ago, I learned renewing my mind was an essential part of healing and had to become a part of my everyday routine. 

Choosing the pathway of your thinking determines the direction you will travel. God’s truth often requires you to take the road less traveled in your thinking but leads to the journey you were created to live. 

Nourish Scripture: Mark 4 

Download Nourishing Your Heart to learn how to connect with God’s Word and change your thought life for the better!

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 Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

You’ve been trusted with a task beyond your ability—but it is not beyond his. Your Creator has a limitless supply. It is in rest we find our strength to return to the work God has called us to do.   

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

God said this to his chosen people long ago, and he says it to every woman today: “Realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you” (Exodus 16:29 NLT). 

Keep the Sabbath sacred. Find time to Pause. The Sabbath was made for you. 

For that challenge you face . . . for those God has placed in your care . . . you will need Christ’s all-surpassing power. His strength will flow to you in those times of Sabbath you set aside.  

Sabbath offers a release from self-reliance and an opportunity to trust God with our time. 

Pause.  

The Value of Quiet

Often God speaks in a whisper (1 Kings 19:11–12). A quiet soul provides fertile soil to nourish seeds he plants through those whispers for an eternal harvest (Mark 4:20).  

Come away from the noisy commotion life creates by stopping your work for a while. Let go of self-reliance. Slip away from survival mode. 

You are wise and wise women carve out times of input so they can offer output to others.  

The Sabbath was a pause God placed in the middle of the Ten Commandments. The first three commandments center on loving God. The fourth commandment is the Sabbath rest, God’s gift to his people. Commands five through ten deal with loving others.

Did you catch the pause? Do you see the pattern?

• Love God.
• Pause to rest and receive his love and strength for yourself.
• Love others. 

Just Pause. 

The Gift of the Sabbath

Wise women today see the Sabbath as a gift to open and one of the most beneficial actions you can take to bless your family and others in your care. You cannot release what you don’t receive (John 13).  

Keep the Sabbath sacred, for it is God’s gift to you. A gift is given, but we must choose to open it. Carve out times of input so you can be available for output. 

With all the demands that knock at your door, pausing from life’s pressures can require mountain-moving faith. In a culture that rewards performance and productivity, have faith to pause. 

Just Pause, Brave Heart. 

Pause . . . to celebrate and give thanks after completing a God–given work (Genesis 2:2–3). 

Pause . . . to dedicate time to worship, pray, and rest in his presence (Exodus 20:8–11, Mark 1:35).  

Pause . . . to gather with other believers to find encouragement (Leviticus 23:3, Hebrews 10:25). 

Pause . . . to rest in Christ by trusting his Word and finished work on the cross (Hebrews 4:1–12). 

God’s love and power cannot be reproduced—they can only be received and given out as we carve out time to rest in him. Agape love is not something we manufacture—it is something we receive from our Maker and release to others. 

Jesus often healed on the Sabbath. Treasures await those who open the gift of Sabbath by choosing to pause. Indeed, brave heart . . . the Sabbath is God’s gift to you. Choose to open it, for it is in rest we find our strength to return to the work God has called us to do.  

Pause! 

Nourish Scripture: Mark 3 

Your quiet soul requires nourishment. Download Nourishing Your Heart to find out how to gain the nourishment each Bible passage has for your life. 

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Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

Treasured One, 

Before you were born . . . even before I created the world . . . I loved you (Ephesians 1:4). Loving you was not something I felt I had to do out of obligation. No, it was my heart’s desire to love you, and loving you brought me great joy (Ephesians 1:5). In fact, I loved you so much that I gave my Son so you could be completely free to love me (Ephesians 1:6–8).

Sin cannot and will never separate us. Nothing you have done or will ever do could take away my love from you . . . therefore, you and I can have a relationship with no barriers (Ephesians 3:12). No pretending. Nothing between you and me. You cannot lose me. Not even death can separate us (Romans 8:38). 

The Use of New Wine in Old Wineskins

Jesus invited her to place her confidence in him and rest from her self-efforts, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform her heart from within. He brought her new wineskins to carry the covenant. 

However, she clutched tightly to her old wineskins, afraid of change. 

I must pour this new wine into my old wineskins, she thought. I will depend on Jesus, yes . . . and on myself. 

Her mix of self-efforts and faith in Jesus gave her a false sense of security. She thought she could control her world . . . but she couldn’t. Eventually, her old wineskins burst, and her new wine spilled out.  

Her life had not been easy. She had been wounded long before, but she had determined to survive—alone. I must be strong to protect myself from pain, she vowed, and that vow became her religion. She was so busy trying to be strong and shielding herself from grief that she didn’t give to Jesus what He truly desired: her pain.

• Her burdens.
• Her weakness.
• Her needs.  

That is my story…can you relate? 

“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins” (Mark 2:22). 

The old wineskins represent our efforts to be good enough to win God’s favor. To work things out on our own. To earn love by keeping the law. But the new wineskins represent the new approach by grace brought to us by Jesus and a new way of walking – by faith in his power. 

The Healing of a Paralyzed Man

When, in the second chapter of Mark, the men lowered their paralytic friend through the ceiling to Jesus so that he could be healed, Jesus was impressed with their persistent faith—they proved that they would do whatever it took to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus.  

Walking by faith does not mean a lack of action or responsibility on our end. The men took action because of their faith in Jesus. Faith and action always walk hand in hand (James 2:14-26). 

We intercept our insecurities through deeper intimacy with Jesus. And deeper intimacy inspires the trust to walk by faith.

We follow Jesus out of love.

We are connected to him through trust and love, not control.  

As the Holy Spirit prompts us and we respond, we find ourselves moving away from self-sufficiency towards complete dependence on God. This movement towards him not only impacts our lives but also the lives around us.

We take hold of God’s purpose for our lives by being led by the Holy Spirit to become all he has created us to be. “I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees.” (Ezekiel 36:27)

This is not a call to legalism or fixed formulas but an invitation to follow Jesus so that the greatest story—the gospel of Jesus Christ—can be told. 

Nourish Scripture: Mark 2 

Download Nourishing Your Heart so you can connect with God’s Word and take hold of his purpose for your life!

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Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.

Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him. Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened.

“What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” The news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee. (Mark 1:21-28)

The Presence of Jesus

The presence of Jesus was captivating. Many traveling rabbis came to teach in the synagogues, but this man’s words carried power.

Who was he?

His teaching came with authority.

His presence brought peace and order.

His words pushed evil away, and the people were amazed.

His power was paired with compassion that moved him to heal the hurting and touch the untouchable. People followed Jesus everywhere. His teaching and touch captivated the hearts of those he would save.  

Jesus is still captivating hearts today.   

As Jesus captures our hearts with his words, we capture the life we were created to live. 

Pausing from life’s pressures to spend time with Jesus through prayer is a gift. We learn to trust as we learn more about the one who is trustworthy. Time with Jesus is essential to the health of our souls. Knowing God, seeking him through his Word and prayer – pausing and pulling away to experience his presence is powerful.  

The presence of Jesus freed the man controlled by evil spirits in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:23-26). His testimony must have been amazing to hear. I wonder how many Sabbaths he had sat in the synagogue hoping to be delivered from the demon’s control.  

While going to the synagogue was a good thing, it was the power of Jesus’s presence that set him free.  

The Power of Connecting with Jesus

Attending church is a wonderful part of our Christian faith, but only connecting with Jesus can free us from the life-controlling issues we face. Religion has no real power to change us – only by connecting with Jesus through a relationship are we set free. God is not merely a rule maker – he is a heart-changer. 

Jesus came to set us free from anything that seeks to control us.

• Anger.
• Worry.
• Depression.
• Insecurity. 
• An addiction. 

The demon of an unforgiving spirit. Jesus has the power to release whatever is controlling you so can be free to follow him. 

That day in Capernaum, Jesus silenced the evil and freed the man with his stern and passionate command to the demon: “Come out of him!” (Mark 1:25). Jesus is as passionate about bringing rest to your soul as he was to free this man. As you sit in the healing presence of Jesus, he will set you free from negative forces with the power of the Holy Spirit 

Sometimes rescue is immediate—as it was for the man at Capernaum. Other times, it is a process. We must trust Jesus to transform us in his way and in his time (Philippians 1:6). When we abide in him, we bear fruit that matters (John 15:5).  

• Rest.
• Healing.
• Direction.
• Restoration.
• Transformation.

Find all of this and more as you turn away from your busy schedules to pause, pray and come into the healing presence of Jesus.  

Nourish Scripture: Mark 1  

Come into the healing presence of Jesus by downloading Nourishing Your Heart and discovering how to THRIVE on God’s Word.

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Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.