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Aging With Grace: Week One

6/7/2022

23 Comments

 
Maybe you’re like me. At first glance, it sounds like “Aging with #Grace” is a subject for the ag-ed, but I need to remind you that whether we are 18 or 98, all of us are #aging and therefore need to be aging gracefully. ​For years this was not me. Nearing my senior year of college, I was teetering on the edge of childhood and adulthood and resisting the latter. It seems crazy now, but I shed many tears, because I did not want to become an adult. This was a lack of trust in God’s design for me.

Join us for our Summer 2022
​Book Club-Style Bible Study

We are using the book Aging With Grace
​
by Sharon W. Betters and Susan Hunt.
“Where we look determines what we worship, and what we worship determines what we become.” —Aging With Grace
How would you like to learn how to age with grace with us this summer, friend? I have done this study, and let me tell you, it is not just for older women! We are all aging, even if you're 18 years old, you're aging, and we all want to do it with grace, right? Join me here or eight weeks this summer on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 est beginning June 7 through July 26.
Aging With Grace banner
​​If you can't join us on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 est, join us when you can.
​

Whatever season of life you’re in, God has equipped you to flourish—to live in the transforming power and beauty of His grace. As we age, we can easily lose sight of this message as cultural ideals glorifying youth take center stage.

In the book, 
Aging With Grace, Sharon W. Betters and Susan Hunt offer present-day and biblical examples of women who rediscovered Gospel-rooted joy in their lives. Equipped with a biblical view of aging, Aging with Grace will help you encounter afresh the Gospel that “is big enough, good enough, and powerful enough to make every season of life significant and glorious.”

Aging With Grace: ​Wonder and Worship

Maybe you’re like me. At first glance, it sounds like “Aging with Grace” is a subject for the ag-ed, but before you click off, I need to remind you that whether we are 18 or 98, all of us are aging and therefore need to be aging gracefully.

​For years this was not me. Nearing my senior year of college, I was teetering on the edge of childhood and adulthood and resisting the latter. It seems crazy now, but I shed many tears, because I did not want to become an adult. This was a lack of trust in God’s design for me.
Many reach a certain age and think life is over. It has been reported that 80 percent of those over 70 believe they are living their most non-productive years. They feel useless. But we don’t want those last years of life to be lived in survival mode. Instead, we want to thrive, becoming more beautiful on the inside and more useful the older we get. We must prepare for these years right now. Live our lives with the end in mind.

In this anti-aging culture, we as children of the Heavenly Kingdom, want to stand out as different. Instead of resisting the natural process of aging, we must embrace each season of life – early adulthood all the way to our senior years, while at the same time learning to rejoice and love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds.   

Our reference point for life will never be our age, but it will always be God, and our authority, the Word of God.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
This process of aging with grace, the Bible calls “growing in grace.”

2 Peter 3:18 states, ​
“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever.”
Psalm 92 gives insight into aging gracefully. It is a song sung by God’s people on the Sabbath after they had gone into exile. God had brought them through many trials, and their faith had been stretched, giving them a more mature perspective on life. They end this song with rejoicing and confidence that the righteous will flourish in old age (verses 12-15). ​
It’s almost unthinkable. Fruitful? Fresh and green? This kind of thinking would transform the people’s thoughts about the elderly. It transformed the way the elderly saw themselves. “Fresh and green” because their hearts had been given over to the Lord in worship. They seemed to glow with God’s glory.
This is such a beautiful thing to see, but we’ve also seen the opposite—elderly Christians who are fearful, withdrawn, and bitter. There is no special formula, that if you do A, B, and C, you will glow with God’s glory in old age, but Psalm 98 does contain habits that will result in continued fruitfulness as the years pass.
"It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
    to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

to declare Your steadfast love in the morning,
    and Your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute and the harp,
    to the melody of the lyre.

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your work;
    at the works of Your hands I sing for joy."

​Psalm 92:1-4
  1. If we want to flourish, it’s going to begin with our knowledge of who God is. This is found in His Word, and it is contained in His names. 

    Notice the two names for God in Psalm 92:1. “LORD”: the Hebrew name, Yahweh; God’s covenant name, and “Most High”: Sovereign; Superior in power, strength, and authority.

    God made a covenant with His people. He repeats it over and over in scripture. “I will be your God. You will be My people. I will live among you.” We could say it is also the believer’s story-line. It’s the promise we should never forget.

    Get to know all of God’s promises. Get to know His character through His names and His Word, and get to know your identity in Christ. This will ground you in the troublesome times of life. It will help you age gracefully.  

  2. If we want to flourish, we must be believers who are characterized by gratitude.

    You may remember the phrase that is repeated throughout the first chapter of Genesis concerning God's creation: “God saw that it was good.”

    Here in Psalm 92, we see something else that God describes as good. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name.”

    Whatever God allows in our lives is good because it is for our good (Romans 8:28 and 29). When we believe this and respond to trials with thanksgiving and praise, this trust will soften our hearts and sweeten our lives.

  3. If we want to flourish, we must abide in Christ.

    Verse 2 of Psalm 92 tells us something else that is good. It is good to declare His steadfast love in the morning and His faithfulness at night.

    What do your mornings and evenings look like? Are you abiding in Him? Can you say, He is my life. There is no time where I take a break from God. He is the vine, and as a branch, I must constantly remain attached to receive nutrients in order to produce fruit. (John 15). Abiding results in flourishing.

  4. If we want to flourish, we must delight in our God.

    Verse 4 of Psalm 92 says, “For You, Oh Lord, have made me glad by Your work. At the works of Your hands I sing for joy.”

    Doesn’t this remind you of Psalm 100 verse 2? “Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!”

    ​When we serve God and see His hand at work through us, taking no credit but giving Him the glory, it makes us glad. It thrills our souls. We are only vessels being used to accomplish the purposes of our great God. At the works of His hands we sing for joy!
Begin now. Know your God through the Scriptures. Live with a spirit of gratitude for all things He allows in your life. Abide in Him, staying connected to Him at all times. Delight and be glad in the works of the Lord. And while you are at it, sing for joy as you live out His will for your life on this earth.

Without a doubt, each year will grow sweeter, and the beauty of the Lord God will be upon you as you age.

Age gracefully!
Julie
I love this quote: "We are only vessels being used to accomplish the purposes of our great God." It fully embodies who I want to be—a vessel used to accomplish His purpose. How are you aging with grace today, friend?
Read Aging With Grace: Week Two

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Please Share
23 Comments
Michele Morin link
6/7/2022 09:29:35 am

I absolutely loved this book!

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/7/2022 03:27:09 pm

I do too, Michele, and I'm super excited to go through the study again! I think God knows I need these reminders, daily!!

Reply
Mary Geisen link
6/7/2022 09:58:50 am

Aging is an area that has taken me a lot of years to enjoy and accept. I know the book study will be wonderful. I have heard the authors interviewed on several podcasts and loved them.

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/7/2022 03:28:51 pm

I have not heard them interviewed on any podcasts. I'm going to have to do a search for that. I feel like I know them well and hearing their sweet voices, I'm sure, would be a blessing. Thanks for the heads up!!

Reply
Jan link
6/7/2022 11:01:57 am

I love "abide"-not a visitor, not in and out occasionally, but rather a constant dweller! Thk you for this encouragement

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/7/2022 03:30:28 pm

I love both of those words Jan—abide and dwell! :)

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1

Reply
Lauren Renee Sparks link
6/7/2022 11:10:51 am

The book is beautiful!

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/7/2022 03:31:15 pm

It's a special study, Lauren!! I'm so glad to be going through it again.

Reply
Debbie Wilson link
6/7/2022 12:09:17 pm

I pray my latter years will be my best year and, like Moses, I can finish strong!

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/7/2022 03:32:26 pm

That's a great prayer, Debbie. It's one we all should pray. I never want to feel useless. Especially when it comes to the things of God.

Reply
Maryleigh link
6/7/2022 01:08:06 pm

Just ordered the book! You are so right - it is important to live fully and joyfully as we age! Hoping to be able to join you!

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/7/2022 03:33:34 pm

YEA! You're going to love it, Maryleigh!

Reply
Barbara Harper link
6/7/2022 02:32:07 pm

You did a great job summing up this first chapter. One sentence that stood out to me from this chapter was "The promise of growth does not mock my physical reality; it transcends it."

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/7/2022 03:49:13 pm

"The promise of growth does not mock my physical reality; it transcends it." <— That IS a great quote, Barbara. :)

Reply
Amber link
6/8/2022 07:23:40 am

I'm in my 30's and really enjoyed this book! I like this summary of this first chapter, it gives us a great perspective on how to flourish in the season we're in.

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/8/2022 09:35:43 am

That's one thing I love about this book—it's for ALL ages!! We're all aging, and we all want to do it with grace. In my small group, where I first discovered Aging With Grace, we have girls of all ages and the book was appropriate for all of us.

Reply
Joanne Viola link
6/8/2022 03:46:23 pm

"This process of aging with grace, the Bible calls “growing in grace.” "
Read this post yesterday and this one sentence has stayed with me. It is so true. I want to do both!

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/8/2022 04:55:47 pm

I love that quote, Joanne! I want both too! :) I want to grow in grace as I age with grace.

Reply
Julie
6/8/2022 09:48:48 pm

Me too, Joanne. Always making progress. Going forward and not backward. Maturing spiritually as I am maturing physically. That verse that contains “growing in grace” goes on to say “…and in the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ.” They go together❤️

Reply
Laura Thomas link
6/9/2022 06:31:11 pm

I love everything about this post! Embracing the season I'm in with gratitude and delight! 🤗 Stopping by from #tuneinthursday

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/10/2022 07:48:34 am

It's a great series, Laura! Next week is all about Anna. I love her story. She's a biblical character that we don't focus on too often because the Bible really doesn't have that much to say about her, but what it does reveal about her life is so, so powerful! We have much to learn from her example! Stay tuned...

Reply
PaulaShort link
6/10/2022 05:39:17 pm

I've been wanting to get this book, it's sitting in my Amazon wish list. I love your week one summary.
Visiting today from Tell His Story #20
Also, I wanted to invite you to link up with my newly launched monthly link up Sweet Tea & Friends
Link can be found in my post. Blessings my friend.

Reply
Patsy Burnette link
6/12/2022 10:56:47 am

Thank you, Paula! I am going to check that out!! :)

Reply

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