The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Zeal

Welcome to
​The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

​We will use the alphabet as an acrostic and study topics like: Abide, Beloved, Calling, Delight, Endure, Faithful, Garment, Hunger, Increase, Justice, Kindness, Light, Manna, Name, Ordain, Path, Quench, Ransom, Salt, Testify, Upright, Vanity, Wait, Yield, and Zeal.

Every week, we’ll discover a different topic. Each topic is accompanied by five Scripture verses—one for each weekday. The Bible Study has a page for each verse. Those spaces will invite you to write the verses out and journal what you’ve learned.

Every time I read God’s Word I learn something new. I also find that Scripture writing really helps me meditate, and as I meditate, God always shows me just what I need for that day—it’s AMAZING!​

I pray you’ll join us and learn new and exciting things too from His Word.

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​This Week We're Looking at Zeal

​I’d never been busier or more excited about serving God.

Between church activities, a group Bible study, and helping with a Christian ministry, I barely had time for anything else, including prayer and personal Bible study.

Before long, something seemed off. First, I felt myself getting edgy and stressed. Then, I started grumbling about nearly everything. Something was wrong, and I knew it. But what could be wrong when my life was going so right?

After all, wasn’t I supposed to be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14)? And I certainly was. I was oozing with zeal.
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• Enthusiasm
• Zest
• Devotion

The problem was, I had “zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2-3). In other words, I had a zeal for the things of God. But not for God Himself.

The Bible makes it clear that we can be religious and wrong. The apostle Paul serves as our example of someone who was devoted, but to the wrong thing. “As to zeal, [he was] a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:6).

Paul was persecuting Christians―even to the point of death―because he was zealous to do what he thought was the right thing. That’s what happens when we’re busy as bees, zealous about doing things "in the name of Jesus" (2 Kings 10:16)―but not zealous about knowing Him. 

We’re saved by the gift of grace, and that means there’s a relationship between us and Christ. So, if we spend all our time looking around for something to do for Jesus, we may find Him saying simply, “Look at Me.”

Our wholehearted devotion to Christ can be dampened by many good things. That’s why He told the rich young ruler, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me” (Mark 10:21).

Following Jesus is everything. That’s why He calls us to Himself over and over again. “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19, Isaiah 26:11).

In other words, we should get rid of everything that competes with our devotion to Jesus Himself because nothing else matters more.

No matter how sincerely we mistake loving the things of God for loving Him, they’ll never satisfy us. Only He will.

My grumpy attitude was a red flag. It didn’t take me long to realize all the good things I was doing hadn’t left me enough time for the best thing.

That’s when I finally stepped away from my busy calendar, got alone with the Lord, and repented of my half-hearted devotion to Him. With a renewed heart and a changed attitude, I committed to love Him first.

Then I got busy with His simple instruction: “Follow Me.”

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Cindy really learned to rely on Jesus as her source of strength and experienced the sufficiency of Christ in a way that changed her forever during the early years of marriage. During those years, her husband worked abroad for long stretches of time. With three daughters to raise, at times she felt exhausted, lonely, and full of self-doubt. 

God used that experience to give her the desire to write so that women would see and understand the beauty and sufficiency of Jesus in their everyday lives.

Today, she calls those three beautiful daughters her best friends, and her sons-in-laws are some of the funnest men and best dads.

Her husband works stateside now. Together, they flip houses and spend time with their eight grandchildren. One of the highlights of her year is hosting Camp Camp for all the cousins. 

Cindy writes, "Next to my Bible, the things I can’t live without are lipstick, hairspray, and popcorn (in that order!). I’m pretty passionate about ice cream, too."

FOLLOW HER HERE
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​​The ABCs of God's Love Letter Scripture Memory Cards

The ABCs of God's Love Letter Bible Study is accompanied by a collection of 25 5 X 5 Scripture Memory Cards. We'll utilize this great tool to help us memorize a Scripture verse once a week that goes with the topic we're studying that week. Hiding God's Word in our heart is so important!

These square press prints are printed on thick, high-quality, matte art paper and include a small white border. They are available here in our Etsy shop. But WAIT, there's more! Just for you —> ​Use code SAVE50 at checkout for 50% OFF your entire order. FREE SHIPPING on orders $35 or more, otherwise, shipping is just $2.00, as always! ​

CHECK OUT THESE SCRIPTURE MEMORY CARDS

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​What does Zeal mean to you?