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The Bible study Accepted in the Beloved is based on Ephesians 1:6, which says, “To the praise of his glorious grace in which he has made us accepted in the beloved” (Webster Bible). Accepted in the Beloved is written for all of God’s daughters who have suffered any form of abuse and who long to know and experience the intimate love and acceptance of God.

The study includes six topical lessons, one for each of six weeks, written to encourage healing, growth, and transformation. Each of the six weekly lessons includes three different sections: Learning God’s Truth, Experiencing God, and Sharing God’s Love. Learning God’s Truth is designed to take you through a study of God’s word in order to enlighten your minds to God’s truth. The second section, Experiencing God, is designed to help you grow through contemplative exercises in order to foster deeper heart knowledge of God’s truth and spiritual transformation. Sharing God’s Love, the third section, is designed to encourage you to reach out beyond yourself as you apply what you have learned. A rose, a symbol of God’s love, is placed throughout each lesson of the study to indicate a break in the study and to provide time to reflect in your journal any thoughts or feelings that arise during the exercises or in response to the questions.

Individual Participation

As with anything, the more you put into the study, the more you will gain. As you participate in the study, it is important to practice three important principles.

Pray without ceasing

Make prayer a critical part of this study and your healing journey. Ask God to guide you as you seek to learn and be transformed by God’s truth. If possible, additionally engage others to pray for you during the six-week period, because prayer is powerful and can be an important key to unlocking the doors to your emotional and spiritual freedom. Pray for strength, healing, growth, transformation, a deeper revelation of God’s love and acceptance, and for God to lead and guide you each day as you read and study God’s word, as you experience God through practicing the contemplative exercises, and as you reach out to others in need.

Be diligent in study

The word of God is powerful and will bring life-renewing changes as you read, study, and apply it to your everyday life. Please take as much time as you need to study God’s truth and answer the questions. Doing the necessary work will benefit you greatly in the end. Remember, healing takes time, so be gentle with yourself and stay faithful to the process.

Reflect through journaling and contemplation

It is recommended that you keep a separate journal as you work through this bible study, to record any important and powerful thoughts, feelings, and reflections Journaling opens the door to healing as it allows you to process unwanted emotions and feelings. Sometimes, as you commit to writing, the floodgates of your heart open up, unleashing pent-up feelings and emotions that you never knew existed. Let your thoughts flow unhindered and try not to worry about your grammar or punctuation. This exercise is not about perfection, but rather about healing and wholeness. Allow God to minister to you as you journal and practice the contemplative exercises. Spending time in quiet and solitude will allow God to minister to you deeply and eventually free you to be the woman God created you to be as you fulfill God’s purposes for your life.

Small Group Participation and Leader’s Tips

After you complete your weekly lesson, you will meet once a week (or bi-weekly if that works better) for group discussion, sharing, questions, and prayer. Small group participation can help solidify God’s truth in your heart and mind, allow you the space to be yourself, and provide the opportunity to experience authentic Christian community.

About the Leader

The woman who leads the group should have past experience in leading small groups and feel called of God to encourage healing and wholeness in others. She should be a woman of faith who is sensitive, loving, a good listener, prayerful, and a servant leader.

Tips for the Leader

It is important if you are meeting in a weekly (or bi-weekly) group that you keep the group open to receiving new members for two consecutive weeks only. After the second group meeting, it is wise to close the group to new members in order for the group to grow in developing trust, cohesiveness, and safe intimate sharing. It is also important for each participant to have experienced a certain measure of inner healing in her heart and life in order to gain the most out of the material and contemplative exercises.

When you meet as a group, it is not necessary to go over every question and answer for each lesson, but only the highlights. Pick several questions for each lesson and ask the women to share their answers. The goal is for the women to understand the topic or theme of each lesson and apply what they are learning to their lives. Be creative as you lead; be open to God as God leads through you. Pray before you begin each meeting.

Tips for Group Members

If possible, practice three key principles as you gather together.

Be true to yourself

Honesty and openness create intimacy with God and others. When you have suffered abuse, trust takes time to develop. A safe and loving group will enable you to be yourself as you begin to share from your heart. Stay true to your thoughts and feelings as you express them within the group. This is one place where you do not have to be perfect in order to be loved and accepted—just be yourself. You may be pleasantly surprised when God uses this group experience to help you understand yourself better through the lives of others.

Give others space to share their stories

Sharing your story as you answer questions and participate within the group is important. In fact, it is so important that God created space within this group for you to be able to share openly and freely. It is also important for others to be able to share their stories with you. Try to be considerate of others’ needs to share—your intentional love, care, time, and active listening will encourage healing in others. One of the most powerful means of healing is through community.

Patiently wait on God for your healing

The healing process takes time. Learn to be gentle, patient, and loving with yourself as you participate in this Bible study and small group. God is capable of miraculously healing anyone, but, often, God chooses to heal over time. When you wait on God for your healing, amazing things can happen. You can get to know yourself better, and you can become more acquainted with God and his gracious and loving ways. These are two good reasons to continue to wait on God’s timing for your healing.

Suggested Questions for the Leader for Each Lesson

1. What would you most like to get out of this Bible study? (This is for lesson 1 only, to understand where people are on their journey of healing.)

2. How did the Learning God’s Truth section go for you? What did you learn? How do you need to grow? Which question might you like to share?

3. What were some important truths you learned?

4. Do you have any questions about the material studied?

5. How was the Experiencing God exercise for you? Share your thoughts and experiences.

6. Did God speak to your heart? What did God say to you? What may God want you to learn?

7. Was the Experiencing God exercise a freeing experience for you? Please share.

8. Were you able to practice reaching out to someone this week? If so, how did this go for you?

Close by praying for all members. Be open to God’s leading, and, if others are open, have them pray for one another.

May you enjoy the study as you work through painful life experiences. May you grow in the knowledge of God’s amazing love and acceptance. You are so worth the time and effort because you are uniquely created in the image of God!