ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED

      A Devotional Bible Study for Women on Finding Healing and Wholeness in God’s Love

      House of Prisca and Aquila Series

      Copyright © 2008 Leslie Ann McKinney. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock, 199 W. 8th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401.

      ISBN 13: 978-1-55635-936-1

      EISBN 13: 978-1-4982-7561-3

      Manufactured in the U.S.A.

      Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      © Robert Milek / 123RF

      The House of Prisca and Aquila

      Our mission at the House of Prisca and Aquila is to produce quality books that expound accurately the word of God to empower women and men to minister together in a multicultural church. Our writers have a positive view of the Bible as God’s revelation that affects both thoughts and words, so it is plenary, historically accurate, and consistent in itself; fully reliable; and authoritative as God’s revelation. Because God is true, God’s revelation is true, inclusive to men and women and speaking to a multicultural church, wherein all the diversity of the church is represented within the parameters of egalitarianism and inerrancy.

      The word of God is what we are expounding, thereby empowering women and men to minister together in all levels of the church and home. The reason we say women and men together is because that is the model of Prisca and Aquila, ministering together to another member of the church—Apollos: “Having heard Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and more accurately expounded to him the Way of God” (Acts 18:26). True exposition, like true religion, is by no means boring—it is fascinating. Books that reveal and expound God’s true nature “burn within us” as they elucidate the Scripture and apply it to our lives.

      This was the experience of the disciples who heard Jesus on the road to Emmaus: “Were not our hearts burning while Jesus was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32). We are hoping to create the classics of tomorrow: significant and accessible trade and academic books that “burn within us.”

      Our “house” is like the home to which Prisca and Aquila no doubt brought Apollos as they took him aside. It is like the home in Emmaus where Jesus stopped to break bread and reveal his presence. It is like the house built on the rock of obedience to Jesus (Matt 7:24). Our “house,” as a euphemism for our publishing team, is a home where truth is shared and Jesus’ Spirit breaks bread with us, nourishing all of us with his bounty of truth.

      We are delighted to work together with Wipf and Stock in this series and welcome submissions on a wide variety of topics from an egalitarian inerrantist global perspective. The House of Prisca and Aquila is also a ministry center affiliated with the International Council of Community Churches.

      For more information, visit www.houseofpriscaandaquila.com.

      To All God’s Daughters

      May you come to know and experience for yourselves the depth of God’s unconditional love and acceptance. (Ephesians 3:15–17)

      In Loving Memory of my husband, Rutherford Hayes McKinney

      Acknowledgements

      The Lord gave me the desire to write Accepted in the Beloved and granted me the grace, perseverance, and wisdom to finish the task. God’s unending goodness and incredible love never cease to amaze me. For her constant critique, care, listening ear, and hours of time, I am immensely thankful to Karen Smith, my dear seminary friend and sister in the Lord. She is graced with wisdom, gentle with criticism, and a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to Aída Besançon Spencer, mentor, ministry colleague, and friend, for her exemplary scholarship, constant encouragement, and hours of editing. Her profession of teaching women to exegete properly the word of truth and of training and encouraging women to lead has transformed my life. For her passion for teaching, encouraging, and preparing women leaders in the church, and for offering women the opportunity to pursue their dreams and fulfill their callings in Christ, I am thankful and indebted to Alice P. Mathews. For her hours of time, her expert editing skills, and her thoughtful critique of my work, I am thankful to Deb Beatty Mel. Her calming spirit and peace-filled heart have encouraged me to keep moving forward with steadiness and persistence. Finally, I am grateful to my husband, Hayes McKinney, for his love, support, and willingness to let me follow God’s lead in my life, enabling me to pursue my studies over these last years.

      About This Study

      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.