Category: From the Insideout

Posted in Bible study, Enduring Hope, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Quiet Time

This Is My Fate

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Enduring Hope, An LGG Study / Week 2 Hope In GOd’s Character
Today’s Reading /Psalm 77 / SOAP Psalm 77:9-13

Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has his anger stifled his compassion?” (Selah)

Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought
that the Most High might become inactive.
11 I will remember the works of the Lord.
Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago.
12 I will think about all you have done;
I will reflect upon your deeds.”
13  O God, your deeds are extraordinary.

Psalm 77:10-13 NET

Note the ‘I wills’ of this Psalm. These are important resolves of the believer’s life and crucial to winning the battles of lies and doubts.

While God will never leave us or forsake us, there may be times when it seems that He has. It is in these times we must resolve to REMEMBER the works of His hands. If we don’t act quickly the enemy will gain a foothold with fiery darts of lies and doubt. I truly believe God-directed praise is an assault weapon against our enemy,(2 Chronicles 20:22), both in the physical and spiritual realms. For this reason, we must stop and give God praise – and remember His great faithfulness! We must count our blessings – the things God has done for us. I have found it truly helps, as the old hymn says, to “name the blessings one-by-one”. As I do this, I find myself – not only standing in awe of what God has done but I also notice that the enemy is silenced as my focus is redirected from the fears, concerns, and temptations of this world toward God.

Whether it is the enemy or the situations of our lives we must be careful not to allow them to distract us from the truths and blessings of God.

Me from the Inside out
A Comparison

Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he slammed the door on his compassion? Interlude

10 And I said, “This is my fate;
    the Most High has turned his hand against me.”
11 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
    I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
    I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.

13 O God, your ways are holy.
    Is there any god as mighty as you?

Psalm 77:9-13 NLT

I wanted to make sure that I was correct in my understanding of the phrase, “I am sickened by the thought that the Most High might become inactive.” So, I checked out the passage in the NLT translation and I decided to share the comparison because I think it best describes the ‘fiery darts’ of lies and doubt and why we may fall prey to the enemy. You see, when we buy the lie that God treats us as we deserve we forget that “His compassions are new every morning and His faithfulness is great”, (Lamentations 3:19-24). We forget or bury the truth that we do deserve such “a fate” – but in His great mercy He saved us and does not treat us as we deserve! Psalm 103:10-14. Both translations of Psalm 77: 9-13 make it equally clear that our response to the thought or feeling that God has somehow turned against us or become inactive in our lives must be to fix our thoughts on God, to remember who He is, what He’s done, what He has said, and what He desires. Only when we do this will we have the hope of standing against the lies of the enemy.

A Song For Worship: We will remember
Going Further

2 Chronicles 20:1-24

Lamentations 3:19-24

Psalm 103:10-14

Joshua 6

Posted in Bible study, Enduring Hope, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Quiet Time

Hope in the Lord

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Enduring Hope, An LGG Study / Week 2 Hope In God’s Character
Today’s Reading / Psalm 31 / SOAP Psalm 31:24

So be strong and courageous,
    all you who put your hope in the Lord!

Psalm 31:24

Sadly, we live in a fallen world. We live in a world where we have to call out to the Lord to vindicate us, to rescue us, to deliver us, and protect us. We need a refuge to run to and a stronghold to trust in. We are reminded in today’s passage and throughout the Bible that our God, the true and living God, is faithful. We can entrust our lives to Him because He is faithful; and we can rejoice in His faithfulness for He notices our pain and is aware when we are in distress. He hears our cry for mercy and He protects us from the enemy and enables us to stand even when we are weak.

Regardless of the things or people who come against us we can trust in the Lord our God, for He determines our destiny and rescues us from the power of our enemies, both earthly and spiritual. Your loyal followers find safe shelter in You, for You hide us under the shelter of Your wing where we are safe from the treacherous plots of the enemy and the slanderous words of men. When we are attacked from every angle we do not have to fear for we know You will hear us and come to our aid. We have tasted and seen Your goodness and Your faithfulness and have known Your rich mercies so that we can be strong and confident as we hope in You Lord.


Putting our hope in the Lord requires both strength and courage –

May this trust and the confidence that it instills in us, Your faithful followers, be a light that radiates to the world around us and draws all people to You.

Don’t forget to visit lovegodgreatly.com for todays blog

Going Further

Psalm 34:4-8

Joshua 1:9

Proverbs 16:9

Psalm 18:2

Posted in Bible study, Enduring Hope, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Quiet Time

Made Like Christ

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Enduring Hope, An LGG Study / Week 1 The Nature of Hope
Today’s Reading / 1 john 3:1-3 / SOAP 1 john 3:3

Okay ladies, the day hasn’t been bad but it had its fair share of challenges and things to get done – and well – I’m so tired my mind is muddled. I’m borrowing the devo from the LGG journal that made so much more sense of the text than I could have. My favorite part is – “as we wait , we put our hope in Jesus. He has promised to save and sanctify us, and we trust His words. When we make the active choice to put our hope in Him and His saving work in us, we are purified because we are focused on Him. And as we are made more like Christ, we grow in our understanding of God’s character, including His love –

Trust in the key. Without TRUST there is no true hope.

LGG Team Member

And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).

Posted in Enduring Hope, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time

His Love Never Fails

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Enduring Hope, An LGG Study / Week 1 The Nature of Hope
Today’s Reading / 1 Corinthians 13; 1 john 4:9-11 / SOAP 1 john 4:9-11

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:9-11

What better encouragement is there than to know – that not only did God give His only son so that we may live through Him, but God’s love never fails, or as some translations put it – His love never ends?

Paul’s list of what love is and what love isn’t (or doesn’t do) is describing God’s kind of love, a love which we are to imitate according to Jesus’ words in John 13:34. It is also worth nothing that we cannot imitate God’s love if we do not know or have not received His love. As 1 John 4:9-11 points out God’s love is a deep deep love. It is a love that thought of others over self. It is a love of action and example. It is a visible love that speaks volumes of how secure our hope is in Christ. It even gives us hope that we can love like He loves – because, as John wrote, God’s love is revealed in us.

Love is not defined by our love for God, but by the actions of His love for us.

Me -from the Inside out
How do we live this out?

I think the best answer to imitating God’s love comes from Christ Himself. We find it in His words in John 13:34 when He says, “so now I’m giving you a new commandment – love each other. Just as I have loved you should love one another.” But even better, we find it on the cross, when He willingly laid down His life – not because He deserved a sinner’s cross but because He knew it would save us from the death we deserved. – “Mercy there was grace and grace was free, pardon there was multiplied to me – there my burdened soul found liberty – at Calvary.” Dare we love like this? Dare we lay down our desires for God’s or our ‘life’ for others? If we dare – I believe others will impacted and God will be glorified.

Response to God’s Word

Father, thank You for Your Love and Jesus, thank You for Your obedience to the Father. You have set a high bar for us to imitate but we have received Your Spirit who empowers us to live and love like You did when You were here on this earth. May we live lives that are rich in love and grace – to the benefit of others and to the glory of the trinity. – In Jesus’ name – Amen and amen!

Posted in Bible study, Enduring Hope, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Quiet Time

Sickened by Lies

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Enduring Hope, An LGG Study / Week 2 Hope In GOd’s Character
Today’s Reading /Psalm 77 / SOAP Psalm 77:10-13

Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought
that the Most High might become inactive.
11 I will remember the works of the Lord.
Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago.
12 I will think about all you have done;
I will reflect upon your deeds.”
13  O God, your deeds are extraordinary.

Psalm 77:10-13
Posted in Bible study, Enduring Hope, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Quiet Time

Enduring Hope

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I cannot wait for this study to begin!!! I need the daily refreshment (the giving of fresh mental or spiritual/physical strength or energy) of this Hope in my life –

Check this out … and please share and invite a friend because everyone needs a hope that will not disappoint 💜❤️💙

A hope that allows us to live every day with joy and peace, no matter our circumstances.

“Hope is the confidence to wait on God when we cannot see the future.”

“Endurance is continuing to place our hope in the goodness of God when our circumstances tell us to give up.”

“And faith is the assurance that our hope will not disappoint us because the One who holds our hope is trustworthy.”

Join me here daily for links and blogs on the daily readings.

Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

Listen With More Than Your Ears

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Well, this has been a “full-disclosure” kind of week for me here on the blog. Sharing with you the struggle I have with listening and the love I have for words has been a bit humbling for me. So, it is good to end the study with the revelation, that as much as I enjoy words and talking, as I read through some of the words in today’s devotion, God allowed me see that I am equally comfortable to “sit in silence” and that while it is true that I love words and a good conversation, I do not feel the need to “fill every space with words,” That being said, it is obvious I still have much to work on in the listening department and have been blessed with the thoughts and instructions and Scriptures given with every point. I pray you have been as well. I hope you’ll take the time to read through this final point and truly consider that while “learning to really listen to others is hard work – for a Christ-follower, it’s vital to our mission as God’s ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation.” – Simply put, according to Gotquestions.org, “The ministry of reconciliation involves the proclamation of the gospel and its assurance that forgiveness of sin is available in Christ.” This is “the work believers have been given to do and the message they declare: ‘you can have a restored relationship with God through Jesus.” Me – from the Inside out

5. We Must Count the Cost of Remaining a Poor Listener

For some people, listening comes naturally as their personality is to be less verbal. Others may feel they have nothing to offer in a conversation, so they listen more than they speak. After all, God did give us two ears and only one mouth!

Whether we are quiet in nature or a person who is uncomfortable in silence and feels they must fill every space with words, learning to really listen to others is hard work. For a Christ-follower, however, it’s vital to our mission as God’s ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 – “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

The way we listen can either draw people toward God or push them away. Even in our attempts to tell others about Jesus, we can talk too much in the uncomfortableness of a gospel presentation. Are we focused on downloading information and our beliefs without stopping to listen to the questions people are asking? Good listening skills can help us slow down and reduce our anxiety to win a convert. Instead of talking constantly, we need to hear what the other person is sharing about their own hearts and where they are in their spiritual journey, trusting Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit will give us the right words at the right time.

Listening well tells others they are valuable to us, and illustrates they are valuable to God. Just as God patiently listens to our prayers with His heart of compassion, we must learn to listen with more than our ears. Let us humble ourselves to close our mouths often, and when we do open them, make sure we speak timely words that produce life, hope, and peace in the hearts of the listener.

Proverbs 18:21 – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time

It’s Tricky

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How Can We Model the Love of Christ through Good Listening? [part four]

If you know me then you know that I like to engage in conversation. I’m not sure why – I only know that I love words – long words, short words, descriptive words, words that make you laugh, well-used words, and uncommon words. I love to look up the meaning of words and – well, a thesaurus still thrills my soul. Actually, when my girls were growing up we would play a game where we would see how many words we could use that meant the same thing. For instance, “that’s puzzlingly” would lead to filling in the same/similar phrase with a different word that meant the same thing – like ‘what a conundrum’, or what a ‘riddle’, which led to others like mystery, baffling, confusing, perplexing, and the list would go on as far as we could take it. anyway, you get the idea – words are like a game for me.

I’m not sure when it started. I don’t remember being a particularly chatty child growing up, though I do remember enjoying listening to the adults talk at our family gatherings- (we ate Sunday dinners together often), and I enjoyed their stories and conversations – maybe that’s where it started? Who knows – the point is, and I’m sure you can tell for yourself by now – I like to use words, both spoken and written. However, here’s the thing – just because you like words doesn’t mean you always use them well. I have learned that the hard way more often than I can count. Too many words can turn people away, harsh or unkind words can offend people, too few words can leave others with the opinion that you aren’t friendly, too many challenging words, regardless of their intention, can turn into a confrontation – and again, the list goes on and on. The point is, as you will read in point four of our study – carefully considering how and when we speak is extremely important. This can be particularly challenging when you like words. – it seems that the love of words can be both a blessing and a curse. but as I’m finding through this study, rising to the challenge may be difficult but the result will be unbelievingly beneficial for the effectiveness of our words. Me – from the Inside Out 🦋

As posted on biblestudytools.com

by – Sheila Alewine

4. After Listening, We Must Carefully Consider How and When We Speak

A good listener must become a good “responder” so that the conversation has an effective outcome. Listening doesn’t end when the other person has finished speaking. The goal isn’t that both of you “say your piece” and walk away, unchanged or with no better understanding of one another. How we respond in one conversation lays the foundation for the continuing relationship we want to build, as a bridge to share the gospel and model the love of Christ.

Sometimes we may not need to respond to a comment, but choose to fight that battle on another day, in a better setting and in another way. At other times, God provides an opportunity to speak words of grace and truth at just the right time. Our words are a reflection on the Savior we profess faith in and speak on behalf of. [Our words] should always leave an accurate impression of the character of Jesus, even when the truth may convict or challenge the listener.

Ecclesiastes 3:7b – “A time to be silent and a time to speak.”

Proverbs 15:28 – “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.”

Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

2 Timothy 2:14 – “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.”

Ephesians 4:29-30 – “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Proverbs 12:17-18 – “He who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness, deceit. There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Prayer Starters, Quiet Time

God’s Way of Listening

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How Can We Model the Love of Christ through Good Listening? [part three]

“God invites us to cast all our cares and anxieties on Him, because He truly cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).” – If you’ve read many of my posts or heard me teach, you know this is one of my favorite go-to-verses. The knowledge that God cares for us and invites us to bring Him “all of our cares and anxieties” truly changed my life in my late teens and again in my early thirties. This is when I learned that God actually, invites us to “cast our cares/anxieties”, [get rid of them] or – to [let Him handle them]. This means trusting Him with it all and leaving it all at His feet – knowing that He is able to do so and believing He cares about us enough to do it. He has set the example of listening. You can read all the ways He does this and the great depths He went to, to make it happen in this third part of our series on listening. Me – from the Inside Out 🦋

As posted on biblestudytools.com

by – Sheila Alewine

We Must Practice God’s Way of Listening

One of the greatest privileges afforded to those who have placed their faith in Jesus is the opportunity to take the concerns of our heart to the Father. God invites us to cast all our cares and anxieties on Him, because He truly cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We are invited to draw near to His throne to find grace and mercy in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). This invitation is extended only on the merits of the finished work of Christ on the cross, who literally opened the way into God’s presence by His sacrifice (Ephesians 2:17-18; 3:11-12).

God loves to hear the prayers of His children. He longs to be gracious to us (Isaiah 30:18). He has made Himself available and accessible to hear our prayers anytime and at any place. When we approach Him to pour out our concerns, we can be assured He hears, He listens, and He has compassion on us.

As our perfect example, we must strive to imitate the patience and compassion of God in our interactions and conversations with others. Just as we desire and long for God’s face to be inclined toward us when we pray, we ought to give others that same attention.

Psalm 40:1 – “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.”

James 1:19-20, 26 – “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. … If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”

Matthew 7:12 – “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time

Be A Good Listener

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Modeling the love of Christ through Good Listening [Part 2] – if you missed part 1 please click here –

Yesterday – we focused on listening to God first. This is the first step because it helps us to develop and sharpen our spiritual maturity – which is a necessary component of being a good listener. It is also vital to not just listen to others but we must learn the art of listening and practice it faithfully. Which, as we will see today, requires humility. I also believe it is helpful to have a faithful friend – or two – that will hold you accountable to this end. I can tell you the skill most definitely takes humility and can be frustrating and humbling – but God is faithful and able to accomplish in us what He has purposed for us to do. Me – from the inside-out🦋

2. We Must Humble Ourselves to Be Good Listeners

Listening requires humility. Have you ever found yourself formulating an answer while the other person is still speaking? Pride causes us to focus on what we want to say instead of really listening to the words of others. Listening shows respect for others’ thoughts and ideas, affirming them as valuable in God’s eyes. We are to clothe ourselves in humility (1 Peter 5:5), and following the example of Jesus, consider others as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

In the book of Proverbs, we find the terms “word” or “words” more than forty times; “mouth” appears at least forty-six times. This shows us that how we use our words is a key indicator of whether we are wise or foolish, righteous, or unrighteous. Pride speaks in haste; humility shows restraint. The wise man will humble himself to hear and increase in learning (Proverbs 1:5).

Proverbs 18:2, 13 – “A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind. … He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.”

Proverbs 17:27-28 – “He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.”

Proverbs 29:20 – “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

Make it personal:

I don’t know about you but this step is quite difficult for me. Seriously, I am totally the person that formulates an answer while the other person is still speaking. – Sad thing is, I thought this was a good thing – YIKES!

  • What about you? Is this step easy or difficult for you?