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Friendship: Week 5, Tuesday — Outer Circle, Inner Circle

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READ: MARK 3:13-19, 5:37, AND 9:2-8 SOAP: MARK 9:2

Even Jesus needed a few close friends – –

Read the rest of the LGG Devotional here

Mark 3:13-19 Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles

Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. 14 Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach, 15 giving them authority to cast out demons. 16 These are the twelve he chose:

Simon (whom he named Peter),
17 James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”),
18 Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Thaddaeus,
Simon (the zealot),
19 Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

Mark 5:37 New Living Translation

Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).

Mark 9:2-8 New Living Translation

The Transfiguration

Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.

5 Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials[a]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.

7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them.

REFLECTION QUESTION: WHY IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE AN “INNER CIRCLE” OF FRIENDS?
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Friendship: Week 4, Friday –The Importance of Love

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READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 13, PROVERBS 12:26; SOAP: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7

Love Is the Greatest –

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13 (NLT)

We all need to be reminded that if we truly love our friends – then we will treat them the way true love does.

Read the rest of today’s devotional

The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray. Proverbs 12:26 NLT

WHAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY? Scroll down to share your thoughts
Personal Reflection Questions:
What does it mean that love rejoices with the truth?
How can you live this out in friendships?
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Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Friendship: Week 3, Wednesday A Friend Who is Trustworthy

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READ: PROVERBS 11:13; SOAP: PROVERBS 11:13

Proverbs 11:13 New Living Translation

A gossip goes around telling secrets,
    but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE-AWAY? Would love to hear what you think – simply use the reply box

Gossip can cause more damage than we realize –

read the full devotional

And don’t miss the latest Love God Greatly Blog Post

https://lovegodgreatly.com/lgg-blog/

REFLECTION QUESTION: WHAT DO WE RISK DESTROYING WHEN WE GOSSIP? Answers are welcomed in the Reply Box

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Friendship: Week 3, Monday — The Golden Rule

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READ: LUKE 6:31-36; SOAP: LUKE 6:31

Luke 6:31-36 New Living Translation

Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE AWAY? (scroll down and leave a reply)

Don’t forget to read the Blog and Devotional from Love God Greatly

REFLECTION QUESTION: HOW DO YOU WANT OTHERS TO TREAT YOU?

Feel free to share your answer in the comment bar
Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Friendship: Week 2, Friday –Support In a Broken World

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Read: Hebrews 10:24-25 and Ruth 1:16-17; SOAP: Hebrews 10:24-25
Hebrews 10:24-25 New Living Translation

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Ruth 1:16-17 New Living Translation

But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”

We can be an encouragement by our persistent friendship!

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Friendship: Week 1, Wednesday Sin’s Impact on Friendship

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READ: GENESIS 3:8-13 AND 4:6-8; SOAP: GENESIS 3:8

Genesis 3:8-13 New Living Translation

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Do you think this first sin impacted the relationship that Adam and Eve had with each other? What about with God? If so, how?

Check out today’s LGG Devotional

Genesis 4:6-8 New Living Translation

“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

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Faithful Love: Week 3 — Monday Seek His Face

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READ: HOSEA 5:1-15; PHILIPPIANS 3:18-4:1; SOAP: HOSEA 5:15

Hosea 5:1-15 — The Failure of Israel’s Leaders

5 “Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor. 2 You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done. 3 I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband;  you are utterly defiled. 4 Your deeds won’t let you return to your God.  You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord.

5 “The arrogance of Israel testifies against her;  Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them. 6 When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.

8 “Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin! 9 One thing is certain, Israel: On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble. 10 “The leaders of Judah have become like thieves.  So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall. 11 The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols. 12 I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.

13 “When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria—to the great king there— but he could neither help nor cure them. 14 I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them.

15 Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”

SOAP THIS VERSE

18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

4 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.

Philippians 3:18-4:1

Reflection Question: According to the SOAP passage, God wanted Israel (His people) to do 2, really 3 things. What were they?Ladies, remember – the answer to the reflection question and sharing your SOAP or takeaway from the day’s journey can be encouraging to the rest of us. 

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https://lovegodgreatly.com/seek-his-face/
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Jesus Our Everything: Week 6, Day 1

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Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 11:32-40 (S.O.A.P Hebrews 11:39-40)

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. 33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice,[a] gained what was promised,[b] shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire,[c] escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness,[d] became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, 35 and women received back their dead raised to life.[e] But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.[f]36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, sawed apart,[g] murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth. 39 And these all were commended[h] for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.[i]40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.[j]

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“Know Love”: Week 4 – Friday

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Question of the day: Obviously, as believers, we are to imitate what is good, but how do we know the difference between good and evil? Check out Hebrews 5:14 for the answer. To encourage others and help us grow in our faith and understanding please be sure to read and/or share your comments about today’s question or passage in the reply bar at the bottom of the page. Let’s spur one another on to love and good deeds.

Today’s Scripture: 3 John 9-15 (S.O.A.P. 11)

9 I wrote something to the church but Diotrephes who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to the deeds he is doing—the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church! 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen God.

12 Demetrius has been testified to by all, even by the truth itself. We also testify to him, and you know that our testimony is true.

13 I have many things to write to you, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink. 14 But I hope to see you right away, and we will speak face to face. 15 Peace be with you. The friends here greet you. Greet the friends there by name.

tODAY’S lgg dEVOTIONAL
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pRAYER fOCUS – cHALLENGE 4 – mEMORY vERSE

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“Know Love”: Week 4 – Thursday

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Question of the day: How can we support, or become co-workers in, the spreading of the Gospel? To encourage others and help us grow in our faith and understanding please be sure to read and/or share your comments about today’s question or passage in the reply bar at the bottom of the page. Let’s spur one another on to love and good deeds.

Today’s Scripture: 3 John 5-8 (S.O.A.P. vs 8)

5 Dear friend, you demonstrate faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers (even though they are strangers). 6 They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone forth on behalf of “The Name,” accepting nothing from the pagans. 8 Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we become coworkers in cooperation with the truth.

Today’s LGG Devotional
PRAYER FOCUS – CHALLENGE 4 – MEMORY VERSE