Today’s post is borrowed and shared from ourdailyverse.com/December 13, 2024
Today, let’s focus on our capacity to love and how it stems from God’s initial love for us. It’s like a small flame lit from an eternal fire. For the full devotional, click the button below.
I remember going to a conference where the speaker spoke on the love between God and His children being a reciprocal love. She used many examples, but the one that still sticks out in my mind was how she would pray or journal, naming all of the ways she had seen God show her his love – and she found herself responding at the end of the prayer – “I love You too.”
Friend, our relationship with God isn’t meant to be one-sided where He lavishes His love on us and we simply say thank you – His desire is for us to love Him in return. Today’s devotion is a beautiful illustration of what happens when we love God with all of our being. Click the devotional button for some wonderful encouragement =
Today, let’s pray for the courage to surrender like Jesus asks us in Mark 8:35. May we find peace and joy in letting go of our striving and embracing the abundant life He offers.
This is a beautiful encouragement from ourdailyverse.com that grabbed my attention and begged to be shared. – Enjoy
In our self-focused culture, the concept of losing one’s life may seem counterintuitive or even alarming. We’re conditioned to prioritize self-preservation, chasing after our own dreams and desires. But Jesus presents a radical paradigm shift, inviting us to a life of selfless surrender. -Click the devotional button to read the rest …
Originally posted by ourdailyverse.com / Feb 11, 2025
What a beautiful truth to know that we can rely on the love God has for us. It is a gift to know that the God who created us and adopted us as His own – is Himself – LOVE and has invited us to abide in Him … click the devotional button for encouragement and inspiration about the life-changing power of God’s love.
Today’s verse is a powerful reminder of the impact we can make when love guides everything we say and do.
borrowed and shared from ourdailyverse.com (A free daily verse app)/originally posted on 2/9/2025
Sometimes, I feel like a broken record about the importance of building a relationship with God and staying connected to the body of Christ. I make no apologies though, because – I believe we are to encourage one another daily. I think our relationship with God and other believers is vitally important to our faith- even to the point of repetitive encouragement. Staying connected takes time and effort, and as Mrs. Morin suggests – the risk of love. Enjoy today’s shared treasure 🦋
This treasure caught my attention because the question asked and examined by Michele Morin is similar to the one I often use at the end of my time exploring God’s Word. I frequently use it in the application portion of our journeys: How then should we live? – I don’t know if I just started asking it or if I learned it from my dad or another teacher/preacher. Regardless, I found Morin’s use of the question, as well as her response and application, an excellent example. Hope you enjoy – 🦋
Our next study, “Our God Who Pursues: Guiding Us Back to Him,” starts on March 3rd! Stay tuned for more details in the coming days – but for the remainder of February, we will be focusing on Love. Short and sweet treasures from some of my favorite bloggers and teachers/authors I follow. As always, I appreciate your feedback and welcome any questions. – 🦋
The first week of this two-week break between studies is from Michele Morin. I find myself encouraged by her words and her heart for God and her family. If you haven’t followed her from one of my past posts, I encourage you to do so. Today’s post is from five years back, during the season leading up to Easter – but it is fitting for everyday wisdom and living when our goal is to live and love like Jesus.
based on the LGG Study, Firm Foundation, w6d2
Scripture: God’s Road Map for Our Journey
Read: Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25 / SOAP: Acts 2:42 and Hebrews 10:24-25
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
Acts 2:42
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.
Hebrews 10:24-25
I have probably mentioned far too often that while I love the fellowship of friends and family, I am just as easily, if not more so, a loner at heart. I could sit and study for hours; I love to read and write in the quiet of my room or office and I enjoy a good movie and a bowl of popcorn. I don’t even mind going to the theater by myself. Weird? Perhaps, but it’s me, and I’m okay with it. If you ask me, it is not just enjoyable – it is often the easier way of doing things. However, today’s journey is a bristling fresh reminder for me that while it might be easier and, at times, perfectly okay, God means for us to live in community with others.
If you’ve ever wondered what God thinks about the importance of Christian fellowship – these passages offer both evidence and reason for the need to make it a part of the building blocks of our firm foundation of faith. As Paul points out, Christian fellowship is beneficial to discipleship, encouragement in faith, and knowing and meeting the needs of others.
According to Ephesians 4:2-3 and other passages, we are called to serve each other in the church. Our journey passages today reveal that there are benefits when believers fellowship together. Whether it’s breaking bread, praying, or sharing with one another – or a myriad of other things that fall under the canopy of fellowship, these things foster unity and promote sharing and caring not only for others in the body but for reaching others with the Word.
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
Ephesians 4:2-3
Clearly, we are to fellowship with one another. However, we must also take up the instructions of Hebrews 10:24-25 and live it out for the sake of the body of Christ. We must be intentional in thinking about how to spur one another on – specifically to love and good works – which basically means to live and love like Jesus. Don’t stop short of the final step in today’s journey – be connected to/with other believers. We might like to think of this as a suggestion by the author. Actually, the commentaries that I looked at say that it is a command; we only have to look back to the previous verse to see why it is so important – you see – one of the benefits of meeting together is the relationships that come from those gatherings. Which, as bibleref.com writes: “Relationships with other believers are one way to be encouraged to live out the faith we proclaim.” Without question, we will have other obligations in this life, be it family or work, home, ‘recreation,’ and/or rest, but we must be careful and sure not to make a habit of neglecting the fellowship of believers.
Father, thank You for Your Word that is used to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness. I confess that this one is not always easy for me, but I love You and seek to obey Your Holy Word so that I might live and walk in holiness and fulfill Your call on my life to equip, encourage, and empower women with Your Word. Thank You for the sisters who meet with me here – who encourage me and pray for me and share in my needs while also allowing me to share in theirs. We are richly blessed. Thank You that You have allowed this group to minister to those who are unable to meet in face-to-face gatherings – but as much as we are able, Lord God, help us to never abandon the habit of in-person meetings.
For me, the in-person meetings happen every day in the church office where I work, as well as Sunday mornings and other local gatherings. – What is it for you?
based on the LGG Study, Firm Foundation / w6d1
All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27.
God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
Ephesians 1:22-23
Throughout this particular journey, centered around building a firm foundation on the truths of God’s Word, we have been searching for the key elements of our faith. Today’s treasure is the core belief that we are not only individual members of the body of Christ but together as a group as well. To not understand this is to put ourselves and the whole of the church in jeopardy.
When we work together as the body of Christ, we can have a greater impact. Each member, functioning in their God-given role, contributes to the health and effectiveness of the whole body. This collaborative effort, not only brings glory to God but also demonstrates His love and truth to the world.
LGG Journal: Firm Foundation, p171
This is what Paul is striving to help the Corinthians understand. He teaches them that while they have all been given spiritual gifts, not everyone’s gift is the same – and just as the various parts of our body aren’t meant to function alone – neither are our spiritual gifts. As the LGG Journal puts it: “We aren’t called to do it all, but we are all called to contribute in the ways He has equipped us.”God has a purpose not only for every believer but for every spiritual gift He gives. For this reason, as well as for His glory, believers must work together in order for the gifts God has given to work well and be effective for the cause of Christ.
If believers are willing to set aside their discontent about the role God has given to them in the church, and their arrogance about not needing other members of the body of Christ, they have the opportunity to thrive together to become what God
Bibleref.com/1 Corinthians 12:27
intended for the church to be.
As Paul taught the Corinthians, we are to set aside any discontent we have with the role God has given to us and others. We are to put away the idea that we don’t need the other members to succeed or that we don’t need to be a part of a local body of believers. We must understand that only together can we truly be what God intends for us to be – which is the Church, or the ‘body of Christ,’ “working together to reflect Him to the world.”1
The Love God Greatly team said it best in today’s journal entry:
When we come to faith in Jesus, we are not meant to live life in isolation or with a “Jesus-and-me” mentality. Instead, we are ushered into the family of God. Though this family is made up of all believers who have been saved by faith through all times, we also have access to the family of God here and now through the church.
LGG Journal: Firm Foundation, p171
God, I am so glad to be part of the body of Christ, both as an individual believer and as a member of the local church. It is easy for me to get caught up with the day to day and fail to function or see/remember the need to function within the body. So thank you for reminders from Your Word of the importance of the “body of Christ,” and the importance of each member being active and engaged with the others. Teach me to work in unity with others so that I can have a greater impact for Your kingdom.2 – In the name of Jesus, Who is the head of the body – Amen!
Me From the Inside Out 