Tag: Love

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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?
Be sure and visit Love God Greatly for today’s blog post
Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Friendship: Week 3, Tuesday Speak the Truth in Love

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READ: PROV. 27:5-6 AND 28:23, AND EPHESIANS 4:15-16; SOAP: EPHESIANS 4:15-16

Proverbs 27:5-6 New Living Translation

An open rebuke
    is better than hidden love!

6 Wounds from a sincere friend
    are better than many kisses from an enemy.

Proverbs 28:23 New Living Translation

In the end, people appreciate honest criticism
    far more than flattery.

Ephesians 4:15-16 New Living Translation

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

What’s Your Take Away?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the reply box

In today’s reading, Paul encouraged the Ephesian Christians to practice truth in love – find out more from the LGG Devotional

https://lovegodgreatly.com/devotional-friendship-w3d2/
REFLECTION QUESTION: WHAT BENEFITS DO YOU THINK CAN COME FROM CHRISTIANS LEARNING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE? Share your answer in the reply box

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Friendship: Week 3 Preview

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So far we have seen how God created us for relationships (wk.1) and we have learned the Biblicalness of Friendship (wk.2). This week we will see how our friendships can be a blessing and what the secret ingredient is.

CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S MEMORY/FOCUS VERSE -COLOSSIANS 3:14 – IT’S SHORT AND EASY – LET’S GO FOR IT! POP QUIZ ON WEDNESDAY 

Weekly Challenge: Make a commitment to be a completely trustworthy friend. Work intentionally to build habits that foster love and trust in friendship instead of dissension.

LGG Friendship Study Journal prompt

You can find week one and two under my previous blog post here at Mefromthensideout.com

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Friendship: Week 2, Wednesday Thicker Than Blood

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Read: 1 Samuel 18:1-4 and 1 Samuel 20; SOAP: 1 Samuel 18:1-4
1 Samuel 18:1-4 New Living Translation

Saul Becomes Jealous of David

 After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. 2 From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home. 3 And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. 4 Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt.

1 Samuel 20 New Living Translation

Jonathan Helps David

David now fled from Naioth in Ramah and found Jonathan. “What have I done?” he exclaimed. “What is my crime? How have I offended your father that he is so determined to kill me?”

2 “That’s not true!” Jonathan protested. “You’re not going to die. He always tells me everything he’s going to do, even the little things. I know my father wouldn’t hide something like this from me. It just isn’t so!”

3 Then David took an oath before Jonathan and said, “Your father knows perfectly well about our friendship, so he has said to himself, ‘I won’t tell Jonathan—why should I hurt him?’ But I swear to you that I am only a step away from death! I swear it by the Lord and by your own soul!”

4 “Tell me what I can do to help you,” Jonathan exclaimed.

Read David’s plan and the rest of the story

David and Jonathan are good examples of how strong a friendship can be when it’s rooted in a mutual love for God.

Read the full devotional here

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK-OUT LGG’S BLOG

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Friendship: Week 2, Tuesday — The Purpose of Biblical Friendship

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READ: JOHN 17:20-24; SOAP: JOHN 17:22-23
John 17:20-24 New Living Translation

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

When our friendships are defined by sacrificial love, they point to God’s sacrificial love for the world.

Read the full devotional

Don’t forget to Check-out today’s LGG Blog

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Faithful Love: Week 5, Thursday Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

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Hosea 12:9-12 NLT

“But I am the Lord your God,
    who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
And I will make you live in tents again,
    as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.
10 I sent my prophets to warn you
    with many visions and parables.”

11 But the people of Gilead are worthless
    because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
    their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
    along the edges of a plowed field.

The people of Israel had confidence in their wealth, in their financial success and didn´t want to listen to Hosea. Ultimately, they didn´t want to hear God.

Read the Full LGG Devotional

Romans 8:38-39 New Living Translation

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Faithful Love: Week 5, Tuesday — God Never Gives Up

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READ: HOSEA 11:1-12, PSALM 145:8-9, MICAH 7:18-19; SOAP: HOSEA 11:8-9

Hosea 11 New Living Translation

The Lord’s Love for Israel

 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. 2 But the more I called to him,  the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols. 3 I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him. 4 I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him. 5 “But since my people refuse to return to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria. 6 War will swirl through their cities;
their enemies will crash through their gates. They will destroy them, trapping them in their own evil plans. 7 For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.

“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?  How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me,  and my compassion overflows.
9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy.
10 For someday the people will follow me. I, the Lord, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, my people will return trembling from the west. 11 Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again,” says the Lord.

Charges against Israel and Judah

12 Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit, but Judah still obeys God and is faithful to the Holy One.

God has always been a good, loving, caring Father. –

Read the rest of the LGG devotional here

Psalm 145:8-9

 The Lord is merciful and compassionate,
    slow to get angry, and filled with unfailing love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone.
    He showers compassion on all his creation.

Micah 7:18-19

Where is another God like you,
    who pardons the guilt of the remnant,
    overlooking the sins of his special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever,
    because you delight in showing unfailing love.
19 Once again you will have compassion on us.
    You will trample our sins under your feet
    and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

REFLECTION QUESTION: WHAT WAS GOD’S CHANGE OF HEARt BASED ON IN OUR SOAP PASSAGE TODAY?

I invite you to share an answer to today’s question and/or your thoughts on today’s passage –

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Faithful Love: Week 4, Tuesday Pressing On In Faith

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READ: HOSEA 8:1-14 AND ROMANS 9:22-24; SOAP: ROMANS 9:22-23

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

Sound the alarm!
An eagle looms over the temple of the Lord!
For they have broken their covenant with me
and have rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
“My God, we acknowledge you!”
3 But Israel has rejected what is morally good;
so an enemy will pursue him.

The Political and Cultic Sin of Israel

4 They enthroned kings without my consent.
They appointed princes without my approval.
They made idols out of their silver and gold,
but they will be destroyed!
5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol.
My anger burns against them!
They will not survive much longer without being punished,
even though they are Israelites!
6 That idol was made by a workman—it is not God!
The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.

The Fertility Cultists Will Become Infertile

7 They sow the wind,
and so they will reap the whirlwind!
The stalk does not have any standing grain;
it will not produce any flour.
Even if it were to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it all up.
8 Israel will be swallowed up among the nations;
they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.

Israel’s Hired Lovers

9 They have gone up to Assyria,
like a wild donkey that wanders off.
Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers.
10 Even though they have hired lovers among the nations,
I will soon gather them together for judgment.
Then they will begin to waste away
under the oppression of a mighty king.

Sacrifices Ineffective without Moral Obedience

11 Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail,
but they regard it as something totally unknown to them.
13 They offer up sacrificial gifts to me
and eat the meat,
but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices.
Soon he will remember their wrongdoing,
he will punish their sins,
and they will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces,
and Judah has built many fortified cities.
But I will send fire on their cities;
it will consume their royal citadels.

SOAP: Romans 9:22

But what if God, willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

With their silver and gold, they made idols for their own destruction.” (Hosea 8:4) The people of Israel were experts in living an independent life apart from God. Read the full devotional 

Read the full devotional

Thoughts on today’s reading? Share them in the comment bar –

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Faithful Love: Week 2, Thursday Idols, Then and Now

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READ: HOSEA 4:1-14; MICAH 6:8; SOAP: HOSEA 4:12

Hosea 4:1-14

The Lord’s Case against Israel 4 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. 2 You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another. 3 That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing. 4 “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you. 5 So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night and I will destroy Israel, your mother. 6 My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. 7 The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols.

8 “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin! 9 ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds. 10 They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the Lord to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. 12 They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God. 13 They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O, foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.

New Living Translation

Micah 6:8

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good and this is what he requires of you to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

New Living Translation

I think Hosea’s time was very similar to what we experience today: A lack of faithfulness or steadfast love.  

See other comparisons in today’s LGG Blog: Idols, Then and Now
REFLECTION QUESTION: WHAT THINGS IN YOUR OWN LIFE CAUSE YOU TO TURN AWAY FROM GOD OR LEAD YOUR HEART INTO IDOLATRY? – I KNOW THIS ONE IS TOUGH, BUT WHETHER YOU SHARE YOUR ANSWER HERE OR NOT – I ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONSIDER IT AND WRITE IT IN YOUR OWN PRIVATE JOURNAL OR AT THE VERY LEAST TALK TO GOD ABOUT IT IN PRAYER. I BELIEVE WHEN WE SEE AND NAME THE PROBLEM IT’S HALF THE BATTLE.
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Faithful Love: Week 2, Monday Whom Will We Love Most?

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Welcome to Week 2 of Faithful Love! This week we will pick up where we left off in Hosea and ‘journey through’ chapter 4. We will also make some stops in Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Psalms, and Micah. So grab your Bible, your journal, and a favorite pen, and let’s see what God has for us. I pray He will open our minds and enlighten our hearts to how deep and faithful His love is, and how He longs for His children to be faithful to Him.

READ: HOSEA 2:2-13; SOAP: DEUTERONOMY 30:19-20

Hosea 2:2-13, Charges against an Unfaithful Wife

“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts. 3 Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness. 4 And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution. 5 Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’ 6 “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way. 7 When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’ 8 She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal. 9 “But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness. 10 I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands. 11 I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals. 12 I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit. 13 I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the Lord.

New Living Translation

God paints Israel as an adulterous wife who is no longer worthy to be compared to a wife. –

Read the rest of the LGG devotional –

SOAP: Deuteronomy 30:19-20

New Living Translation

19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

REFLECTION QUESTION: IS GOD JUSTIFIED IN THE WAY HE REBUKES ISRAEL’S ADULTERY? WHY OR WHY NOT? (Use the comment bar to share your answers)