December 25, 2024

From The Inside Out

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv
A thousand times I’ve failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I’m caught in Your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing You praise

My heart and my soul, I give You control
Consume me from the inside out, Lord
Let justice and praise, become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out, O my soul cries out
From the inside out, O my soul cries out
From the inside out, O my soul cries out

Singer-Songwriter: Joel Houston ~ along with Hillsong United

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

My Bible study lesson today was titled “Inside Out” by Beth Moore from her study, Children of the Day.  At first I didn’t relate the title to this song.  The lesson is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:9 AMP:

But concerning brotherly love [for all other Christians],
you have no need to have anyone write you,
for you yourselves have been [personally] taught by God to love one another.

Did you catch that last phrase, “…personally taught by God…”?  The Thessalonians didn’t need anyone to instruct them on how to love other Christians for they had been PERSONALLY TAUGHT BY GOD!  This thought blew my mind.  It totally captivated my attention.  The Thessalonians had learned to love FROM THE INSIDE OUT!  They learned it straight from God.

And you know what?  We can, too!  When we made our decision to surrender to Jesus and follow Him, we literally received the Holy Spirit into our beings.  Look at John 14:26 HCSB:

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit
—the Father will send Him in My name—
will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

The Spirit of God resides in us and will teach us all things!  Our learning does not have to be from the outside in.  Beth Moore puts it this way:

“God’s Spirit bypasses all formal routes of the learning curve and the lesson comes straight from Him.”

(Wow…if that doesn’t excite you, I’m not sure anything will!)

Then this song came to mind and I looked at it in a whole new light.  What if we truly gave God control—complete control?  What if we allowed Him to teach us, to “consume me from the inside out” instead of being stuck in our preconceived ideas?  What if we truly learned to love as the Thessalonians did…”from the inside out?”

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father God, Thank You so very much for placing Your Spirit within us.  Open us to His teachings.  Teach us, O God, for we cannot learn as much on our own.  My soul cries out to You in praise.  Teach me, O God, from the inside out.  In Your Holy name, we pray, Amen – so be it!

From The Inside Out

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv
A thousand times I’ve failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I’m caught in Your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing You praise

My heart and my soul, I give You control
Consume me from the inside out, Lord
Let justice and praise, become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out, O my soul cries out
From the inside out, O my soul cries out
From the inside out, O my soul cries out

Singer-Songwriter: Joel Houston  /  Performed by Hillsong United

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

My Bible study lesson today was “Inside Out” by Beth Moore from Children of the Day.  At first I didn’t relate the title to this song.  The lesson is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:9 AMP:

But concerning brotherly love [for all other Christians],
you have no need to have anyone write you,
for you yourselves have been [personally] taught by God to love one another.

Did you catch that last phrase, “…personally taught by God…”? The Thessalonians didn’t need anyone to instruct them on how to love other Christians for they had been PERSONALLY TAUGHT BY GOD!  This thought blew my mind.  It totally captivated my attention.  The Thessalonians had learned to love FROM THE INSIDE OUT!  They learned it straight from God.

And you know what?  We can too!  When we made our decision to surrender to Jesus and follow Him, we literally received the Holy Spirit into our beings.  Look at John 14:26 HCSB:

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit—the Father will send Him in My name—
will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

The Spirit of God resides in us and will teach us all things!  Our learning does not have to be from the outside in. Beth Moore puts it this way:

“God’s Spirit bypasses all formal routes of the learning curve and the lesson comes straight from Him.”

(If that doesn’t excite you, I’m not sure anything will.)

Then this song came to mind and I looked at it in a whole new light.  What if we truly gave God control—complete control?  What if we allowed Him to teach us, to “consume us from the inside out” instead of being stuck in our preconceived ideas?  What if we truly learned to love as the Thessalonians did…”from the inside out?”

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father God, Thank You so very much for placing Your Spirit within us.  Open us to His teachings.  Teach us, O God, for we cannot learn as much on our own.  My soul cries out to You in praise.  Teach me, O God, from the inside out.  In Your Holy name, we pray, Amen – so be it!

Esther – Chapter 2:7-11

HolySpirit_Ellison_Wk2

Esther 2:7-11

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women. Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it. And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

One of the characteristics about the story of Esther that will always stand out to me, and that makes this one of my favorite stories, is the amount of detail used to relay the message.  I love reading the words and seeing the story play out in my mind.  Here is this young girl who was orphaned at a young age, adopted by a family member, taken from her home to possibly become the wife of the king, and through all of this she was strong, faithful, and obedient.  I love reading and learning about the favor that was shown to her, and about how the hand of God was on her life.

Darlene talks about Esther being helped along the way, being taken care of.  Mordecai, Hegai,  and the seven maids that were given to assist her, were all placed in her life to help her along her journey.  She was never alone.  God was always there helping her—always sending someone into her life to offer her assistance.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does in our life; He is in place to remind us that we are never alone. He is our Comforter and He is our Guide.  I’m sure we can all say that we’ve felt like Esther at some time in our lives.  We have been faced with tasks and responsibilities that take us out of our element, out of our comfort zone; we may have felt alone, we may have not known what to do, what step to take next.  We could only operate on our faith.

But like Esther, we were given people to help us along the way.  People were strategically placed in our path to offer us aid.  Our Comforter and Guide is always there, reminding us that we are never alone. 

John 14:26 

But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,  
he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance  
whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 16:13

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;  but whatsoever he shall hear,  that shall he speak:  and he will shew you things to come.

Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You, Lord, for Your love.  Thank You for the guidance and comfort that is shown to us each day.  We go through our days facing various tasks and it is so easy to forget to realize that You are always there.  You send people to help us along the way.  Lord, I pray that we exhibit the strength, obedience, and faith that Esther had.  I pray that we recognize those who You place in our path to assist us, and that we fully embrace Your hand on our life.  Open our eyes and our hearts, Father, so that we can accomplish what You ask of us.  In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.