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This Weeks Inside Out Essentials
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Daniel Fast

 
bullet Heart Quote of the Month
 
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Inside Out Quote

 
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In Your Own Words
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Finding Healing After Betrayal

 
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Today's Question
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On a Limb too Slight . .

 
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Get REAL
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8 Lies Women Need to Stop  Telling Themselves

 
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Related Links

 
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Relevant Events

 
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Why Small Groups

 
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Women of Virtue

 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 

 

Have you attended an Inside Out group yet? If not plan to attend one soon. Call the Church office at 580-357-5288 for the next scheduled session.

Inside Out is a part of the Victorious Christian Living Groups offered by ZOE Ministries. click here for more information.

 
 

 

Heart Quote of the Month

Be like me, act like me, talk like me . . .

It is when I stop trying to make others be what I think they should be that they begin coming closer to their true potential.  This is because, in accepting them as they are, I am clearly changing myself and acting only to fulfill my own highest potential.

The influence I have on others by practicing the principles of the word of God in my everyday life is far more effective than anything I can do or say to change them.

                                     Author Unknown

 

 

 

 

 

Grow Girl GROW!

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to GROW.

James 1:3 NLT

To wish for the rewards of growth without having to go through the growing pains is futile. Avoidance of pain stops growth cold; and when growth stops, regression is next.  Victory calls for enduring the test, feeling all the feelings and having the patience to wait for results.

INSIDE OUT QUOTE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Relevant Events

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Man Up! meetings are held every 2nd and 4th Monday at 7:00pm. Contact the church office for more information

 

 

 

Inside Out Essentials

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

 

Love from the inside out is designed to reform, transform, to heal the broken places and restore people back to the original intent thru the Life changing word of God.

 

 


Today's Question

How can I become more like the person God wants me to be?

ANSWER:

Change Yourself. . . Have you ever had difficulty trying to change a habit? Human beings are creatures of habit. We tend to continue acting as we have acted in the past. Like a river flowing through a canyon, the longer a habit continues, the more deeply it becomes ingrained, and the harder it is to change. This is true of all habits, good or bad.

Ephesians 4:22-24 shows that major changes must occur when we are born again. Old practices and attitudes must be replaced by new ones. Christians must learn good habits like Bible study, prayer, love, faith, patience, attending church meetings, giving, teaching others, etc. We must also eliminate bad habits like  uncontrolled temper, gambling, drugs, smoking, drinking, gossip, lying, pornography, sexual promiscuity, etc.

Knowing what changes to make is not enough. We also need to know how to make them. Change does not come easily. God's word is the best source of guidance for self-help and motivation for self-improvement.

Let's study 12 specific, practical steps the Bible gives to show us how to become more like the person God wants us to be?

 
 

 

 

 

 

On a Limb too Slight . . .

Be like a bird, who, halting in her flight
On a limb too slight, feels it give way beneath her;

Yet sings, sings, knowing she has wings;
Yet sings, sings, knowing she has wings.

 

This is a wonderful metaphor for a life that is full of Grace. There are difficult times, but a person who feels upheld and supported by the Divine Presence of God need never be afraid.

Click here for more "On a Limb too Slight".


 

 

Finding Healing After Betrayal

I was desperate, dissatisfied and in great despair that Saturday night I ran with Debra to the church for help. For 12 years, my wife and I had been hiding our broken and dishonest marriage beneath the veneer of the happy and “normal” couple. We had to break the cycle of deceit and conflict before it affected our daughter, so we finally went to the nearby church.

A cheating past

I was unfaithful to Debra, and after this was revealed to her, we had to face the possibility of divorce and a family breakup.
As we began the painful and ugly process of ending our marriage, we tried to seek counselors and therapists for hope, but no matter where we turned, people told us there was no saving the marriage.

But something inside me told me there was hope. I wanted to mend this relationship so badly and I was willing to do anything, even go to a church where I didn’t know anybody. There, we met a man who later became a good friend of ours. He was the only person who told us there was indeed hope but we needed God’s help. That night, Debra and I realized and came to believe that Jesus is the son of God and that we needed him. He died on the cross for our sins—past, present and future—and I realized I was forgiven by God for my actions in the past.

Proving hopelessness wrong

In the weeks that followed, Debra and I spent time with the friend we met at the church and we began reading the Bible together. As we better understood God and his love for us, we began to see that our marriage may not be hopeless after all. It might seem impossible to fix our marriage from a human perspective, but with God and his love for us, anything is possible.

Shortly after, Debra told me that she had forgiven me, but she didn’t know how that could be possible. She repeatedly asked God in prayer how she could have forgiven me for hurting her. Even more confusing to her was the realization that she was feeling genuine love for me. We quickly came to recognize that this was the grace of God—a gift we do not deserve, especially me. God was giving us hope; his grace and forgiveness was healing our marriage and bringing restoration to our lives.

We decided to take time off work and focus on each other and our relationship. At that time, our backyard was a complete disaster because of a major renovation project. Like our lives, it looked like a bomb had hit it. Each day we would get up and work on the yard together. Shovel by shovel, stone by stone, tree by tree, our yard was transformed from a disaster to a thing of beauty. As the yard changed, we too were changed. Through this project, we began to know each other better and fall in love with each other again. There was hope after all. . .click here for entire story


by Will and Danielle Ludy* with Laurie Wang

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  Keeping at Growth Tip

RESIST ANXIETY, WORRY AND FRUSTRATION

I cast all my anxieties (worries) upon the Lord, because He cares for me. 1Pet 5.7

I have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving I let my requests be made known to God. Philippians 4.6

I do not fret or worry or get anxious because of wicked people. I am not envious of wrongdoers. Ps 37.1

I am still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him. I do not get uptight or worry over the one who prospers through dirty tricks and dishonest methods. Ps 37.7

I will hold myself from getting angry about this stuff. I will stop getting really angry with people. I'm not going to worry about it - because this kind of worrying just leads to worse evil. Ps 37.8

It is vain to rise early and go to bed late and work anxiously. God gives me sleep because He loves me.

Ps 127.2

Anxiety in my heart would weigh me down. Instead I will receive and meditate on good words which will make me glad. Proverbs 12.25

I don't fret because of evildoers, and I won't wish harm on the wicked because they are having undeserved benefits. Proverbs 24.19

I am like a tree planted by water. I don't fear when the heat comes. I am not anxious in the year of drought. I don't cease to bear fruit. Jer 17.8

I am not anxious about my natural life, what I shall eat or drink, nor about my body, what I shall wear. I refuse to have an anxious mind.

Mt 6.25

 

I am not anxious about tomorrow. Tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Mt 6.34

 

I am not going to be anxious when on trial for the Lord. Matt 10.19

Mark 13.11

I am not going to be anxious about household problems. Lk 10.41

I am not to be with an anxious, doubtful mind. Lk 12.29

God wants me to free from worldly anxieties. I am anxious only for the affairs of the Lord. 1Cor 7.32

The only thing to be anxious for is the welfare of the churches. 2Cor 11.28 Philippians 2.20

Norka Blackman-Richards is an educator, writer and motivational speaker for women.


 

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