Storm Inside (Sheila Walsh)

Here are the words for the fill-in-the-blanks in our “The Storm Inside” women’s Bible study with Sheila Walsh (via DVDs)!

Week 1 - From Shame to Love (the Samaritan Woman)

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, ESV)

“Shame is life-dominating and stubborn. Once entrenched in your heart and mind, it is a squatter that refuses to leave.” – Edward T. Welsh

Guilt tell us we have done something wrong. Shame tells us that we are something wrong.

Shame is not what you did but who you are.

Only Jesus can address the life-threatening weight of shame.

God’s love is greater than any shame that has found us.

Christ offers us a new wardrobe: clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

The Samaritan woman became the first evangelist.

We are never freer than when we tell Christ the truth about the things that have weighed us down and exchange those for His overwhelming love.

Homework: pages 21 – 36

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We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5, NLT)

The level of disappointment we experience is measured by how much hope we have invested in the situation.

The greatest miracle the woman received that day was one she wasn’t looking for and didn’t know she needed.

She wanted to be healed, but Jesus wanted to make her whole.

When the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change, then we will change.

We all have moments to step out or slip away into the shadows!

The woman fell at the feet of Jesus, knowing her need of a Healer. She told Him the whole truth.

Jesus called her “daughter” – loved one, adopted one, who belongs to Me.

Are you held back by looking in the rear view mirror? Don’t allow the disappointment of yesterday to rob you of the hope of today.

Are you defined by an issue or an identity?

Homework: pages 46 – 60

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Week 3 - From Fear to Joy (Mary Magdalene)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27, NIV)

Mary Magdalene understood the enemy’s brutality. She had been possessed by seven demons (Luke 8:1-3).

Even Christians need to put on the full armor of God to stand against the enemy’s attack (Ephesians 6:10-20).

We can stand strong because we have not been left defenseless.

Mary had total devotion to Jesus. She knew that darkness is no match for His light.

At the cross, Mary knew the Master, but she didn’t know the Master Plan.

No matter how things appear, God is still in control.

Mary didn’t walk away from the cross.

“Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” (John 20:15).

Mary was the first to witness the resurrected Jesus, the pivotal moment of history.

No matter how many battles we lose on this earth, we win this war. Our victory is sealed in the blood of Christ!

Homework: pages 70 – 83

Week 4 - From Heartbreak to Strength (Hannah)

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31, ESV)

“Heartbroken” means unimaginable loss, out-of-control grief.

We want to be able to impact a situation, but sometimes there’s nothing we can do.

Does it ever seem like heaven is silent?

In Hannah’s time, infertility made a woman worthless in her culture’s eyes.

Hannah’s secret was that she knew where to take her pain, even when God seemed silent.

Hannah discovered strength by surrendering her deepest heartache to God.

Hannah wasn’t making a deal with God. She was surrendering to Him what mattered most to her in life.

Through total surrender to God comes amazing strength.

God understands the depth of our pain . . . There is joy in worshiping in the middle of the storm.

Homework: pages 94 – 107

Week 5 - From Regret to Rest (Rahab)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfareb and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV)

Regret is a small word. At times it reflects a decision as lightweight as backing out of dinner plans. But sometimes regret can consume your life.

No matter how many wrong choices we make, God is still in control and watching over us.

Regret dissolves as we enter into the greatness of God’s plan.

Rahab was ready to step out of regret and into relationship with God.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guaranteed of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14, ESV)

Rahab was marked with faith that guaranteed the security of her family.

Her life was no longer defined by where she had walked but by her new life in God and His plans.

The shedding of Christ’s blood saves us.

Don’t allow regret for what you have done to rob you of the joy of who you are.

Homework: pages 119 – 137

Week 6 - From Insecurity to Confidence (Ruth)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV)

Insecure means “not safe; not confident of security.”

The Moabites were a cursed people because of their perverse origin and pagan beliefs (Genesis 19, Deuteronomy 23).

Do you ever ask questions of God that you never thought you would ask?

Ruth, who became the great-grandmother of David and an ancestress of Jesus, began her journey as a pagan, outside of the family of Jehovah and part of a cursed people.

Ruth’s life foreshadows God’s plan of redemption through grace and conformity to the will of God through faith, rather than through blood and birth.

God’s greatest blessings come as we take risks.

God can take what might feel like your lost life and bring meaning and blessing to you in the most surprising ways.

God redeems our past.

The most secure place in life is with God Himself.

“The further we travel on this pathway to glory, the more glorious it becomes, because we are given to understand that every glad surrender of self . . . is merely a little death, like the tree’s “loss” of the dead leaf, in order that a fresh new one may, in God’s time, take its place.” (Elisabeth Elliot)

Homework: pages 148 – 164

Week 7 - From Insignificance to Courage (Esther)

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6, ESV)

When your real story encounters a real God, then anything is possible!

God is calling us to a life of significance for the kingdom.

God uses the least likely people to do mighty things for Him.

God took Esther’s frightening and demeaning situation and used it to anoint her for something greater.

God had a plan to turn Esther from being the possession of the king into a woman of great purpose: to save her people.

Esther displayed a godly courage that came from one source alone.

Our moment will come when we are asked to step out of a place of insignificance and courageously stand for the King.

It’s time for us to prepare:
* Tuck God’s Word deep into our heart.
* Teach our children well.
* Fast and pray for our work in the kingdom.

Only God knows if we have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

Homework: pages 174 – 187

Week 8 - From Despair to Faith (Sarah)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, ESV)

When you know exactly what is going to happen, you don’t need faith.

Being a woman of faith doesn’t mean that you never doubt or question.

Despair is the loss of hope in the mercy of God.

Despair can make us rationalize.

Getting ahead of God’s plan can lead to suffering and despair.

Silence from God can sometimes feel like solitary confinement.

God sees who we will ultimately become.

Faith focuses not on what we feel or see but on God and what He has promised.

A life of faith is an unabashed focus on God as faithful.

Homework: pages 197 – 210