HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS THE WORLD IS NOT PERFECT If I hold on to the idea of waiting until the world is perfect, then without a doubt I will live frustrated. No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land. These wicked people are born sinners… (Psalms 58:2-3 NLT) Reality is that…
BONDS LISTEN “Then Job spoke again: Listen closely to what I am saying. That’s one consolation you can give me. Bear with me, and let me speak…” Job 21:1-3 NLT People often don’t need advice; they only need to be listened to. They are not asking for advice; they only ask to be understood. On…
DIFFERENT LEVELS OF RELATIONAL BONDS Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with…
WITHOUT BONDS HOPE DISAPPEARS …My hopes have disappeared. My heart’s desires are broken. (Job 17:11 NLT) 1. When a human being loses hope for a better world, that is when he has lost almost everything. If I lose hope, then I will start seeing life negatively. That is what happened to the Job for a…
THAT IS WHY I SPOKE IMPULSIVELY “If my misery could be weighed and my troubles be put on scales, they would outweigh all the sands of the sea. That is why I spoke impulsively. Job 6:2-3 NLT We tend to speak impulsively when we suffer, feel lonely, and do not have relational bonds. When we…
FRIENDS TELL YOU THE TRUTH “Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job: Will you be patient and let me a say a word? For who could keep from speaking out?” (Job 4:1-2 NLT) We must have relational bonds with those who dare to tell us the truth when we need to hear it. Job’s Friends…
THE COMPANY OF SOME FRIENDS IS POWERFUL Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words. Job 2:13 NTV There is power in the bonds of friends. When a friend is suffering, the…
THE PALACE DOES NOT MAKE A GREAT KING But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! … (Jeremiah 22:15 NLT) Being in a leadership position doesn’t necessarily mean I am a good leader. But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! … (Jeremiah 22:15 NLT) If I’m in a…
LIKE HE HAS DONE IN THE PAST “Please speak to the Lord for us and ask him to help us … Perhaps the Lord will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has done in the past… (Jeremiah 21:2 NLT) 1. This passage reminds me that in the past God has answered our…
HE SUCCEEDED TO THE THRONE Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king. He strengthened Judah…. (2 Chronicles 17:1 NLT) Reading this passage this morning reminded me that we are all temporary in our role. We are all going to be succeeded by someone and we are successors of someone. We must all one day…