I want to draw nearer to God, and He wants that too.  He isn’t looking for ways to avoid us – He is looking for us to come to Him, and He will be right there with us. 

If you were going to teach that to a child, you would break it down, emphasize how God’s good far surpasses ours, and emphasize how amazing His love is – get them excited about it!  As adults, I find we have heard those things so many times that we often gloss over them, but stop and think.  The great, amazing, good God of the universe loves you, and that love is perfect, and lasts forever.

A checklist can be a good way for you to ask yourself – am I living as one whose heart has been changed – but I don’t think it is good to be living our lives based off of a checklist.  It focuses you more on the tasks rather than the effects of what you are doing or the purpose behind it.

Let the amazingness, goodness, incredibleness of God wash over you.  Be in awe of Him.  And lean into the reminder that those who hope in Him will have their strength renewed.

James 1:22 – “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says”  You have to act.  It is great to go to church, listen to sermons, classes, read the Bible on your own, etc.  All great things.  But if all you do is listen, it isn’t going to make a difference.  You need to actively push the sin out of your life and pursue the good.

We weren’t created to be able to handle this life on our own.  We were made with a need for God.  The trouble comes when we recognize our need for something beyond ourselves but turn to something or someone besides God and become dependent on that.  That is when idols are created.

My 3-year-old son made the joyful revelation when talking and making faces at his baby cousin this summer - “If I’m happy at her, she’s happy at me!”  Life isn’t quite always like this, but typically, if you speak kindly to someone, you are much more likely to get a positive response from them whether it is a kind word back or help in an area you are looking for.

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Your position is not important.  Rather, not viewing yourself as the greatest will put yourself in a better, more humble position. …

…Do we sometimes try to understand things that we just really can’t understand?

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…the writer speaks of forgiveness of our sins.  How much more is that available to us with the blood of Jesus to wash those sins away?  We can be so thankful that the LORD does not keep a record of our sins.  If He did, we could not stand….

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When you are focused on yourself and what you want, remember that other people matter too. The fact that someone managed to show up for work might be a huge victory for them, even if your order got messed up. 

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The Ninevites were saved for a time by Jonah’s preaching.  His reluctant obedience made a difference for their lives.  But did it make a difference in Jonah’s own life? 

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Jesus is on a bit of a tirade at the start of Matthew chapter 15.  He has got to be pretty sick of the Pharisees!  But when he quotes from Isaiah to them in verses 8 and 9, I wonder if we fall into this trap too, and how frustrated he might feel with us at times …