The walls of the city of Jerusalem have been rebuilt, restoring the honor and dignity of that great city. Now it is time for the people of Jerusalem to be restored as well. They were in desperate need of reviving and renewal. Both Ezra and Nehemiah were aware of this need, so Nehemiah called all the people together at the Water Gate and asked Ezra to bring the Law of Moses to read to the people so that they could repent and seek the face of God!
Misconceptions, big or small, have a huge impact on our lives. The things that we perceive to be true about a situation can have us making decisions that can impact us negatively for years. So who do you say Jesus is to you? Is He a cosmic hall monitor that is just out to get you? Is He like a watch maker who just started this whole thing and is waiting for it to all end, Or is He is your truth, your peace, your way, your Salvation? It’s important that we can answer for ourselves and for others, Who is Jesus.
Pastor Stuart Estes, Ministry Team Leader at the University of Arkansas’ Association of Baptist Students, shares with us about the work of God on the U of A campus and challenges us to allow Him to work in our lives as well!
As I was seeking God’s will as to what I should share with you today, he brought to my memory a message that I preached at our state association meeting last November—Journey of a Spiritual Man. I have wanted to share this sermon with you for some time now, but until today, God has not given me peace about doing so. I guess my mind has been focused this week on the journey that is this life. As we are nearing the end of my earthly father’s journey in this life, it has caused me to reflect on my journey as well.
Psalm 32 was written by King David sometime after his series of sinful acts dealing with Bathsheba and Uriah, her husband. The story was scandalous, but David thought he had hidden the truth from everyone. Hidden sin is never hidden from God, a lesson that David learned first-hand. Psalm 51 records David’s prayer of repentance for all the things that he did. Psalm 32 is its companion and stresses the blessings of God’s forgiveness and the suffering he experienced because of his stubbornness in acknowledging his sin.
Who we walk with in this life is a choice. Each of those relationships consciously and subconsciously impact the shaping of our lives. It is important that we are judicious in who we let speak into our lives. Proverbs 13:20 tells us that when we hang with fools we are on the road to destruction. Today we are going to look at 5 important relationships and how to discern if they are wise counsel or not.
The goal of this study is to discover the six obstacles to becoming self-aware. “Self-awareness refers to your ability to see yourself clearly and objectively.” It is a problem —both a spiritual and an emotional problem—if we are unable to have a clear and objective view of ourselves. It is good to know our strengths, but also our weaknesses. We need to recognize our talents, but also our limitations. What do people see as virtues of our character and what are our character flaws? This is why it is so important to guard our hearts—the condition of our heart affects everything!
God is not silent on the issue of Fatherhood. God has created and designed this role for a key purpose in His plan for the family and the world. As we continue to look to the Proverbs for insight into our daily relationships, we’ll discover the essential qualities a father must have to lead their families well.
As we continue our series on navigating life’s relationships, we have come to the portion focused on how to deal with conflicts that always seem to happen when you put two people together. Conflict cannot always be avoided, but the Scripture has advice for us in how we should deal with conflict. So this morning, we are going to look to the Proverbs for nine tips in dealing with conflict.
In our message today, I want to focus on four encouragements and one admonition from Proverbs 17. When we speak of encouragement, we have all experienced the afterglow of receiving an encouraging word or text. And sometimes we are on the giving side of it and we’re able to watch as a person’s expression changes from that of defeat to the face of strength. What a blessing it is to both give and receive encouragement! Now when we speak of admonitions—or admonishing someone—we may or may not have a clear understanding of this term. To admonish means “to caution, advise, or counsel against something; to reprove or scold, especially in a mil and good-willed manner.” The Apostle Paul uses this word to describe the work of God’s Word in our lives. He wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16a).