Someone suggested the top ten lies told in America: 10) Your table will be ready in a minute. 9) One size fits all. 8) This will hurt me more than it hurts you. 7) I’m sorry I’m late; I got stuck in traffic. 6) The check is in the mail. 5) This offer is limited to the first 50 callers. 4) It’s not the money; it’s the principle of the thing. 3) I need just five minutes of your time. 2) I’ll start my diet tomorrow. 1) I’m from the IRS and I’m here to help you. Our culture doesn’t place much value on integrity, but Scripture does. James helps us sort out what characterizes a life of integrity.

 The Bible tells us that if we carry around our old stuff too long, it will become an idol and it will be nothing but a burden. Isaiah tells Judah that, attracted as they were to the false gods of Canaan, they are going to wear themselves out carrying around burdensome stuff they should have gotten rid of a long time ago.  The prophet insisted that that was a luxury they could ill afford, and that, in fact, they were showing the symptoms of a disease called nostalgia.  

Is your life in constant motion, moving from place to place, from school to school, or from career to career? Or do you realize that God is at work in you, changing you through these circumstances? As we observe Jacob’s journey, we see not only a geographic journey, but a journey from Jacob to Israel—a pilgrimage from selfishness to God-centeredness, from deception to devotion. This journey takes a lifetime. 

In our text for this week, we have the longest prayer recorded in the Book of Genesis. Jacob laid out his entire problem before God, providing us with a model as to how covenant people should approach God when they’re under threat. 

In verse 9, He reminded God of His covenant promises. Then He confessed His total unworthiness in verse 10. He then asked for God’s deliverance in verse 11, and again returned to God’s promised word in verse 12. 

If we get stuck, not knowing how to approach God, this is a wonderful pattern. To enter into the blessings both now and hereafter, we must submit ourselves totally to the touch of God. We must let Him work in us that which takes away our deceit and self-dependence. Take your difficulties to God, wrestle and deal with them, and you will be able to deal with others with the same grace given to you.

Failure Is Not Fatal if –

 Have you ever felt like throwing in the towel and quitting? Have you ever come to the end of your rope? Are you there now, ready to give up? In 2 Kings chapter 4, we find a scene of misery, impoverishment, and despair. As the story progresses, however, this widow finds hope and a way out of a hopeless situation.

  Whether you are facing the death of a loved one, debt, or even doubt, remember that God is able 

· to provide (Phil. 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”., 

· to deliver (Ps. 50:15 “and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”),

· to strengthen (2 Cor. 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.), 

· to save (Heb. 7:25 “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”), and 

· to do more than we could ever ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”). 

From the ashes of Saul’s old life arose the noblest and most useful man of God the church has ever known. God not only transformed Saul’s life but used him in the transformation of countless others.

Every believer should follow Saul’s example in discovering and obeying God’s call on his or her life. Not all of us are called to be preachers or missionaries, and not all of us will be called in a blinding light. But each of us was created to do something in God’s service. Diligently seek God’s call for your life, and when you discover what God wants you to do, obey him instantly, completely, and persistently.

 Paul’s favorite name for believers was brethren. He used it at least sixty times in his letters; and in the two Thessalonian Epistles, he used it twenty-seven times. Paul saw the local church as a family. Each member was born again by the Spirit of God and possessed God’s nature (1 Peter 1:22–25; 2 Peter 1:3–4). They all were part of God’s family.

What are the essentials for a happy, thriving church family? How can we make our local churches more spiritual to the glory of God? 

Discouragement is an occupational hazard of living today. Its easy to become down in the dumps, stuck in the blues, carrying the weight of the world, cast down. The wind goes out of our sails, it rains on our parade, and our bubble bursts. 

 One of the best ways to overcome discouragement is to focus on others. Who can you encourage this week? 

Anyone who has children knows what partial obedience is. We can send our children to clean their rooms and they come out after a couple of minutes and say it’s all done. When we check, we find they’ve taken all the toys off the floor and thrown them into the closet; and that’s their idea of cleaning. The Lord gives us commands to obey. We think that we can just obey part way and the Lord will be happy. Saul discovered the hard way that the Lord doesn’t want partial obedience.

 When you look at little babies, you could almost get the idea that being a mother is the easiest, happiest, most exciting job in the world. The truth is—being a mother may be the most demanding, self-sacrificing, draining, unrelenting, and thankless job in the world. No one can deny the joys that motherhood brings to a woman. But there are a lot of difficult times that come with being a mom, some downright unhappy moments.  Mom can’t be at her peak if she’s always happy—and neither can the rest of us. It’s in the midst of life’s searing circumstances that we make our deepest connection with God. Hang on to the lessons we spoke about today and let them be anchors for your soul.