Jesus is not worshiped as God; He is endured or tolerated but not worshiped and obeyed. This is why there are so many that find themselves depressed, defeated, and disillusioned. They lack the peace of God and they yearn for the joy of the Spirit.

Joy is proof to the world that God can truly satisfy the human heart. Why? Because joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ.

God declines to sit atop an organizational flowchart. He is the organization. He is not interested in being president of the board. He is the board. And life doesn’t work until everyone else sitting around the table in the boardroom of your heart is fired. He is God and there are no other applicants for the position. There are no partial gods, no honorary gods, no interim god, no assistants to the regional gods.

It is foolishness to look for something that is not there, to expect something that was never prepared for, and to think that the consequences will never happen to you.

Regardless of how something is wrapped, regardless of how much it appeals to our desires or to our instincts for pleasure, we must use wisdom and see what the final asking price is.

The purpose of the storm is showing us that we are not in control of anything, God is in control. We may think that we are riding high and living large, but when a storm arrives, what is not permanent is going to be.

A father must be a rebuilder, no matter what his past failures may have been. His sins tend to recur in the lives of his sons and daughters. The manifestations may differ, but the basic failure will be there.

Instruction is given so that we can learn by listening and thereby produce wisdom. Instruction rejected then continues with the same lesson, however, we are taught by pain. When a person says, “I will never do that again!”, they have learned the hard way and endured pain in the process.

A person who does not lie is a person that can be trusted. This is so relevant if you are entering into business or into marriage. For if you cannot be trusted in one area, what areas can you be trusted in?

Reaching a goal requires more than skill. It requires determination. This means rejecting distractions, such as discouragement and doubt. Often, failure is due not to a lack of talent or ability, but to a lack of persistence during difficult times.