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When we enter into friendships and business relations with those whose values differ from ours, we run the risk of being led astray by them. The idols of this world: wealth, fame, power, status, etc. are inviting, and they can quickly draw us away from who we are in Christ Jesus. Friends, the battle before us is not an easy one, but we can take solace in knowing God has already won the war.

Do you ever feel like you have had too much of a history of failure for God to accept you? You never can quite seem to get it right, whether at work, with your family, or friends. This verse says that God will continue the work He began until it is finished. It’s not a “one and done”; sanctification, or to be holy, is a lifelong process until Jesus returns.

Serving our neighbors is exactly how we live our lives for Christ. When we show up, open to what God can make happen through our willingness, it not only blesses others, it also helps us experience “full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way” and it continues to produce in us “abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God.”

What finite, human characteristics are you applying to our Heavenly, eternal Father? He is not the scary man in the sky that frightened you in Sunday school. He’s not even the inner critic voice inside of you, the face looking back in the mirror judging everything you do. His heart is constantly flooded with love and mercy for you. Don’t miss the point. Don’t turn God into the people that have hurt you. His arms are open to His children.

Our emotional health and our spiritual health are inseparable! We can’t be spiritually healthy without being emotionally healthy. To tend to, to give yourself permission to feel your emotions is divine work.

When's the last time you faced a situation that caused you to question your adequacy? You ever feel unequal to a task God has called you to? Listen, your strength is enough… when God makes up the difference! When your obedience starts small, God will step in big!

This Labor Day, I encourage us to celebrate the accomplishments of laborers throughout the history of our great nation who have helped make our country what it is today. But I also encourage and challenge us to be purposeful and intentional as to how our good works can be done with humility and wisdom, full of mercy and good fruit, not pointing to ourselves but seeking to honor and glorify our Father in Heaven.

It’s often said, we’re living between two gardens - Genesis 1 and Revelation 22, when Eden will be restored. Life is messy in the inbetween. When Ken and I officiate weddings, I often talk about the way we begin to emotionally, and often physically, “cover ourselves” when we feel ashamed, angry, or disappointed in one another. I long for Eden to be restored.

God's fire never burns out. God can light up your life. He can set your heart ablaze for him. Therefore, when your fire is low or burning out, you must make it a mandate to say, "I MUST GO OVER AND LOOK." And when you do, Jesus will light you up. Jesus will rekindle your heart. So that you can always go to him and say, I want more of you God! I want more! I want more!

If you want to see the fruit of the Spirit in your life, rather than the destruction of the flesh, you must trust God enough to let Him guide your steps, even when it might not be how you want things to go.