May 15 2016 Managing Life's Rejections

MANAGING LIFE’S REJECTIONS

Proverbs 18:14 - A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a broken spirit, who can bear?

SIX SYMPTOMS OF REJECTION
1. Easily hurt.
2. Have a fear of failure.
3. Often suspicious of others.
4. Often isolate themselves from others.
5. Feel they have to prove themselves all the time.
6. Difficulty trusting God.

HOW TO RESPOND TO LIFE’S REJECTIONS

1. Release my pain.

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Psalm 62:8 – Pour out your heart to God, for He is our refuge.

Psalm 34:18 – The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

2. Receive from others.

Galatians 6:2 – Carry each other’s burdens.  By helping each other with your troubles, you obey the law of Christ.

Hebrews 12:15 – Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find God’s best blessing.

3. Refuse to be bitter.

Job 21:25 – Some people have no happiness at all; they live and die with a bitter heart.

Hebrews 12:15 – Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, it causes deep trouble hurting many in their spiritual lives.

The Antidote: 

-Accept what cannot be changed.

Job 11:13, 16 – Reach out to God, then face the world again, firm and courageous.

-Focus on what’s left not what’s lost.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – No matter what happens always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you.

4. Remember what’s important.

Luke 12:15 – Jesus said life is not measured by how much one owns.

1 Timothy 6:7 – We brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it.

5. Rely on Christ.

Philippians 4:13 – I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens.  I can do all things through Christ, because He gives me strength.

HOW?

-Lean on Christ for stability!

Psalm 125:1 – Those who trust in the Lord are steady as Mount Zion, unmoved by any circumstance.

Psalm 112:6-7 – Such a person will not be overthrown by evil circumstances.  God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it.  He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen.  For he is settled in his mind that God will take care of him.

-Listen to Christ for direction!

Jeremiah 29:11 – I know what I am planning for you, says the Lord.  I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you.  I will give you hope and a good future.

-Look to Christ for salvation.

Job 2:7 – When I have lost all hope, I once again turn my thoughts to the Lord.

June 7 2015 Freedom Through Forgiveness

Freedom Through Forgiveness

Proverbs 10:12 – Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.

Proverbs 19:11 – When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it.

I. First establish the forgiving motive.

Jeremiah 13:23 – Can the leopard change his spots?  Then may you also do good that are accustomed to doing evil?

HOW TO ESTABLISH NEW MOTIVES

1. Move Christ into the center of your life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.  Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.

2. Live your life focused on Christ.

John 15:4 – Remain in Me and I will remain in you.

II. Secondly, we need to understand why we forgive.

1. First because God forgives us.

Colossians 3:13 – Be ready to forgive, never hold grudges.  Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

2. We need to forgive because resentment doesn’t work.

Job 5:2 – To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.

Job 18:4 – You are only hurting yourself with your anger.

3. You need to forgive because you need forgiveness in the future.

Mark 11:25 – When you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins too.

III. We deal with our hurt by learning the steps out of our hurt.

1. Never retaliate.

Proverbs 20:22 – Don’t take it on yourself to repay a wrong.  Trust the Lord and He will make it right.

2. Deal with your hurt immediately.

Ephesians 4:26 – Don’t sin by nursing your grudge.  Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry, get over it quickly.

3. Forgive them whether they ask or not.

Ephesians 4:32 – Forgive each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.

4. Do good to them.

Luke 6:27-28, 35 – Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you.

Job 11:13-16 – Put your heart right, reach out to God, then face the world again, firm and courageous.  Then all troubles will fade from your memory, like floods that are past and remembered no more.

November 16 2014 Releasing Inner Hurts

Releasing Inner Hurts

Jehovah Raphe – I Am The God Who Heals

Psalm 147 – God heals the broken hearted and bandages their wounds.

1. Reveal my hurt.

Psalm 39:2-3 – I kept very quiet, but I became even more upset.  I became very angry inside and as I thought about it my anger burned.

Job 18:4 – You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger.

2. Release those who have hurt me.

Romans 12:17-19 – Never pay back evil for evil.  Never avenge yourself, leave that to God.  For He has said that He will repay those that deserve it.

Psalm 56:8 – You God have kept a record of all my tears.

Hebrews 12:5 – A bitter spirit is not only bad in itself, but can also poison the life of many others.

3. Replace old memories with God’s truth.

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Ephesians 1:4 – Through what Christ would do for us, God decided to make us holy in His eves without a single fault we stand before Him covered with His love.

4. Refocus on the future.

Job 11:13-16 – Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him, then you will lift up your face without shame, you will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.

Proverbs 4:25 – Look straight ahead with honest confidence, don’t hang your head in shame.

5. Reach out to help others.

2 Corinthians 1:4 – God comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble we can comfort them with the same comfort that God has given to us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – When someone becomes a Christian, he is a brand new person inside, he is not the same anymore, a new life has begun.

May 25 2014 Building Confidence From Loss

Building Confidence From Loss 

Ecclesiastes 8:14 – Sometimes something useless happens on earth. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.

HOW TO RESPOND TO LIFE’S LOSSES

1. Release my grief.

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Psalm 62:8 – Pour out your heart to God, for He is our refuge.

Psalm 34:18 – The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

2. Receive from others.

Galatians 6:2 – Carry each other’s burdens, by helping each other with your troubles, you obey the law of Christ.

Hebrews 12:15 – Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find God’s best blessings.

3. Refuse to be bitter.

Job 21:25 – Some people have no happiness at all, they live and die with a bitter heart.

Hebrews 12:15 – Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, it causes deep trouble hurting many in their spiritual lives.

The Antidote:

Accept what cannot be changed.

Job 11:13, 16 – Reach out to God, then face the world again, firm and courageous.

Focus on what’s left, not what’s lost.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – No matter what happens always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you.

4. Remember what’s important.

Luke 12:15 – Jesus said life is not measured by how much one owns.

1 Timothy 6:7 - We brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it.

5. Rely on Christ.

Philippians 4:13 – I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens. I can do all things through Christ, because He give me strength.

HOW?

Lean on Christ for stability.

Psalm 125:1 – Those who trust in the Lord are steady as Mount Zion, unmoved by any circumstance.

Psalm 112:6-7 – Such a person will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it. He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that God will take care of him.

Listen to Christ for direction.

Jeremiah 29:11 – I know what I am planning for you, says the Lord. I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.

Look to Christ for salvation.

Job 2:7 – When I have lost all hope, I once again turn my thoughts to the Lord.