Love & Influence – Esther 5

5:3-6 When a man loves a woman, he wants to do all he can to make her happy, and doesn’t mind sharing what he has with her.

5:3-8 Women have great influence on men.

5:4 Approach a person in the right way and you are more likely to get what you ask for.

5:9-14 Pride can make a person delusional.

Joyce Meyer said we should pray and ask God to not let us be deceived about ourselves. Don’t believe the lies the enemy tells you about yourself.

5:10-14 Surround yourself with people who will help you stay humble and tell you the truth about yourself and your situation. This is especially true if you have access to power, influence, and/or money.

Called To Be His – Romans 1

1:2 “God promised this Good News long ago through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” NLT
1:5 “Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey Him, bringing glory to His name.” NLT
1:7 God loves you.
1:7 We are called to be His.
1:7 If you want to bless someone, say this: May the grace and peach be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9 As Christians, we are told to pray for each other.
1:9 Tell others about Jesus.
1:10 Bless each other.
1:11 Fellowship with each other.
1:12 Encourage each other.
1:14 God doesn’t discriminate. All who believe are welcome.
1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes – the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” NLT
1:18-32 These verses are very specific about what happens when a person chooses to sin, and it is a choice. God gives us free will. The word “choice” is used or implied throughout these verses.
1:18 “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” NLT
1:18-20 God is angry when we deny His truth even though we know it.
1:20 God created earth and everything in it.
1:21 When we choose sin, our minds become dark and confused.
1:21 We sin when we are ungrateful.
1:21 We sin when we refuse to worship God.
1:22 You think you’re smart when you’re sinning, but you’re really a fool.
1:23 We sin when we worship idols
1:24 We sin when we choose to believe lies.
1:26 God will allow you to choose to live a life of sin.
1:26-27 “That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.” NLT. This shows that homosexuality is wrong according to the Bible.
1:29 Sin causes your life to be full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
1:30-32 The types of people who choose a life of sin: “They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” NLT

Drama And Distractions – Nehemiah 6

6:1-13 Be discerning when dealing with people.

6:1-5, 8-14 Don’t fall into the traps of drama and distractions.

6:1-14 People will gossip and lie about you when you are doing great work.

6:9 Stay focused on your purpose.

6:10-13 People will try to set you up to discredit you.

6:12-13 Know who you are dealing with.

6:14 Pray.

6:16-19 When you’re doing what God assigned you to do, you’re doing powerful work, and it scares some people. It forces them to look at themselves. Some will be inspired and encouraged. Others will be jealous, feel threatened, and try to intimidate you. Regardless, they will know that God is with you.

See God’s Glory – Acts 7

7:1-50 Show what you know.
7:1-50 Tell the truth.
7:1-50 Never be afraid to speak God’s word.
7:1-50 Stephen proved to the elders that he wasn’t lying by showing all he knew.

7:1-53 Listen to God.

7:3-8 You may have to leave your loved ones to do what God has called you to do.

7:52 Prophets were persecuted people.

7:53-58 Everyone will not want to hear God’s word and instruction (the truth).
7:53-60 When we suffer, God gets the glory.

7:55 No matter what’s going on around you, stay focused on God. You will see His glory.

7:60 Forgive those who persecute you. Pray for them.

Work Smart – Acts 6

6:1-4 Focus on the mission.

6:2-5 Delegate authority. The apostles recognized that they couldn’t do everything.

6:1-7 If you try to do everything, you’ll be good at nothing.

6:6 People who serve need prayer and to be ministered to. It keeps their strength up.

6:1-7 One person can’t do everything, but everyone can do something.

6:7 When you focus on the purpose, you get closer to reaching your goal.

6:8,10 Stephen performed miracles, was wise, and full of God’s grace and power. What’s not to love about that? He’s doing good for others. Well, people got jealous and afraid that people would pay more attention to Stephen, so they lied.
Lies cannot stop God. It’s in times of trouble that we see God’s work and power.

The Light That Leads To Life – John 8

8:7 “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” NLT
It’s not our place to judge each other.

8:10-11 Jesus forgives.

8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” NLT

8:14 Jesus knew where He came from and knew where He was going.

8:15 Jesus didn’t judge even though He knew He could.

8:24 That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that i am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” NLT

8:28-29 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” NLT

8:31-32 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” NLT.
When you acknowledge the truth, you will feel free. A burden will be lifted from you. Living with integrity is much easier.

8:34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.” NLT
Being a slave to sin means that you work for the sin, the sin is not working for you.

8:35 You don’t have to live in sin forever.

8:37 People don’t want to be held accountable for their issues.

8:44 The enemy hates the truth. There is no truth in him.
8:44 The enemy kills.
8:44 The enemy is the father of lies. So EVERY lie is from the enemy.

8:47 “Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.” NLT

8:50 Let God be the judge.

8:51 “I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!” NLT