Jesus

2 John 1:9 KJV[9] Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
It is surprising, not only to unbelievers but believers as well why we serve the same God with different sub-doctrines. This leads to questions as to which ones are wrong and which are right. If Jesus is not at the center of it, then it is null and void. “It doesn’t matter what you are right about, if you are wrong about Jesus” (Unknown).

Haze

1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
No one asked to be born, or had a hand in circumstances surrounding our birth and life. Thus it is not unusual to ask “Why me?” every once in a while. The more one grows the more one realizes that most people have no idea what they are really about. The good news is we are not in a vacuum and one day, we will have a clearer understanding of what we currently may not understand. “Occasionally, weep deeply over the life that you hoped would be. Then wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life that he’s given you” (John Piper).

Time

Ecclesiastes 12:1 KJV[1] Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Most of us are guilty of not making time for some people and things that matter with the excuse of being chronically busy. While we may get away with it with men, we have to make a more conscious effort to work on our personal relationship with God. “One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time” (John Piper).

The Little Things

Song of Songs 2:15 KJV[15] Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
It’s usually the little things that matter. The difference between a successful person and a non successful one is whether or not they paid attention to the seemingly little details of their life. “It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway (Evan Esar).

Judge Not

Luke 6:42 KJV[42] Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.

Romans 2:1 KJV

[1] …wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
The thing about judging others is that the one judging should neither be guilty of the action in question, nor be capable of doing so under similar circumstances, and should be generally flawless. There is a fine line between letting people know they are wrong, and being self-righteous. “You cannot judge people because they sin differently than you” (Erykah Badu).

Advice

Genesis 3:2,4 KJV[2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

 [4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
“A problem shared is a problem half-solved” only if you share it with the right people. When you open up to the wrong people, you open yourself up to wrong advice. “Never take advice from someone you wouldn’t trade places with” (Kelly Clarkson)

Greener Pasture

Genesis 2:16-17 KJV[16] And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The grass always seems to be greener on the other side. You may have it all but if you don’t value what you have, you will lose what you do have as well. “The earlier you learn that you should focus on what you have, and not obsess about what you don’t have, the happier you will be” (Amy Poehler).

Prison

Genesis 3:12-13 KJV

[12] And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. [13] And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

The scariest thing about prison is the lack of freedom. Blaming others for one’s choices is giving up one’s freedom of choice. You give up personal power when you blame others instead of taking personal responsibility. “Taking personal accountability is a beautiful thing because it gives us complete control of our destinies (Heather Schuck).

Success

Proverbs 30:25-28 KJV[25] The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; [26] The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; [27] The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; [28] The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

Success means different things to different people. Whatever your definition of success, by virtue of the fact that you are made in the image of God, you have no excuse to not succeed in your life. “Don’t give in to excuses that can keep you from really living the best life God has for you (Joyce Meyer).

Priori

Luke 10:20 KJV[20] Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
When your priorities are skewed, you waste time and energy on relatively unimportant things at the expense of important ones. “The most important thing in life is knowing the most important things in life” (David F. Jakielo).