Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)  No vision is needed to be average or to maintain the status quo. To have a vision means to look ahead and stir up your faith to think bigger—to dream of what you could do and where you could go with God.  All too often, we allow our failures and losses to diminish our vision. But God doesn’t speak to you based on your past. He speaks to you based on your future. He sees your potential. God’s Word is full of people who didn’t seem to have much going for them, yet they went on to do great things.  Think of Gideon. God found him …

Get skillful and godly Wisdom, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation); do not forget and do not turn back from the words of my mouth. Proverbs 4:5 (AMPC)  How do we discern whether we should trust someone? Do we look at how they make us feel? Is it some sort of internal leading? Do we pay attention to what they say?  All of those things are important, but one of the most important things to look at when you’re discerning who to trust is track record: what do they do?  If someone has a really messed-up life and he wants a fresh start, Jesus will always give it to him, and so should the church. If he says, “Hey, Pastor, I’m a drug addict. Can …

You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men)… 1 Kings 8:39 (NKJV)  Judging people’s hearts is a bad idea. We can’t pretend to know why people do what they do—only God knows someone’s thoughts and motives! However, we are allowed to look at people’s past behaviour when trying to guess what they’ll do in the future.  Judging track record is very different from judging hearts. You see, when you judge people’s track records, all you’re saying is, “This is how they’ve acted in the past, so I have to take that as a sign of what they will tend to do in the future.” When you judge people’s hearts, it sounds more like this, “I know why they did …

For every tree is known by its own fruit. Luke 6:44 (NKJV)  Today I’m going to talk about a skill we all need if we want to have great relationships: how to judge people correctly.  You’re probably thinking, “Hey, I thought we weren’t supposed to judge people!” And you’re right… if we’re talking about judging people’s motives. But there is a type of judging that we absolutely need to do.  Let’s say you’re looking for a babysitter. The first candidate you interview lives just down the street. She’s been arrested a couple of times for drug possession and she was fired from her last job for stealing money. Should you let her babysit for you?  The truth is, the Bible doesn’t say that we should …

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)  So many times we look outside of ourselves to try to fix our relationships—often hoping the change will come from the other person. Meanwhile, the first place to start is your own heart, and as a believer, you have God’s grace to help you.  Why not start claiming His promises today? Based on Ephesians 2:8, you could say something like this: “Father, it is by grace that I’m saved, through faith. Because of this gift from You, I have all the wisdom and power I need for my relationships!”  Notice that …