Day 20 - 5 hard things

Based on the extreme faith workout - www.gbcwestlake.org

Proverbs 2:1-5 - Listen up
words to a son, to listen to the parents as it relates to the search for wisdom. We must listen to God's Word, searching it diligently like for hidden treasure if we are going to get its wisdom.

Proverbs 10:19 - Shut up
There is sin present when there is much talking. We must be quiet to take God's Word in, to gain what it has to say to us.

Proverbs 25:28 - Hold up
It takes self control to not respond from our fleshly emotions to the hard truths of God's Word. We have to hold up our natural response, even of anger, in order to humbly submit to the Word of God.

5 hard things to apply from God's Word:
1. Turn the other cheek - Matthew 5:39
I know it is what I am supposed to do, to be like Christ when I am attacked in any way; but I find it extremely difficult to just take it

2. Forgive as Christ did - Ephesians 4:32
I forgive as I want to, feeling I can easily forget. But, to forgive fully like Christ is so hard; especially as it relates to not allowing a prior offense to be a future obstacle in relationship

3. Give thanks in all circumstances - I Thessalonians 5:16
I think I am a thankful person, but I realize that I complain a lot in my own heart and don't like the circumstances that I sometimes face.

4. Forgetting the past - Philippians 3:12-14
To forget the past, especially my many failures, is very hard for me. It seems that I keep revisiting how I have blown it previously and it affects how I approach things now.

5. Seek eternal things - Colossians 3:1,2
I want to think about things from God's perspective, from an eternal perspective, but I find myself thinking about them from this earth bound perspective, in the midst of a sinful world.