HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 347
page A345
Besides your relationship with God, your next most vulnerable relationship should be
with your spouse, if you are married. There should be nothing hidden between the two
of you.
• PSA L M 1 3 9 :2 3 -2 4 | Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious
thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of
everlasting life.
• H E B R E W S 4 :1 2 -1 3 | The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the
sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow.
It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from
God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we
are accountable.
It is essential to open your heart and life fully to God and let him do his work in you to help
you become all he created you to be. If you hold back from God and don’t allow him to
help, you will never reach your God-given potential.
• 1 K I NG S 2 1 :2 9 | “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has
done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime.”
• 2 K I NG S 5 :1 1 -1 4 | But Naaman became angry and stalked away. . . . So Naaman went
down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times.
• H E B R E W S 1 0 :3 3 | Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and
sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.
• MAT T H E W 5 :1 1 -1 2 | “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie
about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be
happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember,
the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”
Allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to experience humiliation and ridicule for believing
in Jesus.
• 2 C O R I NT H I A NS 1 1 :2 7 | I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights.
I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the
cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
You must make yourself vulnerable enough to be willing to accept difficulty and danger in
order to serve God.
Is it okay to show my emotions?
• J O H N 2 :1 3 -1 7 | Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling. . . .
He also saw dealers at tables. . . . He told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning
my Father’s house into a marketplace!” Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from
the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”
• L U K E 7 :1 2 -1 3 | A funeral procession was coming out as [Jesus] approached the village
gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from
the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion.
“Don’t cry!” he said.
• J O H N 1 1 :3 3 | When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her,
a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.
Jesus often showed his emotions. Letting others see your emotions shows how deeply
you care.
• MAT T H E W 2 6 :3 8 | He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay
here and keep watch with me.”
Jesus was honest with his disciples about his deep emotions. You should also feel free to
be this open with trusted friends.
HelpFinder
We must be vulnerable in admitting our sin and humbling ourselves before God. Only then
can we experience forgiveness and restoration.
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• R O MA NS 1 0 :9 | If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.