(Haggai 1:5-7) Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.”
+
(Luke 15:11-16) “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
+
(Proverbs 16:18) Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
+
✓
We engage in
behavior.
+
(Proverbs 14:12 MSG) There's a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell.
+
✓
We
from those who can help.
+
(Proverbs 18:1 ESV) Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
+
✓
We find ourselves in a
.
+
(Psalm 88:8 TLB) You have made my friends to loathe me, and they have gone away. I am in a trap with no way out.
+
(Psalm 34:18 GN) The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he sees those who have lost all hope.
+
(1 Corinthians 10:13 MSG) All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.
+
(Luke 15:17) “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’”
+
1.
Acknowledge the
of where you are.
+
(Psalm 51:5-6 MSG) I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you're after is truth from the inside out.
+
(Proverbs 27:12) The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
+
(2 Corinthians 6:2) I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
+
4.
ask your Father for help.
+
(1 Peter 5:5-7) “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
+
All scripture is from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.