Growin' Up Gregory

As each new year rolls around, millions of Americans make New Year's Resolutions on how they want to change their life:  eat healthier, exercise more, save money, make new friends, etc.  But year after year, many find themselves making the same failed resolution as the year before.  What if instead of spending time thinking about a resolution, you spent time developing resolve - a firm determination to do something.  Resolutions sounds good and offer many benefits, but without the resolve to actually follow through on them, they often wind up being empty words. The concepts in this outline come from a story found in the Bible in 2 Kings 4:1-7.  Go read it, it's not long.  This is the story of the woman who's husband has passed away, debt collectors are coming for her children, and she has almost nothing left to her name.  But she meets a prophet who gives her some guidance and hope.  She follows his suggestion and turns her small bottle of oi...

To be completely honest, there are some verses in the Bible that I'm not really sure why they are there.  I mean, I know it's because God ordained men to write it and He has a purpose for each and every one, but there are some that are hard to comprehend or just don't seem to offer much worthwhile advice.  This verse is not one of those.  It's short, simple, relevant, and to the point. "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness." - Psalm 37:3 1.  Trust in the Lord.  Trusting God's lead doesn't mean feeling comfortable or even confident every step of the way.  It means knowing that if you follow Him, His will will be done.  As humans, we prefer walking by sight and not by faith, but sometimes God commands us to trust, follow, and obey. 2.  Do good.  Where do we start here?  Be kind, be generous, love, give, help, care, so many verbs we can list.  Do good by your family, your friends, your enemi...