1. God desires for us to grow instead of sitting in a cycle of sin (4‑9).

• Prosperity can be dangerous because it breeds self‑reliance and pride (4).
• There are times when God takes steps to get our attention (5‑7).
• A wise person will seek godly council (8‑9).

Action: Ask yourself, how has God sought to get my attention about things in my life I need to work on?

2. God must be given first place (10‑18).

• God has given each of us a sphere of influence (10‑12).
• God has the right to take away anybody's sphere of influence (13‑16).
• God's sovereignty means that nobody is above God's decisions (17‑18).

Action: Evaluate your sphere of influence. Is God the one who is given first place in your sphere?

3. The punishment for sin has been paid, but a loving Father still disciplines (19‑27).

• Sometimes the truth and reality of a situation are a burden (19‑23).
• The truth is that sometimes God disciplines in order to change the path someone is on (24‑26).
• The right response to the discipline of the Lord is repentance (27).

Action: Determine to accept God's discipline instead of hardening yourself against God's discipline.

Text-to-Give

Text a dollar amount to 84321 to set up and use Text-to-Give.