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This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:29) There are only two ways to live, yet we forget that God's way is ultimately for our own good; much of the pain we endure is the result of choices we make apart from Him, but pride prevents us from surrendering-like kicking against a rock, we keep hurting ourselves simply because we refuse to admit we were wrong.

“As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” (Psalms 18:30) This is not true for many of us. We think we have our life's blueprint all figured out, so we fret when things don't go as planned. We call God the Lord and orchestrator of our lives, but in practice, we are still running our own lives. Can we trust Him in every moment and truly declare, "As for God, His way is perfect"?

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58) Your best days of serving God should not be behind you. Paul exhorts us to always give our best and to abound in the work of the Lord. When Elisha told King Jehoash to strike the ground, he rebuked him for stopping at three times, he could have struck five or six times.

Ezekiel had amazing visions of God, not in a place of prayer or worship, but by the Kebar River while waiting to be taken into exile. This teaches us not to limit God’s speaking to moments of active fellowship, because sometimes He speaks in the most routine and ordinary activities of our day.

The graphe does not give eternal life; it points to the One who has eternal life. It testifies about Jesus. Do you see Him when you read the graphe? Do you see Jesus in the stories of Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph, Samson, Esther, and the prophets? He is the central message the graphe points to.

God hardly ever fits into our traditional viewpoint. He rejected every firstborn; from Ishmael to Jacob, to Reuben, to Manasseh, to Eliab and the list continues. We forget that we must fit into God's modus operandi, not the other way around. Hence many of us are not effectively harnessing the tremendous power available in the graphe.

Error is unavoidable when one is ignorant of the graphe. The mess in various areas of our lives is a reflection of our lack of investment in the graphe. Most of us suffer from religious frustrations because while God has given us a guide for our walk with Him, we have abandoned it for our own man-made laws.

The graphe gives us the legal backing to speak and act on behalf of God. On what grounds does a Christian pray for the sick, reach out to the lost, or cast out devils? The graphe gives us the backing and confidence to do so. The graphe is eternal and will outlast everything, both seen and unseen.

Rahab risked her life because she believed without reservation what she had heard about the God of Israel. Daniel committed his life to prayer and fasting because he believed what he read from Jeremiah. When you pick up the graphe, do you know that God is speaking to you?

The rich man requests that his brothers might repent if they have some sort of supernatural encounter with someone from the dead. But Abraham informs him that if they do not believe what has already been documented by the prophets of old, such encounters will not produce genuine repentance. Do you believe what has been written?

The hands of Zerubbabel always start with what is already in them. You must understand this: if you do not kill the lion and the bear in the wilderness, God will never bring you before Goliath. Where you are right now is exactly where you need to be to begin the journey toward the great assignment God has placed before you.

Zerubbabel's hands are working hands, the hands that lay the foundation and bring the work to completion according to God's purpose. Yet many who are in need would rather sit and beg than put their hands to work. Paul understood this, which is why he said he labored more than all the other apostles, lest the grace of God upon him be in vain.

Friendship thrives on openness, not secrecy. God demonstrated this when He revealed His plans to Abraham. Jesus showed us the same when He said, "I no longer call you servants, but friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."

In Christianity, friendship is key. God shows us how through His friendship with Abraham, He visited him, asked him questions, and hid nothing from him. That’s why Jesus calls us friends, not slaves, because He has revealed the Father to us.

God never directly told Job why he suffered, and He didn't answer every accusation laid against Him. He simply revealed Himself: "I am God; the Uncreated Creator." There are seasons in life we won't understand, even if God tried to explain them. But of this we can be fully assured: God is for us.