Unity, Sympathy, Humility, Restoration

1.  Unity: We must combine our thoughts with each other's thoughts to create a new thought.  We need other  perspectives to balance ours out  (James 1:9). 

2.  Sympathy: We must feel what it's like to be in another person's situation (John 11:35).  

3.  Humility: We must humble ourselves realizing that every person that we meet is superior to us in some way (Romans 12:16). 

4.  Restoration: We must forgive each other, speak life, and worship God in surrender (Romans 12:21).       

https://www.facebook.com/highlands/videos/557815491787925/?v=557815491787925&notif_id=1591534540443058&notif_t=live_video

How to heal a toxic relationship

God can heal toxicity.   

Here's what He did in the Bible.  

Exodus 15:23-26 (NLT)

23 When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).

24 Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 

25 So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.

It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 

26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

Honor heals toxicity.   

We must look past the person to what the person represents.  They are a person Jesus died for.  

1 Peter 3:7 (NLT)

7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.  

Trust heals toxicity.  

Distrust comes from what I expect and what the other person delivers.   We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions.  We must give others the benefit of the doubt.  

Hope is given, but trust must be built.  We must create an environment of trust by our actions.  

Loyalty heals toxicity.   

God is loyal.  He is full of  compassion, grace, and patience.  We must be like Him.  

Exodus 34:6-7 (NLT)

⁶ The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,

“Yahweh!The Lord!
    The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
    and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
⁷ I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.^[b]
    I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
    I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—

    even children in the third and fourth generations.”  

Kids that turn out Right

Luke 15:11-22 New Living Translation (NLT)

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 

12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

1. Why did the younger son want to leave?

2. What was the relationship with the father like?

3. How much attention did he receive?

13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 

14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 

15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 

16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 

18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 

19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 

21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.

1. Give your kids attention. 

A. Spend 15 minutes of quality time every day with each one of them. 

B. Get involved in what they like to do.  

C. Monitor the relationship on family nights together.

2. Use your authority wisely with accountability. 

A. Say to them "What are you doing?"  

B. As a parent you need to be an unmovable object to your child.  

C. Don't rescue them from their consequences.  

D. Let them reap the consequences.  Use consequences for boundaries.  

E. Pain changes character.

3. Shown your affection for them and tell them daily that you love them. 

When you take 1 step toward God, he takes 1 million steps toward you.  

Larry Stockstill, Bethany House of Worship

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/kids-that-turn-out-right 

3 Keys to Break Through!

1. When you fast, you are turning down the world to hear God. (Matt. 6:16)

Seek for direction, devotion, and desperation. 

2. When you pray, you are turning up the voice of God.  (Matt. 6:5)

Focus in on...

2 Corinthians 13:14 New Living Translation (NLT)

... the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit...

3. When you give, you give to God by helping others.  (Matthew 6:16)  

Ask God to show you a need that no else knows about, so you can bless them.  

Larry Stockstill, guest speaking at Church of the Highlands