When you fail to meet God’s standards and God’s best for life, how do you move forward? What do you do with your guilt? How do you seek God and find the restoration you need to go on?

We all fall short of God’s best for us. We fall short of God’s standards. We fall short of God’s holiness and God’s hopes for us. We miss the mark.

The Psalmist reminds us of God’s faithful promise, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103: 12, ESV).

Where does your security and protection come from? Where can you find the refuge you need in times of trouble?

Our perfect security, our refuge, and our protection is found in God alone.

The Psalmist writes, “But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.” (Psalm 59:16, NIV).

God gives us the strength and the love that we need in the midst of our hardship. God is our protective fortress when we are assaulted by our enemies. God is our refuge when we are surrounded by troubles of all kind.

Where does your peace come from? What is the outcome of the peace God gives you?

True and lasting peace comes from God. It is God’s peace that gives us the true and lasting rest we long for and so desperately need.

The Psalmist writes, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8, NIV).

God allows us to rest in safety, as God gives us the peace we need to lie down in his security.

Are you comfortable with waiting? Are you sure in the face of uncertainty? Do you grow impatient with the journey of life? Do you grow weary in the waiting? What hope and healing do you need as you travel along the way?

God meets his children in their need as we journey along the way. God is at work as we are traveling along the way. God is working in our waiting. There is hope for healing as we journey through this life.

Unique to Luke’s Gospel account is Jesus’ healing of ten lepers as he was on the way to Jerusalem. Luke tells us, “On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’” (Luke 17:11-13, ESV).

What causes you to worship God and to be in awe of him?

When we consider our great God and his great benefits, we are compelled to worship. God is worthy of our worship, not only for who God is, but for all that God has done to create us and to bless us.

The Psalmist writes, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 130:1-5, ESV).

What role does gratitude have in our worship? How is thanksgiving and worship connected?

You can tell a lot about the state of your relationship with Jesus by how thankful you are. Thanksgiving is an act of worship. Thanksgiving expresses our love to God.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Ephesus, saying, “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-21, ESV).

What all do you have to be thankful for? Is it possible to be thankful in every circumstance?

We have so much to be thankful for in this life.

As followers of Jesus, we can be thankful for our God and his salvation through Jesus Christ. We are also called to be thankful in all circumstances. Rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving encompass the will of God for the follower of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul wrote the Thessalonians, saying, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV).

When is a good time to be thankful? Is there a bad time to be thankful, or to express thanksgiving?

Being thankful is extremely important. As followers of Jesus, we have so much to be thankful for and we are called to express our thanksgiving to God. Giving thanks is an act of worship and expresses our gratitude to God.

The chronicler proclaimed, “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” (1 Chronicles 16:34, ESV).

Who rules and reigns over your life? Who governs this world and your life?

We are all ruled by something or someone. The question is, “Who is your king? Who rules over you? Whose kingdom do you belong to?”

Jesus spoke in John’s Gospel and proclaimed, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36).

Who we see as our king, and where we see his kingdom, effects how we live and make decisions in our lives.

How do you find the strength to strain forward in the face of challenges and adversity? How do you find the courage to fail forward when you fall or fail in the face of misfortune?

We will never finish the course if we stop or quit when we encounter trials or hardships.

As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Or, as the Apostle Paul wrote the church in Philippi, “I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, ESV).

How are you guided through this life? Where do you get your direction and guidance from? How are you sure of which way to go?

We are all guided along life’s path through different means. It is God’s guidance that should ultimately guide the follower of Jesus. We need to be guided by God’s Spirit.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Rome, saying, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14).

We know that we are God’s children when we are being led by God’s Spirit.

To what degree do you desire God? What are the different desires you have? Are these desires greater or less than your desire for God? Do you have the desire to desire God?

We have many desires in this life. But no desire is greater than our desire for God, because in God all our other desires find their place.

The Psalmist wrote, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” (Psalm 73:25, ESV).

All our desires fall short of God’s perfect fulfillment of all our heart’s longings. All our desires find their perfect contentment in God.

What does all of creation say about our God who created all things?

God’s good creation speaks of God. All of creation is glorious as it declares the glory of our God who made it.

The Psalmist writes, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1).

The visible created world speaks of God and his invisible qualities and attributes. God reveals himself in his creation so we can know him and be in relationship with him.

What is the importance of a renewed life? How does renewal occur in your life?

There is the old life, and then there is the new life God has in store for you.

We cannot experience renewal of life if we are holding relentlessly to the old life.

Renewal of life is something that God does as we yield our wills to God’s will. A renewed life occurs as we lay down our former way of life and apprehend the life God has for us.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Ephesus encouraging them to “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24, ESV).

What are your worries and anxieties? What value do your worries and anxieties add to your life? Are you happy with them?

Worries and anxieties are an unwelcome part of life. They are a reality, but they do not add value or significance. Worries and anxieties rob us of God’s best for our lives.

Jesus asked this question about our worries, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27, NIV).

There is no value in our worries or in our anxieties—they do not add value to our lives.

What kind of good fruit is your life producing? If someone looked at your life and the fruit you produce, what kind of plant would you be?

As people of God, we are to live fruitful lives towards one another in this world. Our lives are to produce kingdom fruit. We are to be good trees—bearing an abundance of good fruit.

Jesus said it this way in Matthew’s gospel: “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16, ESV).

The world will recognize us by the fruit we produce.

What hope do you have that you hold on to in order to endure this life?

In the face of trials and difficulties, we have a true and living hope that we can cling to so that we might endure and press through.

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'" (Lamentations 3:22-24, ESV).

God’s love never stops. God’s mercy never runs out. God’s love and mercy are renewed daily. God’s faithfulness towards us is astounding. God has all we need and more. Our hope to endure is in the Lord.

What level of sacrifice is required to truly serve another? What do sacrifice and service have in common—how do they relate to one another?

Selfless service requires self-sacrifice. Service and sacrifice go hand in hand. We can make a sacrifice without serving, but we can seldom serve well without sacrifice.

In John’s gospel account, Jesus said it this way, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13, ESV).

Is the church a place you go to or a people you belong to? Is the church an organization or is it a living organism?

As followers of Jesus, we are the body of Christ. We are the people of God in the world. As the church, we are to embody Christ to one another and to the world. We are the church.

The Apostle Paul wrote the church in Corinth assuring them that they are the church. Paul said, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27).

In his letter to the Romans, Paul proclaimed, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Romans 12:4-5).

How big is your faith? Have you ever struggled to have faith? How much faith in God is impactful for us and for our world?

A little faith goes a long way.

It may be true that we have more faith than we realize in our little faith.

If we are lacking in faith, we can seek God in prayer and ask God to increase our faith.

Our seeking God for faith is an act of faith. This little act of faith can uproot and plant.