• God does not promote us because of what is in our heads. He promotes us because of what is in our hearts.

• The story of the Ethiopian eunuch shows us the three levels of understanding: literal, spiritual and applied.

• Without a proper literal understanding, what we call spiritual understanding would be highly suspicious.

• Truly wise people are often humble because they know enough to realize that they do not know enough.

• Our salvation is a gift, but our rewards will be earned. 

• When we receive gifts, we feel loved. When we receive rewards, we feel valued because we are useful.

• We are rewarded for pleasing God.

• Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons will not be pleasing to God.

• Unclean spirits are demons, usually at the root of all kinds of suffering like protracted disease and mental affliction.

• Unclean spirits thrive where there is ignorance, unbelief, fear or pride.

• Unclean spirits operate like pests. If you tolerate one, you will soon you have an infestation.

• When an unclean spirit is cast out, the work of deliverance has only just began.

• Sometimes when we expect to be encouraged, the Lord challenges us. He gives us not a soothing balm to comfort but the belt of truth to strengthen.

• Many fail because they reject the bitter truth, preferring comfort from any source.

• A faithful minister must tell the truth in season and out of season whether palatable or distasteful.

There is a straight line from deception to depression.

Deception- Independence-Distraction-Indiscipline-Depression

God’s answer to deception is sanctification.

• Gifts have to do with service, but maturity has to do with Christ’s character/fruit of the Spirit. 

• God will use even the immature, because there is so much work to be done that if He has to wait for us to grow up, the work will suffer.

• Love is the fruit of the Spirit.

• Wisdom is inseparable from the fear of God.

• Love for God must be balanced with a fear of Him. 

• David’s love for God did not keep him from sinning with Bathsheba, but his fear of the Lord restored him.

• Christian maturity is not determined by how much of God's Word one knows, but by a godly character.  

• God's Word is intended to transform us, nor to merely inform us. 

• If  forced to choose, an uneducated, but holy man of God, is better than to be a highly educated son of hell. 

• Maturing is the process of coming out of the dark into the light. 

• The opposite of not growing in Christian maturity is not a standstill. It is backsliding.

• The ultimate goal of Christian maturity is full Christlikeness.

• There’s no stagnation in the spirit… you are either growing or you are regressing. 

• When did you last give up a behavior that is not necessarily sinful, but simply immature?

• Some things in life are meant to be temporary. It is not wise to make them permanent. 

• Wisdom is directed by the heart. Foolishness is not a matter of the intellect but of the heart.

• Because of how gentle He is, the Holy Spirit is easily ignored. 

• The world is constantly in your face so you must endeavor to get before God's face. 

• We Must All Learn How To Encourage, God’s Way

• Without encouragement, nothing good will ever get done.

• To encourage, we must start with telling the truth

• Sometimes the most godly thing we can do is to discourage people

• The goodness of the Shepherd is misinterpreted by the sheep as boredom.

• Boredom is a sign that there is peace. When there is danger nobody complains of boredom. 

• Boredom is a sign that there’s provision. No hungry child ever says. “I’m bored.”