Personal Development on Building

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Building on a Solid Foundation

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Building an antifragile faith takes time. It can’t be rushed. Consider this: It takes (on average) around twelve to eighteen months to construct a new single-family home in America. This process incl...

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Building for Glory and Good

Author

Tom Nelson

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Scripture

Genesis 1:26–28, Exodus 35:30–35, Proverbs 8:22–31, Matthew 25:14–30, Colossians 3:23–24, Psalm 104:24

I love watching young boys and girls build things with Legos. Their small, creative masterpieces cannot help but reflect their image-bearing nature and remind us we were all made to make things. When ...

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The Elderly Contractor

Author

Source Unknown

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Scripture

Psalm 127:1, Matthew 25:23, Luke 16:10, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Proverbs 22:29, 1 Corinthians 3:13-14, Galatians 6:7

An elderly master carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He w...

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Author

Billy Graham

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Scripture

Psalm 147:3, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28, Psalm 34:18, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

People by nature build, tear down, and rebuild. We build our hopes, get disappointed, and then search for renewed hope.

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God Became Flesh and Built Something

Author

Tish Harrison Warren

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 6:3

Jesus also spent time—decades even—building stuff. Jesus was a tradesman. He is called a tekton (Mark 6:3), a builder who used his hands. God came to earth and apparently thought it worth his while to...

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Author

Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

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A great building will never stand if you neglect the small bricks.

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Creation Continued

Author

Albert N. Wolters

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 3:9, Romans 8:19, Matthew 5:14, Isaiah 65:21-22, Psalm 8:6, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 1:28

The earth had been completely unformed and empty; in the six-day process of development God had formed it and filled it—but not completely. People must now carry on the work of development: by being f...

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That Fast?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, once visited the Great Pyramid of Giza as part of an official state visit. When visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza, he was told it had taken twen...

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Author

Derek Zoolander

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"This building has to be at least…. three times bigger than this!"

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The Pride of the Titanic

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Proverbs 16:18

I know most of us have probably heard enough stories about the Titanic, but it does stand as an amazing monument to the famous saying, slightly altered, “pride goes before the fall/destruction.” (Prov...

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Built By No One

Author

Andy Cook

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Sir Isaac Newton had a perfectly scaled down replica of the then known solar system built for his studies. A large golden ball represented the sun at the center, and the known planets revolved around ...

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Author

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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Building a boat isn’t about weaving canvas, forging nails, or reading the sky. It’s about giving a shared taste for the sea, by the light of which you will see nothing contradictory but rather a commu...

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Author

Meredith G. Kline

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Cultivation

The couple in the garden was to multiply, so providing the citizens of the city. Their cultivation of earth's resources as they extended their control over their territorial environment through th...

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The Importance of Building Margin Into your Life

Author

Daniel Im

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 18:13-24 , Leviticus 25:1-7, 1 Kings 19:4-12, Mark 6:30-32 , Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 46:10

[D]o you have margin in your life, like the white spaces between these words and the edges of the page? Having margin is about intentionally scheduling white space in your calendar to pray, rest, read...

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Our Unworthy Cornerstones

Author

Ryan Bundrick

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:20, Isaiah 28:16, 1 Peter 2:6-8, 1 Corinthians 3:11, Hebrews 12:27-28, Psalm 118:22, Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11, Luke 20:17

The cornerstone was a critical element of ancient architecture, the anchor that the rest of the building relied on. The cornerstone was the stone that set the alignment of the entire building. Every o...

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Author

Dallas Willard

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Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Luke 17:20-21, Romans 14:17, Daniel 2:44, Matthew 6:10, John 3:3-5, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Colossians 1:13, 1 Corinthians 4:20

Living in the kingdom of God is a matter of living with God's action in our lives.

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What Home are You Preparing For?

Author

Billy Graham

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I wonder. What home are you preparing for? Some people spend their lives building ultimate dream homes so they can enjoy their twilight years. Some find themselves exchanging their bank accounts for r...

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Author

Mike Fisher

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Sometimes trust takes time. We all love to be in control, but when you start to give some of that up, it's freeing. Start with some of the little things. Give those things up to the Lord.

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Searching for a Screwdriver

Author

A. J. Swoboda

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Scripture

Genesis 3:7, Romans 10:11, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 34:5, Zephaniah 3:19

The following story by professor and author A. J. Swoboda is a vivid example of how shame works in our lives, often causing us to hide and run away from the pain and embarrassment: One of the greate...

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My Gift to You

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:36, Acts 20:35, Luke 21:1-4, Matthew 6:1-4, Exodus 35:21

One day, the famous surrealist painter Salvador Dalí walked into a New York bookstore and asked for a copy of his own autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí . The young clerk immediately...

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Prep for Pentecost

Author

Jack Levison

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Pentecost Came Like Wildfire I’m lying on an ice pack early this morning, doing my back exercises and listening to Pray as You Go , a tool for meditation, with monastery bells, music, and a Bible re...

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He’s Got the Whole World… on His Shoulders

Author

Ben Patterson

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Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:6-7

Bruce Larson had an unusual way of convincing people to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ. When he was working in New York City, he would walk a man or woman downtown to the front of the RCA buil...

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Adapted from James 1:19, Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 18:21, Psalm 19:14

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:19, Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 18:21, Psalm 19:14

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only wha...

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God of our hearts, Lord of nations and

Author

Richard Herman

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God of our hearts, Lord of nations and Creator of worlds; Father, Son and Holy Spirit: When You redeemed us and called us each by name, You made us a family—united by your love and grace. Across towns...

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Review: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 1:null

My Aversion to Self-Help Books & Their Gurus but Why I Recommend This One! I am not one for “self-help” books. I know that I probably could use some more personal coaching advice, but… my habit ...

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The Importance of Listening to God

Author

Alan Fadling

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, John 10:4

Over the years, I have led hundreds of retreats that have at their center a few hours to be alone and quiet in listening prayer. At one such retreat, one participant shared a conversation she had wit...

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One Very Important Word of Encouragement: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Encouragement

As a youngster I developed a thoroughly annoying and humiliating problem of stuttering…In the ninth grade, I was elected president of our junior high student body. During an assembly of the seventh, e...

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Re-Wilding and Restoring Balance to Nature

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:13, John 8:36

In 1995, the gray wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after a seventy-year hiatus. Scientists expected an ecological ripple effect, but the size and scope of the trophic cascade took th...

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Working On Our Muscle Memory: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Change

Scripture

Luke 15:null

Editor’s Note: The following illustration came from one of my own sermons, as I was trying to help a congregation see itself not as a building, but the body of Christ. It has been adapted for TPW: No...

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The Gift that Inspired a Lifetime of Giving: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Tracy Autler’s life changed in a very unexpected way on Thanksgiving Day, 1993. Tracy was a single mother, living in an apartment in a rough neighborhood, she was doing her best to raise a three-year ...

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