Have you ever been sifted? I told Peter that Satan desired to sift him like wheat, but that I had prayed for him that his faith would not fail, and that when he was converted to strengthen his brethren. Note that I did not say that I prayed to prevent this from happening. From the life of Peter you can see that he indeed was sifted like wheat, and his faith did not fail, and he did strengthen his brethren. Who would desire these things? Yet the passage implies that they are connected. Would you imagine that Peter thought the whole process was worthwhile except for the sifting? Are you willing to be sifted to enter your own destiny?  

Do you like to receive recognition? Recognition for what? You use the term honor to mean positive recognition, and you give it to those whom you consider worthy of it, but there is another sense in which honor cannot be given or received. If you are not an honorable person, then no amount of recognition will make you one. On the other hand, if you live according to an intrinsic sense of integrity, you will be an honorable person whether anyone else recognizes it or not. Which would you rather be? I made a distinction between those who received honor from men and those who received honor from God. In the end there is only one source of honor that really matters.

Have you read in my word that you should not worry about tomorrow, for sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof? If you don’t like the way this is stated you could as easily say, sufficient unto the day is the grace and blessing thereof. How far into the future do you plan? Do you get stressed when your planning horizon exceeds what I am willing to reveal to you? But I have my reasons for telling you what I do when I do. This also is an expression of grace in your life. You are called to walk by faith. You can trust me to reveal the future steps to you in time for you to take them, and on this basis you can experience peace now. I’ve gotten you this far already, haven’t I?

Do you believe in diversity? This term is currently used to refer to acceptance of others of different backgrounds, typically with regard to gender, race, and culture. This is a rather narrow view of diversity. Do I believe in diversity? Look at the world around you. I created it all, including the people made in my image, with all their richness and complexity. Perhaps your view of diversity isn’t diverse enough. But some people use this term as a code word for acceptance and approval of all things. This is not what it means. But you can start with the fact that everyone is made in my image , whether they acknowledge me and follow me or not, and use that as the basis to accept rather than reject them, and engage and talk with them.