Tools of the Trade

1. Tools of the Trade Clean Out the Clutter

2. Why It’s a ProblemJames 1:5–8 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

3. Start With the HeartJames 4:7–8 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

4. Examine Yourself1 Corinthians 11:28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

5. Examine Yourself2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.

6. Grow Up1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

7. Get Divine HelpPsalms 139:23–24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

8. Get Human HelpJames 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

9. Fill it With the Holy SpiritMatthew 12:43–45 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”