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Faith should produce fruit. This makes sense. What’s the point of learning anything if it doesn’t do something? A healthy spiritual life is something we feel making a difference in life. It makes a difference internally and hopefully it reaches out into the world around us. It is
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As followers of Christ, we must be vigilant. Things are not always as they appear. Paul’s advice in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 is true. Test everything; hold fast to what is good. The triumphal entry is a passage that reads like a celebration but becomes one of the saddest
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We can live confidently knowing that we rest secure within His plan. God may not force every detail of our life to happen exactly as it does, but He knows who you are at the core of your being. He knows the decisions you need to make to bring fulfillment
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Once we are given freedom in Christ, what will we do with the rest of our life? Will our life stay on the same trajectory with subtle changes to our thinking? Will our life take a radically different trajectory as new thoughts and desires are introduced? Where will the journey
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Starting something big, like having a relationship with God, takes courage and determination. Don’t get me wrong. With respect to salvation, God did all the work on the cross. But when it comes to meeting God so that we can become more like Christ, we need to do our
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The greatest among us should be those who life is devoted to helping other people draw closer to God by demonstrating servant-leadership. The greatest among us aren’t the big-name evangelists or the pastors of churches or the authors of incredible devotional series. Look at Jesus’ life. He
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All who desire to follow in the ways of Christ can expect a fate like His. Obviously, we will know persecution as we grow apart from the world. We will know what it feels like to leave worldly things behind. We will feel the joy in helping others grow closer
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If we claim to follow Jesus, then our desires must align with His, not the other way around. This can be accomplished in two ways. We can be like Jonah, who did God’s will but resented every minute of it, or we can be like Jesus’ disciples, who tried
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A sign of good character is that when difficult times come, we stay the course. It’s cliché to say, but anyone can talk a good talk. Character comes when we walk the walk. Words are easy; actions are hard. Want to truly know who you are deep inside? Put
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We may leave everything, but we’ve lost nothing. I don’t get that mindset right all the time. I have moments where I look longingly at what others have. But those moments of weakness are fleeting. At my core, I am genuinely grateful for the spiritual community around me
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We must simply receive. Honestly, this is one of the hardest things for me. When someone gives a gift, the hardest thing is to honor the gift and just receive it. When someone gives a compliment, the hardest thing is to just receive it. I want to earn it. Or,
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We need to be vigilant. The world has many ways to pull us away from God. The world can distract us with stuff. The world can confuse us with its logic. The world can make us so busy we don’t have the time to devote to God. The follower