Have you ever been in a situation where you've felt prompted by God to obey Him...and you've felt your neck stiffen because you just don't want to do it? Those are the instances where we need to ask Him to soften us the most! He's going to call us to action in ways that make us uncomfortable, because He has a purpose beyond what we can see, and often it's not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the people around us.

The Christian life is meant to be lived out in community. Those who are more spiritually mature serve as examples to us when they follow Christ and we imitate them. Likewise, there are others who come behind us who can follow us as we grow in our own maturity.

The more we come to understand the magnitude of our sin, the more we're able to appreciate the magnitude of the forgiveness God extends to us. He's made a choice to forgive and pardon us. We've received unmerited grace through Christ's death on the cross, a sacrifice that paid the price for all our sin.

Religion says that we have to follow manmade rules in order to earn God's love for us. But the Bible assures us that we already have His love. Salvation is a free gift, unmerited and unearned, and once we accept it, we can begin to respond to His love by letting Him live in and through us.

Throughout Scripture, God teaches us to pray with persistence. The words we use, big or small, are far less important than the heart behind them -- and whether or not He answers the way we want Him to, He'll transform our hearts through the very process of prayer.

God created the entire universe, and expanded it far beyond anything we have yet to discover. He created humanity. He knows all things -- past, present, and future. The idea that we could impress Him with anything we say or do is laughable in comparison. He sent His only Son to cover our sin so that our lives could bring Him glory, not through our own doing, but through His.

Life wasn't meant to be lived in solitude or isolation -- and the same is true for the body of Christ. When we choose to follow Jesus, we become part of God's family. Scripture teaches us the importance of not neglecting to meet together, but it also teaches us the importance of loving one another the way God first loved us.

The more we try to be in control of our own lives, the more out of control our lives will become. The more we can learn to trust that God is ultimately in control, the less we'll stop fighting to take over. No matter what comes our way, He's faithful to love us and to meet every need.

Men can be a piece of work. Women can be a piece of work. But when both obey the order that God designed for them, they work well together. Though men and women are spiritually equal, He created men to lead, and when we follow His plan as He laid it out for us, it brings immense glory to Him.

Words can speak life, or they can speak death and destruction. When we participate in gossip or slander, we're allowing the tongue to destroy not only the person we're talking about, but also our own integrity. The words we choose to use have the power to harm other people or turn them to the Lord; which do we want it to be?

God intended for His followers to multiply, and we're His plan to make it happen. One of the signs of a mature believer is that he or she is bearing spiritual fruit and planting the seeds of the Gospel at every opportunity. To do that, it's important to first be growing in Him, staying connected in the Word, and walking with the Spirit.

It's likely that many of us are carrying hidden sin through our day-to-day lives. But whatever it is we're hiding will be exposed sooner or later; the only question is, do we want to expose it ourselves or wait until someone else finds out? Whatever we cover God will uncover, but the reverse is also true: whatever we're willing to uncover and surrender to Him, God will cover with His grace and mercy.

In a fast-paced culture that thrives on racing to accomplish goals at the cost of relationships, it requires both effort and intention to slow down and spend time with others -- including Jesus. In order to be used effectively by God, we have to first spend time building our relationship with Him.

All you have to do is read Scripture to know that from the beginning of Creation, people have used excuses to try to get out of having God use them in miraculous ways. Yet when they were finally willing to be used, God was still willing to use them. He has the power to accomplish what anyone would deem "impossible", and there's no limit to what He can do in us and through us for His Kingdom -- if we're willing to get rid of our excuses.

Suffering comes in a lot of different forms -- including choosing to do the right thing in the face of temptation. But even Jesus was tempted like we are today, and when we choose to follow Him, we're also choosing to suffer as He suffered. In those moments when we find ourselves facing a moment or a season of weakness, it's important to remember that the eternal reward of righteousness will always outweigh and outlast the fleeting pleasure of sin.

When Jesus tells His disciples that they're not of this world, He never told them not to be in this world. We're on this earth for a reason, and we can't run away from the sin and struggles that exist because of the broken nature of humanity. It's important, though, that we allow ourselves to be filled with God and His Holy Spirit before we walk out the door every day. When we do that, we're less affected by the world, and better able to affect the world with the eternal hope of the Gospel.

The Bible is filled with promises from God -- promises that He'll strength us, uphold us, and be with us through all the trials and tribulations this world brings. His grace is sufficient for us in our weaknesses; when we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, He renews the Spirit within us to face any challenge the enemy tries to bring.

The story of Daniel in the lions' den is an extraordinary example of what it looks like to obey God even if it means risking one's own life. Our situation might not always look as drastic as Daniel's -- but God might not always rescue us like He did with Daniel, either. At the end of the day, our focus needs to be Kingdom first and not on this world, because our obedience to Him will be rewarded in eternity.

Scripture tells us that when we give our lives to God, He doesn't just refinish what's here -- He makes us completely new. It takes time for new Christians to grow and mature; that's why we all have a responsibility to be discipled and to disciple others.

We tend to gravitate towards people who are a lot like us. After all, that's familiar and comfortable...right? But the closer we get to Jesus, the more "riff raff" people we'll find -- people who God will challenge us to love and accept even though they might think and act differently than us.

God doesn't want us to think too much of ourselves -- but He never intended for us to think too little of ourselves, either. When you and I accept His love for us as individual people who were made in His image, then we can start to view ourselves in a correct perspective as valuable to and for Him. And when we allow Him to love us and we respond by loving Him back, we're better able to love the people around us.

When Jesus commanded us to love one another, He knew that would require us to love people who we don't always like. It's easy to love people who think and act like us; it's something entirely different to love people we disagree with or are even repulsed by. But when we love others -- even when it's hard -- we show the world the type of love that God has for them.

You cannot manufacture the presence of God. When the Holy Spirit fills His people, that's what attracts people to church -- not some fancy building. God can't be contained in manmade walls; He dwells in every believer. May His Spirit be so evident in us that when we're together, people would be able to say, "God is in that house."

Proverbs 12:22 tells us, "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight." We not only lie often, but we do it so flippantly, too. If we want to live lives that are pleasing to God then we've got to be truthful to Him and to the people around us -- and that comes from knowing the Truth Himself, Jesus Christ.