When we stray from His presence, He longs for you to come back. He weeps that you are missing out on His love, protection and provision. He throws His arms open, runs toward you, gathers you up, and welcomes you home.

The essence of wisdom, from a practical standpoint, is pausing long enough to look at our lives-invitations, opportunities, relationships-from God's perspective. And then acting on it

Although the church accomplishes many tasks, its only message to the world is the gospel of Christ. Everything else we do is merely an extension of that primary goal. The gospel we offer the lost is superior to every worldly philosophy. Never outdated or in need of correction, it is always sufficient to meet humanity's greatest need: reconciliation with the Creator.

The Scriptures contain many stories of people who waited years or even decades before the Lord's promises came to pass. What modern believers can learn from the patience of biblical saints like Abraham, Joseph, David, and Paul is that waiting upon the Lord has eternal rewards.

Sin and accountability aren't popular messages. Yet being trendy and well liked is not the point. We're here to carry out the work and mission of God, even when doing so is uncomfortable.

God wants us to seek Him more than anything else, even more than we seek answers to prayer. When we come to God in prayer, sometimes our hearts are so full of what we want that we leave God out. Our minds become consumed with the gift rather than the giver.

We are either in the process of resisting God's truth or in the process of being shaped and molded by his truth.