Throughout Jesus' ministry, He took time away from the crowds and even His disciples to pray by Himself. Jesus modeled the importance of not only serving God with our actions but of being still and drawing close to God to renew our souls.

If we don't take inventory every once in a while and give thanks to God for the great things He has done for us, we get totally out of perspective.

Too often we concentrate only on the things we can see now; but our focus should be on that place we can only envision, but will enjoy for all eternity.

The Lord intends us to be powerful people-mighty in optimism and hopeful of spirit, powerful in evangelistic zeal, potent in influence, sturdy in moral fiber and purity. We can be powerhouses in prayer and preaching.

There is a sense in which the Christian's life on earth is a dress rehearsal for heaven. Not in terms of costumes and theatrics, but in terms of worship and devotion to the One we will worship for all eternity - the Lamb who sits on the throne of heaven.

In reading our newspapers today, we can see how God is setting the table, getting everything in order, preparing the way for Christ to return.

Spiritually, we have marginalized the Bible. We've trivialized marriage, and we've neutralized the church. America today is in great turmoil. It feels like the soul of our nation has been taken from us.