God is always on the move. He created us to have goals and dreams, to be reaching for more in our life in Christ. When God gives you a dream, it's like becoming pregnant: you conceive (think or imagine) a vision of the "new thing" He's planned for you (see Isaiah 43:18,19), and now you have to make it through the

In the midst of the shopping, parties, and cultural focus on gift giving this last Christmas season, It could have been tempting to miss the purpose of that holiday, which should have been to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I'd like to share seven messages that Jesus taught during his three years of public ministry. As you celebrated Christmas, I hope you reflected on the holiday's true meaning, and considered these words of wisdom that Jesus offered for living your best life

According to the Bible, money is a good thing. Money is never referred to as "evil" in God's word. It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10), because love involves obsession. God likes it when money becomes a tool in our hands for doing good things for ourselves and others, but He doesn't want anybody to obsess over a temporal, earthly thing. That is why the first commandment says, "Thou shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). The true God wants to be first in our lives, and He wants to sit on the

Not long ago I was standing in line at the grocery store, just doing the usual routine, transferring my things from cart to conveyor belt, when immediately behind me, in a tone that drew everyone's attention from all around, a young girl began back talking her mother in a most harsh and disrespectful way. I'm a simple Southern girl, okay? So forgive me if I still hold to the code of conduct that says honoring your parents applies to everything from Sunday manners to shopping trips. This little smarty-pants really got under my bonnet.

"I struggle with not telling myself the truth." This surprising confession from Jennifer Rothschild, author of Me, Myself Lies and a guest on LIFE Today this week, actually applies to most everyone. But for her, the awareness of this deception became a springboard to help others overcome this crippling condition.

"I grew up in the church," Jennifer says. "My dad was a pastor. I became a Christian as an older child and

Perhaps you are thinking something like this: Kay, I just don't get it. If God is love and He loves me, then why don't I see or feel that love? Honestly, given the agony I'm in, it feels more like God doesn't even like me.

Nevertheless, whether we feel God's love or not, it is one of the greatest realities of our existence. Listen to Romans 5:

For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will

John 8:28-29

God knows who we really are-sinners by nature and practice. Before salvation, we were actively rebelling against His authority and pursuing our own way. Yet He loved us so much that He sent His Son to sacrifice His life in payment for the sin debt we owed (John 3:16). God's love

Our biggest problems are not necessarily our most apparent problems. Our perceptions of those problems often get us in more trouble than the problems themselves. What if we started perceiving many of our challenges differently? What if we chose to believe that God was actually up to something in our lives even when things seemed dreary and hopeless and painful? After all, certain uneasy seasons of life might eventually turn out to be misunderstood.

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom." (Psalm 90:12)

Life can be like a boxing ring. We have to learn to "roll with the punches" by knowing when to duck, move to the side or throw a punch. It's a constant battle and one of our biggest opponents is time.

Everything seems to move at a faster pace today. Family, work, school, social activities and even church demand our precious time. There does

Going to church can be like shopping in a whole foods store - lots of fruits, nuts, and flakes. So when I first heard Peter's declaration that Christians are a "peculiar people," I couldn't disagree. I had always taken the word "peculiar" in the adjective form, which is how it reads in the King James