“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” -John 13:35 What must it like to be famous, or to be known for something? Oprah is known for her talk show, and for overcoming many obstacles to make her life a success. Lady Gaga is known for being bizarre.

“No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His unfailing love.” -Psalm 147:11 There was a girl in one of my college classes who expressed her concern about the future. She was pretty honest. She said, “I’m just afraid about the future. Afraid about not getting a

“But He said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” -Luke 4:43 Do you know your purpose? Do you know that God made you with a specific idea in mind? There is no doubt that each of us is

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.” -Matthew 9:17 Occasionally God will bring us to a place where he squeezes the life out of us.

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” -Luke 6:45 What are you filled up with? The Bible says, “out of the

“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” -Ephesians 2:20-21 It seems there is a lot of confusion today about what is the church and what isn’t.

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” -Romans 12:10 I love seeing how Asian cultures treat their elders. Honor in their culture is a big part of respecting someone who has lived life longer than you, (and hopefully has more wisdom, too!) That may be why they have the highest

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your

“May He equip you he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.” -Hebrews 13:21 Seth Godin, the well-known marketing guru, wrote a book called, The

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.” -Luke 6:37 Have you ever felt judged? It’s not the best feeling. Sometimes, with even the best of intentions, we fall short in being Christ-like in this area. We feel

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me–to keep me from exalting myself!” -Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:7  I love Hugh Laurie’s character in the TV series “House”. In fact, I

“Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.” -Titus 2:6-8 Have you

“He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine.’ Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him.” -Luke 22:41-43 Have you ever prayed the prayer above? Have

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” -Philippians 4:8 & 9 Jesus asks us in Matthew 6:27, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” -1 John 4:18 Have you ever experienced ‘perfect love’? Have you ever been in a church service or witnessed a sunrise where you felt completely saturated

“Everything works out for good, to those who love the Lord, and are called according to His purpose.” –Romans 8:28 If there is any scripture that I could claim as my own, I think it would be Romans 8:28. There have been so many things in my life that should have gone better, but then

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering.” -Romans 12:1, The Message Have you ever thought of your work as holy? Have you ever considered that Jesus spent the first

“At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” -Matthew 22:30  It’s important to have an eternal perspective on life, as well as a short-term one. When we’re young, there’s a lot going on. Some of the things we experience are rather confusing, especially

“Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’” -Genesis 22:14 When I was 19, two years into my journey with God, I was desperately seeking for answers. I was overweight, I felt worthless, even after

“You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” -Psalm 32:7 We used to sing a song at church called “hiding place”. “You are my hiding, you are my hiding place…” It was a catchy praise tune, but it was also a great reminder of where

“Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute.” -Judges 11:1 There is an incredible story in the Bible about a very unlikely leader. Jephthah was a man who was the illegitimate son of his father Gilead. His brothers drove him away and said to Jephthah, “You are

“Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.” -Hebrews 13:17 We rarely like hearing about the words “submission”, “obedience”, and

“If I were in your shoes, I’d go straight to God, I’d throw myself on the mercy of God. After all, he’s famous for great and unexpected acts; there’s no end to his surprises.” –Job 5:8, The Message Every so often in our Christian walk we will find ourselves in scenarios we were meant for.

“The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be changed into a different person.” -1 Samuel 10:6 One of the most commonly asked questions by non-believers of Christians is, “What makes you different?” Clearly, there is a perception problem in the Christian faith if

“But the greatest among you shall be your servant.” -Matthew 20:26 My boss once told me a story about a janitor who worked for a very large corporation. He was cleaning nearby as an important board meeting was going on. The board executives were discussing a very critical issue for which no one had a

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” -Matthew 25:23 What is the difference between someone who is progressing in their faith and life and someone who is just getting by?

“Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.” -Ephesians 3:8&9 Have you

“Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” -1 Corinthians 4:16 Do you imitate others? As we live our lives, we may not think we’re imitating anyone; we may think we are marching to the beat of our own drum. But the truth is, we are imitating someone. From advertisements to TV, to school to music,

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” -Isaiah 26:3 What is it like to live in perfect peace? In the world we live in, many people live with lots of fear. Depending on what is going on in the world and in our lives,

“So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” -Luke 15:20  As 4th and 5th grade Sunday school facilitators, we did a participation exercise with our kids where we

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” -Genesis 1:26 “Red, yellow, black and white,