When we become Christians, God gives us His Spirit within to help us follow Him. If we ignore the Holy Spirit, we grow numb to God’s leading and we fall to our own sin. But even though our hearts can become desensitized over time, we can always come before God and ask Him to re-light His fire within us!

No one learns what it really means to swim by staying in the shallow end of the pool. In the same way, we can’t expect to understand the fullness of what it means to be a Christian by staying in the shallow end of our faith indefinitely. We move into the “deep end” by listening to God’s Word, applying His truth, and being bold in spreading the Gospel to make more disciples.

Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24).” When we choose not to deny ourselves like Jesus tells us to, we’re choosing to deny Him by following our own will over His. If we want to experience the fullness of life that God offers us, we’ve got to let go of our own selfishness and learn the true meaning of submission.

Are we living our lives with purpose and reason, or are we wasting our time with sin? We’re only on this earth for a short time, so let’s make the most of it! The more we seek God through Scripture and prayer, the more He gives us His wisdom and reveals to us our purpose. And when we’re living out our God-given purpose, it means we’re reaching others for the Kingdom.

It’s been said that “every person that comes into our lives comes for a reason. Some come to learn and others come to teach.” The Bible tells us to learn from one another, but the only way we’ll learn is if we humble ourselves and become teachable, allowing for other godly men and women to pour into us. And while we’re busy learning from those further ahead of us, we can also help teach those who follow behind us!

The term “lush” often gets used negatively to describe a lifestyle that sounds fun on the surface, but ultimately brings destruction. But God always meant for us to live a much different kind of “lush” life — one filled with a rich abundance of His blessings! When we realize that we’re being tempted toward the wrong kind of lush, and choose to be vulnerable about our struggles by turning to our brothers and sisters in Christ, they’re able to help us through the temptation so we can experience the true lushness of life that God has in store for us!

Sometimes we avoid talking about it because we don’t want to think about it, but the reality is this: unless we choose to believe in Jesus and accept His gift of eternal life in Heaven, the consequence of not choosing Him will be eternity in Hell. We’ve only got two choices. God offers each of us the better option of eternity spent with Him, but if we reject Jesus, we’re choosing Hell forever.

The best example of God’s desire to come to us and love us, as unclean and undeserving as we are, comes in the form of Jesus’ life and His ministry. He’s got no limits on the lives He touches and who He works in and through for His glory. More than that, He takes us beyond the limits the world sets, and He leads us to people in all backgrounds and circumstances to be served, to be loved, and to have their lives touched for His Kingdom’s purpose.

God quizzes us in small ways everyday to test our obedience, but the ultimate test is to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and then share the good news with those around us! In order to hear and obey His lead, we first have to be walking in the Spirit. Then, when He prompts us to share the Gospel, we’ll be able to give them the reason for the hope that we have — the answer key to life’s greatest test!

Did you know that one of the meanings of the word “broadcast” is “to sow seed”? As Christians, we’re to “broadcast” the Gospel message to all we meet — even knowing not everyone will receive it. Sometimes we find fertile soil, and other times we hit dry ground. But in the same way that it takes a lot of work for a seed to produce a crop, when we obey God in the sowing that He calls us to do, we get to reap the privilege of taking part in the transformation of other people’s lives.