If you put what is second before what is first, you lose both first and second. Second things do not have the strength to hold up things in life as first things do. Second things are temporal; they are what we can see. First things are what is unseen and what holds everything together. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. -Matthew 6:33

Are you giving Jesus what He truly desires? Simon, the Pharisee, gave Jesus a meal and a seat at his table—an honor probably not given to most. But a sinful woman interrupted Simon's dinner to kiss Jesus' feet. She wept as she kissed His feet and poured out perfume. She gave Jesus all of her love in front of everyone. She laid her heart bare, hoping Jesus would not turn her away. The woman with the perfume bottle gave Jesus everything. 

Are you the one whom Jesus loves? Do you believe that Jesus loves you more than everyone else? It sounds arrogant even to think that way but God is love. You can look for love and miss it. You can try to do things to get God to love you, but what does the Word say to do? In 1 John 4:16, it says, "to BELIEVE the love that God has for us." Even if you don't yet feel the love, believe the love and abide in the love of God. You have a responsibility to believe God loves you because it is true. God's love is more true than anything else in this world. 

What is the art of deferring? It is one of the highest forms of love. Have you ever tried to out-love God, yielding to Him in such a way because you know He will give you more back in return? It is the volley of love; the back and forth is never meant to end. It is only meant to grow. Happy Valentine's Day!

It is okay to experience a period in your life where you are blinded by love. Love has passion, and God intended it to be that way. Love is not logical but full of emotion. Don't let things get too serious; find good love. 

Does Jesus treat critics and spectators differently than participants? To a novice casting out demons, Jesus says, "For whoever is not against us is for us." - Mark 9:40. But to the Pharisees being critical of Him delivering a man who was blind and mute, He says, "Whoever is not with me is against me" - Matthew 12:30. Don't run or pick sides between Biblical truth that seems to contradict each other. Contradicting truths are two rails on a train track that keep the train from derailing at speed. 

We live in deceptive times, but the LOVE of TRUTH keeps us out of deception. So, the truth of God's Word sets us free, but what do you do when there are two conflicting truths in the Word? Jesus said, "For whoever is not against us is for us." - Mark 9:40 and "Whoever is not with me is against me" - Matthew 12:30. Which statement is true? Or if they are both true, how do you follow both principles? 

Should you evaluate your prayer life by the answers you receive? In almost every other area of life, we measure our effectiveness by the results. Why don't we do the same in our prayer life? Is God just the god of no? Or are we missing something on our end? When our prayers aren't answered, something is wrong. We must go to God until we receive a clear answer. We must come to believe that God hears every prayer, and that He answers every time. 

Even the scientific community has evidence of the differing results between people who pray and people who don't. Have you ever thought about what you choose to cover in prayer and the things you don't? Our fixes to the situation never work as well as praying through the situation. The Almighty is more mighty than us in our own strength. For 2025, do a prayer experiment. See what changes when you make God number 1, when you bring him into every area of your life. 

Group discussion on the ability to turn something in prayer. 
Prayer is not wishful thinking, and neither should it be random. There are not times it works, and times it doesn't. Prayer is meant to take a situation that would have gone down bad and with God's warning ahead of time, turn it for good. In short, prayer is meant to change things. We have the authority to bring God's Will into situations.