We love God in response to His first love for us. Jesus speaks to the church in Ephesus, commending them of their diligence. But He also calls them back to remembrance of something they had lost, the exuberance and joy of their first love for Him. We also should respond to His love with an intentionality to stir up our love for Him. It’s good for us to be diligent, but God also wants us to enjoy His love - Falling In Love With God.

Elijah experienced great success, even staring down and destroying the false prophets. So it’s strange to then see him buckling in the face of pressure from Jezebel. But God lets him know that he is not the only one left serving Him. In the same way, we can experience the subtle knock of injustice on the door bringing opportunity for self pity - The Pit Of Self Pity - Getting IN & OUT.

We have an interesting paradox in life where we endeavor to walk by faith and not by sight. It’s living not by what we see but by what we know. When the wind & waves of life pull on us and stir us up to respond emotionally to the “snow globe” situations, we can learn to listen & respond to what God shows us to do - Responding Spiritually To Emotional Situations.

When we acknowledge the Most High, we establish that there is nothing higher or better that can heal or deliver than Him. Then we find safety and rest in that dwelling place of intimacy with the Almighty. God asks us to trust in Him, not keeping Him on trial all the time but growing to experience His portion and confidently receiving all of His faithful promises - Psalm 91 - Be My Portion (Jodi Eash).

When we get our heart right in the perimeter work of relationships, it then helps us to really begin the process of reconciliation by removing the wall of separation, one brick at a time. This process of reconciliation can be a powerful tool as the Holy Spirit helps us to demonstrate the God-kind of love toward others - Reconciling ‘Irreconcilable Differences’ - A New Beginning.

God loves reconciliation. When we want reconciliation, it is agreeing with the heart of God. In this series, we’ve seen that there is hope for reconciliation, and that we should seriously work to have clear vision in order to be reconciled. These are areas to continually develop & maintain. Let’s get a fresh take on the age-old problem of reconciliation in relationships - Reconciling ‘Irreconcilable Differences’ - A New Approach.

We all have blind spots in life. These are areas that are blurry, where we can’t see things clearly. Identifying and removing that blur starts with taking honest personal inventory and getting the log out of our own eye. When we do this, we can find true reconciliation in our relationships - Reconciling “Irreconcilable Differences” - A New Perspective.

Paul & Barnabas had a disagreement over John Mark, and it split up their ministry team. But somehow Paul & John Mark were reconciled. God, who can cure incurable diseases, can also reconcile differences in relationships. He’s the expert & the One we can go to at the time of reconciliation. Often times He’s just waiting for us to ask for help, giving Him something to respond to - Reconciling 'Irreconcilable Differences' - A New Hope.

The thing that is really bad about fear is the torment it produces. It’s what makes fear so powerful. We can try to get rid of that torment by medicating. But instead of living on top of fear, we can face it by getting out of our routine and being vulnerable to God. It’s what breaks the power of fear off us to live fearlessly - Facing Your Fears.

The disciples had a question & answer session with Jesus, where they asked Him straight questions and He gave them straight answers. Something about this discussion caused the disciples to finally believe that Jesus came from God. As we hear this plain talk from Jesus, it can powerfully cause us to come to some conclusions in our hearts about our faith - Straight Talk With God - Questions & Answers.