Most people want to make good choices and the right decisions. Who to marry, how to parent, the right career, a good church. Very few people want to make choices that hurt themselves and others. So how do we filter decisions in order to make the right ones? How do we truly become wise people?

Spiritual growth is often connected with issues that don't have much to do with an actual walk with Jesus. James teaches us that our words not only carry a lot of power but are directly connected to our character and hearts.

It's human nature to be attracted to the people in life who look like us, talk like us, spend like us and parent like us. It's also easy to judge people without really knowing their story. The early followers of Jesus had the same issue and James challenges us to think differently on The Walk.

In life it might be enough to call ourselves a fan or follower of a particular way of thinking or team or school, but Jesus requires something different. To follow Jesus means there must be actions to our words, deeds to our faith. What is your life showing?

It can be pretty easy to spot the counterfeits and the fakes. The real is always better than the fake, the name brand better than the generic. James challenges religious people what real religion looks like and it can be much different than what we assume of God.

Some of the trials of our lives will actually be tests of our moral character and hearts. Will we allow ourselves to be enticed by our desires that might lead away from God? It might be easy to blame Him, but we are probably more responsible than we like to imagine.

You can't read much of the Bible and not see that pain is a very real part of life. Our response to pain says a lot about ourselves and our view of God. In the journey of life, look for the purpose behind the pain.

Through one of the Old Testament's most familiar passages, we find a special letter from God filled with the promise that we will not have to navigate this life alone.

Life is hard and it can often lead to discouragement, defeat and even feelings of depression. Following Jesus means victory and freedom not defeat. What do we do with those emotions? Can we live in the pain yet make the choice to worship?

Fear is a universal emotion. Young or old, rich or poor, fear is a common enemy. It can cripple us and leave us far from God. The world tries to solve its problem with fear in a variety of ways. None of them really help. Two words can change everything - "But God..."