Although it’s true that each one of us must make a personal decision to follow Christ, we were never intended to follow alone. The phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” can imply that we don’t need anyone else to help us grow in our faith and stay on track spiritually. But the truth is “life is better connected.”

The idea that our conscience is a trustworthy moral guide is a myth. Our conscience doesn't tell us if we're violating God's standards.; it only tells us when we're violating our own standards. Our sin nature can cloud our understanding of spiritual truth and God's leading. Over time, if you continue in sin, your conscience can become calloused and lose its sensitivity. Our conscience is a valuable early warning device, but it should not be completely trusted.

This phrase is often spoken by well-meaning people looking to comfort someone who is going through a difficult trial. It's actually a misquotation of 1 Corinthians 10:13. And while God does promise that He will never allow you to face a temptation that is beyond your strength, He doesn't promise that we will never face difficult trials. But, trials are exactly what drive us into the arms of God and cause us to depend more heavily on Him.

Just call something a sin and see how long it takes someone to quote Jesus in Matthew 7:1:  "Judge not!"  But Jesus didn't say, “Judge not,” followed by a period or an exclamation point. He said, “Do not judge,” followed by a clarification of what type of judgments to make, when to make them, and how to make them.  In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul adds clarity when he tells us to “judge those inside the church,” not those on the outside.

The first and most important step to understanding the Bible, is to just get in the habit of reading it! The Bible was written to people who lived in very different times and places. Because of that, we often encounter things in our reading that can be puzzling. Fortunately, there are a lot of great study Bibles and other tools that can help us in understanding the meaning and context of a particular passage.

Whenever you bring up the subject of the Bible outside of a group of Christians, there are the questions about why it's important, what makes it special and whether or not it's just another religious book. Most people don’t realize that the Bible isn’t actually a book at all. It is a collection of ancient writings which are consistent, historically accurate, well-preserved, and spiritually powerful. Those who live by its wisdom give evidence of God’s breath within its words.

Whatever enters your mind repeatedly will eventually shape your mind, and will ultimately express itself in what you do and who you become. Just as our physical diet will eventually manifest itself in our physical health, our spiritual diet will eventually manifest itself in our spiritual health, or lack thereof. When we fill our hearts with God’s Word, our hearts are formed by God’s Word; and when our hearts are formed by God’s Word, we can’t help but look more and more like Jesus.

Daniel Chapter 6 opens with a new king and a new kingdom. Despite re-establishing himself as a respected leader, Daniel still faces opposition from other government officials. King Darius is tricked into signing an order to outlaw prayer. Daniel is met with the choice between worshipping God or obeying the king. Daniel again provides a great example of living with integrity before God and man, and trusting God with the outcome.

During the final days of the Babylonian Empire, King Belshazzar was having a wild party in the palace. The party is interrupted when a hand mysteriously appears and writes three words on the wall. Daniel is the only man in the kingdom who is capable of translating these words. The translation is a prophetic message to the king telling of his imminent end. Belshazzar chose to ignore Nebuchadnezzar's humbling by God and it cost him his kingdom and his life.

In our world, pride is looked upon as irritating at worst and at best maybe a virtue, even in the church. Although churches will sometimes discipline members for sexual sins, financial wrongdoing, and maybe even divisiveness, most churches have never disciplined anyone for pride. The fourth chapter of Daniel finds King Nebuchadnezzar, once again, at odds with the God of the universe. Given the chance to show humility, Nebuchadnezzar chooses to hold to his pride and learns the hard way that God will humble the proud.