When we pray, God hears us. God wants us to come to Him when life is good and when life gets tough. A life with constant prayer empowers us to be better followers of Jesus.

James uses three examples of patience: a farmer, the prophets, and Job. We all get weary and are tempted to give up on God when life doesn’t seem “fair.” Stay faithful for the long-term and allow God to reward us in His time and in His way.

We are never guaranteed another day on this earth. Time goes by quickly and most of this time is trying to build our kingdom instead of God's kingdom. We need to live wisely by remembering we live briefly.

Pride and greed are two of the most common driving forces in our hearts. We all have desires, but when those desires go unmet, we turn on others, ourselves, and even God. When we align our desires with God's desires, we turn to Him instead of turning on each other.

Independence Day is a celebration of the birth of our nation. But now more than ever, instead of being a nation that is united, we are a nation divided. It's okay to have different opinions about things happening in our country, but if we disagree politically, we should love unconditionally.

Even when we’re right, we have to be right in the right way. We need to be thoughtful and principled in our beliefs. However, we can easily slip into arrogance, believing that we have all the answers. We can also be overcome with selfishness, pursuing our personal agendas even at the cost of damaging the people around us. God's wisdom leads to peace and a wise person is a peacemaker, not a point-maker.

Our words have the power to direct, but also destroy. Before we say anything that might be hurtful, it is important to filter them and only say what will build each other up.

We can say all the right things about what we believe, but without works, faith is dead. How can we show people God through our deeds? What we do teaches others what we believe.

During these past few weeks, our country has been devastated over the subject of racism. God accepts everyone for who they are. As accepted people, we should be accepting people.

Ever hear of what you put in is what you'll get out? The same is true in our spiritual lives as well. We can read the Bible every day, take notes, and recite verses but if we aren't putting these into action, our spiritual lives will never grow. Our faith is meant to take in and live out.