Since God is after our hearts, He doesn't just care about our good works, but also the motives behind them. When Jesus commands us to give, to pray, and to fast, He does so in hopes we will hand Him the parts of our lives that don't belong to Him yet.

Jesus leaves no rock unturned as he looks for parts of our lives that don't fully belong to him yet. His words about divorce reveal how highly he views marriage, and how desperately he wants the world to get a glimpse of his love via husbands & wives.

Jesus has some counter cultural things to say about what we are to do with the two hardest types of people in our lives—those who do us wrong and those we call our enemies. What He says isn't easy, but it gives us the key to perfection in this life.

Jesus wants your heart—so he cares deeply about "invisible" things like anger and lust that try to fast-track you toward destruction and judgment. Sometimes hard hearts need to hear hard things, but the hope is bigger than the burden is heavy.

Bring what is lacking. Preserve what is decaying. Dive into the mess. Illuminate the darkness. This is the calling we share.

The Beatitudes serve as a flawless introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. They are a profile of what a community committed to living as citizens of God's kingdom looks like.

Some things have changed, but what's really important is what never will—the call to actually do what Jesus has called us to.

Whether you realize it or not, you need a shepherd—someone stronger than yourself to protect you and provide for you. Psalm 23, perhaps the most famous of all the psalms, delivers the great news that God wants to be the shepherd you need.

Worship is not about you. Only when we embrace the command to encourage one another and make much of God through song do we tap into the joy God has waiting for us as we sing.

We can find sweet delight in the good words of our good God in every situation of life. This psalm shows us how.