Our root problem is not our behavior but our desires: sin happens when we desire things like success, approval or comfort over God.
In Joel, we explore God’s promise to pour out his Spirit upon his people, a reality set in motion by the death and resurrection of Jesus! The Holy Spirit fans the flame of our desire for God, empowering us to turn from sin and experience renewal!

Is your life centered on God’s heart of love for you? It’s only in knowing God’s love that we then begin to change and love in response! The book of Hosea gloriously displays the unconditional love of God with the imagery of an unfaithful wife and her loving husband, moving us to respond to God with our faithfulness.

In Daniel, God’s people were able to live fearlessly because they knew God was stronger than the opposition! In our suffering, we too can persevere because our hope is in God’s victory and his presence with us.

Isn’t it baffling how often we choose to struggle alone when God is right there with us? When we’re aware of God’s presence with us, we inevitably move forward in the right direction. Ezekiel encourages us to look to the life-giving presence of God in our uncertainty and anxiety.

Do your sin and struggles ever restrain you from going to God? The wonderfully surprising message of Lamentations is that God’s deepest heart, what he actually delights to do, is to show compassion to his people. God does not begrudgingly forgive; rather, his love flows forth all the more in our sin.

Is belonging to God the core of who you are? Or are you defining yourself by the approval of others? The things you achieve? The good things you do? What God wants is for you to rest secure in the truth of Jeremiah 31: “I am yours and you are mine.” He is inviting you to live out of your identity as his loved child.

Have you ever thought about the reality that chasing after something we believe will make us happy is a form of worship? While the worship of things like money, influence or pleasure unravels us, God rebuilds us and brings us abundant life! Isaiah urges us to see God’s love and restorative power and so respond with our worship!

How are we to view sex in a culture that treats it so lightly? God wants his people to treasure sexual intimacy within the bounds of marriage, both to enjoy it in the best way and to honor its design. Marriage reflects the type of relationship Jesus has with his people, so both our enjoyment and disappointment in our romantic lives can serve to draw us closer to God.

Life is often hard and unexplainable, but those who hope in God are able to find contentment in any circumstance! A life framed by eternal hope means abundant living in the present.

We all want to live wisely in life, but do you ever get overwhelmed with how many different perspectives are out there? Proverbs offers a simple solution: if you want wisdom, fear God! To fear God means to trust that he knows best and that he instructs you out of love.