Being a member of God’s family involves putting our fears aside and letting people see us for who we really are - struggles included - so that we can get help and then help others. Growth in our relationship with God will only happen when we begin peeling back our layers and letting Him - and others - in!

"They won't care how much we know, until they know how much we care." We've all heard that phrase, probably in the context of reflecting God's love and hope to others, rather than "beating them up" with our God-knowledge. So here's a different angle: When times are tough, do we know how much God cares? It's a challenging reminder to live by faith, resting in the truth that God has PROMISED to never leave us, to never turn His back on us!

When it comes to the once-and-for-all blood sacrifice, able to cleanse us from all our sin, Jesus is the "Universal Donor". His blood came directly from the Father via the virgin birth, and therefore has the power to wash away every stain of sin, bringing with it both an abundant earthly life, and an eternal heavenly life!

God has designed in each person, unique gifting, talent, skills, and passions to accomplish His work in the world. When we discover what it is that we're passionate about, we can use that passion to help grow the Kingdom of God!

The simple message of the Gospel: I was once lost, but now I'm found, because of God's great love and grace shown to me through His son Jesus. Telling others about how Christ has redeemed us is important, but living an authentic and transparent life is the strongest form of evangelism!

Prayer isn't about running down our daily wish list to the "big Santa in the sky"! Prayer is our direct communication channel to the God of the universe. And the communication is meant to flow in both directions. As we grow in our relationship with Him, He begins to put things on our hearts to ask for, that are according to His will, and we see Him provide those things over and over!

Putting aside the influences that we may have been raised around when it comes to people who are different than us, Jesus unites us together and asks us to love one another. God’s family doesn't differentiate by race, economics, social standings, or anything else that our culture uses to distinguish people. We're ALL invited into salvation, because we're ALL equally loved by Him, and we can equally love Him, and equally love each other.

Richard Ellis puts it this way in today's Talk: We ALL make mistakes and stumble in our spiritual walk. But it's what happens afterwards in our response, as we accept and embrace our loving Father's discipline, that the power of grace and growth is most visible.

Salvation is a FREE GIFT from God, there's not one thing that we can do to earn it! However, once we receive that gift of God's grace, which places our names in the Book of Life, there are various "DNA tests" that can reflect that we're Christ followers, showing others that He lives in us and He's given us hope.

Walking "by faith and not by sight" is most vitally important when it comes to life's battles, struggles, trials, challenges. Those times when, on the surface, it seems like that battle's too big for us to fight. That's because, well, it is. We're not meant to fight alone. God promises to stand before us and fight the battle for us, if we just step out in faith and trust.