Leaven, or yeast, is used as a biblical analogy in two very different ways. It can represent evil, like in the forms of complaining or disobedience, as an example of how an infection in one person can negatively affect the whole Church body. On the other hand, it can also represent us as Christians in the world: we're meant to infect this planet in a good way on behalf of the Kingdom of God!

God has made a way for us to be in right relationship with Him through His Son. So when we, as His creation, are far from Him, He misses us and calls us back to Himself. It's important for our relationship with Him to be strong and healthy because whether we realize it or not, other people around us are affected by how committed we are to following Him -- and whether we choose to live in obedience or to disobey His direction in our lives.

Real spiritual "heart change" begins with a kind of godly sorrow that leads us to repentance. But when we've repented of our sin, we should always follow it up with action steps. When we truly repent, we don't go back to doing the same thing over and over again -- we allow God to help us and strengthen us to make permanent changes in our lives.

Before Jesus came for us, people had to make constant sacrificial offerings as atonement for their sins. But even with those sacrifices, the guilt of their sin never went away. Jesus' death on the cross not only paid for our sins -- it removed them from us so that we could be cleared of guilt forever.

When Peter shared the Gospel with Cornelius -- a Gentile -- it served as an example that sometimes, God will push us outside our comfort zones and cause us to break traditions for the ultimate goal of reaching others. It's important to listen for the voice of God so that we're not venturing out and doing things on our own. The people He calls us to reach and the places He calls us to go might stretch us personally, but every person is in need of a Savior, and it's our responsibility to share the Good News.

Scripture tells us that everything in creation is held together by God, and He's present in every place. We can never get away from Him -- and when we surrender to Him, He begins to live inside of us through His Spirit. With God in us, we are never alone.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He showed the disciples that even death cannot stop Him. Yet when He Himself died and was placed in a tomb, they doubted what He'd promised. When we question whether God can do all things, including working miracles in our own lives, let's remember and trust that nothing is impossible for Him.

This world is filled with people in need of God's grace. But how can we show them His grace unless we've experienced it ourselves? Because of Christ's death on the cross, we've all been given the opportunity to be forgiven and accepted as children of God, no matter our sin. And once we experience His grace in our own lives, we can share it with those who are hurting all around us.

What does it actually mean to become dead to our sin? Once we've been made alive in Jesus, we're no longer slaves to the sin of the past. It might be difficult to give up old sinful habits and patterns, but we've been made more than conquerors in Christ and given God's grace as we strive to walk forward in freedom.

We can call ourselves Christians and be pro-choice, but we cannot call ourselves mature Christians and not be pro-life. The evil in the world today has led to millions of unwarranted deaths of unborn children. As we mature in Christ, God produces in our own hearts the value of the life He's created in the womb.