Faith is simply believing what God says.  This type of faith is not temporal.  It’s not mere head knowledge.  It’s trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life.

When you hear a message on Sunday morning from a pastor, do you take that message and act on it?  Or do you just check it off your list of religious duties you were a part of that week?

Having faith and believing in what you’re doing must have action to complete it.  Otherwise, it is dead and meaningless faith. 

We are saved by faith, not works. We live out our faith by loving others and caring for their needs.

The next time you hear a message on faith or the fruits of the spirit, or something similar, don’t just forget about it once you leave the church premises.  Act on it.  Intentionally seek someone in need and give them your time. Show them you care.  Show love by visiting someone in the nursing home or visiting an elderly shut-in.

Show your faith off by acting in love!

James 2:18 – “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”  Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

It’s been said that there are 365 ‘Fear Nots’ in the Bible, one for each day of the year.  There are actually more than 365 verses in the Bible showing us how to deal with fear.

Fear can cripple you.  Fear can hinder your life and cause you to hide away from other people.

The key to overcoming fear and anxiety is found by renewing your mind in Scripture.  In this world there is so much to be fearful of.  But as a Christian, we are taught in Scripture to fear not because we are a child of the King.  We are taught that instead of being anxious, to pray, give thanks and ask God for peace.

God takes care of the birds of the air.  Don’t you think that if He can take care of the birds, He can also take care of His children who know Him by name.

God’s perfect love for us removes fear.  I have seen in my Christian walk, so many times when fear has tried to invade my thoughts, and that’s when I go to the Bible, read His Word, let the words infiltrate my mind and before I realize it, the fear is gone.  Fear is replaced with good thoughts.  God wants us to cast our cares, anxieties, worries on Him.

Fear is not a bad thing.  To fear God is to begin on wisdom’s journey.

Believing in God’s grace is truly a hope against all hope.  Fear not my friends.  God is for us.  Tell Him your cares.  He will remove the fear if you trust in Him.

1 Peter 5:7 – “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

Bullying is defined as a person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate those whom they perceive as vulnerable.

Back in the 1970’s when I was a teenager bullying was going on then, but few seemed to label it as bullying.  They called it teasing, annoying or badgering, just to name a few.  I remember I was called a name from one of my classmates that made me cry.  It wasn’t a curse word and it wasn’t even a word that related to me or my personality.  Since my name was Dianne, this boy thought it would be cute and call me ‘diapers.’  Even though nothing was done to resolve the situation, it was a name that tormented me at the time. 

Bullying is an every day issue for some people.  In addition to physical or verbal bullying, now there’s social bullying.  This is where someone gets on social media and say basically anything they want to put down or lie about another person.

Bullying is never okay.  If you see someone bullying another person, notify the proper authorities.  Believe it or not, this is not just happening to kids, it’s happening to a vast majority of adults also.

As Christians, we need to have courage and stand up for those who can’t or won’t defend themselves.  The Bible is full of lessons on how to react to this unnecessary crime.  Never try and get back at a bully or seek revenge.  God is the judge of all.  God sees all and knows every bullying situation.

Bullying is wrong.  As Christians, we are called to act in love and kindness to everyone, including those who wrong us.

1 John 5:18 – “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” 

In the Bible, God commands us to love one another.  If love were just an emotion, God couldn’t command it.  Love is an action.  Love is also a behavior.

If you consistently speak one way and act another, you won’t fool people for very long.  You will be found out.  The world loves it when they see a news report about a well-respected church leader caught in a scandal.

As a Christian, Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world.  Our love to others shows our respect to God and conveys His love for us.

We’re all sinners.  We’re born into this world as sinners.  As sinners, our love will always be imperfect.  Satan has a way of condemning us when we don’t love as we should.  But we have a choice to love and serve our creator.  We have a choice to love others, even those who are unlovable.

Let Jesus’ love and forgiveness motivate you to obey His commands and do what pleases Him. 

Show kindness and compassion to others.  This is what Jesus wants from each of us.  Act out in love today!

1 John 3:18 – “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

Did you know that Jesus wants to be your friend?  God created us so that we could have a personal relationship with Him.

We can acquire friendships with people we go to school with, people we work with.  And for those of us who are fortunate enough, we can have a friendship with our children or our parents.  This same type of friendship is what God desires from each of His children.

In order to keep a friendship going and thriving, you must communicate.  It’s hard to keep a relationship going without some type of communication.  Our relationship with God is the most personal relationship we can ever have.  But God is a jealous God.  We cannot let anything or anyone come between our relationship with God and us.

As a Christian, we must lay down our life, our old ways and live for Jesus.  Be a faithful friend to Jesus today.  As a lifetime friend of Jesus, we will share in His glory throughout eternity.  How’s that for a friend?

John 15:15 – “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

I’ve worked in the computer industry over 30 years and there’s one word that has been used more often than anything else.  And most times, it usually helped the situation.  That word is REBOOT.  Rebooting a computer is restarting everything on the pc.  It’s restarting the hardware and the software.  It’s a do-over in the computer world. 

As is life.  Every morning when you awake, you can reboot your body and your mind.  You have a decision to make.  You can wake up thanking God for protecting you in the night.  Thank Him for giving you a chance of another day.  Or, the alternative is to lie in bed and worry and be depressed. 

I choose to reboot my mind with God.  To start each day with a clean slate, thanking God for His mercy and love.  Thanking God for my health and my opportunities that lay ahead.

If you’re in Christ, you’re not who you used to be.  Quit living with your old standards and restart life with renewing your mind.  The best way to do this is with God’s Word.  There’s nothing more renewing and refreshing for me each day than to wake up and read His Word and fill my mind with the good things that God has promised me.

Reboot yourself with God tomorrow!  You’ll be amazed at how well your day will go.

Psalm 86:15 – “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

There’s a Christian song called, “Speak Life” by TobyMac that I love.  My interpretation of the song is that even when life doesn’t make sense, speak life, love and hope to those around you.

You’ll have good days when everything seems to be perfect, and you’ll have other days that it feels like nothing is going right.  I didn’t understand this concept until I re-dedicated my life back to Christ and realized that my life won’t be perfect.  I will have ups and downs.  Life does get hard.  But that doesn’t mean that I give up and feel sorry for myself.  That doesn’t mean that I can’t be happy regardless of my current circumstances.

It means that hope can live or die inside of us.  It’s a choice.  Every day.  I’ve found that when life gets tough and it feels like all hope is gone that this is the best time to give back to someone else that may be hurting.  It’s a time to show love to someone that needs love.

Fill your heart by soaking in your Bible.  The world will fill your mind with words of death.  So, instead of speaking death or harsh words to others, speak life!  Build someone up today. 

Be a person whose mouth is full of life!

Colossians 4:6 – “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Nobody talks about how they'd like to change and better their character.  They talk about how they can be more comfortable.

A person of good character is often noted for their honesty, ethics and charity.  You’ve heard of ‘a woman of integrity?’  So, a lack of good character would mean someone that behaves dishonestly, unethically and uncharitably. 

Character is influenced by our choices.  If we make good choices, then can weather the storms of life.  It’s God’s purpose to develop character within us.  We must be willing to let the Holy Spirit work within us during this process. 

Just know this:  God sometimes uses trials to strengthen our character.  I’ve seen my most prosperous seasons of life grow my character during the biggest trials.  God is pleased with us when we grow in character.

If your character sets a good example for others to follow, your Godly reputation will be evident to all.

Your endurance is one of the greatest marks of your faith and confidence in God when troubles come.  The consistent theme in my life when trials come is my questions to God: “what are you trying to teach me; what are you wanting me to confess, etc.?”

When we’re on the other side of the trial, we have learned that God is faithful.  God saw us through.  This is the hope we have in Him.

Faith believes, but hope expects.  Be of good character and expect God to change you today.

Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”