In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17 Yesterday we began a new series about how to move forward in life, and today I’d like to identify one of the two extremes Christians can get into that prevent us from reaching our goals. We’ll call this first extreme the spiritual ditch—when we become so spiritually minded that we forget to use wisdom. A woman I know once experienced an example of this at a Christian women’s conference. One afternoon she took part in a scheduled trip to the mall, but when it was time to return for the evening service, the bus didn’t show up. As time passed, she decided to grab a cab, but …

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52 Want to set some goals for the new year? The start of a new year provides a great opportunity to assess where you want to move forward in life—whether that’s in your skills and abilities, relationships, physical or financial health or in your relationship with God. In this next series of devotionals, we’re going to focus on being Spirit Contemporary, because to me this is pivotal to moving forward in any area of life. Spirit Contemporary describes the perfect balance of walking in favour with God and man. The reality is that if we want to move forward, we need to know about the spirit realm. At the same …

But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Matthew 13:23 In the physical realm, if your heart muscle was compromised, you would have trouble climbing a mountain or running a marathon. The same is true in the spiritual realm. You need a healthy heart—or one filled with healthy beliefs—to achieve the destiny God has for you. The good news is you are in control of the beliefs that get planted in your heart. Think of your heart as being similar to soil, growing whatever gets planted in it. Soil can’t differentiate between a fruit tree and a weed. …

But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:15 (NKJV) Many people use the New Year as a starting point to kick old habits. The crowds that were at the shopping malls a few weeks ago will soon be flocking to fitness centres and drafting resolutions to get out of debt, improve their relationships or overcome addictions. Unfortunately, the change that happens is often only temporary, and despite people’s best intentions they revert back to their old lifestyles. That’s because they focused on making external changes in attitude or behaviour while overlooking necessary changes on the inside. But in order to make permanent …

Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5 People often make the mistake of thinking that they have one dream in life. For example, you might dream of being an actor, doctor or of making it big in business. There’s nothing wrong with any of those dreams, but you have to realize that you can dream of being an actor and of having a fantastic marriage. You can dream of making it big in business and of raising great kids at the same time. You aren’t limited to one dream. In fact, life is …