Turn Toward What Matters
Around 957 B.C., after King Solomon spent years planning, building, and, finally dedicating the temple that his father, King David, had longed for—God made Himself known by sending fire down from heaven and filling the temple with His presence.
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night, explaining how He’d heard his prayer and chosen his temple—reminding Solomon how the Israelites should respond when they encounter hard things. He said:
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
Though this specific message was given to a specific people at a specific time in history—humbling ourselves, seeking God, and turning from our sins are timeless actions that we should continue to live out.
True humility, honest prayer, and genuine repentance are the keys to intimacy with God.
And we can’t fake it. We can’t just go through the motions. We can’t merely pretend to “look” humble and repentant … and we can’t do these things on our own.
We need to come to God in order to receive His help. We need Him in order to maintain a posture of humility, prayer, and repentance.
So if you’ve found yourself feeling distant from God, trying to do things your own way, or intentionally running in the opposite direction of your Creator—it’s not too late to turn around.
You can still come to God, admit that you can’t go through life alone, and seek His help. He’s a loving, forgiving, and healing Father who specializes in making all things new. He never stops inviting us to draw near to Him.
How to Live Generously
What’s your most prized possession? It might be the most valuable thing you own, like the house you’ve worked your whole life to afford. But it could also be a photo from a special time you spent with someone you loved. Or it could be a meaningful gift from a friend.
The value we assign to our “things” is tangled up with our emotions. How we choose to use the things we cherish most reveals our true priorities.
Jesus’ death on the cross is one of the greatest examples of God’s generosity. Despite knowing we could never repay Him, God didn’t hesitate to give up his greatest treasure—His only Son—for us. And through that sacrificial act, He demonstrated what generosity looks like: willingly offering up what we have so that someone else can thrive, even if it causes us pain in the process.
You don’t have to just give financially to practice generosity. Living generously simply acknowledges that God is able to do anything He wants through the gifts He ...