We must strive to bear spiritual fruit efficiently and productively. Material well-being is not as good a measure of fruitfulness as is the use of God's gifts.

The Christian life is about productivity. If we have allowed our service to grow dormant, we must be diligent to produce fruit that will please the Father.

The media portrays Israel as a war-torn, savage country. Actually Israel is a world class scene, having a better GNP than any country in the Western world.

We need jobs to make ends meet and have a little extra left over. Scripture lays out some general guidelines of what kind of work we should do.

Distractions and interruptions caused by phone, e-mail, computers, or texting are detrimental to productivity and to the operating a business at a profit.

Must I have a cell phone? Do I really need the extra expense? Do I have to relate information right now? Can I not wait until I tell the person directly?

To counteract interruptions, we must rid ourselves of vague goal setting, replacing it with a deadline, continually reminding us that time is finite.

Social media, text messages, e-mails, websites and blogs are competing for our time, eroding our attention spans and exhausting our ability to concentrate.

While working for the government may provide a feeling of security, it can also breed complacency and laziness, inspiring a wholesale lack of motivation.

People entering retirement often experience degrees of depression brought about by deteriorating health status and the feeling of no longer being needed.

The things of God require digging; it is time to walk step-by-step to the finish of the cause He has called us to complete.

If church members are to grow in grace and knowledge and be zealous in producing fruit to God's glory, they need to have their priorities in the right place.

After we are baptized and become members of God's church, we inherit a new primary job and responsibility: to become a steward.

In answer to the question, 'How can a mere human being fulfill the difficult expectations of God?', Jesus instructs us to 'Ask, seek, and knock.'

God makes it abundantly clear that double-mindedness or split-allegiances place our spiritual growth and development—and ultimately our salvation—in peril.

Many of God's servants, including Elijah and Jeremiah, had their crises of faith, desiring to flee from their responsibilities and commitments.

We must guard our time, not allowing busyness and involvement with activities of the world to prevent us from forming a deep intimacy with God.

Wealth accumulated by honest work and diligence will be blessed, but hastily acquired by any kind of theft or dishonesty will be cursed.

The physician's code attributed to Hippocrates was designed to inspire trust on the part of the patients, especially on behalf of the most vulnerable.

God requires us to work and not deliberately seek welfare or food stamps, but He also does not want us to obsess on acquiring riches.

We must fight against the world's pulls (including advertising), simplifying our lives, seeking quiet to meditate and build a relationship with God.

Because of our 'time-bound' state, unless we sync with God's timetable, we are squandering our God-given time to become members of His family.

As one uses the power provided by God's Holy Spirit, even one who has previously failed miserably can rise to astounding levels of spiritual competence.

Paul provided a decaying kernel of grain as a metaphor of death and resurrection, indicating that the new spirit body will be a completely different body.

God is putting His children through a demanding educational program designed to teach godly values and impart spiritual maturity. Learning is hard work.

We must invest in our own self-improvement and preparation, continually striving against stagnation and deterioration, and the powerful pulls of the world.

We need to be on guard against dissipating our energy, becoming over-immersed in activity and busyness to the point of losing overall effectiveness.

There are three basic causes for discontentment and three strategies to contentment, enabling us to emulate the apostle Paul's content state of mind.