How do you picture the God you pray to? A mighty warrior, or maybe a mother hen. Why did God choose to dwell among us? Why did he want to become like us? Today we thank God that he is a God who can relate to your experiences.

What are the parallels between Joshua and Jesus? Just as Joshua was used to lead his people into the promised land, Jesus came to fulfill God's promise to us. Today we thank God for his transformative work in your life.

What do we do when God asks us things that we don't think we can do? Abraham is an excellent example of someone who trusted God through a hard ask. Life is sometimes like that, hard and leaves us shaking our heads. Certainly, this isn't what God meant? Will we trust God to make sense of it all in the end? Let's ask God today to help us trust in his long-term plans.

Have you ever done the exact thing that a parent or teacher told you not to do? That's where we find ourselves today, in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Isn't there something about rules that make us want to break them? Thankfully Jesus came to pay the price for our sins, so today we thank God for the gift of Jesus, who paid the price for our sin.

Can you trust God even when it doesn't make sense? How about when what God said doesn't seem to be adding up? Well, that's exactly what Mary did, so today, we ask God to give us a heart like Mary’s, willing to trust in his ways even when it doesn’t make sense.

God can take our wrong and make something so beautiful, just ask Bathsheba. Jesus' lineage is full of people who made bad decisions but were redeemed - and that can be your story too, as we have all made mistakes. Today we ask God for forgiveness of our sins and the peace that comes from knowing he is continually working in your life.

What would you ask for, for Christmas, if you knew you would get it? New car, jewelry, something else? Well, that question was given to Solomon and his request may blow your mind. Today we ask that God would help us use the gifts he has given to advance his intentions in our lives.

As we continue our march through our Advent Journey we look at another name in the lineage of Jesus, David the second king of Isreal. Have you ever done something awful? Immediately you know you should not have done it, you feel it in your gut. What is that? What does it have to do with the Holy Spirit? David knows all about that feeling and what to do next. Today we thank God for the gift of conviction.

Have you ever felt unworthy? Or maybe you look at others and say to yourself they are definitely unworthy. Why are we so quick to judge not only ourselves but those who we consider outsiders. Today we look at an outsider Rahab, who most people would have deemed unworthy. Thankfully God doesn't think like most people. Today we ask God to give us a heart for a lost world, a heat for California.

Have you ever wanted to quit on something? We all have at some point in our lives, let's face it. Ruth gives us a great example of why staying loyal and committed to the process is important. Giving up is easy. Staying in it is hard, but so rewarding. Let's pray this prayer together: God give us strength when right decisions are more difficult than wrong ones.

We round out week two talking about Elizabeth the wife of Zachariah, who we learned about in our previous episode, and the mother of John the Baptist. Now Elizabeth was older and was not expecting a child, but God's timing is perfect as we learned. Elizabeth got what most expectant mothers get, a movement by the baby growing in her womb. However, this jump may have been more than just a growing child. Today we pray that God will give us special sensitivity this Christmas to his promptings.

Our Journey today takes us to a character who doesn't make it into our nativity scene but is an important part of the story, Zechariah. An angel appeared to Zachariah and told him he would have a son. Being an old man, he doubted this and was punished by losing his voice until his son was born. While Zechariah and his wife had believed their time for having a child was long, God had other plans. Our prayer today is that God would give us the wisdom and ability to rely on his timing.

King Herod was disturbed, to say the least, when people started asking about the new king. Consumed with the desire to keep his power, he did horrible acts trying to find Jesus - he viewed Jesus as a threat. He isn't the only one. Some of us view Jesus in the same light, a threat who wants to get us off the throne. Today we pray that God would reveal the areas of your life in which you don't want to give up power.

Our Advent Journey leads us to the Magi or better known as the Wise Men. There is lots of speculation about this group of men, how many of them, when exactly they arrived? As they set out to see the new king, they had high expectations, a new ruler born in a grand palace. What they found was something even greater. What are you seeking? Ask God to help you not have unrealistic expectations, and his plans would influence your dreams.

Today we dive into Luke 2:15-17 on our Advent Journey. Do you ever have to see something for yourself? Maybe a movie or tremendous sports play before you believe it? The Shepards in our Christmas story did just that. After the angelic choir left, they had to see it to believe it, and once they did. Then they told everyone they met. Today we thank God for the ways he reveals himself to you.

As we wrap up our final day in our first week of Advent, we examine God with us today. When God asks, what should our response be? How can we overcome our fears? What can the book of Isaiah teach us about responding to God? We find out in this episode of Real Life in 5. Today we pray for God’s wisdom to accept His plan for your lives.

We are on day four of our advent journey! A journey where we prepare our hearts for the arrival of Jesus. What are some things that you hoped for? What are some things that you wished for? Is there a difference? Jeremiah hoped the savior would come because God promised it. What promises from God give you hope? Ask God to grant you confidence in his promises and to remind you that he is faithful and will never abandon you.

Bethlehem wasn't very impressive, some may even say unimportant. But out of that town came the birth of Jesus our savior who would literally turn the world upside down. Often times we can feel a little like Bethlehem, unimportant, but the same God that produced something great in Bethlehem is the same God that can produce something great in your life. Today we ask God to remind you of your identity in Christ when you begin to feel unimportant.Interested in sponsoring a child check out compassion.com/rusty

It's day two of our Advent Journey, and we are looking at those scriptures that prepare us for the coming of Jesus. From the origins of David to the Birth of Jesus, we see God moving in unexpected ways. Do our preferences get in the way? How can we make the right decisions? Let's start by asking God to help your family make better decisions and choices.

We are back with Real Life in 5 and this time for the Advent Season! 5 minutes every weekday to start your day off right. How do we prepare for the arrival of Jesus in our hearts? We start our journey with a quick look at Mary's response when she got the big news. How can we have her response when big news comes are week. Our prayer for the day: God will grant me an attitude of humility and trust.