God knows we need each other. We may not want to, but we do. We may not admit it, but it's a fact. Recognize this about yourself and others. Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn -- God intended for us to share the ups and downs of life with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It's why He describes the church as "family", because family is always concerned with the well-being of one another.
*Your troubles may be big, but your God is even bigger.
Dr. Ed Young~
Integrity is a handsome garment, woven of who you are when no one is watching, what you stand for, and the name you carry. Integrity is among the greatest riches we can pass to our children.
God never asks me to do anything without offering to help.
His Word sustains and encourages me. The Holy Spirit guides me. And God's love and mercy for me, a most unlovable girl at times, helps keep me mindful of why I love Him so much, and why I should let Him show others that same love through me.
God is all about redemption.
His love for humanity runs deeper than the deepest recesses of our depravity. His love runs farther than your past – higher than your disappointments – wider than your heart wounds and deeper than a cavernous pit of depression. God’s plan of redemption is for every person – no matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve been through, no matter what you’ve done.
But, alas, there’s a catch.
There’s always a catch, right?
The catch is: it has to be PERSONAL.
What are you allowing into your mind? Is Scripture high in your priorities? Unless you're careful, worldly thinking will overpower spiritual discernment. It's difficult to keep God's perspective in the forefront if you spend two or three hours in front of the television and only ten minutes in the Bible. We must be willing to give up some things to receive the blessings of God.
Money Doesn't make YOU Happy... But Poverty Doesn't either ~R. Hollis
Decide to BELIEVE in YOU... I did!
Many people stop short of their destiny. They settle for someone else’s story.
Whatever a man seeks, honors, or exalts more than God, this is the god of idolatry.
~William Ullathorne~
God's commandments are like guardrails on the road of life, which keep us from getting ourselves into trouble. If you want to be a whole man or a whole woman, then you need to fear God.
f you want to have a peace and comfort in your life, no matter what circumstances you are facing, know God’s promises and hold onto them. You can rest in the promises of God. We are not taking any risks when we step out on the Word of God.
~Vance Havner~
The Answer is God!
Not science
Not religion
Not Money
Not the Law
But a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Exercise scary faith!
The best advertisement to a dying world is a change life in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Dennis Davenport
When hearts change, beliefs change; and when beliefs change, actions follow. Only Jesus changes hearts and gives us the power necessary for covenant love.
God wants us to be authentic, to be real, to be pure. We will be blessed if we are. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” He wants us to be real, especially when we come to him. He knows who we really are.
Prayer without thanks-giving is like a bird without wings.
~William Hendriksen~
Everything has become new—including the wineskins of your heart, ready to be filled with a fresh, healing anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Ray Bently
Hunting is not a SPORT.
In a SPORT. Both sides should know they’re in the game.
It takes a broken and contrite heart to know the Lord, and it's one of the greatest characteristics of Christian leadership. King David wrote in Psalm 51:16-17 (after Nathan had confronted him over his adultery with Bathsheba), "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise."
"The goal of God’s work in us is Jesus taking up residence in every part of us. Nothing left out."
— John Eldredge
Marriage is a gift... My most precious Gift from the Lord is my husband, my best friend, my love..
I hear people say, marriage is work.. Yes, but if you love one another, nurture your relationship daily, build with the LORD as your foundation then Marriage is beautiful..
I pray for my husband always, he prays for me and we pray for our family and friends.. We stay grounded in the WORD.. We love hard and We protect our marriage.. We pray HARD...
You may have a lot of experience in “not having your rathers”. It might be that your life has been particularly hard and you wonder why God allowed you to go through so much. What if He’s developing resilience in you? What if He’s giving you gifts during hardships?
Nothing opens the gates of Heaven like gratitude.
Hebrew is a very concrete language, meaning that it speaks to our five senses. It is experiential. It’s no mistake that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. God wants us to “see” Him, “hear” Him, smell, taste, touch…it’s very palpable and real.
It is difficult and discouraging to live only out of the mind. It is too limiting, and we are made for so much more.
The difference between an immature and a mature Christian is the ability to discern between good and evil. So many things appear good to our reasoning minds. But mature Christians can detect subtleties by using their “senses.” They don’t just stay in their heads
All Christians enjoy a unity of mission in which we have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism (Ephesians 4:4-5). There is surely disunity in the visible church, but that is not as important as the reality of the unity that we enjoy by virtue of our shared communion in Christ.
~R.C. Sproul~
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and they that lack the beginning have neither middle nor end.
~John Bunyan~
To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
~Martin Luther~
I believe, most Christians have a heart for prayer, but many others do not. Understand, prayer is not just one way. Communicating with God. It is also a time of listening to Him. Have your Bible open in times of prayer so God can speak to you through His Word.
We are one unit–-brothers and sisters in Christ. Open your heart to be of one mind and one spirit with others. When we are one, God will bring revival. Take time to fellowship, and you will be blessed with the new friendships you will make.
We will never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so.
~Philips Brooks~
The word of God is the only way it connects you to life, prayer, and faith.
"To preach Christ is the only effective way to preach morality."
-Thomas Chalmers.
A Christian without a Bible is a soldier without a weapon. —
Praise in the heart is an inward expression of love, joy, and admiration towards God under a sense of his excellency and grace.
Johnathan Edwards
The cross will never be forgotten, even in heaven.
For all eternity, we will gaze into the wounds of Jesus and behold the greatest love that has ever been unveiled.
"Faith is in the good man’s heart and he is satisfied with what faith brings him, for it conveys to him the perfect pardon of his sin."
- Charles Spurgeon
God works with dead things.
Are you asking, ”God where are You?” Is someone you love dead spiritually? Or, are you the one who’s dry bones today? Take yourself to Jesus even if you come crawling. He is the God of bringing dead things to life!
Jesus doesn’t tell me to fight harder or stay busy; He tells me to give my sorrow to Him and be still. Give Him the hurt, the questions, the fear, and watch Him work.
Are you grieving? Give Jesus the hurt, the questions, the fear, and watch Him work. Heartbreak + Jesus = restoration.
Every battle is waged with intensity and purpose; each conflict is a sacrificial risk.
Do a gut check today. It’s a powerful and dynamic way to love and worship the Lord.
When we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word, we become more skilled “in the Word of righteousness.” But unless we combine head knowledge with our hearts, which can spiritually “hear, see, touch, taste,” we remain vulnerable to the enemy’s lies.
Miracles happened when and where God wanted them to happen. This reminds us that signs and wonders should follow believers. But believers shouldn’t follow signs and wonders.
We have to be careful. We’re living in critical times. While we read of many miracles in the Bible, no one ever claimed to have a miracle ministry. Believers in the early church answered God’s call to preach the gospel to nonbelievers and teach the truth of God’s Word.
The devil uses cheap imitations in the same way. How many times have people said the reason they aren’t Christians is because there are so many hypocrites in the church? That puts followers of Jesus Christ in the very uncomfortable position of trying to defend people who don’t live what they say they believe.
Two of Satan’s most effective strategies are imitation and infiltration. He will try to stop a work altogether, but if that isn’t successful, then he will imitate. In this way, he seeks to minimize the power and glory of God and neutralize the impact of someone’s life and testimony.
Very often, when people are trusting in the Lord to work by His grace, they anticipate many delightful workings of God (such as we have seen in the testimonies of Hebrews 11). These saints "subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens" (Hebrews 11:33-34). Yet, others experienced what might be called "unusual" consequences of accessing grace through faith. They had to trust in the Lord when the aforementioned blessings did not occur. They had to trust God to sustain them in and through great difficulties of life.
"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies."— Hudson Taylor
"Faith is not knowing what the future holds, but knowing who holds the future."— Corrie Ten Boom
Nothing binds a couple together with more strength and joy than shared faith in Christ and authentic friendship with each other.
You never know how God is going to use you each day, so be prepared.
Don't make life too complex. Keep your heart soft and your plans sensitive each day to whatever He brings along your way.
If all you want is relief, you could descend into anger and doubt. But if your desire is to become the person God wants you to be, you’ll see each trial as an opportunity for Christ to display His character and strength in you.
The greatest test of faith of all is when you don't get what you want and you are still able to say, "Thank You Lord."
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz
When my thoughts feel chaotic, anxious, or confused; those are not from the Lord.
He is a God of peace. And He wants our minds to be filled with it.
The Christian worker must be sent; he must not elect to go.
~Oswald Chambers~
The world can wait, Prayer can't.
The tendency to concentrate on issues that bother you instead of looking to Jesus and seeing today’s blessings – spiritual, physical and material – makes for an ungrateful person.
Husbands, you have a very unique calling and ability to set the tone of your household. Your family is a direct reflection of your leadership and love. Let that sink in... it’s a sobering thought!
Brother Christians, modern witchcrafts and wizardry are to be abhorred and condemned, and you will be wise to keep clear of them, trembling to be found acting in concert with those who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
Ever been asked a lot of questions and thought why don't you look it up?
People ask questions and get the wrong info believe it and get deceived and argues with someone offering the truth.
We (our children included) are sinners, living in a fallen world. When you are a sinner, “be yourself” is not always good advice! If we don’t correct our sinful tendencies, we will sin more and have to live with its terrible consequences.
Randy Alcorn
God works in us and with us, not against us or without us.
~John Owen~
To prepare for His ultimate battle against evil, Jesus prayed for forty days and nights. Prayer and the Word are where we get our orders, battle plan, strength, and inspiration.
Emotionalism is ever the most real, because the most subtle, enemy of evangelicalism. -Martyn Lloyd-Jones - Hell has no exits. -Leonard Ravenhill -
We have declawed the Lion of Judah and made him a house cat for pale priests and pious old ladies. -Dorothy Sayers - If we truly preach the gospel, we will be a sign of division among the peoples: A fragrance of life or the smell of death -Paul Washer -
If God seeks our good, shall we not seek his glory? - Thomas Watson
The Gospel is open to all--the most respectable sinner has no more claim on it than the worst. -Martyn Lloyd-Jones - Thanksgiving ought to have a prominent place in our prayers--it is due to God. It is rent due Him for the mercies received. -A.W. Pink -
“If you chase the dove of assurance of salvation, you never seem to catch it. But if you pursue, by faith alone, the Lord Jesus Christ, the dove of assurance gently comes and settles upon your shoulders." — Charles Spurgeon
God does something to us as well as for us through the cross. He persuades us that He loves us. - Sinclair B. Ferguson “For religion is a truth according to godliness not according to mere knowledge or thought. Wherever these fundamental truths are embraced, there is godliness with them; a man cannot embrace religion in truth and not be growing in godliness.” — Richard Sibbes
“Justification is Christ for pardon (declared righteous) and sanctification is Christ for power (to kill sin and live unto righteousness).” — Mike Abendroth
“If we are really to know anything about God, it will probably be because God has chosen to tell it to us.” - J. Gresham Machen. Things Unseen, 13. “The Triune God has never made a a promise he failed to keep.” — Michael Horton “An open throne of grace is worth more than anything in the world.” — Joel Beeke
“When you, dear Christian, are at your weakest, you are not without help, but are strengthened by the One who has eternally loved you.” — Mike Abendroth @nocoradio “He that is godly, believes aright and practices aright. He that believes ill can never live well, for he has no foundation.” — Richard Sibbes
“Let us not look so much who are our enemies, as who is our judge and captain, nor what they threaten, but what He promises. We have more for us than against us.” - Richard Sibbes. The Bruised Reed, Works 1:98. “When I look at myself, I do not see how I can be saved. But when I look at Jesus, I do not see how I can be lost." — Martin Luther “So long as there is a vestige of reliance upon our righteousness, our service, our obedience, our knowledge, our understanding of doctrine, there can be no genuine assurance." — Sinclair Ferguson “For nothing so moves us to repose our assurance and certainty of mind in the Lord as distrust of ourselves, and the anxiety occasioned by the awareness of our ruin.” — John Calvin
“The revelation of God through nature has the stamp of approval put upon it by the Bible. The Bible clearly teaches that nature reveals the glory of God.” J. Gresham Machen. Things Unseen, 17. “The Gospel is what the triune God has done for law breakers. It is all God's doing. It is completely God’s action.” — Mike Abendroth @nocoradio Many sincere believers are too introspective. They look too exclusively within, so that their hope is graduated by the degree of evidence of regeneration which they find in their own experience. This, except in rare cases, can never lead to the assurance of hope. — Charles Hodge "To follow your Savior, you must derive your life from him every day." — Charles Spurgeon
“Where philosophy fails, the Gospel succeeds.” — M. Lloyd Jones. The determining factor of my existence is no longer my past. - Sinclair B. Ferguson
“He that made the law, was made under it for us (Gal. 4:4). Both He and we were under the law; but with this difference, we were born under it, but He was made under it, by a voluntary covenant freely undergoing it.” - Thomas Goodwin. Christ the Mediator, Works 5:180. “As we look back to our pain and suffering, we shall see that suffering is not worthy to be compared to our first night’s welcome home in heaven.” — Samuel Rutherford, Letter 165
“If we could smell of heaven, and our country above, our crosses would not bite us.” — Samuel Rutherford, Letter 165.
“The Israelites failed. Their kings failed. But there is going to come a great Son of David and he is not going to fail. We know that is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.” — Dr. Peter Lee
“Satan is an astute theologian.” — John Calvin
Money holds terrible power when it is loved. Elisabeth Elliot
There will be three effects of nearness to Jesus — humility, happiness, and holiness. Charles Spurgeon
God is not mere justice, stern and cold; he has a heart of compassion." — Charles Spurgeon "Christ bids you come to him that he may make you whole." — Charles Spurgeon "As sure as the Bible is true, God will not leave you." — Charles Spurgeon "God loves you. He who made the heavens and the earth has set his heart's affection upon you." — Charles Spurgeon
"With God on our side, fear is irrational." — Charles Spurgeon "Jesus, the Redeemer, is altogether ours and ours forever." — Charles Spurgeon "Every individual believer is precious in the sight of the Lord." — Charles Spurgeon
"The gospel is all about Christ from beginning to end." – Charles Spurgeon "If your goal in life is anything less than the glory of God, you are a worshipper of idols." — Charles Spurgeon
“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.” - C.S. Lewis
“You must ask for God’s help. ... After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again.” - C.S. Lewis
"A Christian living and walking in the Holy Spirit mainly talks about Jesus Christ and mainly talks to God the Father."
God permits some to wrestle more with sin because through them He wishes to magnify His grace in a special manner. —Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 2:340
Families are societies to be sanctified to God, as well as churches. The governors of them have as truly a charge of souls as pastors of churches. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 6:89
No sins of the coming sinner, nor the length of time that he hath abode in them, shall by any means prevail with Jesus Christ to reject him. —John Bunyan, Works 1.265
The first time Jesus came to earth a few wisemen bowed before Him. When Jesus comes back to earth every knee will bow before Him.
The strength to be disciplined comes from a relationship with our heavenly Father. As we make our goal in this life to know Him, and to allow Him to speak to our hearts, we can face life’s battles with a calm endurance, and the strength that only He can give. Ray Bentley
"Lead by serving. Remember that Jesus washed feet. No task is beneath you." -Garrett Kell.
"Pluralism is perfectly happy if we simply add Jesus to the group, but it cannot tolerate Jesus' statement that 'no one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14:6)." —Alistair Begg
There are only two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’ C. S. Lewis
“If the Law might be disanulled as to new creatures [in Christ], then why doth the Spirit of God write it with such legible characters in their hearts? Now, that which the Spirit engraves upon the heart, would Christ come to abolish and deface?” —Thomas Manton, Works 6:9-10
What to do when your kids aren’t walking with Jesus: 1. Pray without ceasing. 2. Remember that God loves them even more than you do. 3. Don’t compromise your faith, but also don’t argue about it. 4. Don’t burn a bridge, so they have a path back. 5. Point to Jesus when possible.
"The Bible will often refuse to reveal its treasures until you open it with the key of prayer." — Charles Spurgeon Because we love something else more than this world, we love even this world better than those who know no other. C. S. Lewis
"May you forget, once for all, all ideas of doing anything to win the love of God." — Charles Spurgeon
When we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word, we become more skilled “in the Word of righteousness.” But unless we combine head knowledge with our hearts, which can spiritually “hear, see, touch, taste,” we remain vulnerable to the enemy’s lies. Ray Bentley
"If you would have people speak well of you, then do not speak well of yourself." -Blaise Pascal. "Your sin is a condemned thing. It may kick and struggle, but it is doomed to die." — Charles Spurgeon Young men that are taken with other books, if they neglect the word of God—that book that should do the cure upon the heart and mind—they are, with all their knowledge, miserable [in the duty of keeping their way pure]. —Thomas Manton, On Psalm 119:9, Works 6:87
"You may want your listeners to take notes on much of the sermon, but when you get to Christ, you want them to experience what they were taking notes about." - Tim Keller
If my life is fruitless it doesn’t matter who praises me. And if it’s fruitful it doesn’t matter who criticizes me. —John Bunyan
"Blessed are the waves that wash the mariner upon the rock of salvation." — Charles Spurgeon
The first call which every Christian experiences is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer - O how desirable is a Saviour to a troubled soul! How welcome is a surgeon to a man who is bleeding from his wounds. -Thomas Watson -
"God is the same, whatever is removed. Everything may change; but God does not." — Charles Spurgeon
From all eternity, before the creation of the world, we were chosen in Christ, not from any merit, but according to God’s good pleasure; by Christ’s death, we have been redeemed from the condemnation of death and rescued from perdition John Calvin. Foolish though we are in ourselves, Christ is our wisdom before God; though we are sinners, He is our righteousness; though we are unclean, He is our purity John Calvin
"Since our good works did not win God's affection, bad works cannot sever that affection." — Charles Spurgeon
"Good books enrich; bad books bewitch." — Charles Spurgeon
Oh, how little can we do anything without the quickening grace of God! - William Wilberforce "There are thousands of men who have all that their hearts can wish for, and yet they are miserable." — Charles Spurgeon
"It is not needful that I should be rich, but it is imperative upon me to be pure." — Charles Spurgeon It is God alone who can subdue and govern the unruly wills of sinful men. -George Whitefield - Man is never so near grace as when he begins to feel he can do nothing at all. -C.H. Spurgeon -
"God has given us two ears, but one tongue, to show that we should be swift to hear, but slow to speak." -Thomas Watson.
"Expository preaching is the best way to preach Christ from all of Scripture and to help people see the beauty and glory of the gospel." - Thabiti Anyabwile
I can tell you with absolute conviction that lowering Biblical standards or attempting to redefine Biblical views is never an effective strategy for reaching the next generation with the Gospel. What we must do is: - Teach the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. - Share the Gospel. - Love people by kindly, yet boldly sharing absolute Truth. - Be clear about traditional Biblical views on sexuality & marriage. - Don’t make God more tolerant than the Bible does. He doesn’t call us to redefine Him for people. He calls us to preach repentance and faith, so that people will believe and worship Him for who He actually is.
NEVER GO BACK TO ANYTHING OR ANYONE THAT YOU HAD TO PRAY YOUR WAY OUT OF!
NO MATTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE, OR WHO YOU WERE, NEVER FEEL UNQUALIFIED TO SERVE THE LORD. GOD LOOKS AT YOUR HEART, NOT YOUR PAST!
When this life is over, WELL DONE!
THE DEVIL NEVER ATTACKS THOSE HE ALREADY HAS.
"DON'T HOSANNA ME IN PUBLIC, THEN CRUCIFY ME IN PRIVATE!"
IT'S BETTER FOR YOU TO STEP OUT IN FAITH THEN TO STAY STUCK SITTING IN FEAR.
THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS WHETHER YOU WALK ON WATER, OR SIT IN A DRY BOAT.
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