Whatever a man depends upon, whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is the chief object of his delight, is his god.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
We are all weak. All sinners. All needing to be saved by grace.
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A small church made up of genuine believers is much more powerful in the hand of God than a large group of unregenerate church members.
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The difference between worldliness and godliness is a renewed mind.
~Erwin W. Lutzer~
Gerald Sittser, a pastor who suffered when his family was killed in a car accident, wrote, “Catastrophic loss … will transform us or destroy us, but it will never leave us the same. It is not true that we become less through loss—unless we allow the loss to make us less, grinding our soul down until there is nothing left. Loss can also make us more...I did not get over my loved ones; rather I absorbed the loss into my life until it became a part of who I am. Sorrow took up permanent residence in my soul and enlarged it. The soul is elastic, like a balloon. It can grow larger through suffering.”
Martin Luther, in a letter to his barber in the spring of 1535, offered this; “I will tell you as best I can how I approach prayer, and may our dear Lord grant to you and to everybody, to do it better than I.” Evidently, you are in good company if you find prayer to be challenging at times!
A Christian is a person who makes it easy for others to believe in God.
~Robert Murray M’Cheyne~
“God delights to increase the faith of His children. Our faith, which is feeble at first, is developed and strengthened more and more by us. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God's hand as a means. I say —and say it deliberately—trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.” —George Mueller
What you would do if a brother came to you and said: "I'm dying and I need a kidney. Will you give me yours?" God didn't just give us a body part, He gave us Himself -- whole and complete -- as payment for our sins. What a beautiful and amazing gift
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While the agent of renovation is the Divine Spirit, and the condition of renovation is cleaving to Christ, the medium of renovation and the weapon which the transforming grace employs is “the word of truth of the gospel,” whereby we are sanctified.
~Alexander MacLaren~
“I’m not surprised by vice. I’m surprised by virtue. Classical Christianity has always had a negative view of human nature…people are broken and fallen and frail. People plod along and make mistakes. But there is a message to all guilt-ridden humanity: there is saving grace and there can be released from that guilt, shame, and sin.” —
Michael Cromartie
Worship must not be designed to please the unbeliever or the believer. Worship should be designed to please God.
R. C. Sproul
God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.
~C.S Lewis~
We must allow the Word of God to correct us the same way we allow it to encourage us.
~A.W. Tozer~
The God who made us also can remake us.
~Woodrow Kroll~
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2 In a short story by James Joyce, a young boy embarks on a quest to the local bazaar to buy a gift for a girl he yearns to impress. When he finally arrives, the booths were closed and the hired help, in a hurry to count money and go home, ignored him. Cold, dark indifference shoved aside the romantic images his mind had conjured up of the bazaar. Where was the fun? The romance? In the end, he suffers a shocking revelation: “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.”
Too often I see Christians focused on just what Christ's death represents -- forgiveness of sin. Although critical, I think Paul's point is to not forget the equally important power Jesus has given us through the resurrection: victory over sin in the present and the presence of sin in eternity.
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We aren’t welcome before God because of intellect, skin color, riches, poverty, titles, background, family, notoriety, works, ritual, traditions, creed, beauty, or class.
We’re only welcome through Christ.
Dustin Benge
Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion – it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more like Christ.
~Billy Graham~
“Take all this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier and better man.” —
Abraham Lincoln, speaking of the Bible.
I once asked Billy Graham if he had any regrets in life, and he said, “Yes I do.” He told me the story of how he was at a prayer breakfast in Washington DC, where President Kennedy was in attendance. Billy spoke at the event, and after it was over, the president said to him, “Billy, I would like you to ride back with me to the White House. I have something I want to talk to you about.” Well, Billy was very sick, and he said, “Mr. President, I am afraid I am going to have to decline. I don’t want to get you sick, but maybe I could talk to you as soon as I am over this sickness.” President Kennedy agreed. Only days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Billy always regretted his decision to decline and wondered what the president wanted to talk to him about. - Pastor Greg Laurie
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Randy Alcorn
There is no form of sin in which we act more satanically than when we indulge in telling a lie.
~Frank Gabelein~
Salvation takes a moment, but sanctification takes a lifetime.
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I have discovered a truth that has never failed and has never been compromised. That truth is that it is beyond the realm of possibilities that one has the ability to out-give God. Even if I give the whole of my worth to Him, He will find a way to give back to me much more than I gave.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
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