There are no men so prone to conceal their own wickedness, as those that are most forward to proclaim their own goodness. —Puritan Thomas Brooks, Works 3:40
‘The wind of pride is the life and soul of error; it is the element in which it moves and breathes’. – William Jenkyn
Is Jesus just lip service in your life or power?
Renew my faith and help me to see the light in the midst of darkness.
I trust in your plan for me, even when I cannot see it clearly.
examining grace and good works, we are again seeing that God's grace is not only His willingness to forgive us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but it is also His resource for shaping and using our lives as believers.
Our hope of abounding in good works rests upon the gracious working of God on our behalf. First, He remakes us through the new birth in His Son: "created in Christ Jesus." Then, He continues to work on us. We do not shape ourselves into an instrument that the Lord can use. God willingly takes that responsibility upon Himself. "For we are His workmanship." God wants to shape our lives like a work of art, thoroughly crafting us in relationship to His purposes for each of our lives.
“We both believe and disbelieve a hundred times an hour, which keeps faith nimble.” —
Emily Dickinson
“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me.”
Martin Luther
A trend in the church today is to disregard or marginalize the study of Scripture. The first-century church, however, studied doctrine. And if we’re not careful with our doctrine, we might end up loving the wrong Jesus or believing the wrong things.
The early church loved the Word of God. And so should we.
A calling focuses on who before do. Yes, you are also called to a ministry, to a do, but that is secondary. Who comes before do? God has called you to a holy life, to be faithful to Him, to realize nothing else compares to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8) and so to live, first and foremost, for Jesus.
"The gospel is all about Christ from beginning to end." – Charles Spurgeon
"Waiting upon God often turns darkness into light." — Charles Spurgeon
“God washes the stains of the past, God lifts us from the foul ways of the present, God keeps us from failing in the future.” — Charles Spurgeon
“Is it not glorious that the Lord of all is the Savior of sinners?” — Charles Spurgeon
Ministries that are constantly mocking and complaining about young people will always struggle in reaching them. The call is to disciple and equip them, not mock and complain about them.
A perfect God requires perfect righteousness to stand before His perfect holiness. This is why God sent His perfect Son.
Study [the Bible] as intelligently as possible, with all available means, but never study merely to find the truth and especially not just to prove something. Subordinate your desire to find the truth to your desire to do it, to act it out! Hearing God (pp. 210-211).
They who come to Christ, do not only come to a resting place after they have been wandering in a wilderness, but they come to a banqueting house where they may rest, and where they may feast. Jonathan Edwards
The world has a sharp sight into the infirmities of the saints, but is quite blind to their virtues: they cannot see these: they cannot see the beauty of the inward man, but they can see the spots in their living, and they will be careful to take notice of them. —Robert Traill
"The home is a theatre in which the drama of Christ and the church is being enacted." -
Elisabeth Elliot.
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