"Christ is not valued at all unless He is valued above all." — St. Augustine
"The resurrection of Jesus changes the face of death for all His people. Death is no longer a prison, but a passage into God’s presence. Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.” — Clarence W. Hall
The Holy Spirit decisively unveils sin, no matter how cleverly it is packaged. I like to think of Him as God's clarifying instrument. How so? Because as far as He is concerned there is no question or fine line. It either is acceptable to God or it isn't
Nothing is more rewarding than fellowship with other believers. Is there distance in your Christian relationships? Take a step to reconnect today.
The Lord Jesus wants us, His branches, to be fruitful. "By this, My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit" (John 15:8). Fruit is the result of developing life. Branches do not innately have that life in themselves. "The branch cannot bear fruit of itself." Branches must always find their life in the vine. The vine, Jesus, his life. "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Our Lord came to share that life with us in abundance. "I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).
An astounding intimacy is declared in these words: "Abides in Me, and I in him." We have not merely come near to Christ, nor has He simply drawn close to us. Rather, we live in Him, and He lives in us! We live by being in Christ (by being related to Him, by being united with Him, by drawing our spiritual life from Him). Moreover, He lives in us and desires to express His life through us.
Another wonderful blessing in Christ is the foundation that He provides for all who live by His grace. As with buildings, lives also need solid foundations. Our foundation is a person, Jesus. "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ?" By the grace of God enabling him, Paul ministered the gospel of Jesus Christ. "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation." In doing this, he was laying the only reliable spiritual ground for living as God intended.
Jesus as our High Priest is one of the magnificent truths that matures us in the faith and draws us more intimately to Him. When we see the greatness of Jesus in this role, our steadfastness is strengthened. "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession."
Living day by day by grace is essentially about developing an intimate relationship with the Lord. "You also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead" (Romans 7:4).
"To love another person is to see the face of God." — Victor Hugo
To deepen your relationship with God, make time for prayer and meditation, sharing your anxieties and seeking His guidance. Trust in His divine plan and perfect timing, and remember that He is always beside you, ready to provide the comfort and support you need.
"Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength." — Charles Spurgeon
"Fill your mind with God's Word and you will have no room for Satan's lies." — Billy Graham
"God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself." — Dietrich Bonhoeffer "Courage is fear that has said its prayers." — Dorothy Bernard
"In the midst of the turbulence and storms of life, we find our rest in the arms of our Savior. When we trust in Him, He becomes our refuge and our fortress." — Billy Graham
"God's mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of its light, or make space too narrow than diminish the great mercy of God." — Charles Spurgeon
“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” ~Robert M. McCheyne, (1813-1843) Scottish preacher
S.M. Lockridge (1913-2000) was a prominent African American preacher who preached a powerful message titled It’s Friday but Sunday is Coming. One passage reads: It’s Friday. Jesus is buried. A soldier stands guard. And a rock is rolled into place. But it’s Friday. It is only Friday. Sunday is a comin’!
In the closing paragraphs of the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis wrote about the death of some of his characters: "For them, it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world...had only been the cover and title page; now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before."
When the “rooster crows” in our lives—when a warning, a reminder, a wake-up call stirs our conscience and opens our eyes to the truth—we can respond with repentance like Peter or despair, like Judas. Life or death
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