People want leadership. And in the absence of genuine leadership, they will listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership, Mr. President. They’re so thirsty for it, they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.
People want leadership so badly that they’ll follow anyone who they think is a leader, even if they are not the best leader. I think I sometimes assume that people know what a good leader looks like.
Thankfully for us, God’s gospel includes a "whoever" policy that’s always open for business.
Max Lucado
The downturns of life can create such a sad state of affairs that we wonder if God still wants us.
Max Lucado
If you are a stranger to prayer, you are a stranger to the greatest source of power known to human beings.
~E.M. Bounds~
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ can never be reduced to merely producing Christian character in ourselves or loving one another, as important as those things are. Being a disciple of Jesus means making other disciples.
John MacArthur
Here I am, send me; send me to the ends of the earth; ... send me from all that is called comfort on earth; send me even to death itself, if it is but in Thy service, and to promote Thy Kingdom.”
~David Brainerd~
I believe God saves a person and anoints them for a purpose. They are not called to be saved and then to sit and do nothing. He has a certain mission for them to fulfill on earth.
Raul Ries
“Redemption is the liberation of man through Christ and the Holy Spirit from forces and thralldoms that hold him bound, individually and collectively.”—
John Mackay
fear, doubt, anxiety, unbelief, discouragement — rush in, we must immediately take those thoughts captive. Captive to the Truth of God’s Word. The Truth of who we are as children of the One true god.
Wendy Blight
When your great players are team players, everybody else follows their lead. The best team doesn’t always win – it’s usually the team that gets along best.
~John Maxwell~
“Other nations have been our teachers in art and wisdom and government. But Israel is our mistress in pain and patience.”
George Adam
“There should be a parallel between our supplications and our thanksgivings. We ought not to leap in prayer, and limp in praise.”
~C. H. Spurgeon~
Prayer, as it comes from the saint, is weak and languid; but when the arrow of a saint's prayer is put into the bow of Christ's intercession it pierces the throne of grace.
~Thomas Watson~
Replace our fears with faith
and our unrest with perfect trust in You,
who lives and governs all things, world without end.
~ John Wallace Suter (1859–1942)
Set free, O Lord, the souls of Your servants
from all restlessness and anxiety.
Give us that peace and power which flow from You. Keep us in all perplexity and distress,
that upheld by Your strength
and stayed on the rock of Your faithfulness,
we may abide in You now and forevermore.
~ Francis Paget (1851–1911)
To You alone, O Jesus, I must cling; running to Your arms, dear Lord,
there let me hide, safe from all fears, loving You with the tenderness of a child.
~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897)
and there is only harmony and peace.
Let every day combine the beauty of spring, the brightness of summer,
the abundance of autumn,
and the repose of winter.
And at the end of my life on earth,
grant that I may come to see and know You in the fullness of Your glory.
~ St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)
Everything I could be worrying about right now, I’m praying about instead.
My concerns could take over my mind all day and seize my heart with despair.
But instead, I’m taking those thoughts captive
and turning to You. I want to make my mind obedient to You, the Truth.
I tell You what I need and hope for,
then let the matters rest in Your hands.
I rejoice that I belong to You, and You are a good Father. You’ve provided before, and You will again. I realize my situation is an exercise in faith training,
an opportunity to trust You and give You glory.
Now, Holy Spirit, the Great Helper,
give me self-control throughout this day
and help me fix my thoughts where You want them. May I find the good all around me?
May I fill my mind with what’s right and pure—
“the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”
May I dwell on—and give power to—what is true.
May I find even simple things to delight in?
Help me choose joy; choose hope; choose peace.
~ C. M., quoted materials from Philippians 4:8 The Message
O my Lord and Savior,
in Your arms I am safe.
Keep me and I have nothing to fear...
I know nothing about the future,
but I rely upon You.
I pray that You would give me what is good for me...
If You bring pain or sorrow on me,
give me the grace to bear it well—
keep me from fretfulness and selfishness.
If You give me health and strength and success in this world, keep me always on my guard lest these great gifts carry me away from You.
O Christ, You died on the Cross for me,
even for me, sinner as I am.
Help me to know You,
to believe in You,
to love You,
to serve You,
to always aim at bringing You glory,
to live to and for You.
~ St, John Henry Newman (1801–1890)
I ask that our people devote themselves to a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt~
Grace is the gift of a loving Father who desires to bless His children.
We have a messy faith and a messy life. We fall flat on our faces — more often than we care to admit. We desperately need a Savior.
PR.
“There are a lot of broken people in this world,” he once said. “I’d say that all are broken, but only a few admit it. We like to believe we’re okay — that we have it all together; it makes us feel better about ourselves. I’ve learned that it’s okay to be broken. When we get to this point, we can put away all the junk that gets in the way — our efforts to ‘get things right,’ and to ‘do Christian things’… our pride, our stubborn wills, our attempts to control everything and everyone. God is our Healer. He can accomplish in us what we cannot do on our own.”
Michael Ross
“Emotionally healthy people understand the limits God has given them. They joyfully receive the one, two, seven, or ten talents God has so graciously distributed. As a result, they are not frenzied and covetous, trying to live a life God never intended.”
Peter Scazzero
Sin was conquered on the Cross. Christ’s death is the foundation of our hope, the promise of our triumph.
~Billy Graham~
I firmly believe that marriage is meant to make us holy—but holiness also includes joy. A godly marriage will also be a happy marriage. In 1 Timothy 6:6, Paul wrote that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (ESV). Contentment is a heart attitude that does not strive for more than what it has. A contented marriage is a happy marriage, a marriage brimming with fulfillment.
Lisa Jacobson
Christian living means dying with Christ and rising again. That, as we saw, is part of the meaning of baptism, the starting point of the Christian pilgrimage.
~N. T. Wright~
Chemo was a gift. I get to get chemo. Chemo gave me the ability to fight cancer and live. It was a gift that generations before me did not have.
Dawn Barton
If honest of heart and uprightness before God were lacking or if I did not patiently wait on God for instruction, or if I preferred the counsel of my fellow men to the declarations of the Word of God, I made great mistakes.
~George Muller~
I have often seen what happens when God does a new work, false teachers start to evangelize new converts to draw them to their own religion. Be careful of false teachings. Know that God’s wisdom does not come by reading other books offered by false religions. Those who insist you have to read their books are heretics. You only need one book––the Bible.
Raul Ries
Christians are complete in Jesus Christ. He becomes their Wonderful Counselor. God’s Word is free! Do not get caught up with the philosophies of men; their words are empty and deceitful. Jesus has all wisdom, and in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus is the Head of the Church––believers. Seriously, you do not need anything else––just Jesus Christ––period.
Raul Ries
“I came to love you late, O Beauty so ancient and so new,” he wrote.
“I came to love you late. You were within me and I was outside, where I rushed about wildly searching for you like some monster loose in your beautiful world. You called me, you shouted to me, you broke past my deafness. You bathed me in your light, wrapped me in your splendor…you touched me and I burned to know your peace.”
The Confessions of St. Augustine in Modern English
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing), p. 125.
“Through the western window a solemn light streams from Mt. Calvary. Through the eastern window shines the light of the sun rising, the herald of a brighter day. Thus the school of Grace is well lighted, but we cannot afford to do without the light from either the west or the east.” —Canon Hay Aitken
Heaven is a reality, not seen by eyes of flesh, but made known by revelation and received by faith.
~Archibald Alexander~
Perhaps you are feeling utterly hopeless in this life. Embrace the hope found in the Word of the truth of the gospel! If you choose to repent of your sin and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, He will lift you from hopelessness into a heavenly hope.
Raul Ries
“We must love God with our minds, allowing our intellect to inform our emotions, rather than the other way around.”
Jen Wilkin
The same God, who sees our innermost being and accepts us, in the Gospels. Having emotions locked in the basement reminds me of when the disciples hid behind locked doors. In the wake of Jesus’s death, they were terrified and locked away in a dark room, not unlike what we do with our own fear in shutdown spirituality. Yet Jesus shows up in the dark and says,
Peace be with you!
Krispin Mayfield
Have you ever noticed the difference in the Christian life between work and fruit? A machine can do work; only life can bear fruit.
~Andrew Murray~
Reflect back to when you first accepted Jesus Christ and experienced the grace of God. Are you still abiding in Christ? It is essential to go to church, read your Bible, pray and fellowship with other believers.
Raul Ries
Most of the situations that entangle my mind are not today’s concerns: I’ve borrowed them from tomorrow, next week, next month, or even next year.
Sarah Young
The Bible establishes many chains of command or levels of authority. But God is always at the top. Unless a man is aware that he is governed by God, is responsible to God, and will have to answer to God, that man is not qualified to lead. When authority is given to anyone who is not governed by God, they will soon take advantage, make mistakes, and pervert authority to their own benefit. Crisis and catastrophe will become the norm. No man can rule who is not ruled -- understanding this, the leader's question should be: "Who or what is ruling my decisions? Is it my ego or desire to be needed? Could it be selfish ambition? Am I neglecting my responsibilities and the authority God has given me?" Any leader who does not diligently govern with an awareness that, "I am responsible to the One who is higher than me, and I will ultimately answer to Him," is not fit to rule. 2 Samuel 23:3 (KJV): "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God."
Sermons are not for our entertainment but to make us more like Jesus.
Don't think encouragement is cheerleading. It's not telling us that what we're doing is right and at the same time offering words of sympathy for our plight. Rather, an encourager will take us back to Bible basics and say, "Let's get started on a new path right now!"
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