QUOTES

We are all weak. All sinners. All need to be saved by grace. Ray Bently

That Christ and a forgiven sinner should be made one, and share heaven between them, is the wonder of salvation; what more could love do? ~Samuel Rutherford~

God works and moves in people’s hearts to be loyal and protect His people against danger. He will surround them with like-minded people who will watch their backs. These people will have your best interest at heart. When the enemy makes his move against us, we need to trust in the name of the Lord. God moves through other people to make sure we are kept safe. Raul Ries

If your Christianity is not based upon the word of God then you are not a true believer IN CHRIST.

DON'T MESS UP YOUR BLESSINGS TRYING TO DO THEM LIKE THEY DID YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT. JUST MOVE ON. YOUR PEACE OF MIND IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU GIVING THEM A PIECE OF YOUR MIND.

Practical Christan living promotes God's word...

Jesus sets a high bar of how low we will go for those who follow us. The vows of leadership find their ultimate expression in our commitment to love those who follow us, in the same way, Jesus loved those who follow him: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Too many leaders who are struggling in plain sight have never taken the time to assess their personal status. Some of our most powerful leaders delay this very important evaluation because they feel they don’t have the time, or that the movement or ministry will suffer. So they don their leadership hats, dig deeper, and neglect their personal health and wellness. Some even live in an Elijah-style time loop where they dwell in the depressed proverbial cave as they carry out great feats of miracles, signs, and wonders.

Though men are false, God is faithful. ~Matthew Henry~

The sinner in his sinful nature could never have a will according to God. ~J. Denham Smith~

God gives us more by going deeper than we ask. He wants not only your whole heart—He wants your heart whole. Max Lucado

“Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are.” – Jim Rohn

"Success is not measured by what you do compared to what others do, it is measured by what you do with the ability God gave you."- Zig Ziglar

Our duty as Christians is always to keep heaven in our eyes and earth under our feet.

~Matthew Henry~

Don’t just sit there, take action! Whether you achieve your dreams and goals is solely up to you. No one can do it for you. No one can promise or guarantee what level of success you will achieve. You can do it – the time to start is now!

God will provide for our needs. We cannot get caught up in all our wants.

Abundance, like want, ruins men. ~Benjamin Franklin~

I believe that a mighty resurgence of the Spirit's power among us will open again wells of hymnody long forgotten. For song can never bring the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit does invariably bring song.—AW Tozer

“Gospel repentance is not a little hanging down of the head. It's a working of the heart until your sin becomes more odious to you than any punishment for it.” -- Richard Sibbes

"It is awful work when through disobedience to the command of the gospel it becomes a savor of death unto death instead of life unto life, and instead of a corner-stone it becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." - Charles Spurgeon

Keep up a humble sense of your own faults, and that will make you compassionate to others. --

Richard Baxter

We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to live all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all about.

~R.C. Sproul~

One of the most potentially frightening aspects of being a Christian is knowing that when you put your trust in Jesus, all of Hell takes arms against you intending evil upon your life. And, yet what trumps that fear and evil is knowing that, no matter what comes, God is Master Weaver. He takes what was intended for evil and reweaves it for good. How have you seen that in your own life?

God will never plant the seed of his life upon the soil of a hard, unbroken spirit. He will only plant that seed where the conviction of his spirit has brought brokenness, where the soil has been watered with the tears of repentance as well as the tears of joy. ~Alan Redpath~

Jesus knows exactly what you really need and how to provide it in the most loving and edifying way possible. He is committed to seeing you become all He created you to be.

People are in denial; they want to go back to the times of prosperity––to buy houses and cars but, in the end, they lose all of their investments. Why? They were not sensitive to what is taking place around them. We may even be heading into a recession!

Ask God for mercy, and from this day forward, get up and worship God. Be in His Word in the morning, afternoon, and evening. God is faithful to warn you to stay clear of trouble––stay out of debt––stay sound in doctrine, and stay close to the heart of God. He will lead you and guide you through these difficult times. Raul Ries

Give God his glory by resting in Him, by trusting Him fully, by waiting patiently for Him. This patience honors Him greatly; it leaves Him, as God on the throne, to do his work; it yields self wholly into His hands. It lets God be God.~Andrew Murray~

We were never meant to fight our battles, addictions, and trials by ourselves. The Body of Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit can and will help us crush old demons that tempt and harm us! Tell someone! Trust that the Lord put people in your life for a reason!

Stop playing games with God. It is time to repent of your sin and get right with Him. Are you ready to come back into the house of the Lord? Remember, when you choose to obey, the blessings of God will come.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace. —Words and music: Helen H. Lemmel, 1922

Have courage! No matter what fears we face, the Lord is with us! Courage is obeying God’s commands despite fear.

The core virtue of a coward is niceness. You must lick the boot that kicks you. ~

Tim Dunn

The good news is that Israel’s hardening and casting off is only temporary. In the dire threat of Armageddon, toward the end of the tribulation period, Israel will finally recognize its Messiah and turn to Him for rescue from the invading forces of the antichrist. ~Ron Rhodes~

Jesus and the apostles varied their approach to healing, led by the Holy Spirit, to keep people from focusing on methods and miracles rather than God. The Lord will never be boring or predictable in His pursuit of us.

God wants us fulfilling our individual roles in the body. Participating. Contributing. Sometimes, I think we forget that going to church isn’t just for us, but it’s also for all the other people we will see there.

Revival is refreshment. Revival is restoration. For the believer, revival is getting back to that first bloom of a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes when we’ve been walking with the Lord for a while, the passion begins to fade. And the zeal begins to erode.

Stay connected to God! If you don’t feel connected to Him, soak in His word and prayer.

Just as we bear the image of the Creator, so a branch bears the image of the vine. And just as God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful, so Jesus says we’ve been chosen — appointed — to bear fruit.

If you want to see a revival, then do revival-like things. Don’t overly mystify it. Just do the things you know you should be doing as a follower of Jesus Christ.

He empowers us to be strong and do God’s work––building His kingdom. When you obey God’s Word, He will bless you. This will take a daily, sacrificial denial of self, so He can work in and through your life––fully and completely. Raul Ries

There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit. ~D.L. Moody~

“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

God is looking for someone like you who actually will say, “Use me, Lord. I’ll go where You want me to go. I will say what You want me to say.”

Research shows that 95 percent of Christians have never led another person to Christ. Only 2 percent of churchgoers have invited an unchurched person to church in the past year, and 59 percent of Christians say they seldom or never share their faith with others. How sad is that?

Only at Calvary is the medicine for a wounded conscience to be found.

Praise should be proportionate to its object, therefore let it be infinite when rendered unto the Lord. - Charles Spurgeon

"A sermon is not made with an eye upon the sermon, but with both eyes upon the people and all the heart upon God." – John Owen

Our individual judgment or opinion on a subject may make what might be considered neutral (on the good versus evil scale), become wrong for us personally. And just the opposite is true as well -- we can't make what is evil or wrong become good -- no matter how much justification we can find.

"Take heed of acting contrary to the dictates of a doubting conscience. First be persuaded that what you do is lawful, before you venture to do it."

We all have those moments, not only when we preach the Word, but even in our daily conduct of life. But more so when we do the work of God, and, trust me, if you do the work of God, expect some major opposition. And we know that. We know that, because Paul said already in 2 Corinthians 4:8 and 9, “We’re hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed.

"If our eyes were really opened, every loaf of bread would come to us as a token of our Father’s care, and every drop we drink would come as the gift of our Father’s bounty." - Charles Spurgeon

Many times we look at our own freedom and think we live in isolation. We forget that others look to us for example. It requires great strength to restrict our personal freedom in order to please or build up a neighbor.

Abiding with Christ against the charges of sin is our daily work. It is sometimes higher and more pressing, but it is our daily work. —John Owen,

No man who is full of himself can ever truly preach the Christ who emptied Himself.

- J. Sidlow Baxter

When you think nothing is happening, your waiting matters.

"Jesus blessed the...

Poor

Suffering

Meek

Justice-hungry

Merciful

Pure-hearted

Peacemakers

Persecuted

Don't admire those who mock this."

Fill your affections with the cross of Christ, so that there may be no room for sin.

John Owen

"Remember, upon whomsoever, it shall fall it will grind him to powder. Christ himself has said it, and so it must be. May he of his infinite mercy give us the willing and the obedient mind that we may not pervert the gospel to our own destruction." - Charles Spurgeon

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent. - John Calvin

Nothing renders us so like unto God as our love unto Jesus Christ - John Owen

EVERY book in the N.T., except Philemon, mentions something about false teachings/teachers.

If we never have headaches through rebuking our children, we shall have plenty of heartaches when they grow up. Charles Spurgeon

If you aren't pursuing holiness, you aren't indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

“God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” -C.S. Lewis

"The gospel has about it a divine authority, and is not to be thrilled with." - Charles Spurgeon

As the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, so the denial of God is the height of foolishness.

— RC Sproul

Believers are never called in the New Testament to create ‘unity’ or ‘fellowship.’

"It's not the experiences of our lives that change us. It is our response to those experiences."

~Elisabeth Elliot

Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be.

A.W. Tozer

“Holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls.”

John Owen

There are only two parties in religious matters.

There are only two camps.

There are only two sides.

Are we with Christ, and working in His cause? If not, we are against Him. - JC Ryle

If by “prophetic witness” we exclusively think in terms of calling out sin and exposing the powers, we are in danger of prophetic myopia that ensnares us into hypocrisy. A prophetic witness must also bring comfort, assurance, and a compelling vision to people without hope.

."Never confuse meekness with weakness." ~ Elisabeth Elliot

There is no form of sin in which we act more satanically than when we indulge in telling a lie.

~Frank Gabelein~

We do not just need the individual pearls of truths; we need the string that ties them together. Without systematic theology, pastors are throwing out pearls to people, but they have no string to put them on and hold them together.

Randy Alcorn

I think it probably matters less how sin came into the world -- and more that it's here. Yet some people continue to debate the goodness of man -- as if a man has some redeeming quality to justify eternal life without God's grace.

We're all sinners and have been from the beginning of time. Once we stop arguing this fact, it clears up a lot of confusion -- we see the harsh reality of our own mortality and the futility of trying to do good without Jesus at our core…

You can pray for them and still realize they’re not healthy for you.

“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

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~

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

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.

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~

Christians have one supreme message: the gospel of Jesus Christ’s atoning death, glorious resurrection, and coming kingdom. Be defined by that message. Preach that and let everything else come second.

“Jesus is a messiah who wins his people back by redemption, rather than an enlightened philosopher who, by his therapeutic wisdom, guides us to higher and happier living.”

—Michael Horton

Worship must not be designed to please the unbeliever or the believer. Worship should be designed to please God.

R. C. Sproul

“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

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~

As followers of Christ, despite the broken and evil affairs of the world, we still have the unique opportunity to promote unity, foster unconditional love, and share the message of real hope in Jesus.

We can't protect our children from every negative influence out there, but we can surely lead by example.

“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

I want to be fruitful. I want to make a difference in people’s lives, in the church, and in the world. I expect this is true for you, also. Though we can exhaust ourselves in our daily routines without thinking about why we do what we do, when we step back and catch our breath we feel a deep desire for fruitfulness. We want our lives to count.

"It is impossible for a man who is warm to understand one who is cold.” —

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

“If you want to be free, set others free,” says Mike Mason. “Set people free to complicate your life, embarrass you, affront your standards, step on your toes. Don’t be a doormat, but neither be scandalized when people act human. The more you reel others in and try to squeeze them into your mold, the less you’ll enjoy them. To love people is to enjoy them truly, warts and all. Give everyone the freedom to be imperfect. The American slaves were not set free because they were jolly good fellows, but because they were human beings.”

Oswald Chambers, Might Utmost for His Highest

Let's not be deceived. If anyone has been walking with the Lord, yet regularly gives in to fleshly indulgences -- they are on shaky spiritual ground. I'm not talking about the struggles we all have with our fleshly desires, I'm addressing a lifestyle that is unchanged and one that continues to embrace sin.

If we want to be people of peace, if we desire to know the peace of God that passes understanding, if we want to be peacemakers in our part of the world, then we need Jesus Christ. Not only will he give us the gift of peace, but he will use us to share his peace with others.

People have various ideas about spiritual formation and usually they revolve around some kind of legalism, or some kind of program...those things have nothing to do with spiritual formation...Being with Jesus--being formed into His image--that's the key thing. The moment we center on programs we are doomed to failure.

“A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.”

— Brian Tracy

Judge me not by physical size or appearance, but judge me by the size of my character. -Cornelius Kilgore

My criteria for investment are four things: What is the project, who are the partners, what is the financing, and who will manage it?

When it is all said and done, People are just people. Forgive them, love them, and be the best representation of Jesus you can be to them.

Christ brings the heart to heaven first, and then the person.

~Richard Baxter~

Man’s way leads to a hopeless end – God’s way leads to endless hope.

You know no matter how bad a person hurts you never give up on people because God will never give up on You!

Alongside “All truth is God’s truth,” we need to say, “All truth exists to display more of God and awaken more love for God.” This means that knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God. That is, we exist to glorify God ( 1 Corinthians 10:31 ),

"Our problems begin with the way we see life, and not with the life we see." I was told by a 24-year-old she does not know how to accept compliments because it was never done in her family. This is a school teacher, I am talking about... All the schooling did not change her views so life is bad unless it fits her mold.

"I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." ~ Albert Einstein

To whom shall the glory be given? Oh! to Jesus-it is all by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God in the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy.

Charles Spurgeon

A cry is the natural expression of sorrow, and a suitable utterance when all other modes of appeal fail us; but the cry must be alone directed to the Lord, for to cry to man is to waste our entreaties upon the air. When we consider the readiness of the Lord to hear, and His ability to aid, we shall see good reason for directing all our appeals at once to the God of our salvation.

Charles Spurgeon

What is repentance

Many understand the term repentance to mean “turning from sin.” This is not the biblical definition of repentance. In the Bible, the word repent means “to change one’s mind.” The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8-14; Acts 3:19). Acts 26:20 declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.