"The more we receive God's gifts with gratitude and awe, the more they empower us to respond to God's love." — Henri Nouwen
"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading."
— Oswald Chambers
"Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ."— Sheila Walsh
Those who want to live by grace (living by God working in and through their lives) characteristically depend upon the counsel of the Lord. Correspondingly, they have a burden to warn against worldly counsel, which undermines, or substitutes itself for God's counsel. "'Woe to the rebellious children,' says the LORD, 'Who take counsel, but not of Me.'"
God has called us to be people of substance, not facade. Are you presenting yourself physically in a way that is appropriate for someone who professes to worship God?
While we physically walk on earth, we can have the mind of Jesus (Philippians 2:5-8) and live with His attitudes, faith, and prayers.
If you don’t yet know Jesus Christ in a personal way, then do something about it immediately. Now is the time. If you keep putting it off, there will come a day when you won’t hear from God anymore, because you will have hardened your heart irreparably. Yes, there is a point of no return. Don’t let it happen to you. Don’t live another day outside of God’s will His purpose and His blessing for you.
People reject Jesus because they don’t know of all that He offers. They don’t know of His great promises. That is why we need to tell them. That is why we need to go out of our way to tell people about the love of God.
Peace is priceless! Without peace, we humans are walking wrecks. Without the Holy Spirit leading us and guiding us in peace, we’re a mess. Today, let’s be quiet, take a breath, and live in peace.
There’s more to prayer than we have been experiencing. It begins with spending time alone with our heavenly Father every day. The precious time will make a tremendous difference in your life.
The Holy Spirit works in us, through us, and around us so that we will desire the Lord.
The Now and Not Yet life is defined by the life goal of becoming like Jesus.
The Bible says, “Today is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT). But if you keep putting it off, there will come a time when you will seal your own destiny.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sins and bring us to Jesus Christ. So, to blaspheme and insult the Holy Spirit is to reject the work that He is attempting to do. And when you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, there is no hope for you.
It’s a fearful thing when people go out of their way to mock God, ridicule God, and insult God. They think they can do this for as long as they want, without any penalty. But ultimately it will catch up with them. And the worst thing of all is they can cross the line and commit the unforgivable sin.
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin (see Mark 3:29). It represents not just unbelief but a determined unbelief. The Bible speaks of Esau, who had gone beyond this point of no return. Hebrews 12:17 tells us, “It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears” (NLT)
The word blasphemy speaks of a conscious denouncing and rejection of God. It is a defiant irreverence, a uniquely terrible sin of intentionally and openly speaking evil against God.
To resist the Holy Spirit’s appeal and, therefore, to insult God, is to cut off all hope of salvation. Undoubtedly these sins lead to the ultimate sin. First people resist the Holy Spirit, then they insult Him, and one day they can go so far as to insult or blaspheme Him.
OFTEN TIMES WHEN YOUR VISION GETS BIGGER, YOUR CIRCLE WILL GET SMALLER. DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY. MATURITY IS LEARNING TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS, EVEN IF THEY ARE PAINFUL AND UNCOMFORTABLE."
STOP ASKING GOD TO BREAK EVERY CHAIN, WHILE YOU KEEP RECONNECTING WEAK LINKS.
THEY WANT ATTENTION NOT ASSISTANCE, STOP INSULTING YOUR LORD!
DISCIPLINE/CORRECTION ARE BLESSINGS NOT CURSES RECEIVE THEM. KNOW THIS: IF YOU ARE NEVER WRONG YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT FRIENDS.
WHEN OTHERS LEVEL OFF ("STAY THE SAME"), YOU MAKE SURE YOU CONTINUE TO LEVEL UP ("ADVANCE, IMPROVE, EXCEL")! IT'S OKAY TO OUTGROW STAGNANT PEOPLE.
Gossip wrapped in a ‘prayer request’ is still gossip.
Sometimes, God will allow you to go through difficult things, so that you can witness Him do impossible things.
A guy is found by a rescue boat, on a deserted island, after being there for years all by himself. The rescuers quickly discovered that there were three buildings that he’d built on the island, so they decided to ask him “What are those buildings for?” The man replied, “The first building is my house, and the second building is my church that I go to.” The rescuers, then asked, “Well, what about that third building?” The man, now annoyed says, “Let’s not talk about that building because that is the church I used to go to!” The point: Stop “church shopping” for the perfect church. There are no perfect churches, only a perfect Savior. In fact, if you find a perfect church, don’t join it, because you’ll be the one to mess it up. Church is a perfect place for imperfect people to worship a perfect Savior.
Other Bible-believing churches are not your competition. They are your family.
Good people don’t go to Heaven, those who are saved by Jesus do.
“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.” - C.S. Lewis
“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you do, and you will presently come to love him.” - C.S. Lewis
“Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” - C.S. Lewis
“Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.” - C.S. Lewis
“Seek not to grow in knowledge chiefly for the sake of applause, and to enable you to dispute with others; but seek it for the benefit of your souls.” — Jonathan Edwards
You may have had a terrible past. You may have had neglectful or unfit parents and a miserable childhood. You may have suffered unimaginable abuse. In Jesus, there is healing for all those hurts. Your past can be erased and you can be all God intends for you to be. But as long as you look for someone else to blame, you will never see a need to repent for your own actions. Chuck Smith
While we physically walk on earth, we can have the mind of Jesus (Philippians 2:5-8) and live with His attitudes, faith, and prayers. Isn't that a great way to live?! Ray Bentley
I have been called to faithfully and truthfully warn those who have chosen a path of sin. But I am also to speak good tidings for those who surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. He is the wall built with tempered mortar. Put your trust in Him, so that when storms come, you'll find true safety. Chuck Smith
There are times when through acute physical pain or deep depression, the soul utterly falls in sheer helplessness on Jesus. It gives up struggling, and resigns to His will. Then into the soul comes a great calm and a quiet joy, deeper and purer than we have ever experienced. Spurgeon
“I would say without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.” —Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“Hardness of heart is the great pastor-killer.” — Christopher Ash
“As all the Godhead in all His fullness is said to dwell in [Christ] and His person, so all the whole worth that the substantial excellency of the person can translate is in like manner stamped upon all His actions.” - Thomas Goodwin. Of Christ the Mediator, Works 5:119
"For he came to save us from our sin. And no man will look after him to be delivered from he knows not what; or look to the brazen serpent, who is not stung." –– John Owen
"...antinomians are not people who believe the gospel too much, but too little! They restrict the power of the gospel to the problem of sin’s guilt, while Paul tells us that the gospel is the power for sanctification as well as justification.” –– Michael Horton
Satan loves to make you question what God has already answered.
We cannot control the future; it belongs to God. This is His world. Our confidence for tomorrow must rest in Him. What we can control is our behavior in the face of danger. We can be prudent or we can be fools. R.C. Sproul
"Christ will reign over you, either by your consent or without it." — Charles Spurgeon
We are not made righteous by doing righteous deeds; but when we have been made righteous we do righteous deeds. Martin Luther
God is not so much concerned with what we give as how we give. R.C. Sproul Whatever men offer to God ought to be estimated not by its apparent value, but only by the feeling of the heart. John Calvin
"You cannot sin as much as God can forgive." — Charles Spurgeon Sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all...salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory forever; Amen. J.I. Packer “When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready…a gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. Therefore do not go out without your tracts.” —Charles Spurgeon
A pilot without his chart, a scholar without his book, and a solider without his sword are alike ridiculous. But above all these, how absurd is it for one to think of being a Christian without knowledge of the Word of God and some skill to use this weapon! —William Gurnall "The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction." — Charles Spurgeon
What’s required for salvation isn’t walking an aisle. It’s repentance from sin and belief in Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15). Initial repentance and belief – conversion – can happen anywhere, in the pew or in the pub." -Paul Alexander
Zeal is a mixed affection; it is a compound of love and anger. It boils up the spirits to the height and makes them run over. Zeal is a fire kindled from heaven; blessed be its anger, for it is without sin, and its wrath for it is against sin. —Thomas Watson, Discourses 1:335 "Sin and hell are married unless repentance proclaim the divorce." — Charles Spurgeon
It [climate change] is a pantheistic religion, complete with its own theology (Gaianism), hamartiology (fossil fuels), and soteriology (population reduction). D. B. Harrison "In our fluctuations of feelings, it is well to remember that Jesus admits no change in his affections; your heart is not the compass by which Jesus sails." - Samuel Rutherford We must realise that our salvation is entirely gratuitous, and arises only and altogether from the love of God in His infinite grace. - Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"I will give Jesus all in this life, and I will give an eternity of praise in the life to come." — Charles Spurgeon
This is all the comfort that can be given to a moral man--that he shall have a cooler hell than others have. -Thomas Brooks - Morality may shine in the eyes of the world--but it differs as much from purity, as a pebble differs from a diamond! -Thomas Watson -
"Salvation is not a mixture of your things and Christ; it just the blood of Jesus Christ." — Charles Spurgeon
"Self is the worst enemy a Christian has." — Charles Spurgeon Worry is totally fruitless. Elisabeth Elliot No worship has ever pleased God except that which looked to Christ. John Calvin
There are many fair professors that are foul sinners, and that have much of God, and Christ, and heaven, and holiness in their lips, when they have nothing but sin and hell in their hearts and lives. —Thomas Brooks, Works 3:470
"There was nothing in us to love at first, so there cannot be less now." — Charles Spurgeon
They do not know their own hearts who, in the trust and boast of their own sufficiencies, promise God that if He will reveal His love in His Son to them they will be exact walkers. —Nicolas Claget, The Abuse of God’s Grace, Pg. 267
"Jesus Christ will not tone down the truth of Scripture to suit your carnal taste." — Charles Spurgeon
Everyone wants to be clothed with power but no one wants to be stripped of self. Leonard Ravenhill "Sin is a sovereign, until sovereign grace dethrones it." — Charles Spurgeon
Humility is a rare grace. Whoever is little in his own account-is always great in God's esteem. -Thomas Brooks - The fact of God is necessary for the fact of man. Think God away and man has no ground of existence. -A.W. Tozer -
"Unbelief will destroy the best of us. Faith will save the worst of us." — Charles Spurgeon God is His children’s Father, but He is still their King. —Nicolas Claget, The Abuse of God’s Grace, Pg. 264
"God is not changed because we tremble. Christ is not altered because we are in fear." — Charles Spurgeon True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that - it is spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Charles Spurgeon
Jesus wept, but Jesus never complained." — Charles Spurgeon
You must plead guilty, or remain guilty forever." — Charles Spurgeon
Before the great revival in Gallneukirchen broke out, Martin Boos spent hours and days and often nights in lonely agonies of intercession. Afterwards, when he preached, his words were as flame, and the hearts of the people as grass.” – D. M. McIntyre
That soul never perished, that felt itself to be vile, and Jesus to be precious! -Octavius Winslow - Men must either part with their pride and good opinion of themselves--or they must part with the hope of a blessed eternity. -William Plumer -
'True humility,' said one, 'is a lovely ornament, it is the only suitable dress for a saved sinner!' -John MacDuff - May I daily prove by my life that I am saved from selfishness, and worldliness, and every form of evil. -C.H.Spurgeon -
Three main causes contribute to our justification: God's grace as the efficient cause, Christ as the meritorious cause, and faith as the instrumental cause. —Anthony Burgess
No man in his right wits will lay open to everyone his soul infirmities, weaknesses, diseases, ailments, and griefs, but to the Lord or to some particular person that is wise, faithful and able to contribute something to his soul’s relief. —Puritan Thomas Brooks, Privy Key, 18
Carnal men love the God that they make and hate the God that made them. —Ralph Venning, Canaan’s Flowing, Pg. 21
The church is like a river. If it gets wider instead of deeper it will lose its power. —Puritan Thomas Manton
The Father makes the promise of redemption, the Son seals it with his blood, and the Spirit applies it; the Father adopts us to be his children, the Son redeems us to be his members, and the Spirit renews us to be his temples. —Stephen Charnock, Existence and Attributes, 2:319
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