Seen a lot of “I’m a former Christian...” talk lately. Don’t be confused. There is no such thing as a “former Christian”. If you’ve been truly (emphasis on truly) saved by Jesus, and have the Holy Spirit... there is no undoing that. (Jn 10, Rom. 8, Eph. 4:30, 1 Jn 2:19)
1980s: “self-esteem” movement 1990s: “self-made” movement 2000s: “self-help” movement 2010s: “believe in yourself” movement 2020s: “self-love” movement
It is God’s Spirit blowing in us that makes the preaching of the Word by a divine attraction draw souls to Christ. - Thomas Watson I have had more advantage by private thoughts of Christ, than by any thing in this world; and I think, when a soul has satisfying and exalting thoughts of Christ himself, his person, and his glory, it is the way whereby Christ dwells in such a soul. - John Owen
“Several of the most important creeds of the church were the product of that battle for a faithful reception of legitimate authority, rooted in Christ and His Word.” — Joseph Boot "Are you heavy of heart? Let God's sweet love lighten the burden." — Charles Spurgeon “A Christian is what his heart and inward man is. Grace is at the centre, and from there it goes to the circumference.” — Richard Sibbes "The man who does not forgive has never been forgiven." — Charles Spurgeon
It is a mistake to think that divine revelation, as it rises to ever higher levels, intends to wean us gradually from the idea of God as King, and to substitute for it the idea of God as Father. —Louis Berkhoff, Systematic Theology, Pg. 169 Jesus does 𝘯𝘰𝘵 teach a universal Fatherhood of God. —Louis Berkhoff, Systematic Theology, Pg. 169 No wound can the Law make, which the Gospel cannot heal. —Puritan Robert Traill, Works 1:129 Let those who kept up family worship formerly, but [as] of late have left it off, be persuaded to 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 it. This, perhaps, is the case of some of you. Have you not found a manifest decay in the prosperity of your souls since you let fall this good work? —Matthew Henry
Remember: It is possible for a Christian to lose the assurance of their salvation, but it is impossible for a Christian to lose their salvation. Once in Christ, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 in Christ.
“To walk out of his will is to walk into nowhere.” - C.S. Lewis
"The worldly man believes all philosophy except the true one." — Charles Spurgeon
"The Bible is the writing of the living God; Each letter was penned with an Almighty finger." — Charles Spurgeon
"Death is the gate of life; I will not fear to die." — Charles Spurgeon
"He who says, 'I have no sin,' has surely never seen into his own heart at all." — Charles Spurgeon
"There can be no such thing as perfect happiness until there is perfect holiness." — Charles Spurgeon
"Let Jesus be your all in all, and let free grace be the one line in which you live and move." — Charles Spurgeon
"It is only living for Christ that is living at all." — Charles Spurgeon "There is not a promise, not a word, in the Bible that is not ours." — Charles Spurgeon "All of us who now are free in Christ Jesus were slaves of the devil." — Charles Spurgeon "Say not that you believe the Book, when you act as though it were not true." — Charles Spurgeon
Oh, how dreadful the thought--to go to Hell through the church of God! -James Smith - Too often we are Christians by assumption, manipulation or instruction, rather than Christians by regeneration. -A.W. Tozer - “… theological concepts and systems are not identical with Scripture. They must be weighed against Scripture and the testimony of the church down the centuries from the time of the apostles.” — Joseph Boot
“As Christ never dies in himself, after his resurrection, so he never dies in his children.” — Richard Sibbes
The Christian life, then, is a battle, so sharp and full of danger that effort can nowhere be relaxed without loss. Huldrych Zwingli
The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man was the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all-holy God. Martin Luther “God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on Him.” —Hudson Taylor Jesus wept, but He never complained. Charles Spurgeon If you want to follow Jesus because He'll fix your marriage, if you want to follow Jesus because He'll give you a better life, that's idolatry. Follow Christ for the sake of Christ; He is worthy! Paul Washer
Do not waste your time on light, weak, milktoast ministries and books. Richard Baxter
A Christian is as much in heaven as he can be, when he sanctifies the holy Sabbath, speaking to God in the congregation by prayer and hearing God speak to him in the preaching of the Word. —Richard Sibbes, Works 4:167
"Don't underestimate the impact of a solitary life lived to God's glory." —Alistair Begg
Many appear righteous--who are only righteous in appearance. -William Secker -
A man may have an outward dress of holiness upon him--who has not the spirit and vitality of holiness in him. -Thomas Brooks -
I define a person’s metaphorical Voice, their unique perspective, to be the sum total of what they notice in biblical texts, in life around them, and in their own interior life." - Alyce McKenzie
Surely corruption is ingrained in our hearts, interwoven with our very natures, has sunk deep into our souls, and will never be cured but by a miracle of grace. — Thomas Boston
"It is only when we have a hold of Jesus' hand that we can breast the billows that surge over and threaten to drown us." -Margaret Paton. "We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except that we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own." — John Calvin
Abortion is not an unpardonable sin. You will find redemption if you repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. He is ready and willing to forgive you and comfort your troubled soul.
Abortion is not a complicated issue. You either support mutilating and killing unborn children or you don't.
"An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly." - A.W. Tozer
If a man trusts his own righteousness, he rejects Christ‘s; if he trusts to Christ’s righteousness, he rejects his own. —Puritan Robert Traill, A Vindication of the Protestant Doctrine of Justification, Works 1:267
“Let us magnify the goodness of God that God's children never totally fall from grace.” — Richard Sibbes
A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common with the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ -Horatius Bonar - He who makes little of God makes much of himself. They who forget adoration fall into adulation. -C.H. Spurgeon -
“We need righteousness to justify us, grace to sanctify us, love to comfort us, and mercy to save us.” — George Swinnock, The Blessed and Boundless God, 15-16.
Let those who kept up family worship formerly, but [as] of late have left it off, be persuaded to 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 it. This, perhaps, is the case of some of you. Have you not found a manifest decay in the prosperity of your souls since you let fall this good work? —Matthew Henry
When you trust in yourself, you get what you can do. When you trust in the world, you get what the world can do. When you trust in government, you get what government can do. When you trust in God, you can what He can do.
Times are bad, God is good. Richard Sibbes
"Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand."— Augustine of Hippo
"Oh, our poor lives! Our empty lives! God fill them and elevate them! May he help us to rise out of our dead selves by a sense of his living presence." - Charles Spurgeon
"It makes life a blessed thing when we remember that we spend it with God." - Charles Spurgeon
“It is only what is written upon the soul of man that will survive the wreck of time.” — Francis Grimké
"Nothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord's love and the Lord's own self." — Charles Spurgeon
A plea to my Abolitionist and Pro-Life friends in Ohio. We must stop the infighting and work together to defeat the constitutional amendment in November that will allow abortion up to birth and many other horrible things.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."— Martin Luther King Jr.
The natural mind of fallen humanity places its confidence in man (usually, in themselves). The flesh of every born-again believer is tempted to place trust in the same direction. This brings a very serious spiritual curse. "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength." When we exercise dependence upon man, we can only draw upon fleshly resources for strength. This amounts to a departure from the Lord in whom we are to trust: "whose heart departs from the LORD." The Lord is the only source of all true blessings. Consequently, trust in man results in a curse.
Your emotional well-being influences every other dimension of your life, including your spirit.
It’s okay not to be okay. Your emotional well-being influences every other dimension of your life, including your spirit. Stop and ask the Lord for His divine help. He wants to help you!
The sign our unbelieving friends and family need to know about is that Jesus died on the cross for them and rose from the dead. This is what we need to proclaim. It’s the greatest sign of all.
we need more than family values; we need the morality those values are based on. And then we need the spirituality that morality is based on. We can’t have morality without spirituality, because who determines what is moral and immoral? We must have a set of standards, and we find them in the pages of Scripture.
Enter into the secret place and His love will overflow into you and out to the world. Be still and know He is there, waiting for you, wanting to bless and fill you with His love, comfort, power, and love. This is where we find the strength to walk and yes, run, through life without fainting, sustained by the God who loves us. Ray Bentley
Karma~ is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect. In other words, don't bite the hand that helps you.......
Community is God-given. But friend's and family's ability to be leaned on will ebb and flow. Hence our soul's deepest need: friendship with the Lord. {Inhale deeply that delight: we're friends with God.} Friends with the unchanging nature of the Word, Jesus.
C.S. Lewis says that most Christians lack “merriment.” I like that word. “Merriment.” Just moving the words across my lips is fun. And I think Lewis is right. We lack merriment and we don’t expect it. Many Christians look like they’ve been weaned on a dill pickle. My goodness, if there is anyone who should exude merriment, it is a person who knows Jesus as Savior and Lord. We, above all people, have something to be merry about!
May I encourage you today to take time alone... and pray. Without prayer, we are but robots going from task to task, slaves to the problems that constantly demand fixing. But there will always be tasks at hand, and there will always be problems to fix. How can we ever know God's purpose for our lives if we don't take time to pray? Everyone needs a Sabbath, a day of rest.....
*No one ever trips over a mountain. It’s the small pebble that causes you to stumble.
*When you do common things in an uncommon way, you command the attention of the world.
*Psalm 25:15 My eyes are ever on the Lord; for only He will free my feet from the snare.
“Christ died for the world,” even sweeter it is to whisper, “Christ died for me!”
For my sins he died. He took my place on the cross. He felt my shame and
spoke my name. Thank God for the day Jesus took your place, for the day Grace happened to you!
Max Lucado
We should follow our Lord as unhesitatingly as sheep follow their shepherd, for He has a right to lead us wherever He pleases. We are not our own, we are bought with a price...
If you are in it for your self, you will die by your self.
JESUS KNOWS!
How comforting are the words of Hebrews 4:15-17! Jesus understands our struggles and temptations because He went through the same situations but He did not sin.
God understands everything that we go through. He understands when someone treats us mean. He understands when people speak behind our back. He understands when you have been betrayed. He understands when you feel unloved. He understands when you feel rejected and alone. He understands and provides His mercy and compassion for us during these difficult times.
We also know that we have done many things to hurt others. But God who is rich in mercy forgives us even though we don't deserve His mercy even though we have sinned. Even though we want to get back at others who have hurt us, we can't. Even though we want others to pay for what they have done to us, Christ will forgive us and help us get through these difficult times of stress and trouble.
Mercy that He offers has nothing to do with us meriting it. We can't be good enough for God to help us. Mercy is just that, mercy. It is undeserving and unwarranted by the Savior offers help to us in our time of need. And He has the hopeful expectation as He has mercy upon us we will have mercy upon others.
-- Dr. Timothy Emerick
You don’t fix a struggling marriage with an affair, a drug problem with more drugs. You don’t fix stupid with stupid. Do what pleases God. Turbulent times will tempt you to forget Him. Shortcuts will lure you. Don’t be foolish or naïve. Do what pleases God. Nothing more, nothing less!
Though men are false, God is faithful.
~Matthew Henry~
The natural mind of fallen humanity places its confidence in man (usually, in themselves). The flesh of every born again believer is tempted to place trust in the same direction. This brings a very serious spiritual curse. "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength." When we exercise dependence upon man, we can only draw upon fleshly resources for strength. This amounts to a departure from the Lord in whom we are to trust: "whose heart departs from the LORD." The Lord is the only source of all true blessings. Consequently, to trust in man results in a curse.
God gave us His Spirit to shine light upon our circumstance and bring us joy. Are you sharing in His victory? Christ died that we might live. Are you truly living or just going through the motions? Do you make a career out of fear, or do you choose joy (regardless of the circumstances) because of what Christ has done?
You must manage yourself before you can lead someone else."- Zig Ziglar
No man is really wise unless he lives in the will
and for the glory of God.
~Geoffrey Grogan~
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
- C. S. Lewis
We were made for more than the wilderness. God saved you from Egypt so that He could bless you in the Promised Land. The gift has been given. Will you trust it? Don’t measure your life by your ability; measure it by God’s!
Max Lucado
Kindness always brings its own reward. The kind person will seldom be without friends.
~J. C. Ryle~
We are all going to sin and fail at times, but let's fail forward. Let's learn from our mistakes and not do the same things again.
If you are suffering from a bad man’s injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men.
~Augustine~
The Holy Spirit is the only authenticator of Christianity.
~Arthur P. Johnson~
In the fear of the Lord, prayerfully ask the Lord to give you a heart of integrity. Integrity of heart is indispensable.
~John Calvin~
Suffering will come. It's not a matter of if but when and how much. We need to prepare for it. Allow your faith to grow by reading the word and living by it...;
If you say you are a Christian, you have a greater responsibility to live according to the word of God. We go to work and work according to company policy's and procedures. How much more should you be willing to live for Jesus....
Maturing in the Lord will bring a level of honesty into our lives that will bring change and answered prayers.
What the Spirit does is exactly what the Lord does; the Spirit's work is not an additional or special work beyond the Lord's;
the Spirit is the Lord at work.
~F. D. Bruner~
If you want to live as a person fully alive, don’t focus on your failings as a Christian. And, whatever you do, don’t put on a fake happy face, pretending as if everything in your life is just fine. Guilt and inauthenticity won’t cut when it comes to showing the world the gracious wisdom of God.
lean into God’s grace, letting his grace transform you and inspire you. The more you are captivated by what God has done for you in Christ, the more you will be motivated to live a transformed life. The more you offer yourself to the Lord as someone called to live for the praise of his glory, the more you will discover the life of God within you, empowering you to be fully alive in all that you do.
“When…any man of God discovers that God’s work and his work are one and the same thing, the aspect of affairs is changed. The contest is then spiritual. The forces arrayed are light and darkness, truth and error, and God and the devil…Prayer first, then work, in the assurance that the prayer will be answered and the work successful.”
Be teachable and Willing
As we come to know Jesus better, growing in His Word, growing in prayer, growing in faith, His unlimited power is unlocked and unleashed in us. How different our trials and tribulations would seem if we only knew more about God and His power and purposes.
BE THE CHANGE!
We are the Bibles the world is reading; we are the creeds the world is needing; we are the sermons the world is heeding.
~Billy Graham~
Did you know that “emotional connection” is the greatest predictor of divorce? (Statistically speaking.) Also, did you know that emotional safety is a necessary prerequisite to deep, lasting emotional connection?
It’s a theme common in all ages – anxiety. Worry about “what you will eat or what you will drink” (Matthew 6:25), how to accumulate enough wealth to live out your later years with some comfort are concerns that need to be addressed. But God would have you think of things eternal FIRST.
As Matthew Henry has said, worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom whereby Satan has a sure and fast hold of the soul. Henry warns against the sin of “disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of life” for they are a bad sign that the treasure and heart are on earth. “Seek first the kingdom of God!” (Matthew 6:33)
God is your hiding place, a place of safety and security. God will be there for you when your work is more than you can handle when the people you work with are at their crankiest. Jesus invites you to come to him, to find rest for your soul with him.
Satan has no fear of the light as long as he can keep his victims sightless.
~A.W. Tozer~
One of the biggest issues in the church today is people believe that their opinions and preferences outrank Scripture.
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