The Lord wants us to set our daily course toward heaven, rejecting earthly cravings that diminish spiritual vitality.
THE DIMENSIONS of the Love of Christ!
It is broad as humanity, "for God so loved the world" (Jn 3:16, cp 1Jn 3:16); the length God's love had no date of origin, and shall have none of conclusion. God is Love (1Jn 4:8, 16), it continues ever, indissoluble, unchangeable, a perpetual present tense. Its height--as the Flood out-topped the highest mountains, so that Love covers our highest sins (Ro 5:20-note). It is as high as the heaven above the earth. Its depth--Christ our Lord descended into the lowest before He rose to the highest. He has touched the bottomless pit of our sin and misery, sorrow and need. However low your fall, or lowly your lot, the everlasting arms (Dt 33:27) of His love are always underneath.
by F B Meyer
Conviction is not condemnation. The Holy Spirit works in a believer's life to convict of sin. And while this may be painful at times, it is such an amazing thing to experience. It is God's way of showing you how incredible He is and that you need to fully rely on Him for everything in your life. Holding on to sin is a sure-fire way to live a miserable life, and He doesn't want that for you.
The Christian is strong or weak depending upon
how closely he has cultivated the knowledge of God.
~A. W. Tozer~
Worry sees the problem instead of seeing God, faith sees God in spite of the problem.
The bible says if Jesus had 100 sheep and one went astray, He would leave the 99 and go after the 1... Luke 15:4
Never think feeding one is not enough if it is all you can do. Never think no job or ministry is to small Do all as unto the Lord...
The Bible repeatedly warns us to pay attention to spiritual matters—the Lord is to have first place in our lives and be the center of our affections. He urges us to store up heavenly treasure by caring for the lost and hurting people around us. On whom is your attention focused?
The key to God’s wisdom storehouse is petitionary prayer. Those too proud to ask won’t get the rich supply. To ask is to acknowledge one’s need. Pride keeps us from asking. Men sometimes have a hard time asking—and receiving—directions. But God promises that if we recognize our need, and from that humility ask for His wisdom, we will receive it in abundance.
Every night we look in the mirror we see a sinner and need to confess, "We have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." How precious then is the blood of Christ to hearts like ours! How priceless a gift is His perfect righteousness! And how bright is the hope of perfect holiness in heaven! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is broken. It remains, but it no longer reigns; we are in bitter conflict with it, but we are dealing with a vanquished foe. In a little while we will enter victoriously into the city where nothing defiles.
by Alistair Begg
strangers and pilgrims on the earth
Abraham and his family (Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob) were promised the land flowing with milk and honey. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises." They did not personally possess the promised land. Yet, they lived with a sense of guaranty that God would fulfill His promises: "but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them." They fully accepted the certainty that the Lord would some day give that land to their seed. Meanwhile, they confessed that they were content to live as strangers concerning this world and as pilgrims anticipating the world to come: "and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
"What you have to decide...is how you want your life to be. If your forever was ending tomorrow, would this be how you'd want to have spent it? Listen, the truth is, nothing is guaranteed. You know that more than anybody. So don't be afraid. Be alive!" ~Sarah Dessen
The True Cause of Unbelief
Alexander Maclaren was a 19th century Scottish-born pastor renown in England and worldwide for his preaching and Bible exposition. Here in language of his day, he examines the relationship of faith, obedience and unbelief.
"Important lessons are given by this alternation of the two ideas of faith and unbelief, obedience and disobedience.
Disobedience is the root of unbelief. Unbelief is the mother of further disobedience. Faith is voluntary submission within a person’s own power.
If faith is not exercised, the true cause lies deeper than all intellectual reasons. It lies in the moral aversion of human will and in the pride of independence, which says, “who is Lord over us? Why should we have to depend on Jesus Christ?” As faith is obedience and submission, so faith breeds obedience, but unbelief leads on to higher-handed rebellion.
With dreadful reciprocity of influence, the less one trusts, the more he disobeys; the more he disobeys, the less he trusts."
-- Alexander Maclaren
Blessed is the flexible they will not break.
We never die we just move to the next address then we start to live.
An excuse is only the skin of reason, stuffed with a lie.
~Vance Havner~
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
In the eternal perspective, nothing we do has any lasting value without love -- unconditional, agape love. It's really that simple. And we, as Christians, are to live with an eternal perspective. If you're giving to the church because your accountant told you it would be a good tax write-off, rather than giving solely to the Lord without regard for benefits coming back to you; or if your service to the Lord is to look good to the people around you, rather than to simply bless the Lord out of your love for Him, there is no lasting or eternal profit.
Take a moment and read again the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (above). Where is the greatest place to find this type of unconditional, agape, love?
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
Wow! God so loved that He gave... Nowhere else in the pages of Scripture are these words found. And this gives us the ultimate example of what agape love is: unconditional, selfless, and straight from the heart of God. Mike Macintosh
If we recognize the hand of God upon the lives of others, we should never come against them. We should honor them and they should honor us, because we have all been anointed by the Lord to do His work.
Every believer is God’s miracle.
~Philip Bailey~
We have to call sin what it is. Don't call it a mistake or a weakness; that is the verbiage we use to soften what we do. Call it a sin. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. But there is a big difference between that and going out and overtly sinning.
After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and his sin was exposed, he admitted it and made this statement to God: "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge" (Psalm 51:4).
David didn't say, "Lord, I am weak and human, and I make mistakes." Rather, he said he had sinned against God. That's what it means to confess your sin. Start by calling it a sin.
The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). If you want to be forgiven of your sin, you must first confess it. The word confess means to agree with God. It means seeing sin the way God sees it. Greg Laurie
Failure is part of the process, if you never fail you will never know where you are vulnerable and growth can't take place. Let the trying of your faith bring forth patience
.As Christians we will one day stand before God. We will give an account for what we have done with our talents, our gifts, our resources, our time, and all that He has given us (see 1 Corinthians 3:11–15). This is described as the judgment seat of Christ, which is not to be confused with the Great White Throne Judgment spoken of in Revelation 20. The judgment seat of Christ is a place where rewards are given. When we die and go to Heaven, we will be there because of what Christ did for us. But then each of us will stand before Him, and the fire of God's judgment will go through our lives and determine what we did with them. If we wasted our lives, if we wasted our time, if we wasted our resources, we are still saved because of what Christ has done for us. But we will have nothing to show for our lives.
It is our blessed responsibility to fully utilize all our energies to please our Master by faithfully using what He has given us. Let's be faithful. Greg Laurie
People will judge Jesus based on the actions we take and the attitudes we hold -- whether it Is at school, in our neighborhoods, at home, in the workplace, or in ministry. What does your attitude say about your faith? How is your approach to situations different from that of an unbeliever? Have you been taking the higher path?
Fear is translated from the Hebrew as reverence or respect. The roadmap for our life journey—God’s Word—is designed to give us warnings, to point us in the right direction, to prevent us from falling, to help us make wise choices, to discover purpose and direction for our lives, and to give us the strength to overcome hardships. Do you have a Godly fear?
We have many leaders into temptation, but it is
our fault if we follow them.
~Thomas Adams~
It is so much easier to act kindly to those who have treated you with kindness, but it is a test of Christian faith to show kindness to those who were unkind. Take that which God has given you and share it.
~Stephen F. Olford~
The consequences of confession… it makes most people uneasy. In the legal sense, confessing a crime moves the process of justice from the evidence phase to the penalty phase. Many people, God followers included, quietly associate confession with punishment. However, for the Christian, the person trusting in Christ for salvation and relationship with God, it is completely the opposite.
Sin in your life blocks communion with God, stifling the joy and peace of His fellowship. Harboring sin eventually causes spiritual cancer that will wreck your entire life; mind, body, and soul. Confession is the antidote. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Mercy is God’s beautiful and gracious gift to the offender but it doesn’t stop there. After mercy is applied, the work of Jesus Christ brings cleansing and restoration. “After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).
The consequences of confession in the Kingdom of God are amazing; remission of sin and restoration of relationship.
You have many choices to make today and every day, we all do. We also know in our hearts the right choices to make. Some are inconvenient, others require greater preparation, and some even take longer. Remember, "there are proper time and procedure for every matter."
"Jesus loved us first and he loved us more than we will ever love him in return. In response, we too want to love others first and more. That’s the way to be fully human." —Ed Welch
"If I thought that God did not hear sinners, that is to say, those who have any sin, then would it be of no use for me to open my lips in prayer, or to lift my eyes to heaven." -
Charles Spurgeon
Begin at once, Christian, to redeem your time. The devil says, ‘tomorrow’, God says ‘today’. Whom will you obey? —
William Gurnall
"If you delight more in God's gifts than in God himself, you are practically setting up another God above him."
— Charles Spurgeon
"He who has loved you and pardoned you shall never cease to love and pardon."
— Charles Spurgeon
Conversion is a turning onto the right road.
The next thing to do is walk on it.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
Jesus Christ does not save the worthy, but the unworthy.
Your plea must not be righteous but guilty.
~Charles Spurgeon~
The truths of Scripture are always better than the opinions of culture.
“Some pastors regularly publish casual and often uncareful words on social media for their people and others to see. We do well as pastors to think about our words… especially when we put them online to be read by anyone at any time.” — David Mathis
“A sermon without Christ! As well talk of a loaf of bread without any flour in it. How can it feed the soul?” — Charles Spurgeon'
“If anything should make Christians want to sing, it’s knowing that Jesus Himself is in our midst, leading us in praise” — Sinclair Ferguson
It is with our sins that we go to God, for we have nothing else to go with that we can call our own. This is one of the lessons that we are so slow to learn; yet without learning this we cannot take one right step in that which we call a religious life. — Horatius Bonar
“Man by nature is a Legalist. Therefore, he can never escape from being a Legalist by becoming an Antinomian. The only escape from Legalism, I say again to you, beloved, is grace.” — Sinclair Ferguson
“God has designed that men flourish most when women act like women. And God has designed that women flourish most when men act like men.” — Mike Riccardi
"I knew that I could not keep myself, but if Christ promised to keep me, then I should be safe forever." — Charles Spurgeon
Proverbs 27:6 (NLT): Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.
"A God whom we could understand who be no God. If we could grasp him, he could not be infinite." — Charles Spurgeon
"Get a hold of a promise of God and you may pray with great boldness, for the Lord will not run back from his own Word." — Charles Spurgeon
"The nearer a man lives to God, the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart." — Charles Spurgeon
Self is the only oil that makes the chariot wheels of the hypocrite move in all religious concernments. —Thomas Brooks, Works 2:171
Let God take care of His sovereignty and let us take care of our responsibility. God’s sovereignty explains things that humans cannot possibly fathom. David Jeremiah
“When Christ died, he died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only person in the world.” - C.S. Lewis
There cannot be a surer nor greater character of a hypocrite, than to make a great deal of stir about little things in religion, and in the mean[time] neglect the great and main things in religion. —Thomas Brooks, Works 2:280
Many there be that profess Christ, who do oftener, in London, frequent the coffee-house* than their [prayer] closet.” —John Bunyan, Works 2:537
Some there are which never lift up heart nor hand unto God at home, and yet the same persons in the public assemblies will make as though they prayed with great devotion. —William Perkins, Works 2.393
"If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled." — Charles Spurgeon To know that nothing happens in God’s world apart from God’s will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints. J.I. Packer
"You must never be satisfied merely with Scripture. You must get to the Christ of Scripture." Charles Spurgeon "Hope is like a star: not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity." — Charles Spurgeon
It is a pity that our tears on account of our troubles, should so blind our eyes, that we should not see our mercies. -John Flavel -
There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. C. S. Lewis
"Leaders must be people who are themselves submitted to that powerful word, whose lives are being shaped by its teaching, and whose ministry is enlivened & empowered by its dynamic effects." -Jonathan Lamb
Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago. C. S. Lewis
"A soldier in battle must never lay aside his shield, so must we never have the Word of God out of our minds." — Charles Spurgeon
"God's mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water or deprive the sun of its light than diminish the great mercy of God." — Charles Spurgeon
Let me cultivate more an habitual love of God. - William Wilberforce
"It is God's Word, not our comment on God's Word, which saves souls. The Word of God is powerful for all sacred ends." — Charles Spurgeon
Question: “Where is thy God now?” Answer: In heaven, in earth, in me, everywhere but in the heart of such as ask such questions… —Puritan Richard Sibbes, Works 1:135
"Go to your rest rejoicing, for you are not a desolate wanderer but a beloved child, cared for and defended by your Lord." — Charles Spurgeon The authority of the church rests on the authority of the Canon, not the other way around. -John Frame - I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. -A.W. Tozer -
Each time you fall He will pick you up again. And He knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection. C. S. Lewis
Be often thinking what would those that are now in hell give that they might live their lives over again. —John Bunyan, Works 2:543
"To believe God's Word is the most reasonable thing we can do." — Charles Spurgeon
Let us thank God for this Bible; let us love it, let us count it more precious than much fine gold. Charles Spurgeon
You need God’s eternal arm to carry you. Cease from self–confidence and how know how feeble you are. Look above to a worthier and surer source of strength. Spurgeon
The only thing that keeps me stable and settled in these days of uncertainty is the absolute dependability of God's Word. Elisabeth Elliot
Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life. Jonathan Edwards "That very church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God abhors." — Charles Spurgeon What can’t be cured must be endured, and the best way of enduring it is not to listen to it. Spurgeon
"Doubt not his grace because of your tribulation, but believe that he loves you as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness." — Charles Spurgeon
Remember that a profession is not worth a pin, if they that make it do not depart from iniquity. —John Bunyan, Works 2:518 "Faith hath two hands, one to lay hold on Christ, and another to sweep the heart, which is Christ's house." - Thomas Manton. Works 2:455. Till we sin, Satan is a parasite; but when once we are in the devil’s hands, he turns tyrant. — Thomas Manton
"Salvation is a miracle. It is as much a work of God to make us children of light as it was to make light at the first." — Charles Spurgeon “I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.” - C.S. Lewis “If I were to judge a man … I would not judge him by his open profession, but by his domestic behaviors. What a man 𝘪𝘴 at home, that he 𝘪𝘴 indeed.” —John Bunyan, Works 2:536
You may be a saint in the 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 and a devil at 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. True religion is that which shows itself in your private houses, private dealings and in the course of your own home. —William Perkins
I am sure it is God's gospel; for nobody could have invented a plan so just to God, so safe to man." — Charles Spurgeon One wonders whether the 'liberal' critics realize the weakness, ineffectiveness, inanition of the Jesus they offer. -B.B. Warfield - This is not an age in which to be a soft Christian. -Francis Schaeffer -
My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it himself. He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of His presence? C. S. Lewis
"He loved us when we could not have been worse or further from him than we were." — Charles Spurgeon
Envy is insatiable. The more you concede to it the more it will demand. C. S. Lewis
"The voluntariness of Christ's sacrifice is its glory. May we, who will eternally benefit by his death, love him." — Charles Spurgeon
“The gospel of Jesus does not just free us from hell someday; it can also free us from sin today. We are not who we used to be, so we do not have to do what we used to do."
"Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die, I risk my whole eternity on the resurrection." — Charles Spurgeon I would advise you to study the living as well as the dead, or rather more. Converse much with experienced Christians and exercised souls. You will find advantage in this respect, not only from the wise, but from the weak of the flock. - John Newton
"A good wife and health are a man's best wealth." — Charles Spurgeon
A man cannot love God that loves not holiness; he loves not holiness that loves not God’s word; he loves not God’s word that doth it not. —John Bunyan, Works 2:520
"Not even in this world does sin pay its servants good wages." — Charles Spurgeon Seducers are more dangerous enemies to the church than persecutors. -Matthew Henry - All earthly things will fade away, but prayer grasps eternity. Therefore, pray. Always pray. -Leonard Ravenhill -
"Clarity and courage remain two of the most crucial characteristics of authentic Christian preaching." - John Stott
“TRUST IN GOD'S TIMING. IT'S BETTER TO BE PATIENT AND HAVE THINGS FALL INTO PLACE THAN TO BE IMPATIENT AND HAVE THINGS FALL APART.”
Some people are more worried about whether or not their pets will be Heaven, than they are if their family, friends, co-workers, or neighbors will be there. We must prioritize sharing Gospel with people. There is nothing more valuable than a human soul made in the image of God.
The truths of Scripture are always better than the opinions of culture.
At the heart of every problem is a heart problem. And, only Jesus can change the heart.
Contrary to some narratives about Gen Z rejecting Jesus. I’ve personally seen more young adults, college students, and teenagers saved by Jesus in the last 3 years of ministry, than the previous 20 years combined. God is rescuing a generation for His name, fame, and glory!
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