Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't matter."
— Francis Chan
Religious people understand us, but others think Christians are strange, offensive or rude. I think it has a lot to do with how people perceive us before we even say a word.
As the ultimate free gift of God's grace, Jesus was given for us (dying for our sins): "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Romans 8:32). Moreover, He was given for us to be given to us (that He might express His life in and through us).
I pray that you will experience the love of His light and allow yourself to break the gravitational pull of everything weighing you down. Let Him raise you to be seated—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—in the heavens with Christ Jesus.
Regardless of what I feel, God never leaves me.
We can feel like God is far removed from us even during the Christmas season when the message of Jesus becoming Immanuel, God with us, is everywhere we look. Today, look closer and ask God to reveal where He is at work in your life, even if it’s someplace unexpected!
There are a lot of people like this today. They want Jesus, but they want Him on their terms. They want the kind of Jesus whom they can control, the kind of Jesus who won’t challenge them.
In your social life, rather than spending time in fellowship with other believers, maybe you have been trying to find fellowship at the local "happy hour." We rationalize and justify even small compromises, often by comparing ourselves to other people, rather than seeking God's highest. But small compromises can lead you into big sin. That's why it's so important, when decisions and choices come before you, to ask the Holy Spirit to show you if your response is God's best for you.
God is much more interested in our motive for giving than in the gift itself. If that motive is tainted with greed of any kind, the gift simply does not count. This year, before you give, ask yourself, "What's in it for me?" If the answer is "nothing," then go ahead and give the gift. Be a joyful giver.
Marriage is the permanent and faithful union of one man and one woman. It is the natural basis of the family and an institution fundamental to the well-being of all of society. All of society, not just religious believers.
Seeds of discouragement cannot grow in a thankful heart.
I've found that my courage to trust is bolstered by playing praise music, meditating on God's goodness, reading Scripture, and praying. Those things collectively renew my mind and strengthen my faith.
The heart is the metal of the bell, the tongue but the clapper.
~George Swinnock~
Whatever we put into our hearts, into our minds, it will come out of our mouths. If we feed ourselves the Word of God, good treasure will come out. If we feed ourselves with the filth of this world, our hearts will bring forth evil. We must always guard our hearts from corruption!
As the ultimate free gift of God's grace, Jesus was given for us (dying for our sins): "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Romans 8:32). Moreover, He was given for us to be given to us (that He might express His life in and through us).
"Every day we have a choice. We can live in fear or move forward in faith."- Billy Cox
Through God's strength, we can do anything & through God ALL things are POSSIBLE.
Personally I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went
fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn't bait the hook with strawberries and cream.
Rather, I dangled a worm or grasshopper in front of the fish and said: "Wouldn't you like to have that?"
Why not use the same common sense when fishing for people?
God calls us to be humble, and we will be blessed. Pride will only lead to destruction.
As the first step heaven-ward is humility,
the first step hell-ward is pride.
~John Mason~
I want to tell people that Jesus is not the, small, frail, helpless being that the world says He is. He's not a Baby anymore. He's the King of kings and Lord of Lords, and He offers salvation to everyone who would put their faith in Him.
Greg Laurie
If we want to serve the Lord, we must do it according to His will not our own.
Only in obedience can we discover the great joy
of the will of God.
~Sinclair Ferguson~
Grace in God is His compassion on the unworthy.
~Andrew Murray~
Don't be upset because there is a little conflict. Just hold your ground and keep praying.
We cannot allow ourselves to be moved by our emotions. Guidance, knowing God’s will for our lives, is much more a matter of thinking than of feeling.
~Sinclair Ferguson~
With God—chance is eliminated! God knows what’s best! No struggle will come your way apart from his purpose, his presence and his permission.
You’re never the victim of nature or the prey of fate. Chance is eliminated.
Nothing comes your way that has not first passed through the filter of God’s love!
"God's mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, 'as the world gives,' but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. Any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems." --Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
We’ll never be sinless, but we will sin less. And when we do sin, we have this assurance: the grace that saved us also preserves us.
All those who blaspheme God, fight with God, or try to stop the work of God eventually will fail. Yet God's Word ultimately will prevail. Philippians 2:9–10 says, "Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."
One day, everyone—every man, every woman, every believer, and every nonbeliever—will bow before Jesus Christ.
As the ultimate free gift of God's grace, Jesus was given for us (dying for our sins): "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" ( Romans 8:32 ). Moreover, He was given for us to be given to us (that He might express His life in and through us).
It takes maturity to not only understand a concept, but also apply it faithfully in our lives.
When C.S. Lewis mourned the death of his wife, he wrote, “It is hard to have patience with people who say ‘There is no death.’ There is death. And whatever is matters…I look up into the night sky. Is there anything more certain than that in all those vast times and spaces…I should nowhere find her face, her voice, her touch? She died. She is dead. Is the word so difficult to learn?”
Trust is not a passive word. It is a choice, a decision, a way of living and looking to the Lord for everything—which leads to obedience.
Christ is God, not because He was virgin born.
He was virgin born because He is God.
~Robert Clarke~
To retain great people, value them, invest in them, empower them. People are not loyal to organizations. People are loyal to people.
The way to escape a human’s wrath is by running from him. The way to escape God’s wrath is by running to him.
The Word of God is living and active -- it just takes a little longer to penetrate for some rather than others.
Don't -- give -- up
"Your life may be morally sound and you may be a good churchgoer with all the right theology, but if the result is not a clean, free conscience overflowing with pure love, then something is wrong,"
Mike Mason.
Beloved, you must know the bitterness of sin before you can know the blessedness of forgiveness.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts."—
Randy Alcorn
Sometimes God chooses not to answer our desperate prayers exactly as we wish. But how many times has He answered when we haven’t realized He’s moved Heaven and Earth—and maybe a company of righteous angels—to do it?
Infinite and yet an infant, Eternal, and yet born of a woman. Almighty, and yet nursing at a woman’s breast. Supporting a universe, and yet carried in a mother’s arms, heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son.
~C. H Spurgeon~
Jesus told you to forgive. He didn’t tell you to be a doormat.
It’s hard to throw stones if you’re busy washing feet. Don’t let people steal your joy, keep loving people like Christ.
Now I will say this to every sinner… cry to the Lord and seek Him while He may be found. A throne of grace is a place fitted for you. By simple faith, go to your Savior, for He is the throne of grace.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
Randy Alcorn
We live our lives between the first coming of Christ and the second. We look back to that first Christmas and the life of Jesus on Earth...and look forward to the return of the resurrected Christ when we will live with Him forever on the New Earth.
With Christ as your Savior and constant Companion, you too, although alone, need never be lonely.
~Billy Graham~
O Worship the King, all glorious above, and gratefully sing His power and His love; our shield and defender, the ancient of days, pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
~Robert Grant~
Grace in God is His compassion on the unworthy.
~Andrew Murray~
If we want to serve the Lord, we must do it according to His will not our own.
Only in obedience can we discover the great joy of the will of God.
Contagious Joy
1 John 1:1-4
Jesus calls us to be His “witnesses.” When some Christians hear this word, they worry that they need exceptional skill or charisma in order to share the good news with others. Yet to witness is not to merely speak of the “plan of salvation” to someone. The word literally means to see, hear, or know by personal presence and perception; to testify; bear witness to; give or afford evidence of. When John wrote that he was sharing what he had experienced first-hand, he was saying, “I am full of joy because of the experience of knowing Jesus, and I want to invite you to share in that joy!”
Dr. Charles Stanley
It is one of the temptations of the devil to tell you not to pray when you do not feel like praying. Pray twice as much then.
Charles H. Spurgeon
God has taken the attributes of his being — his love, his mercy, his holiness, his justice, his power — and has translated them into a form that men can understand, believe, and respond to.
~Richard Bube~
The politically correct say Jesus was a good man, a well-meaning prophet, even a revolutionary! But the Bible says He is the only Mediator between God and man:
There is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved. — Acts 4:12
"Your life may be morally sound and you may be a good churchgoer with all the right theology, but if the result is not a clean, free conscience overflowing with pure love, then something is wrong," writes
Mike Mason
Tullian Tchividjian
The idea that the gospel is not only for those outside the church but also for those inside the church; that it not only ignites the Christian life but is the fuel that keeps Christians going and growing every day, may seem like a new idea, but it's really old. I'm glad it's re-gaining traction, but as far as we've come, we need to go further.
This Christmas, as you think of the gifts brought to Jesus and the rich meaning behind them. Jesus is your King that guides you, your High Priest who prays for you, and the Messiah who came to give His life so that you might live.
How differently people see themselves when they look through the eyes of Jesus. Christians who live like the beloved, empowered heirs that they are will lavishly spend their inheritance of grace to benefit everyone they meet.
God gives all believers a pledge of inheritance out of the unsurpassed riches of His infinite grace. We are spiritually rich citizens of heaven who have nothing to fear in this world. Choose to live boldly for Christ, and see how abundantly God pours out blessing from the legacy already set aside for you.
Dr. Charles Stanley
Our eternal hopes are built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God.
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
A ‘Spirit Filled’ man or woman tends to stand out because their character is deeper, their ideas fresher, their demeanour softer, their courage greater, their leadership better, their concerns wider and their convictions more concrete.
God calls people in so many different ways to be used in so many different ways.
Communion with Christ has been forgotten. Instead of a heavenly mind, there have been earthly preoccupations, foolish vanities, and evil thoughts. Instead of service, there has been disobedience, instead of fervency lukewarmness, instead of patience petulance, instead of faith self-reliance; and as a soldier of the cross there has been cowardice, disobedience, and desertion, to a very shameful degree."
In the New Testament, it is not believers who tremble at the power of Satan, but demons who tremble at the power of God.
~Stephen Travis~
The best thing we can do after we have shared the Word of God with someone is to simply pray that it takes root. We should just do our part and leave it in the hands of God. We don't need to force the issue. He will do the convincing. Let God's Spirit do His work.
As ambassadors of peace we should not cease to weep bitterly until sinners weep for their sins. If we intensely desire to see others believing in the Lord Jesus, we must act in accordance with the principle and pattern of Scripture. We must depend entirely upon the Spirit of God. Do we not fail in many of our efforts because we practically, though not doctrinally, ignore the Holy Spirit? His place as God is on the throne, and in all our enterprises He must be the beginning, the middle, and the end; we are instruments in His hand and nothing more.
Alistair Begg
Once we limit God, nothing is possible. All things are possible with God, because He is without limits and limitations. There is in the awful and mysterious depths of the triune God neither limit nor end.
~A.W. Tozer~
Without forgiveness, bitterness is all that’s left! Maybe it’s an old wound. A parent abused you. A mate betrayed you. And you are angry. Perhaps the wound is fresh. The friend who owes you money just drove by in a new car. The boss who hired you with promises of promotions has forgotten how to pronounce your name. And you are hurt! There is a fire burning in your heart. It’s the fire of anger. And you are left with a decision. Do I get over it or get even? Do I let my hurts heal, or do I let hurt turn into hate?
"If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. Stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else." --Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
"Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study."—Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
Husbands, you can know your character by looking at that of those in your inner circle.
Are you surrounded by men who love God and aim to love their wives like Christ loves the church?
Are you spending time growing with good men, sharpening each other into better men of character?
Men, I urge you to cultivate strong friendships with godly men. Spend time with those who will encourage you to go deeper in the gospel. Surround yourself with men who will help you be the husband your wife needs.
God is good all the time and in all things.
Buenas Noches....
Jesus didn’t enter the world to help us save ourselves. He entered the world to save us from ourselves.
You might save yourself from a broken heart or going broke or running out of gas. But you’re not good enough to save yourself from sin. You aren’t strong enough to save yourself from death. You need a Savior.
Even at Christmas, with all our celebrating of the birth of Christ, we can forget about Christ and fail to give Him a passing thought.
Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do.”
If you’re not getting guidance, it’s because
you aren’t listening.
There has never been a great and true revival without much prayer. Many modern so-called revivals are gotten up by man's machinery. Genuine revivals are brought down by prayer.
R.A. Torrey
It is only with the power of God's Holy Spirit that we are able to overcome the temptations of this world. Not in our power, but with His Spirit.
From initial salvation to growth and service, all that is needed must be received from the Lord. This is an encouraging reality. Yet, it is also a humbling truth.
Bob Hoekstra
It was the whole Trinity, which at the beginning of creation said, "Let us make man". It was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the Gospel seemed to say, "Let us save man."
~J. C. Ryle~
Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the heavy door, opens the prison, and empowers us to walk away from bitterness and anger.
we are all just one piece in the puzzle of this amazing life ...
don't give up,
even if you feel like you can't see your piece right now, because
it's in the scary water part,
it's in there.
There are many people who challenge the possibility of the Savior’s virgin birth. To do so questions the validity of the Gospel message. Without a sinless Savior, both human and divine, there is no salvation for mankind.
Raul Ries
God wants to give us spiritual joy that is not based on circumstances.
Christ has for sin atonement made
What a wonderful Savior!
We are redeemed, and the price is paid
What a wonderful Savior!
I praise Him for the cleansing blood
What a wonderful Savior!
That reconciled my soul to God
What a wonderful Savior!
He cleansed my heart from all its sin
What a wonderful Savior!
~E.A. Hoffman~
Jesus is your wonderful Savior! There is reason to rejoice! Find the comfort and peace you need from reading the Scriptures. Let this Christmas be filled with God’s wonder, knowing He sent His Only Begotten Son into the world because of His love for you! Don't miss it!
Pastor Chuck Smith commented, “The fact that Mary and Joseph brought birds instead of a lamb reveals their poverty…. Jesus wasn’t born in the lap of luxury.”
The Lord rescues and transforms lives by His grace. This plan of God is established upon Jesus being given as a sacrifice for our sins: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." This gift of God's Son assures us that God will also give us with Christ everything we need. "How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" God's giving is to be coupled with man's receiving. As God is freely giving to man, He wants man to be humbly receiving from Him.
"Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties." -
C.S. Lewis.
The birth of Christ means God chooses to set His love on the unlovable.
"Omissions make way for commissions." -Ralph Venning.
God can pick sense out of a confused prayer.
Richard Sibbes
“On the cross, God unleashed his holy fury upon our sin-bearer and substitute, Jesus Christ, who became for us a propitiation by his blood’.” Dustin Benge's
"If you do not love the Bible, you certainly do not love the God who gave it to us."
— Charles Spurgeon
"Half our fears arise from neglect of the Bible."
— Charles Spurgeon
God often performs His most marvelous acts away from watching eyes.
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