Trouble never comes to someone unless it brings a nugget of gold in its hand.
Are you in the fire of suffering? Have you experienced the miracle of joy through sorrow? Are you anticipating God’s divine truth to break through? Are you enduring the plow because of the harvest to come?
Jesus — fully God, fully man — acted.
Do you know that Jesus is paying attention to the details of your life? His actions speak louder than words. Watch and see what He will do!
We all have habits. Why not try to let the Lord reshape them into new normals?
What is your normal? What could be adjusted even just a little bit, reshaped and focused by the Lord to lead to “new normals”?
OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word.
OSWALD CHAMBERS
God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances.
OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.
No matter what your story of failure is, Jesus’ payment on the Cross covers it. No matter how many times you’ve embarrassed yourself by sinning outrageously, Jesus looks at you with compassion. He stoops for you.
Every quality you give God, you can give Jesus.
Like Saul, we unnecessarily bring trouble on ourselves when we don’t obey God. Yet God says that He gives us a choice: life or death, blessings or curses (see Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT). We choose how we want to live.
Sin can seem small when we start to fall into it, but it can become big in the end. Think of the messes that people make of their lives because they disobey the Word of God.
we want to edit the Bible. We try and rationalize something by saying, “Maybe it is a sin, but it is not as bad as other sins. Therefore, it is okay. Besides, everyone else is doing it.”
Are you a true follower of Jesus? Are you a friend of the Lord? Then do what He tells you to do.
What God really wants from us is obedience. He’s interested in what is going on in our hearts. We can be worshipping outwardly but sinning inwardly. But with God, the heart is everything.
Although the law of God is unable to justify or sanctify, it does have some strategic ability in God's plan for man. These verses from the Torah (Hebrew for law) and the Sermon on the Mount help us reflect upon this matter. These two profound sections of the Bible pertain to the law of God. Torah refers to the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy. These books give an extensive explanation of the message of God's law. The Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5-7 ) includes Jesus' clarification of man's understanding of the law.
Peaceful relationships LEAD TO BETTER HEALTH
Jesus didn't say to His disciples, "believe in yourself." He said, "deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Me (Matt. 16:24)."
YOU DON'T PRAY TO GIVE GOD INSTRUCTIONS, YOU PRAY TO RECEIVE GOD'S DIRECTIONS!
WHEN GOD SHOWS YOU, IT'S BECAUSE HE WANTS MORE!
GOD HAS ALREADY WORKED IT OUT.
OBEDIENCE IS YOUR RESPONSIBLITY, THE OUTCOME IS GOD'S!
IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF YOUR LIFE, CHANGE THE DECLARATION OF YOUR HEART.
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” - C.S. Lewis
“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.” - C.S. Lewis
“You must ask for God’s help. ... After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again.” - C.S. Lewis
“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory or one of unthinkable horror.” - C.S. Lewis
“People and preachers need to remember that we don’t just learn to learn. We learn to live!” –– Adam Bailie
"God's grace is infinitely greater than the greatest of our crimes." — Charles Spurgeon
"Its not that God doesn't care, its that He could not be moved to care more." - James Dolezal
“… while Jesus bears our sin, He presents before His Father's face not our unholiness, but His own holiness.” — Charles Spurgeon
God often uses negative suffering and circumstances to call our attention to Him because, otherwise, we are independent. Otherwise, we live as if we don’t need Him. Tony Evans
Sin is bad to God. Sin is bad for us. Sin robs God of his glory because we belong to Him. Sin contradicts why Christ died on the cross. Sin destroys your life. Confess and turn away from sin.
"People serve Satan when they seek themselves and go against God's will and the leading of the Spirit".
"Heaven is a place of truth. Jesus is truth. His Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. God is the God of Truth".
Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow. Augustine
All that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God’s works is included in that one phrase, the glory of God. Jonathan Edwards
Everywhere......everyone you meet....is a potential brother or sister in CHRIST. Paul Washer
Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are. Augustine
He that is not faithful in a little, will not be faithful in much, as he that giveth entertainment to a small temptation will also to a greater, if put upon it. —Thomas Manton, Works 6:309
What is there that you can desire should be in a Savior, that is not in Christ? -Jonathan Edwards -
We became Christians by faith in Jesus, we stay Christians by faith in Jesus, and we grow as Christians by faith in Jesus. -J.C. Ryle -
"Tell your child of the punishment for sin, and warn him of its terror. Be tender, but true." — Charles Spurgeon
"Sin is the transgression of Law, the death of Christ is the satisfaction of Law, justification is the verdict of Law, and sanctification is the believer's fulfillment of the Law." -Ernest Kevan.
"Other riches always bring attendant griefs. None but the Lord's roses are without thorns." — Charles Spurgeon
God just doesn’t throw a life preserver to a drowning person. He goes to the bottom of the sea, and pulls a corpse from the bottom of the sea, takes him up on the bank, breathes into him the breath of life and makes him alive. R.C. Sproul
"Let the telephone between you and the Eternal never cease from its use." — Charles Spurgeon
The greatest kindness one can render to any man is leading him to truth. Augustine
Sin is not a splash of mud on man’s exterior; it is a filth generated from within himself. Charles Spurgeon
"A preacher ought to be much in the third (chapter) of Genesis, the third of John, and the third of Romans." -John Calvin.
"Cling to that cross which took your sin away; serve him who served you." — Charles Spurgeon
"Do you say you are feeble? God is your strength." — Charles Spurgeon
All our words ought to be filled with true sweetness and grace; and this will be so if we mingle the useful with the sweet. -John Calvin -
If a man teach uprightly and walk crookedly, more will fall down in the night of his life than built in the day of his doctrine. -John Owen -
Jerry Bridges
God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, including the working of the Spirit in our lives, through the infinite merit of Christ.
When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God. Augustine
Like a clock whose wheels inside do not coincide with the hands on the face, the inner workings of the heart [of a hypocrite] do not match the behavior of the outer man. —William Gurnall, Christian in Complete Armour, 2:47
"If you wish to know God you must know his Word." — Charles Spurgeon
God must deny Christ’s payment before He can deny thy pardon. —Stephen Charnock, Works 6:442
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. —John Chrysostom
"Address the inner-lawyer within your people as you preach, and you will increase the punch in your point." - Erik Reed
Christ made an infinite satisfaction in a finite time, and bore the wrath of God in a few hours which would have overwhelmed the creatures. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 13:182
"Oh church of God, fear not: you shall do wonderful things." — Charles Spurgeon
The law is an enemy to them that count it an enemy, and a friend to them that count it a friend. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 6:288
The liberty we enjoy as Christians is not a licentious liberty: though Christ has redeemed us from the 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 of the law yet he has not freed us from the 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 of it. The gospel is a doctrine according to godliness.. —Puritan Matthew Henry, on Galatians 5:13
"God teaches his people every day through sickness." — Charles Spurgeon
"Since the world was created, man has imitated Satan." — Charles Spurgeon
The reason we are not totally extinct is the Father's mercy: He is gentle, longsuffering, and merciful to us. -John Bunyan -
If you have no love for souls, it is greatly to be feared that your own soul is in imminient danger. -A.W. Pink -
There is nothing that belongs to Christian experience that is more liable to a corrupt mixture than zeal. -Jonathan Edwards -
If God has given His Son 2 die 4 us, let us beware of doubting His kindness and love in any painful providence of our daily life -J.C.Ryle -
God has no need of your money, but the poor have. You give it to the poor, and God receives it. Augustine
A man that truly seeks pardon, seeks with it the ruin and destruction of sin. —Thomas Manton, Works 11.159
Tony Evans
Regardless of what happened yesterday, if you will stick with the Lord today, your yesterday doesn’t have to control your tomorrow.
Employ the whole [Lord’s] day in God‘s worship, be either praying, or reading, or hearing, or singing, or meditating, or discoursing with others about the works or word of God. Be always taken up either with public, private, or secret duties. —George Swinnock, Works 1:245
God does not look at riches, titles, education, or beauty. There is only one thing that God does look at, and that is the soul. J.C. Ryle
The ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God. —D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
God never uses a person greatly until He has wounded him deeply." -Helen Roseveare.
I usually find that the greatest doubters are the people who do not read the Bible. -C.H. Spurgeon
The Cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputations -A.W. Tozer -
Let us leave a little room for reflection in our lives, room too for silence… Let us hear the Word of God in stillness and perhaps we will then come to understand it. Augustine
Learn to dance, so when you get to Heaven the angels know what to do with you. Augustine
When God is our strength, it is strength indeed; when our strength is our own, it is only weakness. Augustine
If God is, why is there evil? But if God is not, why is there good? Augustine
"You have nothing that did not come to you as a gift from God. Our intellect, our natural skills and talents, our health, and our opportunities to succeed all come from God. We have nothing that will enable us to achieve success that we did not receive from God." - Jerry Bridges
Duties not mingled with love are as burdensome to God as they are to us. - Thomas Watson
The primary ground of assurance is rooted in the promises of God, but those promises must become increasingly real to the believer through the subjective evidences of grace and the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. - Joel Beeke
What God says is best, is best, though all the men in the world are against it. -John Bunyan -
Truth cannot be judged by the numbers who avow and support it: the Devil has ever had the vast majority on his side. -A.W. Pink -
"No man who is full of himself can ever truly preach the Christ who emptied Himself." - J. Sidlow Baxter
Reformed Christians might be surprised to learn that the Westminster Standards were prefaced [by Puritan Thomas Manton] in the 17th century by appeals to parents to teach Christianity to their children. —Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, Puritan Theology, Pg. 864
You will never stand for Christ, if you are not sold out for Christ. Abner Chou
The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home. Augustine
The cost of obedience is small compared with the cost of disobedience. Augustine
God will pardon the greatest sins. Your highest sins are the sins of men, but the mercy offered is the mercy of God. —Puritan Stephen Charnock, Works 5:456
When we have enough of God and Christ, and yet desire to make up our happiness in the creature, this is plain spiritual whoredom. —Isaac Ambrose, Looking Unto Jesus
Beware of despairing about yourself: you are commanded to put your trust in God, and not in yourself. Augustine
The members of every family should be helping one another in the way to heaven. —Thomas Manton, Works 6:125
It would be the height of absurdity to label ignorance tempered by humility, faith! -John Calvin -
The weakest believer in the world is equally partaker of the spiritual grace and mercy of the promise with Abraham himself. -John Owen -
"There are many good people, but I have found no wrestlers with God." -William Bramwell.
One very difficult aspect of sin is that my sin never feels like sin to me. My sin feels like life to me, plain and simple. My heart is an idol factory, and my mind is an excuse-making factory. Rosaria Butterfield
Men are always ready to nose around and find out about other's lives, but they feel lazy to know themselves and correct their own life. Augustine
How little does that child know how much it is loved! It is the same with us and our heavenly Father; we little believe how we are loved by him. - William Wilberforce
True Christian prayer is the faith and reliance of the soul breathed forth in words. -Jonathan Edwards -
Since Satan cannot destroy the Gospel, he has often neutralized its usefulness with addition, subtraction, or substitution. -J.C. Ryle -
"Cultivate the holy habit of seeing the hand of God in everything that happens to you." -Arthur Pink.
Do you desire security? Here you have it. The Lord says to you, "I will never abandon you, I will always be with you." Augustine
Put no faith in salvation through the political order. Augustine
What good will it do a man when he is in hell, that others think he is gone to heaven? —Thomas Watson, on Hypocrisy in professing Christ
The worst sort of clever men are those who know better than the Bible. Charles Spurgeon
“To cure this raging despair, consider, if you have but a mind to return from your great and infamous sins, the Lord is 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 to receive and pardon than you can be to return.” —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 15:35
Give yourself to reading. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own. Charles Spurgeon
"No believer ever complains who is frequently in prayer." — Charles Spurgeon
"Someday, when in the presence of our Savior, we will thank Him for every burden, every trial, and every heartache." -J. Vernon McGee
"Overcoming the tendency to run from discomfort is one of the most important requirements for any leadership team—in fact, for any leader." -Patrick Lencioni
"Let our hearts clap with thanksgiving, for God has rescued us from the power of darkness." — Charles Spurgeon
He gave, not he sold, or barely parted from, but gave. - John Flavel, Works Vol. 1, p64
"In the New Testament we find Jesus Christ the one constant theme of every page." — Charles Spurgeon
Said will be a little ahead, but done should follow at his heel. -C.H. Spurgeon -
We must meet the uncertainties of this world with the certainty of the world to come. -A.W. Tozer -
"Our primary response to persecution should be to rejoice." -Luke Goodrich.
By faith we believe God is true in all the promises of the gospel; and so temptations [to despair and unbelief] are defeated… Man fell at first by believing the devil rather than God, and we stand now by believing God rather than the devil. —Thomas Manton, Works 15:106
To say, My sin is greater than can be forgiven, is to please the devil and thwart God’s design in the work of redemption. Is your disease so great that the physician of souls cannot cure it? —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 15:36
Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent and self-sustained. Augustine
Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence. Augustine
"Others may change and cast out your name as vile, but God will love you still." — Charles Spurgeon
To withhold forgiveness is to take poison and expect the unforgiven to die. Augustine
‘Believe in yourself’, says the world. ‘Trust yourself.’ Self expression! Opposition to the gospel is generally expressed in those terms. —Exposition of Romans, 12:146
"To the graceless, the yoke of Christ is intolerable, but to the saved sinner it is easy and light." — Charles Spurgeon
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt
"No thoughtful person will be without food as so as the epistles of Paul exist, for he feeds the soul with sacred manna." — Charles Spurgeon
What words can express the privilege and honour of believers, who, whenever they please, have audience of the King of kings, whose compassion, mercy, and power, are, like his majesty, infinite. - John Newton
"Even before creation, God sat as a king on his throne, forever to be worshiped." — Charles Spurgeon
"Since the world was created, man has imitated Satan." — Charles Spurgeon
The reason we are not totally extinct is the Father's mercy: He is gentle, longsuffering, and merciful to us. -John Bunyan -
It would take eternity to explore what biblical love means. But Paul uses the Greek word agape, which means self-sacrificing, unconditional love. The ultimate demonstration of God's agape love was the cross. The clearest demonstration of the way God loves is what His Son did for you and me: He paid the price for our s...ins. Scripture tells us that "God so loved (agape[d]) the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). This sound very simple and it is easy to talk about in the context of the bible but until I read the Love Dare, I had not known any thing I thought I knew. I could quote all the scriptures. But this Love agape has to be demonstrated in our every day life. Not just talked about around the cooler but lived, not just demonstrated to the believer but to the none believer and that one that drives you crazy. There is no question that there is such a thing as tough love but keep in mind that there needs to be a balance.
While our world keeps hoping for peace through man's solutions, we know the only source of lasting unity is Jesus Christ.
The Lord wants our hearts to be ruled by His peace (Col. 3:15) and our relationships to be marked by a spirit of oneness.
"God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another." - 1 Peter 4:10 NLT
Every doctrine that is not embedded in the cross of Jesus
will lead astray.
~Oswald Chambers~
Blessed are the flexible, they will not break...
Chuck Smith
God’s heavenly plan doesn’t always make earthly sense.
~Charles R. Swindoll~
Sin is sin. Whatever happened in the past comes to pass in the present and will come around again in the future. They were the same false doctrines, just disguised in a different name. Do not be deceived by false doctrine.
God the Great Physician has given us a process of evaluating spiritual problems in our lives -- by measuring them against the fruit of the Holy Spirit!
When Jesus Christ is at the forefront of your life, you can live a life that is rich and full on this earth and know that beyond the grave, there is something better: that wonderful place called heaven.
Greg Laurie
"The Bible is the most delightful book in the entire world, and it is a great joy to me."
— Charles Spurgeon
If we are going to follow Jesus, then we need to deny ourselves. This simply means that we want His will more than our own.
So God speaks.
Out of the thunder He speaks. Out of the sky, He speaks. For all of us who would put ditto marks under Job’s question and sign our names to it, He speaks.
For the father who holds a rose taken off his son’s coffin, He speaks.
For the wife who holds the flag taken off her husband’s casket, He speaks.
For the couple with the barren womb and the fervent prayers, He speaks.
For any person who has tried to see God through shattered glass, He speaks.
For those of us who have dared to say, “If God is God, then...,”
God speaks.
God is never irritated by the candle of an honest seeker.
Max Lucado
When we see and hear God that is all we need.
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