Your identity is not found in sexuality, your identity is found in a Savior.
The crucial choice that believers in Christ face day by day is between living by the flesh or living by the Spirit. The difference is facing life by our resources and perspectives or by God's resources and perspectives. "Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." When a Christian deals with life by his flesh, he typically thinks about "what I want out of my life" or "what I can accomplish with my life." Conversely, when a Christian deals with life by the Spirit, he typically thinks about "what God wants for my life" or "what God can accomplish through my life."
“Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.
Reverend Frederick Langbridge, (1849-1922
“When I look at the stars, I see someone else.
When I look at the stars… I feel like myself.” —Switchfoot
Grace is the face that love wears.
Social media is an angry place, isn’t it? Starting today, let’s put on the gentleness of the Lord. Let’s be the ones to de-escalate online and off. When something starts to get heated, let’s be the face of the love of Jesus!
OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from.
Sometimes our consciences can condemn us. They go into hyperdrive and won’t let us alone, whispering, “You are unworthy. You have done wrong. You can’t approach God.”
the Bible tells us that God’s Spirit can cleanse us of a guilty conscience because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Hebrews 10:19 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus” (NLT).
the devil doesn’t want us to know this. He wants us to think that we can only approach God when we have done well. He wants us to believe that if we have been walking closely with the Lord, then we can pray. But if we’ve fouled up, we can’t.
When the Spirit of God convicts us, He will use the Word of God, in love, to seek to bring us back into fellowship with the Father. In contrast, when Satan accuses us, he will use our own sins in a hateful way to drive us away from fellowship with the Father.
God’s Spirit will make us aware of what we’ve done wrong, but He always will bring us back to the cross. When we have messed up, we need to go to the cross. When we have done something wrong, we need to go to the cross. We always need to go to the cross and to God in prayer.
As Christians, we need to remember that our attitudes and conversations give off a smell as well. The apostle Paul said, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him; for we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
Does your attitude give off an aroma of Christ?
The crucial choice that believers in Christ face day by day is between living by the flesh or living by the Spirit. The difference is facing life by our resources and perspectives or by God's resources and perspectives.
When a Christian deals with life by his flesh, he typically thinks about "what I want out of my life" or "what I can accomplish with my life." Conversely, when a Christian deals with life by the Spirit, he typically thinks about "what God wants for my life" or "what God can accomplish through my life."
Self is the chief end of every natural man.
~Stephan Charnock~
Lift your eyes above the plains of the Jordan. Look up and see the glory of God....
When you have the peace of the Lord, you can talk to people and minister to them. Nothing compares to the place we are going, so we should rejoice and share the good news of salvation with others.
I am convinced that the world is more eager to hear our message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ than we are as believers to deliver it.
~ Dr. Howard Hendricks
Many entrepreneurs make a big mistake by asking for advice from a successful employee, rather than from a successful entrepreneur.
“If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.” Oswald Chambers
SHOW ME YOUR REDEEMED LIFE, AND I'LL BELIEVE IN YOUR REDEEMER. ~ Voltaire
The best way out is always through.
What God is to one saint He is to all saints.
~William S. Plumer~
As you read through the Bible, you'll notice that God uses many "certain men" and "certain woman" whose names are not given.
Not everything we might like to do is an area of giftedness. But so too, just because we like something doesn't mean we aren't good at it. Quite the opposite
"Few things are more appealing to children than parents who are grateful, composed, teachable, obedient, courageous, and full of faith. We desire these inner virtues in our kids; do we see them in ourselves?"
My Lord never fails to honor His promises; and when we bring them to His throne, He never sends them back unanswered. Therefore I will wait only at His door, for He always opens it with the hand of abundant grace. At this hour I will turn to Him afresh.
Our calling is not complete until we reach heaven.
God is jealous for our trust. He doesn’t request it, suggest it, or recommend it. He demands it.
Don't assume anything with little to no facts to go on. Instead rejoice when your brother rejoices and weep when they weep. There life is not about you. It's about what God is doing in and through them and what He is doing in and through you.
Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.
~ Corrie Ten Boom
God is not to blame for evil; He is the answer for evil.
The Bible says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). God must adopt you. You cannot automatically be His child. There has to come a moment in your life when you ask Him for His forgiveness, and He will adopt you as His son or daughter. And because of what Jesus did, you can have access to the throne of God
Greg Laurie
Christians need to embrace reality. Biblical truth is reality and, biblically speaking, you are two halves of one whole. Embracing the language of “oneness” is embracing God’s Truth.
"We choose today to find the truth in our trials and the lessons in our mistakes."
We cannot make excuses and make a difference. We cannot blame people and seek to build.
"Faith alone justifies us to God. Good works prove our faith to people." Jon Courson, last Sunday. Perfect.
Heeding God’s Word is more critical than fighting God’s war.
Max Lucado
It cracks me up how people misinterpret the bible to fit there own needs or sin. Something as common as gossip, yet people will often say it's not gossip to tell a sibling something about you... Ummm yes it is..... If it is not said to you then don't tell another.
When you pray and don’t see your prayer answered, it simply means that you should keep praying.
For us to be people who are being filled with new wine - the Holy Spirit's fresh leading - we must BE new wine skins.
I think we think to small as the people of God and some think even defeat before it comes to pass as a lack of faith.
Some men's passion is for gold. Some men's passion is for art. Some men's passion is for fame. My passion is for souls.
~William Booth~
Jesus endured Calvary so that we can live an abundant life. He suffered to set us free.
If we aren't living and walking in the forgiveness of the Father, we won't convey and minister it to others. Since we've been forgiven, we can forgive others in the same way that God, for Christ's sake forgave us.
Yield to God’s Word, though it may be uncomfortable. Allow Him to work in you, from the inside out until the adjustments you need to make become less difficult.
Set aside time for the study of the Bible; then place all of your attention and focus on the Word; while making sure to eliminate distractions.
According to Ephesians 4, we have been taught to be open and available, to allow the Lord access to every part of us, including those parts that are most in need of renovation, parts we often keep away from God because of shame or deceitful desire. Yet when we expose all that we are to the Lord, when we invite him to transform us, then by grace he does; not all at once, but faithfully and consistently throughout our lives.
If we desire to become leaders for God, we must give ourselves totally to the Lord and obey whatever orders He gives us.
~Warren W. Wiersbe~
Even when it hurts its praiseworthy!
A disciple does not ask, "How much can I keep?" but, "How much more can I give?" Whenever we start to get comfortable with our level of giving, it's time to raise it again.
Randy Alcorn
The quieter you become, the more you can hear Him.
BE STILL.
Are you a leader or a follower, a thermometer or a thermostat? Which do you prefer? Which do you think Jesus intends for us?
“That is the one eternal education: to be sure enough that something is true that you dare to tell it to a child.” —
G.K. Chesterton
There is a destructive spiritual tendency that resides in every human being. It is "the law of sin and death." This indwelling principle is always pulling people downward into sin and spiritual deadness. It comes from being physically born into a fallen race of sinners who are like their earthly father, Adam. Being born anew spiritually does not remove this problem, since this principle still operates within our natural humanity (the flesh). Yet, becoming a child of God does make His remedy constantly available to us.
“To be truly happy—a man must have sources of gladness which are not dependent on anything in this world.”
—J. C. Ryle
Satan paints a target on each of our chests. But we have a choice about whether Satan will hit that target.
Randy Alcorn
The work of the Holy Spirit is required for people to start out with God through new birth and justification. The Holy Spirit must also be at work in believers if they are to go on with God in growth and sanctification.
Have you ever noticed the difference in the Christian life between work and fruit? A machine can do work; only life can bear fruit.
~Andrew Murray~
Is it not a sad thing that after all Christ’s love to us, we should repay it with lukewarm love to Him?
~C. H. Spurgeon~
“We are all strings in the concert of His joy.”
—Jacob Boehme
Can I see another’s woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another’s grief,
And not seek kind relief?
Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrow’s share?
Can a father see his child
Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?
Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan, an infant fear?
No, no! never can it be!
Never, never can it be!
And can He, who smiles on all,
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small bird’s grief and care,
Hear the woes that infants bear —
And not sit beside the nest,
Pouring pity in their breast,
And not sit the cradle near,
Weeping tear on infant’s tear?
And not sit, both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
Oh no! never can it be!
Never, never can it be!
He doth give His joy to all:
He becomes an Infant small,
He becomes a Man of Woe,
He doth feel the sorrow too.
Think not thou canst sigh a sigh,
and thy Maker is not by:
Think not thou canst weep a tear,
And thy Maker is not near.
Oh, He gives to us His joy,
That our grief He may destroy!
Till our grief is fled and gone,
He doth sit by us and moan.
William Blake’s “On Another’s Woe,”
explores the human experience of suffering in light of God’s suffering.
The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.
~A.W.Tozer~
Anyone can read the Bible. Many do. But to experience the Word as the holy eyes of God, peering into our hearts, allowing Him to see our true thoughts, intentions, and motivations—that’s another thing altogether. We may find ourselves exposed and naked before Him, defensive, desperate to avoid humiliation, dodging truth rather than admit our poverty of spirit.
Ray Bently
God made me for himself, to serve him here, with love's pure service and in filial fear; to show his praise, for him to labor now; then see his glory where the angels bow.
~Henry William Baker~
Gratitude in its deepest sense means to live life as a gift to be received thankfully. And true gratitude embraces all of life:
Henri Nouwen
If God is found in our hard times, then all of life, no matter how apparently insignificant or difficult, can open us to God’s work among us. To be grateful does not mean repressing our remembered hurts. But as we come to God with our hurts — honestly, not superficially — something life-changing can begin slowly to happen. We discover how God is the One who invites us to heal. We realize that any dance of celebration must weave both the sorrows and the blessings into a joyful step.
Henri Nouwen
"Man has a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God works in him."
George Whitefield.
Self-help says, “try harder”. Jesus says, “trust Him”.
“When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world.” - C.S. Lewis
"Though God is infinite love, he is also infinite justice." — Charles Spurgeon
"Our business is not to think of our own idea of what God should be, but to find out what God really is." — Charles Spurgeon
"Christ has lighted us that we may enlighten the world." — Charles Spurgeon
"If our faith is to grow, we must maintain constant communication with God." — Charles Spurgeon
"If we would serve God we must forget self." — Charles Spurgeon
"None shall see God in heaven who have not been purified by grace while here below." — Charles Spurgeon
"We look forward with joyful confidence to a heaven of holiness with which we shall be satisfied eternally." — Charles Spurgeon
"The gospel is all about Christ from beginning to end." – Charles Spurgeon
"You are as much serving God in training your own children, as you would be if you lead an army to battle for the Lord." — Charles Spurgeon
"The gospel is all about Christ from beginning to end." – Charles Spurgeon
The gifts of the Spirit are not trophies, talents, traits or toys. The gifts of the Spirit are God’s supernatural expressions of love, caring, kindness, healing and concern - bestowed upon us and through us. Wimber
I do not preach decisions — I preach regeneration. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Whoever dies without Christ will never rest in peace. Charles Spurgeon
“Father, help us to grow up in the ways of God before we grow old.” John Wimber
Don’t let tradition rob you of something beautiful God may want to do in and through you. Chuck Smith
“Live slowly enough to be able to think deeply about God” - J.I. Packer
We are to reckon the thing that comes as a blessing. We are determined to rejoice, to say, “My heart is fixed, O God, I will sing and give praise.” AB Simpson
"Don’t preach grace disconnected to Jesus Himself, it is not a commodity or a substance, it can only be found in a Person. Never offer the benefits of the gospel without the Benefactor Himself." - Sinclair Ferguson
"Exposition alone is not preaching. A minister who only presents the grammatical and historical meaning of God’s Word may be lecturing or discoursing, but he isn’t preaching. The Word must also be applied." - Joel Beeke
To fall in the cause of truth is but to rise in the kingdom of glory." -John Kennedy.
Steven Lawson
Heaven’s citizens are meek and lowly, not high and haughty.
God's mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water...than diminish the great mercy of God. -C.H. Spurgeon -
Joy of heart is the fruit of being occupied with Christ! -A.W. Pink -
Christ made His righteousness mine and made my sin His own; and if He made my sin His own, then I do not have it, and I am free. Martin Luther
If you have faith in Christ, have vital faith, or do not pretend to have any. Be real; be true to the core. - Charles Spurgeon
The message of the gospel is the message of peace—the peace that passes understanding, the perfect peace that comes to that man whose mind has become fixed on the Lord because he trusts in Him. Chuck Smith
I urge you to place your trust daily in, first, the righteousness of Christ by which our infinitely holy God accepts us with joy and, second, the power of Christ that enables us to live the Christian life confidently as we grow towards maturity.
Jerry Bridges
“[Christ] gives you a flood of sympathy in these deep distresses of your spirit, as you fight against Apollyon and agonize against temptation, for he suffered being tempted.” - Charles Spurgeon
The Word of God is just as powerful as it was during the time of the Puritans. Its power has not been diminished!
Gracious God, Thou art too just to take revenge twice for the same faults; & therefore, having turned Thy fierce wrath upon Him, Thou wilt not turn it upon us too; but having rewarded Him according to our iniquities, Thou wilt now reward us according to His merits. Richard Baker
The manifestation of the Spirit is not supposed to be the exception; it is supposed to be the norm. Wimber
A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, but he prays because his soul is hungry for God. -Leonard Ravenhill -
The ministry of the word is the grand means appointed by God for the salvation of the world. This is a truth which cannot be impressed too deeply upon our minds. -Richard Watson
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