QUOTES

We don't often think of God as laughing, though we should more

than we do. The God presented on the pages of the Bible isn't

depressed and isn't filled with fear or anxiety. God has the settled

confidence of the One who both knows and controls the future.

God’s covenant promise is that He will make conditions right for victory for you.

The authority to be an overseer is given by the Holy Spirit and is not based on bloodline, order of birth, financial condition or work relationship. Some of us might have difficulty with this concept.

After all, why would my boss at work or co-workers listen to me about my faith -- what authority do I have? The point is, the only authority you need is the Holy Spirit's... Who has the Holy Spirit placed in your care? Certainly, children come immediately to mind, but who else?

Your ministry will change lives only if you crucify your own agenda and invite Jesus to resurrect His plans for your work.

Our entire hope rests in the mercy of God, and if we forfeit His mercy because we are unwilling to show mercy ourselves, we spit in the face of Jesus. We make His sacrifice of no consequence to us, and we render His love powerless in our lives.

"True joy comes when you inspire, encourage and guide someone else on a path that benefits him or her."- Zig Ziglar

Worrying does not take away tomorrows troubles....it takes away today's peace.

the more God’s people came to know him, the more names they gave him. Elohim, strong one or creator. Jehovah-raah, a caring shepherd. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. These are just a few of the names of God which describe his character. Study them, for in a given day, you may need each one of them. God, the shepherd who leads, the Lord who provides, the voice who brings peace in the storm, the physician who heals the sick, the banner that guides. And most of all…He Is!

New covenant servants (followers of Jesus Christ) are "earthen vessels" (ordinary clay pots). Yet, in the container of their redeemed humanity dwells "this treasure" (the Son of God Himself). This arrangement calls for the treasure (Jesus), not the vessels (you and me), to be the object of all trust and the recipient of all glory: "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." Appropriately, the Lord has also arranged a process that magnifies the treasure.

The blessings of being a Christian just keep on coming. They'll never run out. What a generous, thoughtful God we serve! Let's praise Him for the countless blessings that overflow in our lives.

Keeping a hopeful attitude is key to living a fulfilled life with direction, and actually thriving instead of just floating along in life. To remain hopeful one has to be able to believe that even though life seems to be looking grim, that you will not see defeat unless you stop believing that you will be victorious.

The only thing that limits your questions is your belief about what is possible. A core belief that has positively shaped my destiny is that if I continue to ask any question, I will certainly receive an answer.

When the world says, give up, hope whispers, just try one more time.

“Words, while important, are cheap. Credibility is gained by backing up those words with action. Especially if you're in a leadership position, be very aware that you set the style, both in appearance and integrity. Cultivate a do-as-I-do, not a do-as-I-say, philosophy.

“Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there.”

— Jim Rohn

“Laughter is the most healthful exertion.”

— Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland

“Good friends are good for your health.”

—Irwin Sarason

“You can only do good if you feel good.”

— Denis Waitley

“There are times when we may fool ourselves. There are times when we can fool others. But we

can never fool our body. It is the most sensitive barometer of our inner world.”

— Sherril Sellman

Make your money on the buy, not the sell; this is true in any investment whether it's real estate, business, or the stock market.

"Would you agree that in communication, it's often not what you say, but how you say it? 'If looks could kill'... How many times have you heard that phrase? Sour looks, scornful looks, looks of disrespect kill the tender spirit inside your spouse - and looks can kill a marriage."

Have you ever considered that the vast majority of issues causing division within the body of Christ are ones which are not specifically spelled out in the Bible? Therefore they are in the domain of personal opinions and perspectives.

When faithfulness is most difficult it is most necessary.

~Anon~

Our human and cultural tendency is to view love as self-serving. It's a feeling to be chased, and a right to be acquired at any cost.

While we do believe everyone is worthy of love and feeling "in love" is amazing, true love is so much more.

In our culture, we need a renewal – a renaissance – of our convictions to love our spouses covenantally. We need to clarify and stand on love's true definition.

True love desires permanence. Anything less is simply just not enough. By nature, when we love another, we never want that relationship to end. There can be no condition or expiration date.

Worldly "love" might say, "I may grow tired of you, but until then, we're good." It could also say, "As soon as you stop loving me the way I need, we're done". That's not true love.

True love in marriage is covenantal, it's binding in the best and most ferocious sort of way. Covenantal love will cost us everything, but the reward is deep and far-reaching.

“When Christ said: ‘I was hungry and you fed me,’ He didn't mean only the hunger for bread and for food; He also meant the hunger to be loved. Jesus Himself experienced this loneliness. He came amongst His own and His own received Him not, and it hurt Him then and it has kept on hurting Him. The same hunger, the same loneliness, the same having no one to be accepted by and to be loved and wanted by. Every human being, in that case, resembles Christ in His loneliness, and that is the hardest part, that's real hunger.” —Mother Teresa

“It’s so hard to be a servant of Jesus in our world today!” “What is our world coming to?” “Where is Jesus in all of this mess?!” Have you ever had thoughts like these? Being a Christian today can be difficult, and at times it can feel as though Christians are fighting a losing battle for good in the middle of pain and suffering. Did you know that these feelings are not unique to today’s Christians?

The next time you have the urge to "Return to Egypt," Egypt is the world, ask Jesus to deliver you from yourself. Not from your heart, because when Jesus died He bought your heart, but from your head and your poor choices. Sin and temptation no longer have the power to control us.

Life can sometimes be rough. On the contrary, it can also be less challenging if we allow ourselves to see with God’s eyes of faith. ~D.L. Moody~

As we seek to live out the biblical vision of a forgiving community, you and I have the opportunity to shape, not only our churches but also our other communities. In our marriages and families, in our neighborhoods and friendships, in our workplaces and cities, we can choose to forgive as God has forgiven us in Christ, thus creating in the relationships of our lives what God intends for all of his people.

As ministers of reconciliation, our shared goal must be to use these gifts for the common good. After all, this is why God gave you these gifts and the permission to function where you do.

None of us are innately gifted enough, nor clever enough to have chosen the skill sets or influence that we have. All these things were given strategically by God.

The precious blood of Christ has a REDEEMING POWER ... Christ has paid the ransom price, and the law is no longer our tyrant master.

~C. H Spurgeon~

I think from time to time we can all begin to feel a little self-righteous. That is until like David we discover just how flawed we are. I am so very grateful God blesses me with righteousness based on belief and not on works.

Individually, we must come to God and ask for His mercy and grace. Righteousness comes from God and is credited as a result of faith.

I am ready to meet God face to face tonight and look into those eyes of infinite holiness, for all my sins are covered by the atoning blood.

~R.A. Torrey~

The church isn’t a building to be maintained, it’s a people to be mobilized.

A calling to ministry is not a calling to stardom. It’s a calling to servanthood.

I am ready to meet God face to face and look into those eyes of infinite holiness, for all my sins are covered by the atoning blood. ~R.A. Torrey~

Self help. Self love. Self transformation. Self empowerment. All focuses on self. Actually, you'll be the best version of your "self" when you get your eyes off of "self" and on to God. God's help. God's love. God's transformation. God's empowerment.

“When you are arguing against God you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all.” - C.S. Lewis

"Illustrations well used never upstage the teaching of Scripture; instead, it brings its message home concretely and eloquently, gripping the heart and enlarging the understanding." -Rosalie de Rosset

"The worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready." -Martyn Lloyd Jones

"All true preaching conveys a sense of the urgent importance of what is being preached." -John Stott

“We live and die; Christ died and lived!” -John Stott

"If it is foolish to believe what we find in Scripture, we will remain fools to the end." — Charles Spurgeon

"Our faith in Jesus is most real. We believe in those dear wounds of his as we believe in nothing else." — Charles Spurgeon

"In all things, God is driving on in his eternal chariot towards the goal which infinite wisdom has chosen." — Charles Spurgeon

"Prayer is one of the necessary wheels of the machinery of providence." — Charles Spurgeon

Faith in God is a necessity of reason." — Charles Spurgeon

"God, if I cannot see the brightness of your face, the shadow of your wings will be enough for me." — Charles Spurgeon

"We dwell in a temple of providence and grace where everything speaks of his glory." — Charles Spurgeon

"We must learn to never ascribe any earthly comfort to any earthly source." — Charles Spurgeon

"Our Christ is not dead. He still holds the stars in his right hand." — Charles Spurgeon

"To us, true prayer is true power." — Charles Spurgeon

"No care, but all prayer." — Charles Spurgeon

"If I have seen in Jesus all that my soul can want, then I am one with him." — Charles Spurgeon

"The Lord is a real God, infinitely more real than things, more real even than ourselves." — Charles Spurgeon

"The gospel is all about Christ from beginning to end." – Charles Spurgeon

"In the empty tomb of Christ, we see sin forever put away and death destroyed." — Charles Spurgeon

"Whenever a doubt is proposed to me I fall back upon this fact: Jesus did rise from the dead. That is sure." — Charles Spurgeon

"Preach you Christ, and Christ, and Christ, and Christ, and nothing else but Christ." — Charles Spurgeon

“When I preach Christ and Him crucified, “I preach the effective action of God to reach out and to save what was lost, “not merely God’s establishing the right conditions whereby somebody can be saved if they so wish.” — Carl Trueman

Find the most minute, insignificant, minuscule, microscopic, infinitesimal, or diminutive event or activity in the history of the world and behind it will be God's sovereign rule, making it happen exacty the way God intends. — Mike Abendroth, Cancer Is Not Your Shepherd, 24.

“His control is what people would deem as micromanaging or hands-on, that is, God is involved, not just generally, but also intimately in all the details.” — Mike Abendroth, Cancer Is Not Your Shepherd, 20.

We should not use the Trinity as our model for the marriage relationship, both because it is not necessary for complementarianism to be true and because the metaphysical inner workings of the ineffable Trinity do not readily allow for easy lifestyle applications. — Kevin DeYoung

Husbands especially—never, in all your days, speak an impatient, angry, or insolent word to your wife. If you have already lost the warmth of your home, which is worse to lose than a kingdom... - Alexander Whyte

When it finally sinks in that by one Man righteousness, justification, and grace came—I stop striving and struggling to prove I’m a notch or two above you, and I stop feeling bad if I’m a notch or two below you. Jon Courson

Temptations and occasions put nothing into man, but only draw out what was in him before. —John Owen, A Puritan Golden Treasury, Pg. 292

Earthly riches are full of poverty. Augustine

Oh, may we cast ourselves at Jesus’ feet and say: “Many a time have we faltered; many a hard fight has come, but Thou hast kept me and held me, thanks to God, who has given me the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.” AB Simpson

Through the cross, He secured our eternal future. Let the world think what it wants. We know the truth. And oh, how we love that old rugged cross. Chuck Smith

We are united by the Holy Spirit, poured out upon a variety of characters who happen to be your brothers and sister in the Body of Christ! Not all alike, but united by His Spirit. “For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.” Ray Bentley

"The Christian's motto should not be 'Let go and let God' but 'Trust God and get going!'' -James Packer.

O Living God, I fall short of thy glory every day by spending hours unprofitably… —The Valley of Vision, Pg. 154

Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of #Christ. -A.W. Tozer -

Boldness enables Christians to forsake all rather than Christ, and to prefer to offend all rather than to offend Him -Jonathan Edwards -

Self-righteousness is the very height of rebellion against God. Charles Spurgeon

"He that has God has all." Jonathan Edwards

Where I found truth, there found I my God, who is the truth itself. Augustin

“It is a sure mark of grace to desire more.” Robert Murray M'Cheyne

God keeps open house for hungry sinners (Isa. 45:1, 2) Thomas Watson

"Resolve to soak yourself in Scripture, and don't be diverted from soaking yourself in Scripture. Why? Because Jesus soaked Himself in Scripture." Sinclair Ferguson

The school of suffering never graduates any students, so ask God to teach to you the lessons He wants you to learn. Warren Wiersbe

“Because His love cannot fail, He will allow into our lives only the pain and heartache that is for our ultimate good.” Jerry Bridges

“If we are content to offend God rather than displease our friends or relatives, then we are greatly deceived if we regard ourselves as genuine Christians.” A.W. Pink

"Salvation is not for those who behave but who believe in Jesus Christ. It is not for those who try but who trust in Him." Steven Lawson

"Resolve to soak yourself in Scripture, and don't be diverted from soaking yourself in Scripture. Why? Because Jesus soaked Himself in Scripture." Sinclair Ferguson

"There is God’s Word. This is my rock and anchor. On it I rely, and it remains. Where it remains, I, too, remain; where it goes, I, too, go." Martin Luther

“It is better to end life with nothing but Christ, than to end life with everything but Christ.” John Blanchard

It’s not really our sins that make us weep; they have a part in it… It is when we see the kind of Savior we have sinned against that really makes us weep. John MacArthur

There's a name for those pastors who never speak of sin, repentance, or hell. The Bible calls them false teachers and servants of Satan. Burk Parsons

"Trials test the strength of our faith; wean us from earthly things; call us to eternal hope; reveal who we love; teach us to value God's blessing; enable us to help others; produce endurance, which equips us for greater usefulness; and mostly trials humble us." John MacArthur

"No sin has ever made any person happy. Sin simply cannot bring happiness, but it can deliver pleasure, and when we confuse pleasure with happiness, we are wide open to the seduction of the enemy." R.C. SPROUL

"You can tell your faith is real if when the Holy Spirit pricks your conscience you bleed repentance." Burk Parsons

"Holiness is happiness; and the more you have of the former, the more you will undoubtedly enjoy of the latter." -John Angell James.

Ever look to him for help: your own safety consists in a deep and abiding sense of your own weakness, and in a firm reliance on his strength. - William Wilberforce

Is Jesus Christ ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead? Great then is the security believers have, that they shall not be condemned on that day. He died to save them, and he will never cross and over throw the designs and ends of his own death. —John Flavel

Go to the #cross of #Christ, all you that want to be delivered from the power of selfishness. -J.C. Ryle -

Running is hard. Running on sand? So much harder! Don’t be surprised or dismayed when running your race for Jesus Christ is much harder than you could have ever anticipated. The Holy Spirit is right there within you and beside you and will help you maintain your stride. Keep your eyes on Jesus! ~

God’s not finished with the masterpiece of you.

Are you ready to experience the freedom on the other side of what has held you back? Jesus came to bring us freedom! God didn’t run out of grace for you!

OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self–interest.

OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.

We are united by the Holy Spirit, poured out upon a variety of characters who happen to be your brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ!

Not all alike, but united by His Spirit. “For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.”

n our previous meditation on this same verse, we saw that God has placed extraordinary heavenly treasure in ordinary earthen vessels. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." This is true of every person who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ. The Lord has arranged it this way so that the vessels (you and I) must rely upon the treasure (Jesus Christ), not upon ourselves: "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." Also, this arrangement is to bring attention and glory to the Lord, not to the vessels.

New covenant servants (followers of Jesus Christ) are "earthen vessels" (ordinary clay pots). Yet, in the container of their redeemed humanity dwells "this treasure" (the Son of God Himself). This arrangement calls for the treasure (Jesus), not the vessels (you and me), to be the object of all trust and the recipient of all glory: "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." Appropriately, the Lord has also arranged a process that magnifies the treasure.

As earthen vessels, we are to live by trusting in the treasure (the Lord Jesus) who dwells within us: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Also, we are to give Him all honor and glory as He sustains us day by day through the trials of life: "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." In addition, to help us magnify the treasure who lives in us, there is to be an attitude (an outlook) carried about (embraced) by the earthen vessels.