God never told Job why. Instead, He just revealed more of himself to Job. More than an explanation, what we really need is an encounter with God—a revelation of God. Because when we see God for who He is, we see our problems for what they are. Small God, big problems. Big God, small problems.
If the salvation that God has placed in our inner man is to become a visible walk that pleases Him, it will always be a result of us allowing Him to do an ongoing work deep within us.
Jesus (who always pleased the Father) now lives in us. This same Jesus is our "hope of glory." He is our hope (expectation, confidence) of making it to glory (heaven) some day. He is also our hope of walking in any heavenly reality here on the way to glory. He is our hope of an obedient life.
Obedience is essentially related to the life of Jesus. The life Jesus lived on earth is our example of obedience.
You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God's only begotten. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness at His feet. A sense of Christ's amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross.
Charles Spurgeon
The consistency of the enemy is he is a liar and is come to rob to steel and destroy. You can count on his tactics when God uses you.
In the Book Things I Have Learned From My Pastor, by Dr. Larry Taylor
talks about what he has learned from pastor Chuck Smith. Over the years since 1979, I have been in many places, West Covina now Golden Springs Diamond Bar, Rancho Cucamonga, Visaila mow Tulary, and the High Desert. I only say this because in all these Calvary Chapels, my pastors have been and are very godly men, true servants of God, and as I got to see some of them at my brother's manorial service it made me realize how blessed I am to be able to serve God through the ministry at Calvary Chapel HD under Pastor Denis Davenport and all who I submit to there.
Faith in God does not come all at once. Faith is a step-by-step process that begins with one small step and increases as we go.
When Christians use their gifts in the Body of Christ, their service is a pleasing aroma to God. When someone writes a note and says "I missed you at church," or "I'm praying for you in this difficult time," or when someone makes a phone call or cooks a meal or teaches a class or checks a roll, that act of service is worship to God. A sweet-smelling aroma goes up from that sacrifice to the throne of God, and He says, "That's worship! That smells good. That gives Me pleasure."
The hero of heaven is God. Angels don’t worship mansions or glittering avenues. God is not the grand marshal of the parade; he is the parade! He’s not the main event; he’s the only event! His Broadway features a single stage and star: Himself. He hosts the only production and invites every living soul to attend.
At this very moment God issues invitations by the millions. He says, “Come, enjoy me forever.” Yet many people have no desire to do so. He speaks; they cover their ears. He commands; they scoff. They don’t want him telling them how to live. They regard his son as a joke and the cross as utter folly. They spend their lives telling God to leave them alone.
Jesus offers the invitation in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
When you step into who-what God has called you to be-do, all of heaven will back you up.
We have been considering how God wants us to grow in obedience to His will. The lordship of Jesus makes disobedience unacceptable. "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). Also, our Lord taught His early disciples to instruct all future disciples about obedience: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20). Our present passage offers profound insight by describing God working in us unto obedience. "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Again, we do not have to live in fear of this warfare, because we are in Christ and He rules. Fear is faithlessness.
~George Macdonald~
An Unchanging God
You and I are governed. The weather determines what we wear. Gravity dictates our speed and health determines our strength. We may change these forces, alter them slightly, but we never remove them. God is an unchanging God, an uncaused God, and an ungoverned God. He doesn’t check the weather; He makes it. He doesn’t defy gravity; He created it. He isn’t affected by health; He has no body.
Gossip Will Kill Everything You Attempt to Build!
Most people's vocabularies consist of only a few thousand words. When you consider that English, the largest language in the world, contains between one-half and three-quarters of a million words, this means that we regularly use only about 2 percent of our language!
“…your marriage is not primarily about you and your spouse…it’s about you and Jesus Christ. Marriage is a test of how you unconditionally love and respect your spouse as you obey, honor, and please the Lord.”
~Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, in "Love & Respect:
Look around you at the people you call friends, you act just like them! Does it make you proud? Are you selling yourself short? Or are you on the right track? Keep successful people around you and will you be successful! Be around people who can accomplish their goals and you will accomplish yours! The choice is yours to make.
“Read something positive every night and listen to something helpful every morning.”
— Tom Hopkins
“Read an hour every day in your chosen field. This works out to about one book per week, 50 books per year, and will guarantee your success.”
— Brian Tracy
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island... and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”
— Walt Disney
“The book you don't read won't help.”
— Jim Rohn
“These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.”
— Gilbert Highet
The money, the pleasures, the daily business of the world
are so many traps to catch souls.
~J. C. Ryle~
Wisdom opens the eyes both to the glories of heaven
and to the hollowness of earth.
~J. A. Motyer~
We have to be open to the people God sends in our path. If we are truly walking with the Lord, we will recognize godly wisdom. We will be willing to change our minds or admit when we are wrong, because we are led by the Lord, not our own wisdom or pride.
No matter what you're going through today, remember, "Nevertheless the Lord." When you feel at your worst, "nevertheless" He is at His best.
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Have you ever asked yourself–how can we fight the tide of moral decay that is being crammed down our throats by big business, the media, and the gay & lesbian community? Every day it is something else! Tiffany’s started advertising wedding rings for gay couples. Wells Fargo bank is using a same-sex couple in their advertising. And there are more. But it has dawned on me that we don’t have to do business with them.
There is more healing joy in five minutes of worship
than there is in five nights of revelry.
~A. W. Tozer~
He who communes with God in secret may be trusted in public.
I always feel safe with a man who is a visitor to the mercy-seat.
~Charles H. Spurgeon~
Love is an action which should not depend on emotion to exist, but rather an unwavering devotion to the one loved.
There is no better book on human psychology than the Bible. Its insights on behavior aren’t found so profoundly anywhere else.
God has provided light for His people to walk in so they will not trip and fall into the darkness that surrounds them. The Lord has shown in His word the ways that avoid foolishness and sin.
What is your "stumbling block"? What is the one thing you read in Scripture or hear preached that makes you want to put your fingers in your ears and say, "nah, nah, nah, nah, nah"? Maybe its time to really look long and hard at what Jesus is trying to teach you.
A man who is intimate with God is not intimidated by man.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
When Christ mediated for mankind through His death, reconciliation with God became possible by faith. When Jesus fulfilled the law, He fulfilled it as a representative of mankind thus mediating as an equal representative of man and God.
"God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, He will increase our capability."
— Neal A. Maxwell
"Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right."
— Max Lucado
No amount of spiritual posturing, religious rituals, or even ministry work can replace the raw humanity of a believer pouring his or her heart out to God. By allowing ourselves to be honest and genuine, we can let God take all that pain and sorrow.
Who you are is more than what you do or what people say about you.
If you’re living your life without God, even if you have everything this world has to offer, it can be downright depressing. But with God, you wake up each morning knowing there are new opportunities to worship Him, to walk with Him, and to serve Him.
The effect we have on people around us is important. Our witness is greater than we think it is and we’re observed more than we are aware. Let’s preach the gospel of Jesus in our daily lives!
OSWALD CHAMBERS
The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”;…
Millions of believers in Jesus can love others personally, face to face, and change lives in His name.
Ask the Holy Spirit to come upon you and empower you to do what Jesus did—and more!
A wonderful way to begin praying is to turn to the Psalms and as you read, take into your heart and mind the praise, worship, and acknowledgment of who God is.
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.
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