This world is not our home. And because of that, we should always be a bit disconnected from it, not quite in sync with everything this culture celebrates, because our citizenship is in heaven. As Christians, we have a different value system because we serve a different God and have different priorities than this world has.
Whenever we think God has done something awesome, if we are open and listening He tops it. Our Lord is so good to us.
Don’t simply pursue happiness, create it.
The great need in the Christian life is for self-
discipline. This is not something that happens to
you in a meeting: you have got to do it!
~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
Discipline gives you longevity. It gives you a clear mind and a clear heart to do what God has called you to do. I really believe that. It is what keeps me going.
If we are going to be truly used of the Lord, and we really want God to use our gifts and talents, we have to have discipline. We have to take care of ourselves physically, emotionally and spiritually. If you do not have discipline, you are going to end up, by your choice, on the shelf. It will be your choice.
Is your relationship with God something you “have” to do, or that you “get to do?”
What are you willing to put aside to spend time with God?
When the Lord says, "Get up and go," how do you respond? How do you express in your life the concepts of discipleship, faith, and righteousness?
I was thinking how important we keep God as our foundation and the center of our lives. I also am thankful for brothers to keep me accountable.
Real beauty isn’t about a finished or flawless product. It can’t be. It’s not possible on this side of eternity to have completed beauty. Our restoration will be complete in the presence of God when we see Him face to face.
DO YOU!!! Because while you worried about how people are feeling about you, They are DOING THEM!!!
The Scriptures are quite clear. God's work in our lives depends upon His promises to us, not our promises to Him. However, this does not mean that we are forbidden to express our love and devotion to God through promises made to Him. In this rich testimony from the heart of David, he makes two significant promises to the Lord. "I will love You, O LORD…I will call upon the LORD." As we examine what accompanies these promises, we will see the kind of promises that are permissible to make to God.
Sometimes it is easier to smile even if you’re hurting inside, than to explain to the whole world why you’re sad.
Don't feel the need to have to explain it to the world just pick one or two who will be there for you....
Tip of the Day: Many people regularly use words like "humiliation" or "depression" to describe virtually any unpleasant experience. Say something they don't appreciate and they're humiliated/depressed. Question their point of view and they're humiliated/depressed. Everything humiliates or depresses them, because they attach those words to almost any experience.
It's critical to expand your emotional vocabulary so that the words you select produce the emotional states you desire and deserve.
God hasn’t forgotten you. Just the opposite. He has chosen to train you. The Hebrew verb for test comes from a word that means “to take a keen look at; to choose.” Dismiss the notion that God does not see your struggle. On the contrary, God is fully engaged. He is the Teacher; we are the students. Trust His training. You’ll get through this. He can make something good out of your mess!
From You’ll Get Through This Max Lucado
Faith is a refusal to panic.
~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
Everyone faces discouragement and despair from time to time, but
we never have to let them drive us.
God Himself has given us the institution of marriage—defined in His Word as between one man and one woman.
Each man's sin is the instrument of his punishment,
and his iniquity is turned into his torment.
~Augustine~
It is better to preach five words of God’s Word than
five million words of man’s wisdom.
~Charles H. Spurgeon~
Money can’t buy happiness … but we are often deceived into that type of thinking. One of the reasons so many of us struggle with debt is that spending feeds something in our hearts, a need that we try to fill with things. Impulsive spending is often driven by our emotional state.
The process of really getting free from this habit begins in our hearts. We must understand that God truly owns everything and with that comes freedom. But it can take some time and effort to get our behaviors in line with our beliefs.
There are only two emotions that belong on the saddle; One is a sense of humor, and the other is patience. John Lyons.
The Spirit-filled church will be a worshiping church. And the Spirit-filled Christian will be a worshiping Christian.
Several years ago, I came to a crossroad related to my faith. It caused me to face the question: Who would I follow, God or man? This is a question that few people really want to answer directly. Why? Because as long as we avoid it, we can go about our lives in just the way we like.
C. S. Lewis says it well: "Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love or contentment or even common sense." Pride kills. Love gives life.
God is God. Because he is God, he is worthy of my obedience.
~Amy Carmichael~
We can debate, protest and shout our opinions to the world, but only if we are “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6: 18), will we see evil and hatred demolished and bondage broken, defeated by the power and love of God - Ray Bently
• Jesus will return in the clouds.
• He will raise the dead in Christ.
• He will transform the bodies of living believers to glorified, resurrection bodies.
• We will all join Him in Heaven while the earth endures one final seven-year
campaign of severe evangelism.
Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.
The saddest road to hell is that which runs under the pulpit, past the Bible through the midst of warnings and invitations.
~J.C. Ryle~
“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’”
—C.S. Lewis
"YOU CAN'T VICTIMIZE AND PLAY VICTIM AT THE SAME TIME! PICK A ROLE!"
"MANY CAN WEAR A CROSS, FEW CAN CARRY ONE."
SOME OF THE BEST SERMONS ARE PREACHED IN THE PEWS NOT THE PULPIT. BE OPEN TO RECEIVING A WORD FROM GOD EVEN IF THE MESSENGER IS PUSHING A MOP OR SERVING POTATOES FROM THE KITCHEN. SERVANTS DON'T NEED TITLES IN ORDER FOR GOD TO USE THEM THEY JUST NEED TO BE WILLING.
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO STARTED THE GENERATIONAL CURSE, IT ONLY MATTERS THAT YOU DECIDE TO STOP IT!
“THE GREATEST ACT OF LEADERSHIP IS DICIPLESHIP. NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU MAY LEARN, ACHIEVE, ACCUMULATE, OR ACCOMPLISH, IF IT ALL DIES WITH YOU, YOU HAVE FAILED FUTURE GENERATIONS.”
PRAY FIRST REACT LATER
We can live in the world, but not be of the world, because the world is not where His Kingdom is. If we live in His Kingdom, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the strength of His Word, then we can achieve what appears to be impossible.
“I would preach more on the cross, and the blood of Christ. That’s where the power is!”
Billy Graham
“God has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. You are as much alone with him as if you were the only being he had ever created.” - C.S. Lewis
“When you are arguing against God you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all.” - C.S. Lewis
"Tomorrow is Sunday. Pastor, preach the word, the whole Word, and nothing but the Word. You have nothing to say apart from the Word." - Steven Lawson
"Ministers knock at the door of men's hearts, the Spirit comes with a key and opens the door." -Thomas Watson
"Pastors: As you prep to preach and lead on Sunday, seek the filling of the Holy Spirit so you can deliver hope to the hurting, encouragement to the faithful, and a prophetic word to the wayward." - Philip Nation
"I am desired to preach today, but go weak and needy to my task" -Valley of Vision (A Minister’s Preaching)
“Our generation doesn’t need men with more content. It needs men with more tears.” -Jon Tyson
“The application of the sermon is not merely an appendage to the discussion or a subordinate part of it, but is the main thing to be done.” -John A Broadus
"The best Bible teaching is not that which dazzles people with the profound intellect of their teacher, but that which puts its truth squarely in their hands." -Chuck Smith
"Sermon prep should have more importance on your calendar than anything else you do as a pastor." - Thom Rainer
God did the miraculous this week at Student Life Myrtle Beach! We got to see a lot of students saved, others called to ministry, and whole generation mobilized to make Jesus known back in their mission fields at home. Lord, raise up a Revival Generation!
"God has strategically placed you as a missionary exactly where you are, to know Jesus and make Jesus known."
Hell will affirm and welcome you in your sin, but Heaven requires you to be saved and changed by Jesus.
People who only see Jesus as all-tolerant, only-affirming, and non-judgmental; don't want to admit that He said things like: +you're either w/ Me or against Me: Mt 12:30 +I'm the only way: Jn 14:6 +repent: Mt 4:17 +obey Me: Jn 14:15 +go & sin no more: Jn 8:11 But, He did.
You can be bold for Christ without being a jerk for Jesus.
As a parent, your priority is to ensure your child's safety rather than worrying about making a stranger feel awkward. If your child feels uneasy around someone, no matter who it is,it’s crucial to acknowledge/respect their feelings. Be attentive/considerate of your child's needs.
We do marriage according to Dr. Phil, raise our children according to Dr. Spock, govern our sex lives according to Dr. Ruth, and only run to Dr. Jesus when things have gotten so bad we can’t find another doctor to help us. Voddie Baucham
Intersectionality has redefined what it means to harm someone, moving the concept of harm from material to psychological, from real to imagined. Rosaria Butterfield
Egalitarianism is the highway to LGBTQ+ church leadership, as a faulty interpretation that endorses sin in one context is imported wholesale to another. Rosaria Butterfield
The witness of the evangelical church on the subject of homosexuality expresses more corporate sin than saving grace. Rosaria Butterfield
“It is not through our efforts that we become clean, but only by trusting in the King to purify us.” — Little Pilgrim’s Big Journey
Many sermons from the Gospels where the focus is explicitly on the person of Jesus—never mind from the OT—are far from Christ-centered. How is this possible? The preacher has looked into the text principally to find himself and his congregation, not to find Christ. —Ferguson
“The gospel is a gift that comes with ‘batteries included.’ God gives us power through the Holy Spirit to make our new life work.” — Tim Chester, You Can Change, 51.
“The good news that our sins are forgiven because of Christ’s death fills our hearts with joy, gives us courage to face the day, and offers us hope that God’s favor will rest upon us, not because we are good, but because we are in Christ.” — Jerry Bridges
"Faith is not Christ nor the cross of Christ. Faith is not the blood, nor the sacrifice. It is not the altar, nor the laver, nor the mercy-seat, nor the incense. It does not work, but accepts a work done ages ago." - Horatius Bonar Not Faith, But Christ
“There is not the least thought or affection to goodness in us, but it comes from God; we are what we are by his grace." –– Richard Sibbes
The London Baptist Confession of Fait is an "excellent list of doctrines" and "is the most excellent epitome of the things most surely believed among us." — Charles H. Spurgeon
We are meant to be able to say without any doubt or hesitation ‘Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?’ of which I am one. The answer is, No one, nothing! —Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Exposition of Romans, Volume 8, Pg. 412
It is possible to learn all about the mysteries of the Bible and never be affected by it in one’s soul. Great knowledge is not enough! - John Bunyan
“Can there be any greater incentive and motive in the world to sanctification, to express Christ and to study Christ, than to consider what favour and mercy we have in Christ.” — Richard Sibbes
“Damnation is all of man, from top to bottom. Salvation is all of grace, from first to last.” — Charles Spurgeon
“His method in bringing men from sin to holiness of life is first, to make them know that He loves them and that their sins are blotted out.” — The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall
“Doctrine is never taught in the Bible simply that it may be known; it is taught in order that it may be translated into practice.” — F. F. Bruce
“Justification is the soul of Christianity and the fountainhead of all true comfort and sanctification” -W. ÀBrakel
Live in hope! Love in optimism. Serve in surrender.
“Discourage learning, and piety will not be long in fashion.” —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 7:385
“The Lord is holy, just, true, gracious, faithful, and unchanging. Is not such a God to be trusted?” — Charles Spurgeon
Tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have had some kind of religious experience and still not been saved. -A.W. Tozer -
There is not a stale page in the word of #God; it is just as fresh as though the ink were not yet dry. -C.H. Spurgeon -
“If you know a gospel which is approved by the age and patronized by the learned, that gospel is a lie.” — Charles Spurgeon
"Doctrines of the Bible are not isolated but interlaced; the view of one doctrine must necessarily affect the view taken of another." -A.A.Hodge.
Let me try by prayer and contemplation to excite strong desires for future heavenly joys, to trust less to my own resolutions and more to Christ. - William Wilberforce
“We are not responsible to God for the souls that are saved, but we are responsible for the gospel that is preached.” — Charles Spurgeon
Your minister may have many faults- and is probably more aware of them than you are- but, if he preaches Christ, value him. - J.C. Ryle
“In poverty Christ is my riches, in sickness he makes my bed, in darkness he is my star, in brightness he is my sun.” — Charles Spurgeon
“The preaching of Christ is the whip that flogs the devil. The preaching of Christ is the thunderbolt, the sound of which makes all hell shake.” — Charles Spurgeon
“Christ comes to visit his people, yet not to admire their beauties, but to remove their deformities.” — Charles Spurgeon
Our thoughts about #God are good when we think that all our righteousness stinks in His nostrils. -John Bunyan -
"If you want to see what judgment looks like, go to the cross. If you want to see what love looks like, go to the cross." (D.A. Carson)
No man knows enough to be sure he is right about divine things until he has submitted his ideas to the test of the Scriptures. Intelligence is not enough, nor experience nor brilliance. The Word of God is the final court of appeal. -Tozer
“The more you read the Bible and the more you meditate upon it, the more you will be astonished by it.” — Charles Spurgeon
There is nothing in the Old Testament that is not “about” Christ. —Richard B. Gaffin, Word and Spirit, Pg. 41
Even now He is pleased to acknowledge us before the universe and call us brethren in the sight of all earth and heaven. Oh, how this dignifies the humblest saint of God! AB Simpson
The Word tells us plainly and peremptorily* who shall go to heaven and who to hell. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 7:462 *in a decisive way that does not admit of debate or question
“The first link between my soul and Christ is not my goodness, but my badness.” — Charles Spurgeon
When we have a worldly perspective, we lose sight of eternity. We can’t afford to lose that eternal perspective; it is the key to endurance. We need to look beyond our problems to the eternal God who is our refuge and our strength. Pastor Chuck
“The great God himself works salvation for all who look for that salvation to the once-slain redeemer.” — Charles Spurgeon
“Though he was a man after God’s own heart, yet he had his troubles.” —Thomas Manton, Works 7:420
“Almost persuaded to be a Christian is like the man who was almost pardoned, but he was hanged.” — Charles Spurgeon
“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.” — Charles Spurgeon
Forsaken by flatterers and forgotten by friends, you might sit down and weep were it not for the fact that the only Being worth caring for loves you as much as ever. Spurgeon
“My difficulty is not understanding how God could have hated Esau. My trouble is to understand how God could love Jacob.” — Charles Spurgeon
Ask for grace, that you may believe while you are still under the cloud. Regardless of how dark the cloud, it contains blessings. “If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth” (Eccl. 11:3). Spurgeon
We have the immortal and almighty God to be our protector and savior, why should we be afraid of a frail, mortal man? —Thomas Manton, Works 7:423
“God loves to forgive more than you love to sin.” — Charles Spurgeon
Man's haste is often folly, but God's apparent delays are ever wise. Charles Spurgeon
“Just because a church is large doesn't mean it's healthy. It could just mean it's swollen.” — Charles Spurgeon
“Leave out the cross and you've killed the religion of Jesus.” — Charles Spurgeon
Parents, You have every right to do surprise checks on your child's cell phone. Check the social media. Check their DMs. Check their text messages. Check their search history. They may not like it, but kids need involved parenting more than they need privacy & secrecy.
“There is no ideal place for us to serve God except the place he sets us down.” — Charles Spurgeon
#God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. -A.W. Pink -
The highest proof of #Scripture... Is that #God in person speaks in it -John Calvin -
"The gospel is all about Christ from beginning to end." – Charles Spurgeon
"The fear of man brings a snare" (Proverbs 29:25a). Many traps and entanglements await those who are afraid of man's opinions or actions. Abraham jeopardized his own wife, because he was afraid of the Egyptians. "Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you" (Genesis 12:12-13). King Saul sinned against God, because he feared the people. "Then Saul said to Samuel, 'I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice'" (1 Samuel 15:24).
The most important thing in life is to live your life
for something more important than your life.
~William James~
You have to be what God called you to be and do what He called you to do. Then you will seek to serve Him ALL the days of your life, until He takes you home.
Daily with Alistair Begg
As in the building of Solomon's temple, where "neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard" because it all arrived perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy, so is it with the temple that Jesus builds; the preparation is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no maturing us with suffering.
Happiness isn’t getting what you want, it’s learning to appreciate what you have.
Have you ever heard a sermon and when discussing it with your wife or friend found that they heard something completely different than you? Have you ever read a familiar verse of scripture and developed a completely different understanding of what it meant? If so, God has spoken to you personally -- did you pay attention to what the Creator of the Universe had to say? Did you then go out and do what He said?
To be sanctified, spirit, soul, and body, should be thine aim and prayer; and although sanctification may not be perfect in thee anywhere in degree, yet it must be universal in its action; there must not be the appearance of holiness in one place and reigning sin in another, else thou, too, wilt be a cake not turned. A cake not turned is soon burnt on the side nearest the fire, and although no man can have too much religion, there are some who seem burnt black with bigoted zeal for that part of truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder with a vainglorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious performances which suit their humour.
Charles Spurgeon
Jesus desires to be with you in everything you do. In fact, it may be better to say that Jesus wants you to be with Him in everything He does. That's the kind of love and compassion that Jesus has for you.
"Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world." ~ Helen Keller
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent -Qui-Gon Jinn to Jar Jar Binks"
"To realize a dream, you must have a dream to realize." ~ Mark Victor Hansen
Many people prefer an indifferent God. They have concluded wrongly that God’s greatest delight is to condemn them. The New Age Movement of the late 20th century taught that people could access this impersonal “force” through channeling, meditation, crystals, and other means. Eastern mysticism—a continuation of ancient Gnosticism—tries to help people get positioned properly in relation to the spiritual dimension. The Bible gives us the true picture: God loves, He cares, and He engages with us, not to condemn us but to save us.
"Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs." - Zig Ziglar
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
― John Wesley
How you respond to suffering affects the whole church!
You are not an accident, you are an appointment from God for such a time as this to bring Him glory.....
It's not about age it's about availability.
Just because our surroundings change, we have to remember that God's Word doesn't.
The actions of men form an infallible index of their character.
~Geoffrey Wilson~
Opposition to the divine will is the very essence of all sin.
~David Thomas~
Is God Asking You To Destroy Something In Your Life That You Are Hiding?
C. S. Lewis writes beautifully about this: “In the Incarnation God the Son takes the body and human soul of Jesus, and, through that, the whole environment of Nature, all the creaturely predicament, into His own being..... [L]ocality, limitation, sleep, sweat, footsore weariness, frustration, pain, doubt, and death, are, from before all worlds, known by God from within.”
Jesus chose to go through all of this pain, rejection, and accusations out of His love for you.
Our tremendously difficult circumstances are
where we can retreat or advance in
Thanksgiving. As wizened old preachers used
to say in cliché, “You can grow bitter; or you can
grow better.”
If it was easy; if it came naturally; if all we
needed was a positive attitude; then
thanksgivings would be devoid of any
supernatural quality. We wouldn’t need God and His superabundant grace.
It isn’t a matter of counting my blessings -
because sooner or later, my list of bummers will
exceed it. It’s a supernatural matter of
reckoning God is good and embodying gratitude.
Our entire time on earth is to be
spent advancing through suffering in
thanksgivings in the light of our future hope, our
future home.
Too often I hear the words, "I wish I had some really great Christian friends." I always wonder where and how they spend their time. If you only go to church on Sunday mornings you might never develop any deep friendships. Somehow I don't see Paul ever waiting for the "phone" to ring.
You can be sure, the Holy Spirit never enters a man and lets him live like the world.
~A W. Tozer~
If Enoch could live and walk with God by faith in the midst of his sinful generation, we likewise should be able to follow his example, because the human race is the same and God is the same!
~A.W.Tozer~
God loves us and wants to have an intimate relationship with us. Spend time today in fellowship with Him. Ask Him, by His Holy Spirit, to fill your heart to overflowing with knowledge of His great love for you.
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