God will provide for our needs. We cannot get caught up in all our wants.
Abundance, like want, ruins men.
~Benjamin Franklin~
Had a Muslim tell me I was a slave to the white mans religion and I told them that The blood of Jesus Christ and the resurrection has set me free because of faith and it just so happens we where in a public area and it was like E.F. Hutton spoke,one on looker said but in truth it was the Lord. I think when it comes to things like that passion and boldness take over. Some years ago, Bob Dylan wrote a song called "Gotta Serve Somebody," which contained these words: "You're gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody."
Or as the Bible says, "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life" (Romans 6:22). "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Flip Wilson, a talented comedian and variety show host of the 60’s, is often credited with the origination of that well known and still popular excuse “The devil made me do it,” I think Eve actually beat him to the punch. Temptation really has not changed much since the Garden of Eden days.
The presence of Christ-redeemed people in a society bears God’s blessings into their city and nation. There is a direct link between their well-being and the vitality of the social and political units of which they are a part.
The key is in our relationships we need to be unified. If we are married it needs to be with our wife and children but if we are not married we still are are in relationships on many levels.
Don’t just sit there, take action!
Already, we have seen our God of promises guarantees to call out a people for Himself, to deliver His people from bondage, to fight for His people, and to give them an everlasting kingdom. Now, God promises an anointed king for His people.
The words we speak determine the course of our lives.
Our duty as Christians is always to keep heaven in our eye
and earth under our feet.
~Matthew Henry~
Our hope is in Jesus Christ. When someone dies, who is a child of God, we cry and feel bad, because we are going to miss them, but we have the hope of seeing them again. We have the hope of heaven, and it will be so different from this earth. We look forward to the inheritance God has for us.
Every single one of the national and global problems facing us today was set in motion by human behavior. The good news is that, since our behavior is the root cause, we have the power to change it! There are actions every one of us can take in our own homes, businesses, and communities that will initiate a chain of specific, positive consequences. The only limit to our impact is our imagination and commitment.
·
"Success is not measured by what you do compared to what others do, it is measured by what you do with the ability God gave you."- Zig Ziglar
Too many people rely on what their friends tell them, what they read and the latest “news” on TV. Be smarter than that!!!
In America, everything you need to succeed is within reach.
One of the great liberal documents of the world is the Declaration of Independence. One of the great conservative documents of the world is the Constitution of the United States. We need both documents to build a country. One to get it started – liberal; and the other to help maintain the structure over the years – conservative.
“Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are.” – Jim Rohn
God gives us more by going deeper than we ask. He wants not only your whole heart—He wants your heart whole.
Max Lucado
The sinner in his sinful nature could never have
a will according to God.
~J. Denham Smith~
Though men are false, God is faithful. ~Matthew Henry~
Have you ever hung out with an elderly couple who has spent their entire lives together? If you have, you undoubtedly noticed something very special and very different about them.
What you won't necessarily see, however, is the years of dedication, commitment, and work they put into their friendship and marriage.
Faithfulness is but one of the magnificent attributes of God. He keeps His covenants, does what He says He will do, is true to His principles, and is, in every circumstance, trustworthy. That’s why you can know with unwavering certainty that He will make you secure as well as protect your life against Satan’s attempts to destroy you.
Too many leaders who are struggling in plain sight have never taken the time to assess their personal status. Some of our most powerful leaders delay this very important evaluation because they feel they don’t have the time, or that the movement or ministry will suffer. So they don their leadership hats, dig deeper, and neglect their personal health and wellness. Some even live in an Elijah-style time loop where they dwell in the depressed proverbial cave as they carry out great feats of miracles, signs, and wonders.
Jesus sets a high bar of how low we will go for those who follow us. The vows of leadership find their ultimate expression in our commitment to love those who follow us, in the same way, Jesus loved those who follow him: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Practical Christian living promotes God's word...
If your Christianity is not based upon the word of God then you are not a true believer IN CHRIST.
God works and moves in people’s hearts to be loyal and protect His people against danger. He will surround them with like-minded people who will watch their backs. These people will have your best interest at heart. When the enemy makes his move against us, we need to trust in the name of the Lord. God moves through other people to make sure we are kept safe.
That Christ and a forgiven sinner should be made one, and share heaven between them, is the wonder of salvation; what more could love do?
~Samuel Rutherford~
If you do not die to sin, you shall die for sin. If you do not slay sin, sin will slay you. Charles Spurgeon
"You can easily find the beginning of your love to Christ, but his love to us is a stream whose source is hidden in eternity." — Charles Spurgeon
"Expositional listening gives us a clear ear with which to hear God." - Thabiti Anyabwile
“If God had granted all the silly prayers I’ve made in my life, where should I be now?” - C.S. Lewis
"Bad theology hurts people." - J.I. Packer
"If you are at enmity with anybody, how can you expect mercy when you appear before God on that day?" — Charles Spurgeon
"Repentance and faith are distasteful to the unregenerate; they would sooner repeat a thousand prayers than shed a solitary tear of true repentance." — Charles Spurgeon
What are we choosing, beloved? It is our choice that settles our destiny. It is not how we feel, but how we purpose. Have we chosen the good part? AB Simpson
Pastor: Being content with the size of your church is wise. Using that as an excuse why you haven’t grown in 10 years is unwise and not contentment. Pastoring is not a side hustle. It is your life! Get to it.
“Our role is to live out this new identity as God’s holy ones." –– Tim Chester, You Can Change, 34.
The Bible’s words on unhappy marriages.
Knowing the difference between a destructive or toxic marriage and an unhappy one is essential. In most unhappy marriages, the issues are finances, communication, and unmet expectations. Adultery, abuse, or abandonment is not acceptable in God’s design for marriage as couples grow in their relationship with Him. Malachi 2:15-16 says that we belong to God in spirit and body, and God wants Godly children. A man who divorces his wife is violent to the person he should protect. So husbands should be on their guard and stay faithful.
The Bible says that spouses don’t have the right to break up an unhappy marriage because God wants marriage to last for a lifetime. In Ephesians 5, marriage is described as a metaphor for our relationship with God. He isn’t fickle in His love for us, and His love doesn’t depend on favorable circumstances. His relationship with us is based on His agreement with us. God desires us to stay faithful to our vows because He understands that broken marriages, hearts and homes can be redeemed for His glory.
Still, this doesn’t mean God wants us to stay in unhappy marriages. He wants us to use our sorrow, pain and disappointment as an invitation to seek His healing. He wants us to know what a healthy marriage looks like, with healthy communication, expectations, conflict resolution, and boundaries. Then, we can experience evolution where we are instead of waiting to find it in a new relationship. An unhappy marriage should indicate that there are things God wants to focus on in our lives and marriages so that we can seek wholeness and healing in every aspect of our lives. God wants us to acknowledge the issues in our marriages as they come up, be willing to recognize them and work as a team toward relational and personal growth. If we do, we’ll continue to grow as a couple and allow us to foster more significant connections, intimacy, and strength in marriage.
The prayer language is available to anyone, to everyone who simply believes. Jon Courson
“The doctrine of divine predestination promotes humility, not arrogance; assurance, not apprehension; responsibility, not apathy; holiness, not complacency; and mission, not privilege. — John Stott, The Message of Romans, 251–252.
"Heartless hymns are insults to heaven." — Charles Spurgeon
All civil distinctions last but to the grave. Some are high and others low, some are rich and others poor; these distinctions will last but a while, but the distinction of good and bad lasts forever. —Thomas Manton, Works 7:454
THE heir to some great estate, while a child, thinks more of a dollar in his pocket than all his inheritance. So even some professing Christians are more elated by a passing pleasure than they are by their title to eternal glory. Moody
"God is faithful and true, and therefore his word is faithful and true." — Charles Spurgeon
When we come to heaven… we shall have no other Bible but the Lamb’s face. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 7:461
"Anger does a man more hurt than that which made him angry." — Charles Spurgeon
"They who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls." — Charles Spurgeon
Teaching what the Bible says about sexuality, gender, marriage, and the value of life is not unloving - staying silent about it is.
"I do not believe in the science of comparative religions. No! There is but one true religion, all the rest are lies." — Charles Spurgeon
“Righteousness must be completely fulfilled, either by us or by a representative acting on our behalf.” — J. Gresham Machen
"I usually find that the greatest doubters are the people who do not read the Bible." — Charles Spurgeon
“The great design of Satan is, either to detain poor undone creatures in a total neglect of salvation, or to deceive them in the way and means thereof.” — William Whitaker, How Are We Complete in Christ, 13.
It is the Gospel, and the Gospel alone, that holds out any hope for this troubled unhappy world. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“To love to preach is one thing, to love those to whom we preach quite another.” -D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"Sitting silently at the feet of Jesus is of more worth than all the clatter of Martha's dishes." — Charles Spurgeon
If Christ Be Anything He Must Be Everything. -C.H. Spurgeon -
"Bad company does a man real harm, for if you lie down with dogs you will get up with fleas." — Charles Spurgeon
“It is because God never forsakes His work that believers continue to stand at the very end.” — Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 546.
God is more concerned with the state of people's hearts than with the state of their feelings. -A.W. Tozer -
"Heresy is a denial of the truth that leads to salvation." -Albert Mohler.
“𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥…” (1 Cor. 6:9) The Word telleth us plainly and peremptorily* who shall go to heaven and who shall go to hell. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 7:462
"We pray best when we are fallen on our faces in painful helplessness." — Charles Spurgeon
A father provides for his child while he lives; but the father dies, and then the child may be exposed to injury. But God never ceases to be a Father. - Thomas Watson
“I’m so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.” — Dr. J. Gresham Machen
You try to make culture pretend. You try to make government pretend, people pretend, and businesses pretend. However, you can’t make biology or Creator God pretend
"Having made Jesus his all, he shall find all in Jesus." — Charles Spurgeon
Repentance, as we know, is basically not moaning and remorse, but turning and change. J.I. Packer
"A church is a soul-saving company or it is nothing." — Charles Spurgeon
"Topical preaching may be interesting but it grows unsatisfactory because it does not fasten itself to the authority of Scripture. It tempts the preachers' genius & invention but is apt to send people with a feeling that they have heard more from him than God." -Phillips Brooks
Sin needs quenching in the Savior's blood, not concealing under the garb of religion. Charles
Spurgeon
"It is better to be happy than to be rich. And happiness lies in the heart rather than in the purse." — Charles Spurgeon
"God helps those who cannot help themselves." — Charles Spurgeon
It is not without reason that the Lord's people are so often termed sheep, for no other creature is so apt to stray or wander. -A.W. Pink -
One leak will sink a ship; and one sin will destroy a sinner. -John Bunyan -
"No enmity exists between the believer and his God. The enmity is dead forever, because Christ died." — Charles Spurgeon
“If God had granted all the silly prayers I’ve made in my life, where should I be now?” - C.S. Lewis
"Holy Scripture has a mighty convincing power. When men soak in it, it soon penetrates into their very souls." — Charles Spurgeon
Though our persons fail, our cause shall be as truly, certainly, and infallibly victorious, as that Christ sits at the right hand of God. The gospel shall be victorious. This greatly comforts and refreshes me. —John Owen, Works 9:507
"David said of his foes, 'They were too strong for me,' but they were not too strong for the Lord to overthrow." — Charles Spurgeon
There are two things [that] mightily concern us— to make religion our business and recreation. Our business in regard to seriousness, and our recreation and delight in regard of the sweetness [of it]. —Thomas Manton, Works 7:472
"One of the greatest blessings that can occur to us is to be made to think little of ourselves." — Charles Spurgeon
"No one can preach with power who does not preach the word. No faithful preacher will water down or neglect the whole counsel of God. Proclaiming the word — all of it — is the pastor's calling." -John MacArthur
Show love to the Word of God by often meditating upon it: Meditate upon the doctrines, promises, threatenings, man’s misery, deliverance by Christ, necessity of regeneration, then of a holy life, [and] the day of judgment. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 7:481
He does not say ye cannot very well serve God and mammon, but ye cannot serve two masters at all. Ye shall be sure to end by serving one. The man who thinks he is serving God a little is deceived; he is not serving God. AB Simpson
“‘He is all.’ Take salvation from first to last, in all the several parts of it, he is the Alpha and Omega, the beginner and perfecter, the author and finisher, of all.” — William Whitaker on Colossians 3:11
'Hearken to the Word with the same attention, reverence, and faith as you would have done if you had stood by Mount Sinai when God proclaimed the law and by our Saviour's side when He published the gospel." -William Beveridge.
"We have all things; not because I have a good store of money in the bank, but because the Lord is my shepherd." — Charles Spurgeon
"Do you expect to be honored in the world where your Lord was crucified?" — Charles Spurgeon
You can pray for faith—and then watch for what happens! Faith, like muscle, develops by being used. Ray Bentley
"God takes more care of us than we take of ourselves. You never heard of a man who numbered the hairs of his head." — Charles Spurgeon
We're good at sinning, but Jesus is better at saving. We're good at regretting, but Jesus is better at rescuing. We're good at denying, but Jesus is better at delivering. We're good at failing, but Jesus is better at forgiving.
The good news is that, following confession to the Lord, there is liberation by the Lord. He sets you free. Jon Courson
Holy Scripture has a mighty convincing power. When men soak in it, it soon penetrates into their very souls. Charles Spurgeon
It is better to go to heaven alone than to hell with company. —Thomas Brooks, Works 1:86
"God means your highest good. Never doubt it." — Charles Spurgeon
Christ is “so complete a Saviour, that, as we have ‘none other,’ so we need none other, because ‘Christ is all.’” — William Whitaker, How Are We Complete in Christ, 14.
"If you always enjoy sermons, the minister is not a good steward. He is not acting wisely who deals out nothing but sweets." — Charles Spurgeon
A carnal man goes about heavenly business with an earthly mind, and a godly man goes about earthly business with a heavenly mind. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 7:481
"With the words of the Lord as our weapons, Giant Despair will not defeat us." — Charles Spurgeon
"Our affections are finite. The more we spend them on heavenly things, the less they will run on earthly." — Richard Sibbes, Works, 5:217.
If you’re going to accept the parts of the Bible that talk about God's love, then you must also accept the parts that talk about God's design for marriage, relationships, and walking in holiness.