President John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." I think this is an appropriate position for us to hold in prayer to our Father in heaven as well, "Lord, what do You want to do?" Then, "What would you have me do?"
Our duty is found in the revealed will of God in the Scriptures. Our trust must be in the sovereign will of God, as he works in the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives for our good and for his glory.
~Jerry Bridges~
“We both believe and disbelieve a hundred times an hour, which keeps faith nimble.” —
Emily Dickinson
When we read and meditate upon the words of Jesus – indeed, upon the words of Scripture – we receive in a fresh way the very life of God.
When we hear about Jesus’s “words of eternal life,” we tend to think that these are words that get us into Heaven after we die. There is some truth in this interpretation, though it misses much of what is meant by “eternal life.” Eternal life is not only endless life without death. Rather, eternal life is the life of the age to come, the life of God’s future. Yes, it will be fully experienced in the future. But eternal life is something we can begin to know right now, in this mortal life. Through faith, through the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, through the community of God’s people, through the life of God in us, we receive a foretaste of eternal life that is to come.
“We cannot become so satisfied with earth, that we are content to do without heaven.”
Daniel Etter
Sometimes our effort to be “good” backfires. Our sense of our own goodness can keep us from receiving God’s mercy and grace. The truth is, we’ll never be good enough for God. And we don’t have to be. God embraces us, not because we’re so good, but because of his mercy revealed and given through Jesus Christ.
When we acknowledge that we might also miss Jesus by a mile sometimes, this reminds us to be humble and to rely on God for spiritual guidance in all things.
Our culture values strength and invulnerability. However, Christ calls us to the practice of vulnerability and transparency.
The body of Christ needs all gifts to make it function in harmony and witness to the world.
Following Jesus requires sacrifice. He makes that clear. But with the sacrifice come plentiful benefits
Because God is with us, we can worship and engage with God in the midst of our daily work.
N.T. Wright has said that the biblical text is both supple and subtle. Sounds almost like the characteristic of great wine, doesn’t it? So it should be for those of us who are formed by a biblical vision of leadership. But that means embracing the suffering that leadership requires rather than escaping into a simplistic and ultimately destructive practice of leadership.
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ can never be reduced to merely producing Christian character in ourselves or loving one another, as important as those things are. Being a disciple of Jesus means making other disciples because that is what our Lord has commanded us to do. God’s sovereign purpose in this world is to create a redeemed people to worship and enjoy Him eternally, but He has chosen to accomplish that purpose through human beings.
John MacArthur, from The Heart of the Bible
Here I am, send me; send me to the ends of the earth; ... send me from all that is called comfort on earth; send me even to death itself, if it is but in Thy service, and to promote Thy Kingdom.”
~David Brainerd~
“Redemption is the liberation of man through Christ and the Holy Spirit from forces and thralldoms that hold him bound, individually and collectively.”—
John Mackay
When your great players are team players, everybody else follows their lead. The best team doesn’t always win – it’s usually the team that gets along best.
~John Maxwell~
“There should be a parallel between our supplications and our thanksgivings. We ought not to leap in prayer, and limp in praise.”
~C. H. Spurgeon~
It is not needful to be on your knees all the time, but the heart should be on its knees all the time.
R.A. Torrey
God has no problems, only plans. -
Corrie ten Boom
Your sin nature is so utterly relentless, so entirely unyielding that even when you’ve resisted a temptation it seeks to convince you that you missed out on something by obeying God.
Darrell B. Harrison
"The God of the past has blotted out your sin.
The God of the present makes all things work for your good.
The God of the future will never leave you nor forsake you."
Charles Spurgeon
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