“Control is an illusion. It doesn’t work. We cannot control alcoholism.
We cannot control anyone’s compulsive behaviors overeating, sexual, gambling or
any of their behaviors. We cannot (and have no business trying to) control
anyone’s emotions, mind or choices. We cannot control the outcome of events. We
cannot control life. Some of us can barely control ourselves. People ultimately
do what they want to do. They feel how they want to feel; they think what they
want to think, they do the things they believe that they need to do; and they
will change only when they are ready to change. It doesn’t matter if they’re
wrong and we’re right. It doesn’t matter if they’re hurting themselves. It doesn’t
matter that we could help them if they’d only listen to, cooperate with, us. IT
DOESN’T MATTER. IT DOESN’T MATTER. IT DOESN’T MATTER. And that’s the truth. It’s
too bad. It’s sometimes hard to accept especially if someone you love is hurting
him- or herself and you. But that’s the way it is. The only person you can ever
change is yourself. The only person that is your business to control is
yourself.”- Melody Beattie (Codependent
No more)
“Is God a relentless taskmaster? A hard-hearted, shaming wizard with tricks up the sleeve? Is God deaf? Uncaring? Haphazard? Unforgiving? No. A loving God, a caring God. That is the God of our recovery. No more pain than is necessary for usefulness, healing and cleansing. As much goodness and joy as our hearts can hold, as soon as our heart is healed, open and ready to receive. God: approving, accepting, and instantly forgiving. God has planned little gifts along the way to brighten our day, and sometimes big delightful surprises- perfectly timed, perfect for us. A Master Artist, God will weave together all our joy, sadness, and experience to create a portrait of our life with depth, beauty, sensitivity, color, humor and feeling. God as we understand Him: A loving God. The God of our recovery.”- Melody Beattie (The Language of Letting Go)
“It is easy to become negative about our past mistakes and
unhappiness. But it is much more healing to look at ourselves and our past in
the light of experience, acceptance, and growth. Our past is a series of
lessons that advance us to higher levels of living and loving. The
relationships we entered, stayed in, or ended taught us necessary lessons. Some
of us have emerged from the most painful circumstances with strong insights
about who we are and what we want. Our mistakes? Necessary. Our frustrations, failures,
and sometimes stumbling attempts at growth and progress? Necessary too. Each
step of the way, we learned. We went through exactly the experiences we needed
to, to become who we are today. Each step of the way, we progressed. Is our
past a mistake? No. The only mistake we can make is mistaking it for the truth.”-
Melody Beattie (The Language of Letting
Go)
“You have brains in your head. You have shoes in your feet.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you
know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go.”- Dr. Seuss
“Many women make the mistake of looking for a man with whom to develop a relationship without first developing a relationship with themselves; they run from man to man, looking for what is missing within. The search must begin at home, within the self. No one can ever love us enough to fulfill us if we don’t love ourselves. Because when in or emptiness we go looking for love, we can only find more emptiness. What we manifest in our lives is a reflection of what is deep inside us: our beliefs about our own worth, our right to happiness, what we deserve in life. When those beliefs change, so does our life.”- Robin Norwood (Women who love too much)
“O God, fill my soul with so entire a love of Thee that I may love nothing but for Thy sake and in subordination to Thy love. Give me grace to study Thy knowledge daily that the more I know Thee, the more I may love Thee. Create in me a zealous obedience to all Thy commands, a cheerful patience under all Thy chastisements, and a thankful resignation to all Thy disposals. Let it be the one business of my life to glorify Thee by every word of my tongue, by every work of my hand, by professing Thy truth, and by engaging all men, so far as in me lies, to glorify and love Thee.”- John Wesley (Extract from the Disciplines of a Godly Woman)
“Along the way, you are likely to make a mistake or two. Do not let the pain of these mistakes throw you off course. Most importantly, don’t second guess your commitment to yourself. There will be a payoff- I promise! In time, you will realize that you are now healthy, confident and strong enough to choose a romantic partner who is , first and foremost, a friend , and who loves, cares and respects you for who you are, not just what you can do for him or her. You also will find that your improved ‘relationship picker’ will help you get to the point in which you are ready ‘to take the one hand and the one life, you know belongs in yours’. Your improved psychological health will change the ‘polarity’ of your human magnet. You will start to naturally repel narcissists while finding yourself irresistibly attracted to a person with whom you share deep feelings of love, respect and caring. Better yet, a person who wants to love, respect and care for you will be attracted to you. Go to the mirror now, and look yourself in the eye. There is a child inside of you, the child you used to be. He or she is you- a frightened child whose frozen in time because of harm suffered and endured at a young age. You know you desperately want to be released from the shackles of self-doubt, self-loathing and fear. You, and only you, can make the determination to walk down a new path in life that will certainly bring you happiness, serenity and improved self-esteem. The decision is yours: Live with limited risk but perpetual relational dysfunction, or risk everything and choose to begin the personal/emotional work that will bring you to a healthy and satisfying mutual love- true love. Make the right choice.”- Ross Rossenberg (The Human Magnet Syndrome- why we love people who hurt us)
“Your truest identity is that you’re God’s chosen, rescued on the way to glorious child. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit and He has all the power. He can give you the courage to love fearlessly, to walk through hard things peacefully, to speak truth into a dark world, or to rest. You can pursue Him back. You can keep your eyes on Him. You can ask Him to help you. He will. He loves to, because He loves you.”- Scarlet Hiltibidal (Afraid Of All Things)
“To be loved but not
known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest
fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by
God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense,
humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty
life can throw at us.”- Tim Keller
“I don’t focus on trying to get my kids to behave perfectly.
They’re not going to and that’s not my goal. My goal is to raise kids who know
how much they need Jesus and help them see that Jesus is enough. When my
husband and I argue, we do it in front of them. And then we apologize in front
of them. We show them what repentance and forgiveness looks like. Then, I pray,
and ask God to forgive me. And I ask my husband to forgive me. And I ask my
kids to forgive me. I don’t hide my sin from them, I let them see it. And I
tell them I need Jesus every second of everyday.”
“Our fallen nature
craves self-glory. We seek the admiration of others. We love the myth of the
superhero because we want to be one. So we want our successes to be known and
our failures hidden. And since people who achieve remarkable things earn the
favor of others, we are tempted to believe that they earn the favor of God as
well. That’s the last thing Paul wants us to believe. Paul knew better than
most that it is not human achievements that showcase the grace of God. It is
human helplessness.”- Jon Bloom (Paul: I
am content with weakness)
“I am new. I am righteous because He is righteous. He
whispered in the quiet that even in my absence, He is present. Even in my
weakness, He is strong. Even in my anger, He is love. Even when I won’t be
quiet, I am His and He is a single huff from having my heart. Sometimes I
neglect Him, but He will never leave or forsake me. If I’m faithless He remains
faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”- Scarlet Hiltibidal (Afraid of All Things)
“Pray especially for your enemies. Write down the names of people you struggle to forgive. Lift them up to God every day. Don’t pray, ‘God please convict this person and bring him to his senses.’ Instead, pray, ‘Father, help me to understand this person. Help me to love and forgive this person, and to truly want the best for him. Give me a heart full of Christlike love and compassion for him.’ It’s hard to be bitter toward someone you’re praying for.”- Dr Michael Yousseff (THE LEADERSHIP STYLE OF JESUS)
“Many
leaders look down on those who are gentle, thinking they are weak, ineffective,
or even stupid. But Jesus showed us that gentleness is strength. The practice
of gentleness may seem to be a lost art in many of our business dealings, our
classrooms, our homes, and even our churches. But it is an art that every
authentic leader should master. A gentle leader is smart but feels no need to
prove it, strong but feels no need to demonstrate it, confident but feels no
need to tear others down. The gentle leader is strong, but keeps his or her
strength under control.”- Dr Michael Yousseff (THE LEADERSHIP STYLE OF JESUS)
“You mustn’t let your new awareness misogynistic behavior and its effects prejudice you against all men. It is no more realistic to see every man as a misogynist than it is to overlook mistreatment when it is leveled at you. There are many wonderful, caring, sensitive men who do like women and who value their company and their uniqueness. These men are not threatened by a woman’s intelligence, ambition, or competence, because they are secured and solid in their own sense of adequacy. They don’t have to grind women down in order to feel good about themselves.”- Susan Forward (MEN WHO HATE WOMEN & THE WOMEN WHO LOVE THEM)
“Change the
way you see yourself, be careful of those who try to convince you of who you
are. If they convince you that you are ugly when you are beautiful…that you are
stupid when you are smart…that you are incapable when you are capable…they can
also convince you that you are not worthy when you really are. So don’t believe what anyone tells you about
yourself. When you do, and their view of you is negative…you lose your feelings
and your opinions. You become afraid to approach…afraid to be bold…afraid to
pursue new heights. You become silent to everyone…including yourself. And that’s how you lose the most precious
commodity you have to bring to a marriage-you.”- Sherry Argov (WHY MEN MARRY BITCHES)
“One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, we build the trust of those who are present. When you defend those who are absent, you retain the trust of those present. Suppose you and I were talking alone, and we were criticizing our supervisor in a way that we would not dare to do if he were present. Now what will happen when you and I have a falling out? You know I’m going to be discussing your weaknesses with someone else. That’s what you and I did behind our supervisor’s back. You know my nature. I’ll sweet-talk you to your face and bad-mouth you behind your back. You’ve seen me do it. That’s the essence of duplicity. Does that build a reserve of trust in my account with you?”- Stephen R. Covey (THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE)
“It is the personal element that Christian discipleship needs to emphasize. ‘The gift without the giver is bare’. The Christianity that attempts to suffer by proxy is not the Christianity of Christ. Each individual Christian business man, citizen, needs to follow in His steps along the path of personal sacrifice to Him. There is not a different path today from that of Jesus’ own times. It is the same path. The call of this dying century and of the new one soon to be, is a call for a new discipleship, a new following of Jesus, more like the early, simple, apostolic Christianity, when the disciples left all and literally followed the Master. Nothing but a discipleship of this kind can face the destructive selfishness of the age with any hope of overcoming it. There is a great quantity of nominal Christianity today. There is a need of more of the real kind. We need revival of the Christianity of Christ. We have, unconsciously, lazily, selfishly, formally grown into a disciple that Jesus Himself would not acknowledge. He would say to many of us when we cry, ‘Lord, Lord’, - ‘I never knew you!’ Are we ready to take up the cross? Is it possible for the Church to sing ‘Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee’. If we can sing that truly, then we may claim discipleship. But if our definition of being a Christian is simply to enjoy the privileges of worship, be generous at no expense to ourselves, have a good, easy time surrounded by pleasant friends, and by comfortable things, live respectably and at the same time avoid the world’s great stress of sin and trouble because it is too much pain to bear it- if this is our definition of Christianity, surely we are a long way from following the steps of Him who trod the way with groans and tears and sobs of anguish for a lost humanity; who sweat, as it were, great drops of blood, who cried out on the unreared cross, ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?’ Are we ready to make and live a new discipleship? Are we ready to reconsider our definition of a Christian? What is it to be a Christian? It is to imitate Jesus. It is to do as He would do. It is to walk in His steps.”- Charles Sheldon (In His Steps)
“I know what this will mean to you and me. It will mean the complete change of very many habits. It will mean, possibly, social loss. It will mean very probably, in many cases, loss of money. It will mean suffering. It will mean what following Jesus meant in the first century, and then it meant suffering, loss, hardship, separation from anything un-Christian. Our Christianity loves its ease and comfort too well to take up anything so rough and heavy as a cross. And yet what does following Jesus mean? What is it to walk in His steps?”- Charles Sheldon (IN HIS STEPS)
”You are something new in this world. Be glad of it. Make the most of what nature gave you. In the last analysis, all art is autobiographical. You can sing only what you are. You can paint only what you are. You must be what your experiences, your environment, and your heredity have made you. For better or for worse, you must cultivate your own little garden. For better or for worse, you must play your own little instrument in the orchestra of life.”- Dale Carnegie(HOW TO STOP WORRYING &; START LIVING)
"Oh, children of God, you who have suffered, who have been sorely tried, whose sad experiences have often produced broken spirits and bleeding hearts, cheer up! God is in all your troubles, and He will see that all will "work together for good" (Romans 8:28) if you will but be patient, submissive and prayerful."- E.M Bounds
"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I will wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."- Micah 7:7
“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles that He may comfort you; tell Him your longings that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes that He may help you conquer them; tell Him your temptations that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your soul that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved taste for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride hides you from yourself and others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, and troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject, for it is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words for there is nothing to be held back. Neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart. Without consideration, they simply say just what they think…Blessed are those who attain such a familiar , unreserved communication with God.”- Francios Fenelon (Extract from A.w Tozer's book- Prayer)
“What I often ponder is how many Christians are there who are Christians only by instruction, religious education or having somebody manipulate them by dunking them in a baptism pool or sprinkling water on them. How many of these people come to Church every Sunday, take part in the services on Sunday and yet are not known for being Christians, because away from the Church they do not act like a Christian? They are Christian by assumption, by manipulation and instruction, rather than by regeneration. Here is where we need to understand what is of man and what is truly of God. What is of man uses manipulation, outside pressure and instruction to make a person do what he should be doing. But what is of God uses the implantation of a new nature within the heart of a person, causing him instinctively to live like a Christian. Causing him to naturally flow after righteousness and true holiness.”- A.W Tozer (Experiencing The Presence of God)
“The blood of the Lamb has washed away all the evil that kept us away from God. Now, whoever will come may come, regardless of how dark his stain or how far off he may be from God. Any prodigal is the same distance from God as any other prodigal. We hear of rapists, murderers and all the rest. Yet that rapist who rapes and kills in the park in the dark of night is no further off from God than that proud businessman surrounded by his adoring family, who reads Shakespeare and listens to Beethoven. All are sinners, and all have come short of the glory of God. We are all without hope and without God in the world. Yet there is hope in God, if we will believe.”- A.W Tozer (Experiencing The Presence of God)
“Because the locust came and ate up everything, there was poverty. There was lack. But now God was saying to Israel, ‘I am a God of restoration. The locusts, cankerworms, palmerworms, and caterpillars have eaten up everything. You’ve been desolate, poor, and living in lack. You’ve been ashamed, and you haven’t had enough. You’ve gone without. But great things are about to happen in your lives. I am going to pour so much upon you. I am going to cause so much fruit to come. The land that was barren is going to be fruitful. The wheat is going to come in its fullness. There will be wine and oil. I am going to cause an abundance, an overflow.”-
“If you are believing God for restoration, you should also believe
God for more now than you had before. Some people are believing to have just
enough: ‘If I have just enough, I’ll be satisfied.’ ‘God, just let me make it
through this week, through the year.’ But I believe that God is a God of
overflow. Just as He did for Job, God will give you enough, and you will not
only make it through the year, but you’ll also have enough for years to come. Wouldn’t
it be nice if God gave you enough so you didn’t have to worry about this year
or the next year? God doesn’t want you to make it through the year, and when
December 31 comes you say, ‘Whew! Man, that was close.’ He wants you to run
down and overtaken by His blessings.-
“The cycle of rejection, bitterness, and anger can stop with you. Once you’ve been set free, your past choices do not have to ruin your life. You can confidently say, ‘I am going to walk with God. God is going to forgive me and bless me. I am going to raise my child the best way I can. I am going to bind the devil. I am going to protect my child and bring him or her up in the fear of God. I’m going to get around the anointing and the glory of God. My child and I are going to get under a good spiritual covering, a good church, and we are going to submit to spiritual authority. The Devil cannot have my child. Devil, you are a liar!’”- John Eckhardt (DESTROYING THE SPIRIT OF REJECTION)
“It used to be that Christianity was a revolutionary faith that turned the world upside down. But today Christians sit in Sunday morning church services looking at their watches, wondering what time dinner will be served, or thinking about the kickoff. And we hope that church won’t interfere with the things we would really rather be doing. Jesus looked at the church in Laodicea and said, in effect, ‘I suffered and died for you. Yet you give me one hour a week on Sunday mornings and tip Me a few dollars in the collection plate, as if I’m your waiter, not your Savior. I gave my life for you, but do you witness for me? Do you tell your friends and neighbors about all I’ve done for you? Either love me with a white-hot intensity- or stop playing church. Your lukewarmness is sickening.’”- Michael Yousseff (Secrets of the End Times)
“Many Christians struggle with a lack of assurance. They can point to the moment they received Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but now they wonder if they are still saved. They wonder if there’s some unconfessed sin in their lives that has canceled out their salvation. Maybe God has reopened the book of life and erased their name. If that is your struggle today, I want you to know that God does not write our name in the book of life in pencil. He does not erase our name every time we sin, then write it back in when we repent. That is not what the Bible teaches. When God writes our name in the book of life, He writes it in the Precious Blood of Jesus. There is no ink that is more permanent and inedible than the blood of our Savior.”- Michael Youssef (SECRETS OF THE END TIMES)
"Envy makes us resent people who have something we don’t have. It feeds on itself and is ultimately destructive. When we envy, the people who are loving, safe and generous become the bad guys in our eyes. Envy is ultimately connected with coveting, and is best defined as a tendency to hate other people for having what we want. Envy says, ‘What is inside me is bad. What is outside me is good. I hate anyone who has something I desire.’ Ask God to help you be grateful for what you have, and to rejoice in the good things that others have."- Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsed (Safe People)
"What can couples do to protect the love and affection they feel for each other- in short, what protects a marriage? For men, the advise is not to sidestep conflict, but to realize that when their wife brings up some grievance or disagreement, she may be doing it as an act of love, trying to keep the relationship healthy and on course (although there may well be other motives for a wive's hostility). When grievances simmer, they build and build in intensity until there's an explosion; when they are aired and worked out, it takes the pressure off. Men also need to be on guard against short-circuiting the discussion by offering a practical solution too early on- it's typically more important to a wife that that she feel her husband hears her complaint and empathizes with her feelings about the matter(though he need not agree with her). She may hear his offering advice as a way of dismissing her feelings as inconsequential. Husbands who are able to stay with their wives through the heat of anger, rather than dismissing their complaints as petty, help their wives feel heard and respected. Most especially, wives want o have their feelings acknowledged and respected as valid, even if their husbands disagree. More often than not, when a wife feels her view is heard and her feelings registered, she calms down. As for women, the advice is quite parallel. Since a major problem for men is that their wives are too intense in voice complaints, wives need to make a purposeful effort to be careful not to attack their husbands- to complain about what they did, but not criticize them as a person or express contempt. Complaints are not attacks on character, but rather a clear statement that a particular action is distressing. An angry personal attack will almost certainly lead to a husband's getting defensive or stonewalling, which will be all the more frustrating, and only escalate the fight. It helps, too, if a wife's complaints are put in a larger context of reassuring her husband of her love for him."- Danial Goleman (Emotional Intelligence)
“The Christian faith makes it possible for us nobly to
accept that which cannot be changed, to meet disappointments and sorrows with
an inner poise, and to absorb the most intense pain without abandoning our
sense of hope, for we know, as Paul testified, in life or in death, in Spain or
in Rome, “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose.”- Martin Luther King (Strength to Love)
“Most of those in the tragic parade of fallen Christian “leaders”
professed to know the Bible. While they were not disconnected with the contents
of the Bible, they were disconnected from the Author of the Bible. It has
become painfully obvious that people don’t always live according to what they
externally profess, but they do live according to what they internally believe.”-
Neil T. Anderson (Restoring Broken Relationships)
“I once heard an English Bishop say, ‘When the Apostle Paul
came into a town, he either incited a riot or triggered a revival. When I go
into a town, they gave me high tea. In all truthfulness, I don’t want high tea.
I would settle for either revival or riot. At least the riot would prove I had
proclaimed God’s truth without compromise. If you compromise the message of
Jesus, the world will love you. But if you proclaim Jesus and His Gospel
without compromise, the world will hate you. Truth always provokes hostility.”-
Michael Yousseff
“Reading God’s word gives you clarity of mind and strength
of soul. It builds your faith. It provides guidance and direction. It
encourages you and gives you hope. It comforts you and speaks to you about your
value and worth and purpose. It gives you wisdom and understanding and
knowledge. It helps you find the restoration and wholeness God has for you. God
gave you His word because He loves you. Always read it with that in mind.”-
Stormie Ormatian (Choose Love)
“Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the
crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the
sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every handclasp.
Do not fear being misunderstood and do not waste a minute thinking about your
enemies. Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then,
without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal. Keep your
mind on the great and splendid things you would like to do, and then, as the
days go sliding away, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing upon the
opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desires. Picture in
your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought
you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual…Thought is
supreme. Preserve a right mental attitude-the attitude of courage, frankness
and good cheer. To think rightly is to create. All things come through desire
and every sincere prayer is answered. We become like that on which our hearts
are fixed. Carry your chin and the crown of your head high.”- Elbert Hubbard (Extract from How To Win Friends and Influence People)
“Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness. ‘To know all is to forgive all.’ As Dr. Johnson said: ‘God Himself, sir, does not propose to judge man until the end of his days.’ Why should you and I?”- Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People)
“O God, be exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s
treasure shall seem dear unto me if only You are glorified in my life. Be
exalted over my friendships. I am determined that You shall be above all,
though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be exalted
above my comforts. Though it means the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying
of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before You. Be exalted over
my reputation. Make me ambitious to please You even as a result I must sink
into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into Your
proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above
my family, my health and even life itself. Let me decrease that You may
increase; let me sink that You may rise above!”- A.W Tozer (The Pursuit of God)
“I have always tried to teach my children that people are
what matter in this world. I’m not in the basketball business. Karyn is not in
the music business. Stuart was not in the broadcasting business. We are all in
the people business. And no matter how successful we become, we should never be
too big or too famous or too busy to share our lives with the people we
encounter along the way. Stuart was a gracious, kind, humble human being, and
that’s what made him great. So be a great human being my friend. Humbly take
time for people.”- Pat Williams (Humility)
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude;
be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy;
be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without
folly.”- Jim Rohn (Extract from Pat William's book Humility)
“People are supposed to respect Christ not us, not us.
Nothing is less attractive than a Pharisee. We need to show others that Jesus
is the Savior of imperfect people like us so they can be led to grace instead
of spiritual narcissism. The Bible lists many failures of spiritual leaders to
show the grace and strength of God, not people. The wish for “spiritual respect”
is the refusal to fall on our face and beg for mercy and forgiveness.”- Dr.
Henry Cloud (Changes that Heal)
“Picture hundreds of people entering eternity in a plane
crashing the Sea of Japan. They stand before God utterly stripped off visa
cards, checkbooks, credit lines, image clothes, how to succeed books, and
Hilton reservations. Here are the politician, the executive, the playboy, and
the missionary kid, all on level ground with absolutely nothing in their hands,
possessing only what they brought in their hearts. How absurd and tragic the
lover of money will seem on that day!”- John Piper
“What Christ did by dying on the cross for sinners was to
appease the wrath of God against sinners. By requiring of His son such
humiliation and suffering for the sake of God’s glory, He openly demonstrated
that He does not sweep sin under the rug. All contempt for His glory is duly punished,
either on the cross, where the wrath of God is propitiated for those who
believe, or in hell where the wrath of God is poured out of those who don’t.”-
John Piper
“Husbands and wives, recognize that in marriage you have
become one flesh. If you live for your private pleasure at the expense of your
spouse, you are living against yourself and destroying your joy. But if you
devote yourself with all your heart to the holy joy of your spouse, you will
also be living for your joy and making a marriage after the image of Christ and
His Church. This is what God intended for marriage: Put the glory of Christ on
display by pursuing your joy in the holy joy of your beloved.”- John Piper
“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those
fruitless joys which I had once fear to lose!...You drove them from me, you who
are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place,
you who are sweeter than all pleasure.” – Saint Augustine
“The world thinks that the only way to love people is to
tolerate and approve of their sinful, self-destructive lifestyles. We
Christians know better. We have seen in the Gospels that Jesus was a friend of
sinners; yet He never approved of their sin. Jesus was a friend to the woman
caught in adultery, but He told her to go and leave her life of sin (John8:11).
Jesus was a friend to Zacchaus, the crooked tax collector, but when the message
of Jesus convicted him, he repented and repaid those he had cheated- four times
over (Luke19:8). Authentic Christian love tells the truth and confronts sin.
Let’s dare to be slandered as “unloving” while we dare to love as Jesus loves. Jesus
taught us to hate the sin and love the sinner. In fact, we hate the sin because
we love the sinner. Sin destroys lives; Jesus saves.”- Michaael Yousseff
“You see, what we
have now is a world of uninitiated men. Partial men. Boys, mostly, walking
around in men’s bodies, with men’s jobs and families, finances, and
responsibilities. The passing on of masculinity was never completed, if t was
begun at all. The boy was never taken through the process of masculine
initiation. That’s why most of us are Unfinished men. And therefore unable to
truly live as men in whatever life throws at us. And unable to pass on to our
sons and daughters what they need to become whole and holy men and women
themselves.”- John Eldredge (Journey of the Wild Heart)
“Remember- only the blood of Jesus can save you. Only the
blood of Jesus can set you free. Only the blood of Jesus can break the power of
sin, shame, and addiction. If you feel alone and unloved, claim the blood of
Jesus. If you feel guilty and worthless, plead the blood of Jesus. If you feel
weak and powerless, hold fast to the blood of Jesus. He bled to death to give
you life.- Michael Yousseff (SECRETS OF THE END TIMES)
“Help me, O Lord, to make a true use of all disappointments
and calamities in this life, in such a way that they may unite my heart with
Thee. May I give way to no direct murmurings; no repining’s at the prosperity
of others. Save me from thinking severely or unjustly of others: from being too
much dejected or disposed to peevishness, covetousness, or negligence in
affairs. Enable me to live so as to deserve a friend, and if I never have one
on earth, be Thou my Friend, for in having Thee I shall have all that is dear
and valuable in friendship. May I learn by practice to love Thee above all
things, that so I may be out of the power of the world and my earthly circumstances
give me no uneasiness, I would have my wealth to be Thy favour.”- Susan Wesley
“Satan tried to destroy us using the people who abused us.
Then God redeemed us. You and I are designed with greatness- valiant hearts,
generous compassion, safe mercy, and fierce intelligence. Princess Warriors
are, thus, world changers with scars. You bear the scars that display the Enemy’s
fierce fight against you for all the glory you bring to your days on earth.
Golden legacy lies ahead.”-Mary Ellen Mann
“When people are not full of God’s Spirit, human
introductions are so important in the church. People say, ‘Here is a brother
who has done this and that for the Lord, and I recommend him to you.’
Everything is so prim and proper. But when God’s power comes through His
kingdom, you will not need any human introductions to preach the gospel! When
God’s flame is inside a person, everyone will know it. Those who are on the
side of the Lord will welcome it, while others will attack it and try to quench
the flame. When the Holy Spirit is absent, people become so important.
Believers look to preachers with big names and flock to meetings where someone
has a new kind of message. But when the Holy Spirit is present, nobody cares
about who is preaching, or anybody’s name, because all are concerned only about
glorifying Jesus and making His name great.”-Brother Yun
“Don’t think you need to be some great preacher or have
theological training to share the gospel! To be a preacher, all you have to do
is obey Jesus. Simply share those things from God’s Word that He placed in your
heart. If you can tell another person about what Jesus Christ has done in your
life, you will be surprised how interest they are. Most people have no interest
in arguing theology, but when someone they know sincerely and respectfully
shares their experiences, they will listen. Your testimony is a powerful
weapon. Don’t underestimate it.”-Brother Yun
“The enemy of our souls is a dirty fighter. He attacks us in
any way he can. He will attack you through your children, your health, and your
purity. He never sleeps and is looking for any foothold he can gain to diminish
your testimony. Satan’s two main objectives in this world are to stop people
from being saved and try to distort and corrupt the church in order to reduce
its effectiveness. The devil cannot touch or hurt the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
enthroned in heavenly glory. His victory is complete and sealed for all
eternity. Instead the devil tries to destroy Christ’s bride.”- Brother Yun
“I encourage you to
bow in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to give you God’s heart for the world.
Pray that you may have a worldwide vision and love for the nations as Jesus
does. Then ask that he might give you the sensitivity to hear His voice and the
determination to obey His call. I know that when you gain a worldwide vision
for God’s kingdom, your life will be full of purpose and will never lack
direction again.”-Brother Yun
“We can grow to such a place in Christ where we laugh and
rejoice when people slander us, because we know we are not of this world, and
our security is in heaven. The more we are persecuted for His sake, the more
reward we will receive in heaven. When people malign you, rejoice and be glad.
When they curse you, bless them in return. When you walk through a painful
experience, embrace it and you will be free. When you learn these lessons,
there is nothing left that the world can do to you. God is my witness that
through all tortures and beatings I’ve received, I have never hated my
persecutors. Rather, I saw them as God’s instruments of blessings and the
vessels He chose to purify me and make me more like Jesus. When a child of God
suffers, you need to understand it is only because the Lord has allowed it.”-
Brother Yun
“What can you ever really know of other people’s souls- of
their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole
creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your
hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put
Him off with speculations about your next door neighbors or memories of what
you have read in books. What will all that chatter and heresy count( will you
even be able to remember it?) when the anesthetic fog which we call “nature” or
“the real world” fades away and the Presence in which you have always stood becomes
palpable, immediate, and unavoidable?”- CS Lewis (Mere Christianity)
“Our example of living a Godly life is a much more powerful
message than any lecture could ever be. Prayer is a powerful tool that parents
have at their disposal. Pray with them at meals and at bedtime. Pray
consistently for your child’s spiritual, physical, and psychological health and
safety. Pray God would bring healthy mentors and good friends into their lives.
Pray for their sexual purity. Pray for their future spouses (and their
parents). Pray for wisdom and discernment. And pray for your child’s decision
making.”-Rick Johnson
“Your spouse is your greatest asset as a parent. A wife can
build her husband up in front of the children, edifying him and gaining him
respect that he couldn’t garner on his own. When she shows him respect and
actively acknowledges his leadership, you can bet your children will as well.
But if she’s contemptible toward you, your children will probably not have much
respect for you. She can also keep you up to speed on the emotional challenges
your kids are facing. Lastly, she is an excellent barometer to help you gauge
how well you are doing as a father. “- Rick Johnson
“Fathers have an incredible influence (positive or negative)
on nearly every aspect of their daughter’s lives. Because a daughter so yearns
to secure the love of her father, she believes what her father believes about
her. If he calls her stupid or incompetent, she will believe that about
herself. But if he calls her intelligent, beautiful, competent, and
accomplished, she will believe that to be true as well. Her father determines
how a girl feels about herself. If a father shows his daughter love, respect,
and appreciation for who she is, she will believe that about herself as a
woman, no matter what anyone else thinks. That’s a powerful responsibility,
guys. As men we often don’t think about what we say before we say it. Word’s don’t
mean as much to us as a person’s actions do. But our words mean a lot to our
children. Merely the tone of our voice makes a big difference in how the
message is receives as well. Words said loudly, sarcastically, or in anger are
interpreted one way by our children. You can speak the same words gently or in
love and they mean something entirely different. Our true inner feelings and
attitude always come out in the words we speak.”-Rick Johnson (Overcoming Toxic Parenting)
“I’ve had many people ask me if I wish my childhood had been
better. I tell them “No.” While I didn’t enjoy those experiences, the things
that I went through in childhood allow me to relate to other people who have
gone through similar issues. They made me who I am. I would not be able to be
used by God to touch the lives of many, many people if I had not had those
experiences. The challenges you’ve been through have developed a part of who
you are- often the best parts. If we are willing God can use our worst wounds
to minister through us to others.”-Rick Johnson
“Suffering and overcoming challenges is a key component in
creating powerful character qualities in males and females alike. Life is
difficult, and it doesn’t seem to care about our needs or wants most of the
time. Also, it never seems to get any easier no matter how much older and
experienced we get. Life still presents challenges. The good part is that those
challenges are what develop our character and teach us to be the kind of people
who can make a difference in the world. Greatness is not possible with some
sort of failure to overcome. Suffering develops character. Without suffering we
never have an opportunity to test ourselves and see what we are made of.”-Rick
Johnson
“With everything that has happened to you, you can either
feel sorry for yourself, or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is
either an opportunity to grow, or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get
to choose.”- Dr. Wayner Dyer
“We ache to find our life partners, to find that person who
can fall in love with us and be loved by us. So we push the issue. We date
everyone attractive who crosses our path without employing some critical
thinking or prayer to help us determine if this is someone worthy of our time.
We stay in relationships that are way past their sell-by date. We say yes to
quick marriages and then end up saying yes to quick divorces. It’s not making
us any happier. It’s not making us any wealthier. In fact, it’s making us more
cynical, and sometimes loading us up with heavy emotional baggage that we’ll
need to unpack years down the road. In the midst of all this pain and
frustration, we can begin to think that finding real love isn’t possible. Maybe
settling for a series of hookups is the best we can hope for from life.
However, cynicism doesn’t stop us from yearning desperately for something more,
for connection to each other and to God. We don’t have to give in to cynicism.”-
Devon Franklin and Megan Good (The Wait)
“God does not look at us like a piece of porcelain that,
once broken, is always broken. He looks at us all as broken people whom He
makes new again. With His forgiveness, you can start all over and be as clean
as when you began. Your past failure does not have to doom you to further
sexual brokenness. Just because you have fallen in the past does not mean that
you have ruined yourself and cannot start over. You can become clean again. And
as you do, you can commit to remaining pure and enjoy all of the benefits of
that state. You can develop the inner life and your ability to love. You can
know if someone really loves you. You can learn how to delay gratification and
give to others. You can have your underlying splits, needs, and hurts healed
and fulfilled so that you will not have unsatisfying relationships. And you can
finally give up being God and allow Him to be God for you.”- Dr Henry Cloud and
Dr John Townsed (Changes that Heal)
“Fine feelings, new
insights, greater interest in religion mean nothing unless they make our actual
behavior better. In that sense the outer world is quite right to judge
Christianity by its results. Christ told us to judge by results. A tree is
known by its fruit; or as we say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making
Christianity unbelievable to the outside world. The war-time posters told us
that Careless Talk costs lives. It is equally true that Careless Lives cost
Talk. Our careless lives set the outer world talking; and we give them grounds
for talking in a way that throws doubt on the truth of Christianity itself.”-CS
Lewis (Mere Christianity)
“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose
your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and
favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with
every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep nothing back.
Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that
has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will
find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay.
But look for Christ and you’ll find Him, and with Him everything else thrown
in.”- CS Lewis
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild
that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He’s doing. He is
getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew
that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He
starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not
seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He’s
building quite a different house from the one you thought of- throwing out a
new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making
courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage:
but He’s building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”- CS
Lewis
“When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His
side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find
Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others-
not because He has favorites, but because it is impossible for Him to show
Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just
as sunlight, though it has no favorites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror
as clearly as in a clean one. You can put this another way by saying that while
in other sciences the instruments you use are the things external to yourself
(things like microscopes and telescopes), the instrument through which you see
God is your whole self. And if a man’s self is not kept clean and bright, his
glimpse of God will be blurred- like the moon seen through a dirty telescope.
That is why horrible nations have horrible religions: they have been looking at
God through a dirty lens.”- CS Lewis
“We may, indeed, be
sure that perfect chastity- like perfect charity- will not be attained by any
merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so,
it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is
being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up,
and try again. For however important chastity ( or courage, or truthfulness, or
any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which
are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us
to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves
even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in
our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down
content with anything less than perfection.”-C S Lewis
“A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that
can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who
never goes wrong, but a man who’s enabled to repent and pick himself up and
begin over again after each stumble- because the Christ life is inside of him,
repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of
voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.”- CS Lewis
“Lord You gave me this day. I didn’t ask for it, but I was
glad to have it. I did the best I could with it and You helped me, and I thank
You. I made some mistakes. That was when I didn’t follow your advice, and I’m
sorry about that. Forgive me. But I had some victories and some successes, too,
and I’m grateful for your guidance. But now, Lord, mistakes or successes,
victories or defeats, the day is over and I’m through with it, so I’m giving it
back to You. Amen.”- Unknown
“If he still isn’t giving you what you want, the question to
ask yourself is whether you really want him. Maybe he’s a bratty child in an
adult body and never went through the rites of passage from ‘boy’ to ‘man’…and
his mamma still does his laundry which gives him a false sense of grandiosity.
When you encounter a guy like that, don’t assume you are no longer desirable.
You have to get up, dust yourself off, and say, ‘He isn’t the person I thought
he was. I need to dust myself off and invest my energy elsewhere.’ As Maya
Angelou said, ‘When people show you who they are, believe them…the first time.’
With a good man, he’s not thinking, ‘How can I take?’ He’s thinking, ‘How can I
give?’ A quality man wants to keep his wife or girlfriend happy-emotionally. It’s
ego: ‘I am man enough to please my woman!”- Sherry Argov (Why men Love Bitches)
“Many people lack the basic equipment to be in a
relationship and there’s nothing you can do to change it. You can’t take a
skunk and dip it in perfume and hope it becomes a puppy. Eventually, the
perfume will wear off and you’ll still have a skunk on your hands. Always look
at who you’re dealing with; what you see is what you get. His character won’t
change. His career might change, his clothing might change, his priorities
might change, his residence might change. But his character will stay the same.
The men who think it’s okay to give scraps to you lack the basic equipment
necessary for a good relationship. What is the basic emotional equipment?
Character and decency. Consideration for others. Appreciation for kindness. A
sense of proportion with respect to how much a person gives, and how much they
take. Loyalty to those who are loyal to you.”- Sherry Argov
“No man was to be eulogized for what he did; or censured for
what he did, or did not do, because all of us are the children of conditions,
of circumstances, of environment, of education, of acquired habits and of
heredity molding men as they are and will forever be. Perhaps Lincoln was
right. If you and I had inherited the same physical, mental, emotional characteristics
that our enemies have inherited, and if life had done to us what it has done to
them, we would act exactly as they do. We couldn’t possibly do anything else.
Let’s be charitable enough to repeat the prayer of the Sioux Indians: ‘O Great
Spirit, keep me from ever judging and criticizing a man until I have walked in
his moccasins for two weeks. So instead of hating our enemies, lets pity them
and thank God that life has not made us what they are. Instead of heaping
condemnation and revenge upon our enemies, let’s give them our understanding,
or sympathy, our help, our forgiveness, and our prayers.”- Dale Carnegie (How to stop worrying and Start Living)
“I genuinely believe that relationships with family and close friends are one of the greatest sources of happiness in life. It sounds simple, but like any important investment, these relationships need consistent attention and care. But there are two forces that will be constantly working against this happening. First, you’ll be routinely tempted to invest your resources elsewhere- in things that will provide you with a more immediate payoff. And second, your family and friends rarely shout the loudest to demand your attention. They love you and they want to support your career, too. That can add up to neglecting the people you care about the most in the world. The theory of good money, bad money explains that the clock of building a fulfilling relationship is ticking from the start. If you don’t nurture and develop those relationships, they won’t be there to support you if you find yourself traversing some of the more challenging stretches of life, or as one of the most important sources of happiness in your life.”- Clayton, James, & Karen (How Will You Measure Your Life)
“A strategy-
whether in companies or in life- is created through hundreds of everyday
decisions about how you spend your time, energy, and money. With every moment
of your time, every decision about how you spend your energy and your money,
you are making a statement about what really matters to you. You can talk all
you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but
ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources you have
in a way that is consistent with your strategy. In the end, a strategy is
nothing but good intentions unless it’s effectively implemented. How do you
make sure that you’re implementing the strategy you truly want to implement?
Watch where your resources (personal time, energy, talent, wealth) flow- the
resource allocation process. If it is not supporting the strategy you’ve
decided upon, you run the risk of a serious problem. If the decisions you make
about where you invest your blood, sweat, and tears are not consistent with the
person you aspire to be, you’ll never become that person.”-Clayton Christensen,
James Allworth & Karen Dillon
“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that we tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today. Why are we such fools- such tragic fools? ‘How strange it is, our little procession of life!’ wrote Stephen Leacock. ‘The child says, ‘When I’m a big boy.’ And then, grown up, he says, ‘When I get married.’ But to be married, what is that after all? The thought changes to ‘When I’m able to retire.’ And then, when retirement comes, he looks back over the landscape traversed; a cold wind seems to sweep over it; somehow he has missed it all, and it is gone. Life, we learn too late, is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.”- Dale Carnegie
“When
children live with criticism, they learn to condemn. When children live with
hostility, they learn to fight. When children live with ridicule, they learn to
be shy. When children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty. When children
live with tolerance, they learn to be patient. When children live with
encouragement, they learn to be confident. When children live with security,
they learn to have faith. When children live with fairness, they learn justice.
When children live with praise, they learn to appreciate. When children live
with approval, they learn to accept themselves. When children live with
friendship, they learn to love.”- Unknown
“The best way to guarantee a miserable life of breakups, regret, broken hearts, and divorce is to be passive and lazy and do nothing. If you don’t take action and keep moving, you’ll wind up flat on your back. You’ll hop from one relationship to the next looking for someone to solve all your problems and make you happy. You’ll be discouraged, angry, depressed, and resentful. You will be tempted to blame everyone else. Eventually you’ll get numb to the pain and stop caring about true love. You’ll settle for temporary affection, the hookup, the booty call, porn, or the one night stand. And one day you’ll wake up and realize you’re all alone. You’ll take inventory of the years you wasted chasing the wrong thing. You’ll look back on the road you’ve been on and realize you were heading in the wrong direction the whole time. At that point you can repent and turn around. You can submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and He can transform you by His grace. He can forgive you and you can start over.”- Clayton & Sharrie King
“Decide
where you want to go, what kind of person you want to be, and what kind of
marriage you want to have. Look down the road of your life and imagine a
marriage that is built on a solid foundation- not fickle feelings but firm
faith in Jesus. Dedicate yourself to moving towards that goal. Write it down in
the margin of your Bible or your personal journal. And if God gives you the
gift of remaining single, you will find joy and fulfillment in Jesus and His
Church, being uniquely positioned to focus more energy on ministry and kingdom
work.”- Clayton & Sharrie King
“Fathers
model how a man is supposed to love a woman. Mother’s model how a woman
responds to a man’s love. The respect that a man shows his wife is the level of
respect that their son will think all women deserve. Appreciating the value
that a woman brings to a relationship and to the family is another gift that a
father or other male role model gives to a boy. Learning to cherish and love a
woman in the ways that she needs, not just the ways that he feels more
comfortable with, is a lesson that a boy will only get from watching his father
every day. Recognizing a woman’s more tender heart and the devastation that his
words can cause her are things taught to a boy by his father. And perhaps the
greatest lesson a father passes along is the ability to admit he is wrong,
apologize, and ask for forgiveness- not easy things for most males.”- Rick
Johnson
“Friendship is a great gift. One to be prayed for and not to be taken for granted. If you do not have the kind of friendship you long for, ask God to bring it in your life, to give you eyes to recognize it when He does. When God gives a friend, he is entrusting us with the care of another’s heart. It is a chance to mother, and to sister, to be a life giver, to help someone else become the woman she was created to be, to walk alongside her and call her deep heart forth. Friendships need to be nurtured and guarded and fought for. We need to call one another without waiting to be called first. We need to ask how our friends are doing and really listen to their answers. Listen between the lines. We love our friends by pursuing them- calls, little presents, cards, invitations to play, to go for a walk, to go to a movie. We offer our hearts.”- Stasi Eldredge (Captivating)
“The joy of sex is to know you have entered into a holy covenant relationship with the woman you love, and that God gladly has provided a joyous, exciting, physically pleasing act with which you seal your covenant. Each time you have sex with your wife, you are once again saying with every fiber of your being that you love her. Sex with guilt is nothing like that at all. Sex without guilt is the greatest pleasure a man will ever know. Sex is sacred to marriage. Sex is for marriage.”- Ed Cole
“Many is the
man who stands behind the pulpit on a Sunday morning and delivers good advice
instead of the good news of the Gospel. Thousands die spiritually as a result.
The difference between good news and good advice can be the difference between
life and death.”- Ed Cole
“A righteous woman speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She teaches the young and helps friends with prudent advice. She does not indulge in gossip. Her counsel can be trusted and is sought by young and old alike. Her husband does not have to spend half his time straightening out problems at home. She shows good judgment in all her decisions. She is a virtuous woman, a woman after God’s own heart. This woman prays for her husband daily. She uses her position of influence- as his completer in God’s eyes, as his helpmate- to intercede on his behalf. In fact when she prays for her husband she is actually praying for herself as God has commanded us to cleave together as one. As you pray for your husband ask God’s blessing over his life. Ask God to give him wisdom and discernment. Petition God to help make him a leader that others look up to. And ask God to help you know how best to use your influence to support and encourage his growth and development.”- Rick Johnson
“Your life
is like a book. The title page is your name, the preface your introduction to
the world. The pages are a daily record of your efforts, trials, pleasures,
discouragements, and achievements. Day by day your thoughts and acts are being
inscribed in your book of life. Hour by hour, the record is being made that
must stand for all time. Once the word “finish” must be written, let it then be
said of your book that it is a record of noble purpose, generous service, and
work well done.”- John C. Maxwell
“Lord, I do not know fully what the value of the Blood is, but I know that the Blood has satisfied Thee; so the Blood is enough for me and it is my only plea. I see now that whether I have really progressed, whether I have really attained to something or not, it is not the point. Whenever I come before Thee, it is always on the ground of the precious Blood.”- Watchman Nee (The Normal Christian Life)
“The most important characteristic of a godly mother is not her relationship with her children. It is her love for her husband. The love between a husband and wife is the real key to a thriving family. A healthy home environment cannot be built exclusively on the parent’s love for their children. The properly situated family has marriage at the center; families shouldn’t revolve around the children. Furthermore, all parents need to heed this lesson: what you communicate to your children through your marital relationship will stay with them for the rest of their lives. By watching how mother and father treat one another, they will learn the most fundamental lessons of life- love, self-sacrifice, integrity, virtue, sin, sympathy, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness. Whatever you teach them about those things, right or wrong, is planted deep within their hearts.”- John MacArthur
“God is at work in His universe. He is not outside the world looking on with a sort of cold indifference. Here on all the roads of life, he is striving in our striving. Like an ever loving father, He is working through history for the salvation of His children. As we struggle to defeat the forces of evil, the God of the universe struggles with us. Evil dies on the seashore, not merely because of man’s endless struggle against it, but because of God’s power to defeat it.”- Martin Luther King (Strength to Love)
“We have experiences when the light of day vanishes, leaving
us in some dark desolate midnight- moments when our highest hopes are turned
into shambles of despair or when we are the victims of some tragic injustice
and some terrible exploitation. During such moments our spirits are overcome by
gloom and despair, and we feel that there is no light anywhere. But ever, and
again, we look toward the east and discover that there is another light which
shines even in the darkness and the “spear of frustration” is transformed “into
a shaft of light”. This would be an unbearable world were God only to have a
single light, but we may be consoled that God has two lights: a light to guide
us in the brightness of the day when hopes are fulfilled and circumstances are favorable,
and a light to guide us in the darkness of the midnight when we are thwarted
and the slumbering giants of gloom and hopelessness rise in our souls. We need
never walk in darkness.”- Martin Luther King
“Five years ago faith came to me, I believed in the doctrine of Jesus, and my whole life underwent a sudden transformation. What I had once wished for I wished no longer, and I began to desire what I had never desired before. What had once appeared to me right now became wrong, and the wrong of the past I beheld as right…My life and my desires were completely changed; good and evil interchanged meanings.”- Leo Tolstoi
“Dad, you
shape your daughter’s future. You impact every aspect of your daughter’s life.
You show her how women should be treated, how men should act, and how a man
shows healthy love and affection toward a woman. And perhaps, most importantly,
you set the standard for how your daughter feels she deserves to be treated by
men.”- Rick Johnson
“We are afraid of the superiority of other people, of failure, and of the scorn of disapproval of those whose opinion we most value. Envy, jealousy, a lack of self-confidence, a feeling of insecurity, and a haunting sense of inferiority are all rooted in fear. We do not envy people and then fear them; first we fear them and then subsequently we become jealous of them. Is there a cure for these annoying fears that pervert our lives? Yes, a deep and abiding commitment to the way of love. “Perfect love casteth out fear”. Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”- Martin Luther King
“Two types of Negro churches have failed to provide bread. One burns with emotionalism, and the other freezes with classism. The former, reducing worship to entertainment, places more emphasis on volume than on content and confuses spirituality with muscularity. The danger in such a church is that the members may have more religion in their hands and feet than in their hearts and souls. The other type of Negro church that feeds no midnight traveler has developed a class of system and boasts of its dignity, its membership of professional people, and its exclusiveness. In such a church the worship service is cold and meaningless, the music dull and uninspiring, and the sermon little more than a homily on current events. If the pastor says too much about Jesus Christ, the members feel that he is robbing the pulpit of dignity. This type of church tragically fails to recognize that worship at its best is a social experience in which people from all levels of life come together to affirm their oneness and unity under God.”- Martin Luther King
"Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom you will. Let me be employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for You, or brought low by You. Let me have all things , let me have nothing, I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours."- John Wesley
“God makes prayer identical in force and power with Himself, and He says to those on earth who pray, “You are on earth to carry on my cause. I am in heaven, the Lord of all, the Maker of all, the Holy One of all. Now, whatever you need for my cause, ask Me, and I will do it. Shape the future by your prayers, and concerning all that you need for present supplies, command Me. I made heaven and earth and all things in them. Ask for great things. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. It is my work that you are doing, it concerns my cause. Be prompt and full in praying. Do not abate your asking, and I will not wince or abate my giving.”- EM Bounds (Prayer)
“Can ambition that lusts after praise and position preach
the Gospel of Him who made Himself of no reputation and took on the form of a
servant? Can the proud, the vain, the egoistical preach the Gospel of Him who was
meek and lowly? Can the bad-tempered, selfish, hard, worldly man preach the
doctrine that is based on long suffering, self-denial, tenderness, and that
imperatively demands separation from enmity and crucifixion to the world? Can
the hireling official, heartless, perfunctory, preach the Gospel that demands
that the Shepherd give His life for His sheep? Can the covetous man, who counts
salary and money, preach the Gospel until he has cleansed His heart and can say
in the spirit of CHRIST AND Paul in the words of Wesley: “I count it dung and
dross; I trample it under my feet; I (yet not I, but the grace of God in me)
esteem it just as mire of the streets, I desire it not, I seek it not”?”- E.M
Bounds (Prayer)
“Praying gives sense, brings wisdom, and broadens and
strengthens the mind. The prayer closet is a perfect school teacher and
schoolhouse for the preacher. Thought is not only brightened and clarified in
prayer, but thought is born in prayer. We can learn more in an hour of praying,
when praying indeed, than from many hours of rigorous study. There are books in
the closet that can be found and read nowhere else. Revelations are made in the
closet that are made nowhere else. - EM Bounds
“I do not mean that every prayer we offer is answered exactly as we desire it to be. Were this the case, it would mean that we would be dictating to God, and prayer would degenerate into a mere system of begging. Just as an earthly father knows what is best for his children’s welfare, so does God take into consideration the particular needs of His human family, and meets them out of his wonderful storehouse. If our petitions are in accordance with His will, and if we seek His glory in the asking, the answers will come in ways that will astonish us and fill our hearts with songs of thanksgiving. God is a rich and bountiful Father, and He does not forget His children, nor withhold from them anything that it would be to their advantage to receive.”- J. Kennedy Maclean
“Luther said, “To have prayed well is to have studied well.” More than that, to have prayed well is to have fought well; to have prayed well is to have lived well; to pray well is to die well. Prayer is a rare gift, not a popular ready gift. Prayer is not the fruit of natural talents; rather it is the product of faith, of holiness, of deeply spiritual character. It is just as difficult to pray as it is to live a holy life. In this fact we find the reason why a wall of exclusion is built around our prayer closets: men do not love holy praying because they do not love and because they do not determine to live holy lives. Men learn to pray as they learn to love, for perfect prayer is only another name for love. Perfection in simplicity, in humility, in faith- these form its chief ingredients.”- EM Bounds
“God is more real to me than any thought or thing or person. I feel His presence positively, and even more as I live in closer harmony with His laws, as they are written in my body and mind. I feel Him in the sunshine or rain; my feelings are most nearly described by saying that everything is mingled with delicious restfulness. I talk to Him as to a companion in prayer and praise, and our communion is delightful. He answers me again and again, often in words so clearly spoken that it seems my outer ear must have carried the tone, but generally in strong mental impressions. Usually a text of scripture will unfold to me some new view of Him and His love for me, and His care for my safety. The knowledge that He is mine and I am His never leaves me; it is an abiding joy. Without it, life would be a blank, a desert, a shore less, trackless waste.”
“The prayers of holy men appease God’s wrath, drive away temptations, resist and overcome the Devil, procure the ministry and service of angels, rescind the decrees of God. Prayer cures sickness and obtains pardon; it arrests the sun and its course and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon; it rules over all gods and opens and shuts the storehouses of rain; it unlocks the cabinet of the womb and quenches the violence of fire; it stops the mouths of lions and reconciles our suffering and weak faculties with the violence of torment and violence of persecution; it pleases God and supplies all our need.” – Jeremy Taylor
“My purity is for His delight primarily. If I’m still single at age seventy, my heart will be full of joy over the relationship I have shared with my regal King, thankful that immorality never harmed the depth of intimacy we’ve shared. As my King Regent, He has every right to all of me- including the sexual me. I am His alone. Marriage then becomes the icing on the cake, not the cake. He is the main thing, the only thing that matters ultimately. I am waiting to stand before my King on the new earth, waiting for His ‘Well done”. I am waiting for unimaginable closeness with Him forever. And I want nothing on earth that impinges on my delight in Him forever.”- Dr. Richard Moss
“I remember a time in my life many years ago when I was frozen with fear at what God had called me to do. It seemed so huge a task that I was unable to bring myself to face it. A friend came to me and spoke two words that broke the paralysis in my life. He said, “Do something!” and walked out of my house. That day I “did something”. Momentum came into my life, and I began to run towards the vision God had for me. Those two words were a turning point in my life.”- John Mason
“Balance. It’s something that God has wired into every
system. Every system tries to find balance in anyway it can. And many
dimensions need to be balanced in marriage: power, strength, togetherness, sex,
and so on. Problems come when, instead of trading places in these areas, one
spouse is always powerful and the other powerless; one spouse is always strong
and the other weak; one spouse wants togetherness and the other wants
separateness; one spouse always wants sex and the other doesn’t. In each case,
the couple has struck a balance, but it is not a mutual balance.”- Dr Henry
Cloud & Dr John Townsed (Boundaries)
“When we sin sexually, we hurt ourselves. But not physically. Even when there are no physical consequences; we hurt ourselves. After all, sex is not just physical. Sexual sin is like no other sin because your sexuality bridges body and soul. Sex is a physical act that reaches beyond your physical body. Sexual sin is like no other sin because it cuts deeper than other sin. It leaves a more noticeable scar. When you sin sexually, you literally sin against your true self. Your soul self. To sin against yourself is essentially to betray and steal from yourself. Sexual sin robs you of your own future. Sexual sin undermines future intimacy. Sexual sin creates an obstacle to honesty. Sexual sin is the sin we will be most tempted to hide, the sin we will most likely try to smuggle into future relationships. Sexual sin eventually equates to self-inflicted pain. The New Testament teaches us that sex is for married people. Not because God is against sex, but God is for you.”- Andy Stanley
“If you’re in a relationship with someone who is depending on you to help him or her become a better person (I.e. change), it’s not going to happen. That is beyond your ability. You can’t change another person for the better any more than that person can change you. People will change when they decide to change. If you’re in a relationship because you believe that your right person is going to help you change, you’re wasting your most valuable resource- time. To put it bluntly, you’re wasting your life. Your right person can’t change you. You are expecting the impossible. In fact, the dependency you have developed is probably an impediment to the change you long to experience.”- Andy Stanley
“I hope you fall in love and stay there. I hope you get the
opportunity to commit yourself to someone prepared to commit to you in return.
You have no control over when or if you’ll meet the right person. What you can
control is what you do in the meantime. So, become the person the person you’re
looking for is looking for. Prepare to commit. Who knows, there may be someone
out there preparing for you.”- Andy Stanley
“Why are we experiencing such an epidemic of open and not so open sin in the church today? Because we have promoted a “gospel” that says it is possible to be a Christian while stubbornly refusing to address practices or behaviors we know are sinful. We have accepted the philosophy that it’s O.K for Christians to look, think, act, and talk like the world. We have made it an offense to admonish people about their sin, either privately or when necessary publicly. If only we were as loath to commit sin as we are to confront it.”-Nancy Leigh DeMoss
“The fear of being alone is a happiness thief. And latching on to another person to escape the fear of being alone is not a solution to loneliness. Signs to recognize include the following: Spending hours on the telephone yakking about your problems instead of seeking real help from God. Being addicted to social media. Partying and pursuing a jam-packed social life. Going to any length, even if it’s against your principles, for favor. Spending money foolishly and getting into debt. Becoming clingy and overly possessive. If single, wasting time dating the wrong person who spiritually robs you (and God help you if you marry that person).”- Marie Chapian
“One of the biggest reasons divorce is so rampant today is because people get married for the wrong reasons. People seek attraction, companionship, and compatibility first, not calling. But what Genesis 2:18 shows us is that calling must be central to a healthy relationship. You don’t need to do the same job as the person you marry, but it’s important to be heading in the same direction. You need to have an understanding of the overarching calling of your life. Let a shared mutual calling to Christ and a desire to fulfill His purpose together be foundation to your marriage.”- Colt McCoy
“I’m only in my early sixties, and I already find myself weary of the hollow memories of what few accomplishments I may have mustered in my life. My failures continue to embarrass me. The inadequacies I have carried with me since my youth still frustrate me. My insecurities trouble my soul. And the praise of others has an increasingly hollow ring. I am tired of worrying whether or not the sermon I preached was good enough or whether or not someone will pat me on the back for a job well done. I’m tired of worrying about what people think about me. I’m weary of the carnal feeling that sometimes haunts me when someone talks about their favorite preacher…and it’s not me. Bottom line, I just flat out get tired of me. But I never get tired of Jesus. After all these years, I still find Him more compelling, more engaging, more awesome, more surprising, more fulfilling, and more attractive than ever before. I never get tired of singing His praises or of watching Him perform. I find Him to be more griping. Absorbing. Beyond Comprehension. And that’s why- along with Paul, my grandmother, Billy Graham, and countless others through the years- I find myself longing to know Him better.”- Joseph Stowell
“I will know what your relationship with God is if you lose your house, if you lose your car, if you lose your scholarship. If you lose your boo. If your relationship is real, you won’t sit there with your lips stuck out. You won’t take a sabbatical from church. You will come into the house of God and you will declare, ‘I will still worship God. I will give God glory because the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”- Joseph W. Walker III
“If you think you can be a discerning believer without spending time with God- think again. If you think you can be a woman of God or a man of God without studying His Word- think again. If you think you can be super spiritual without being a super-servant- think again. If you think you can substitute fame and reputation for character and integrity- think again. If you think you can use God’s church or God’s people to achieve your selfish goals- think again. If you think you can experience God’s blessing without living in faithful obedience to Him- think again.”- Dr Michael Yousseff
“Look around at our own society with spiritual eyes, and you will see people who are hungry and desperate to be loved and accepted. And all too often, they settle for sex. They want to be valued and esteemed, but they settle for being used as an object of momentary pleasure. They are made in God’s image, and God himself has said that it’s not good for people to be alone. Yet people settle for a counterfeit togetherness that ultimately leads to more emptiness and loneliness than ever.”- Dr Michael Yousseff
“If you are a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, a coach, or a mentor, then here is a message you need to impart to the young people within the sphere of your influence: ‘God sees you as a mighty warrior for him. You can accomplish literally anything if you depend entirely on God’s resources.’ You may look at a child and see nothing but bad attitudes, behavioral problems, immaturity, laziness, and a bad temper- but you can give that child a new vision of himself, of herself, a vision of limitless potential in reliance upon God’s resources. I plead with you, don’t discourage your children, your grandchildren, or your students. At the same time, I plead with you not to do what so many worldly parents and educators are doing today-heaping empty praises on children, inflating their arrogance and pride by telling them they have potential in their humanity.”- Dr Michael Yousseff
“God specializes in turning weaklings into heroes. He loves to take inadequate, insecure people and transform them into servants who will lead and leaders who serve. God often passes over the strong, the confident, the self-sufficient- the very people you and I would likely select- and he chooses instead the shy ones, the inexperienced ones, the weak and insecure ones. God is in the business of turning common, ordinary human clay into faithful, bold leaders. He cannot use people who are so self-confident they have no need of him. He excels at using the weak and insecure.”- Dr Michael Youssef
“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been. It doesn’t matter what’s been said about you. You may have been the worst of the worst. You may have hated Jesus. Yet, through the power of His Word, God wants to redefine who you are. He can literally turn your life around. He did so with Saul. He can do it for you. Who knows? Maybe you’re going to be the one who births faith in a whole generation of people. Maybe you thought you’d lost your shot to be a part of what God’s doing. But God’s saying, Oh no, you haven’t. You’re going to have such a big role in my future plans for my people, it’s going to blow your mind. I’m the One who changed Saul to Paul. I change people’s names. I change people’s destiny. And I can do that in your life as well.”- Louie Giglio
“One of the most valuable decisions we can make is to not be influenced in our lives by what’s happening in other people’s lives. What occurs in someone else’s life has nothing to do with what God wants to do in yours. He loves you just as much as He loves others. Every time we put our eyes on other people, we take our eyes of the goal.”- John Mason
“God is working even in the midst of whatever problem you’re
going through. He’s working in both seen and unseen ways. He’s working to put
you on a path that you’ll never regret, a path of extraordinary goodness that’s
a reflection of His character. In the meantime your task is to dwell in the
land and cultivate faithfulness. That means that today you have one major
assignment: trust God for your future and cultivate faithfulness for whatever’s
in your hands at the moment.”- Louie Giglio (The Comeback)
”It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with
superior minds…In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most
precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. God be thanked for books.
They are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the
spiritual life of past ages. Books are true levelers. They give to all, who
will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual presence, of the best and
greatest of our race.”- William Ellery Channing
“You’re a child of God, dearly beloved, and on a mission in
a culture that is lost and confused. You’re part of God’s rescue mission to
bring people into His kingdom. You represent the gospel in everything you do
and say, especially in how you conduct your relationships and handle your body.
The way you treat the opposite sex, the ways you entertain yourself, the images
you view, the temptations you flee, and the sexual standards you live by are
all ways that you testify that you belong to Jesus Christ.”- Clayton &
Sharie King
“Although we all make mistakes in life, the problem occur when we try to hide our mistakes, to cover them up rather than to learn from them and allow other people to learn from them. We have to learn to deal honestly with them. When we are confronted by failure and mistakes, we can leave them behind and go on with our lives. I am not sure that we all get repaid in this life for every dishonest deed we do, but I am convinced that we all harvest the fruits of our labors.”- Ben Carson (Think Big)
“Isn’t it strange
That princes and
kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common people like you and me
Are builders for eternity?
Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass,
A book of rules;
And each must make-
Ere life is flown-
A stumbling block
Or a stepping stone.” (R. L. Sharpe)
“If things go bad for you-
And make you a bit ashamed,
Often you will find out that
You have yourself to blame…
Swiftly we ran to mischief
And then bad luck came.
Why do we fault others?
We have ourselves to blame…
Whatever happens to us,
Here are the words we say,
“Had it not been for so-and-so
Things wouldn’t have gone that
way.”
And if you are short of friends,
I’ll tell you what to do-
Make an examination
You’ll find the faults in you…
You’re the captain of your ship,
So agree with the same-
If you travel downward,
You have yourself to blame. (Extract from Think Big)
“Drawing near to God is not an activity. It is intimacy. It is the act of meeting God intimately, talking to Him, listening for the voice of His Spirit within us, listening to His voice speaking to us through the Scriptures. It is the act of being honest with ourselves and with God about our sins, our failures, and our ungodly habits. It is the act of coming clean and repenting, of asking His Spirit to fill us, of renewing a right relationship with God.”- Michael Yousseff
“Waiting for your prince is not about finding the right man, but becoming the right woman. A young lady in waiting totally surrenders herself to the Lordship of Christ, diligently uses her days, trusts God with growing faith, demonstrates virtue in daily life, loves God with focused devotion, stands for physical and emotional purity, lives in security, responds to life with contentment, makes choices based on her convictions, and waits patiently for God to meet her needs.”- Jackie Kendall
“Your children will attract a variety of young people who might end up in your living room. When the mission field comes through your door, you might be tempted to say, “Oh no, I don’t like that boy or girl”. Reflect before you respond. Pray before you react. Be careful not to reject the child quickly, because he or she has been delivered to your room by the Holy One. Your first response may be, “Not this type of child, Lord! Isn’t it time for her to go home?” You cannot love your kids’ friends to Jesus without accepting them where they are and praying for where they need to go. When you and I learn to do both, we will effectively fulfil our place in this mission field that God delivered to us.”- Jackie Kendall
“I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have
learned in my seventy five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced
and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through
happiness…This, of course, is what the cross signifies. And it is the cross,
more than anything else, that has called me inexorably to Christ.”- Malcom
Muggeridge
“We like to pretend that, when tempted, we have no choice
but to give in. We claim we simply couldn’t help ourselves. But the real
problem with temptation is not that we have no choice, but that we make the
choices that lead to temptation. Once we make the choice to live dangerously
and flirt with temptation, we have already placed our feet on the path to sin.
Satan can’t force any believer against his or her own will. The devil can’t
make you do anything. If you yield to temptation, you have no one to blame but
yourself. We can kid ourselves all we want, pretending that “the devil made me
do it”, but the truth is that we will never experience growth, maturity, and
Christlikeness until we deal with temptation and sin in our lives.”- Dr Michael
Youseff
“A person with only an intellectual experience of faith
has a faith that is dead. In his mind, this person knows
the doctrine of salvation, but in his life, he has never submitted to it. There
are thousands, if not millions, who call themselves Christians but have nothing
to show for it. They can articulate Christian doctrine, but those doctrines
have never touched their hearts, or moved their hands. Their profession of
faith is worthless.”- Dr Michael Youseef
"All those whom God uses to be an authority should have the spirit of David. We should not say anything to defend ourselves. There is no need for us to say anything for ourselves. We should not act on our own. There is no need to move even a little finger to prove that we are chosen by God. We should trust, wait, and humble ourselves. We have to wait for God’s timing. God will surely accomplish what He has set out to accomplish. The more submissive we are, the more we will learn to be an authority. The more we prostrate ourselves before the Lord, the more God will vindicate us. But if we try to speak for ourselves, fight for ourselves, and complain, we will destroy God’s work. We have to learn to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. The more we try to be an authority in ourselves, the more we will walk down the wrong path. The way is clear before us. In the Old Testament the greatest authority was Moses, while among all the kings the greatest authority was David. Both behaved the same way in their capacity as deputy authorities. We have to touch these men’s spirits before we can maintain God’s authority."- Watchman Nee
“If there is any authority in me today, such authority
comes from God. I am only the channel through which authority flows. Other than
this distinction, I am the same as everyone else; I am no different from the
most foolish man. What sets me apart from others and gives me the authority is
God, not anything in myself. Therefore, we have to learn to fear God and to
fellowship with Him. This is not a light matter. We should tell the Lord, “I am
no different from all the other brothers and sisters.” If God has arranged for
us to bear some authority and learn to be a deputy authority, we have to learn
to live before Him and have constant fellowship with Him. We have to ask Him to
show us His heart’s desire. Only when we see something before God can we minister
it to the brothers and sisters, and only then are we qualified to be a deputy
authority.”- Watchman Nee
"During these years I've found out one thing- God's work is never according to reasons. Even if I do not understand what He's doing, I still have to worship Him because I'm His servant. If everything that He does is understood by me, I might as well be the one to sit on the throne. Once I see that He's far above me, that only He is the most Holy One, and that I should bow down in the dust, all reasons will disappear from me. From this day forward, authority only is the fact, not reasons, rights, and wrongs. Those who know God surely know themselves, and once a person knows himself, all reasons are removed."- Watchman Nee
“The single most important motive for raising children is the glory of God, and that is where we must remain grounded. We must endeavour to instil in them a character that radiates God’s glory. We must work to build in our children a life direction that wants nothing less than God’s glory. We must toil to form a lifestyle that desires to do all to the glory of God. A life focused on God’s glory will have glory for its own reward, for then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”- Kent and Barbara Hughes
“How do I
see myself? Do I see myself as someone carrying the presence of God? Do I see
myself the way God sees me? Do I envision myself as a Boston Marathon Champion?
I confess that I don’t always see myself the way I should- the way God sees me.
God sees a man’s heart because the heart determines the true value of a man. I
often forget who I am- an adopted, redeemed, and freed child of God who carries
the kingdom of God within me. As Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is within you.’
It is so important that I pay attention to the way I see myself because it
determines the way I look at every other aspect of my life. God, help me to see
myself through Your lens.”- Ryan Hall
“I’m excited about what God is doing in my life right now, and I feel free because running isn’t the most important thing in my life. Intimacy with God is so much sweeter than running fast. But ironically, as I get closer to God, apply His principles to my life consistently, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me more, I run better and enjoy running more. I’m always tempted to feel as if I can use God to run faster, but I know this is shortchanging God’s best for me. All I want is God. All I need is to receive His love. I need to continually ask myself, what is giving me joy today, my accomplishments or God’s presence? The key to joy is continually being in God’s presence- running, working, eating or even sleeping.”- Ryan Hall
“I reminded
myself before the run that the only thing that matters is receiving Christ’s
love and giving it out to others. I think God wants to work on the way I see
myself right now. Getting wrapped up in times and performance is so easy! Am I
worthy of respect and love because of my fast pace during workouts and my race results,
or am I an adopted child of God who is incredibly loved by the Creator of the
universe simply because I am His child? Do I appreciate others for who they
are, or do I judge them by their performance and value them only when they run
well? These questions challenge me.”- Ryan Hall
“When I
die- I do not die anymore, however- and someone finds my skull, let this skull
still preach to him and say, ‘I have no eyes, nevertheless I see Him; I have
neither brain nor mind nevertheless I see Him; though I have no lips, I kiss
Him; I have no tongue yet I sing praise to Him with all who call upon His name.
I am a hard skull, yet I am wholly softened and melted in His love; I lie here
exposed on God’s acre, yet I am there in paradise! All suffering is forgotten!
His great love has done this for us, when for us He carried His cross and went
out to Golgotha.”- Kohlbrugger
"Part of our priestly role as parents is to pronounce blessings on our kids. We do this whenever we say something like, 'The Lord has His hand on you Tommy!' Moms and dads can also repeat blessings from the Bible to their children. The following blessing was given by Aaron and his son to the Israelites: 'The LORD bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."-David& Heather Kopp
“I said to the Lord: ‘ I will do nothing but sit at
your feet if that is what you want. I do not want to do anything for my own gratification,
for my own need, for my own acclaim. I will not do anything now, Lord, until
You bring me to it. I will not seek a job or a project unless You show me that
it is from You and for You- period! I surrender all my time to You.’ I felt an immediate
relief, release, and joyful freedom. I was no longer in charge. I belonged to
God, my time belonged to Him, and if He wanted me to do anything, He would open
the doors He wanted me to walk through and shut those He didn’t. Until then, I
would follow Psalm46:10: Be still, and know that I am God.”-Vicki Rose
“The fruitfulness of your life will depend on how
dependent you are on the Holy Spirit. Attempting to bear fruit (and making
positive changes) on your own power is as foolish as tying apples on the
branches of a dead apple tree. From a distance it might look as if the tree is
alive and fruitful, but on closer inspection, people would realize the
fruitfulness is fake. Many “religious” people try to fake fruitfulness. They
tie on all kinds of good activities- such as attending church services, helping
the poor, and being polite and generous to others- but there really is no
spiritual life or power inside them, because they are not connected to God. All
their “spiritual” activities are just for show. When you get close to them, you
see that they don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.”-Rick Warren
"Here is how the New England Puritan Cotton Mather imagined children addressing their parents on the Judgment Day for their neglect of parental discipline: You should have taught us the things of God, and did not; you should have restrained us from sin and corrected us, and you did not; you were the means of our original corruption and guiltiness, and you never showed any competent care that we might be delivered from it...Woe unto us that we had such...careless parents."-Kent & Barabara Hughes
"The first link between my soul and Christ is not my goodness but my badness, not my merit but my misery; not my standing but my falling."- Charles Spuregeon
"Believers who are the most desperate about themselves are the ones who express most forcefully their confidence in grace...Those who are the most pessimistic about man are the most optimistic about God; those who are the most severe with themselves are the ones who have the most serene confidence in divine forgiveness...By degrees the awareness of our guilt and God's love increases side by side."-Paul Tournier
"Your husband is capable, honorable, and worthy of your attention and admiration. He desires to know more than anything that you trust him, you believe he has the wisdom and talent to succeed. He is fulfilled when he sense that, despite his inadequacies, you see the possibilities and potential God has given him as your provider and protector. He likes knowing you're praying for him, assuring him that he still has what it takes to be the man of your dreams. When he feels genuinely affirmed by you, it makes him want to live up to your trust in most cases. Then even when he falls short, it will be apparent that his desire was to meet your expectations. You'll see in his eyes that he was trying to please you."-Priscilla Shirer
“The prayer
closet is more important than the Oval Office, has more influence than the
United Nations and can accomplish more than all the dictators in the world
combined. Satan laughs at Christian’s wishes but trembles at their
intercessions. Don’t let anyone or anything keep you from your prayer closet.
When you enter, you will find the Lord waiting for you. Be honest with God. Don’t
try to hide anything from Him-your sins or your feelings. When you empty
yourself, God can fill you with Himself. After you have talked it all out with
God, even if He hasn’t clearly revealed all the answers you were seeking, you
can then go about your regular business and see what God will do. People and
things will let you down. God never will. Take it all to Him. First.”- Ed Cole
“A man of
God loves the woman God gives him as Christ loved the Church, leads his family
in truth by keeping his word, gives his word in marriage and keeps it, however
difficult it is at times. A woman and family can live on that man’s word
forever. They can depend on him. So can the world. So can God.”-Ed Cole
“No matter
what others do, keep your heart and mind clear and clean by washing them
constantly with the water of the Word of God. Then your words will follow with
truth and integrity. Great works are built on great words. Let your words be
great in God. Let God be great in your words. Be a man of the Word and a man of
your word.”-Ed Cole
“Love
focuses on the one loved, with thought of self secondary. Lust, which is perverted
love, focuses on self at the expense of the other person. The provisions of
love are identity, security, and stability. These are what Christ provides for
the Church and hat men are to provide for their wives and families. If your
wife is willing to bear your name and children, then you must be willing to
bear the responsibility of providing for her and them an identification that is
valuable to the worth of their own beings. A woman’s security is not primarily found
in her home but in her relationship to her husband”-Ed Cole
“Whatever God has called your husband to be or do, He has also called you to support it and be part of it, if in no other way than pray, encourage, and help in whatever way possible. For some women that means creating a good home, raising the children, being there for him, and offering prayer and support. Other women may take an active role by becoming a partner or helper. In either case, God does not ask you to deny your own personhood in the process. God has called you to something, too. But it will fit in whatever your husband’s calling is, it will not be in conflict with it. God is not the author of confusion, strife, or unworkable situations. He is a God of perfect timing.”~Stormie Omartian
“A sincere Christian,
though he has a great concern for
the well-ordering of his outward life—yet his main business
and work is about his heart—
"Oh that this ignorant heart were but more enlightened!
Oh that this proud heart were but more humble!
Oh that this profane heart were but more holy!
Oh that this earthly heart were but more heavenly!
Oh that this unbelieving heart were but more believing!
Oh that this passionate heart were but more meek!
Oh that this carnal heart were but more spiritual!
Oh that this vain heart were but more serious!
Oh that this dull heart were but more quickened!
Oh that this dead heart were but more enlivened!
Oh that this lukewarm heart were but more zealous
for God, and Christ, and the gospel, and the great
concerns of eternity!”-Thomas Brooks
the well-ordering of his outward life—yet his main business
and work is about his heart—
"Oh that this ignorant heart were but more enlightened!
Oh that this proud heart were but more humble!
Oh that this profane heart were but more holy!
Oh that this earthly heart were but more heavenly!
Oh that this unbelieving heart were but more believing!
Oh that this passionate heart were but more meek!
Oh that this carnal heart were but more spiritual!
Oh that this vain heart were but more serious!
Oh that this dull heart were but more quickened!
Oh that this dead heart were but more enlivened!
Oh that this lukewarm heart were but more zealous
for God, and Christ, and the gospel, and the great
concerns of eternity!”-Thomas Brooks
"A
holy Christian is like gold. Cast gold into the fire, or
into the water; cast it upon the ash-heap, or into the
pleasant garden; cast it among the poor or among the
rich, among the religious or among the licentious—yet
still it is gold, still it retains its purity and excellency.
Just so, cast a holy Christian—a golden Christian—
into whatever condition you will, and into what company
you will—and still he will retain his purity, his sanctity!
Yes, the worse the times are, the more a holy man studies holiness, and prefers holiness, and prizes holiness, and practices holiness.”~Thomas Brooks
into the water; cast it upon the ash-heap, or into the
pleasant garden; cast it among the poor or among the
rich, among the religious or among the licentious—yet
still it is gold, still it retains its purity and excellency.
Just so, cast a holy Christian—a golden Christian—
into whatever condition you will, and into what company
you will—and still he will retain his purity, his sanctity!
Yes, the worse the times are, the more a holy man studies holiness, and prefers holiness, and prizes holiness, and practices holiness.”~Thomas Brooks
“The covenant of grace consists in these
things: that God will be our God; that He will give us a new heart, a new
spirit; that He will not turn away His face from doing of us good; that He will
put His fear into our hearts; that He will cleanse us from all our filthiness
and idols; that He will rejoice over us to do us good; that we shall be His people;
that we shall fear Him forever; that we shall walk in His statutes; that we
shall not depart from Him.”- Thomas Brooks
“Do you, O distressed
sinner, need a loving God, a compassionate God, a reconciled God, and a
sin-pardoning God? Here you may find Him, in the covenant of grace. Do you need a Christ to counsel you by His
wisdom, and to clothe you with His righteousness, and to adorn you with His
grace? Here you may find Him in the covenant of grace. Do you need the Spirit to enlighten you, to
teach you, to convince you, to awaken you, to lead you, to cleanse you, to
cheer you? Here you may find Him in the covenant of grace. Do you need grace, or peace, or rest, or
quiet, or contentment, or comfort, or satisfaction? Here you may find it in the
covenant of grace. God has laid into the covenant of grace, as into a
storehouse, all those things that sinners or saints can need.”-Thomas Brooks
“God wants people to get saved, but in His way. Not everybody is called to preach in the main cities of the world. Maybe God will send you to a little town, to those difficult places where it’s hard to get the people to understand the good news. All souls have value for God. Even those who are not called to pastor have an important part in the kingdom of God. We are part of an army, and the one in the battle zone is not only the courageous one in the forefront but also the one in administration, he who prepares the meal, those who are in charge of helping the warriors. All ministries are important. Yours is too.”-Carlos Annacondia
“It has
become apparent that the true measure of yieldness to the Lordship of Christ is
the measure of our discipline and devotion in Christian stewardship. We can
talk until doomsday about being surrendered Christians, but we virtually lie
until we give evidence of our surrender through stewardship. And make no
mistake about it, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ to render an
account of our stewardship we will wish that we had given more since it is inescapably
true that what we spend we lose and what we keep will be left to others and
what we give away will remain forever ours.”- Dr. Stephen Olford
“Be careful you do not offer too much of yourself to a man until you have good, solid evidence that he is a strong man willing to commit. Look at his track record with other women. Is there anything to be concerned about there? If so, bring it up. Also, does he have any close male friends- and what are they like as men? Can he hold down a job? Is he walking with God in a real and intimate way? Is he facing the wounds of his own life, and is he also demonstrating a desire to repent of Adam’s passivity and/ violence? Is he headed somewhere in life? A lot of questions, but your heart is a treasure, and we want you to offer it only to a man who is worthy and ready to handle it well.”~ John& Stasi Eldredge
“To love at
all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung
and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must
give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it careful round with
hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the
casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in the casket- safe, dark,
motionless, airless- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become
unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable…The only place outside Heaven where you
can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell.”~C.S Lewis
" God confirms His Word; not our flesh, our desires, or our presumption. He is not concerned to preserve our fleshly pride. He is concerned that we have a good report, that we portray the gospel correctly, that we fulfill His will. But He is not concerned with our popularity. Once we realize this truth, we can release ourselves from a great deal of pressure."~Dr Bill Hamon
"God does not confirm us; He confirms His Word. We must not say, 'I quoted scripture; I took a stand. Now, God, your reputation is at stake; you've got to back me up!' If we do, the Lord will answer, 'Who say? I don't have to save my reputation. My reputation is not at stake; it's not based on anything anybody does. I'm God; I'm eternal; nobody will hurt me."~Dr Bill Hamon
"When the purity of the gospel and people's eternal destiny are at stake, doctrinal error and those who teach it cannot be tolerated. My purpose is not to criticize people's motives but to evaluate their message. We can't be fuzzy or indecisive here because the gospel is clear, and there is so much at stake. The gospel is not an intellectual belief in Jesus or an emotional response to His claims. The gospel is coming to a place in your life where you recognize your desperate need of salvation and your utter lostness as a sinner, you turn from your sin in repentance, and trust Christ's sacrifice on the cross and nothing else for your salvation."~Jack Graham
"Regardless of what we do, how many books we read, or how many university diplomas we obtain, if we never have a practical experience with God, we will never understand the love of the Father or the life of Jesus. I truly desire for you to know firsthand that the kingdom, the power, and the glory of God are not just theological concepts; they can be experienced here and now, in the present. To know Jesus is to bring His reality, His dominion, and His power to earth. That is why we need more than theology; we need experience."~Guillermo Maldonado
"Our hearts are made to worship. It is what we do; we can't help it. Now, worship is one of those words made sickly by religion. We hear 'worship' and we think, She's talking about going to church. Singing hymns. Nope. Worship is far more passionate. Worship is what we give our hearts away to in return for a promise of Life. Some worship fashion; others worship a boyfriend or husband. We really are limitless in what we will give our hearts away to. Movies, food, shopping, gossip, you name it, I've bowed before them all. Jesus is the only one worthy of our heart's devotion."~ Staci Eldredge
"I want to live each day to the maximum, being in the best state of spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional fitness I can possibly achieve. But I also never want to lose sight of something ahead that is far better than anything I can comprehend. I've had some great moments and days in my life, and I hope you have as well. But the best day we will ever have is the day when we meet Christ in heaven."~Jack Graham
"Jesus is the source and secret of our lives. This is true because Jesus gave us life through His death for our sins on the cross and through His ressurection. Jesus is also the source of our strength each day. Only Jesus can give us the joy, peace, and purpose that God's Word promises to us. This is what Paul meant when he said that the secret to his life was Christ. When you know Jesus and you are drawing your strength and joy from Him each day, you are totally alive. Jesus will add years to your life and life to your years."~Jack Graham
"Lord show me what is in my heart, soul, mind, and spirit, and life that shouldn't be there. Teach me what I am not understanding. Convict me where I am missing the mark. Tear down my arrogance, pride, fear, insecurities, and help me to see the truth about myself, my life, and my circumstances. Expose me to myself, Lord. I can take it. Enable me to correct the error of my ways. Help me to replace lies with truth and make changes that last."~Stormie Omartian
"No matter how far off the path you have gotten from the plans God has for you, when you surrender your life to the Lord and declare your utter dependence upon Him, He carves a path from where you are to where you are supposed to be, and He sets you on it. It may take you longer than it would have taken had you been on the right path from the beginning, but if you keep walking closely with God, He will get you where you are supposed to be. Don't ever think it's too late for you."~Stormie Omartian
"The main quality to look for in a close friend is not how attractive, talented, wealthy, smart, influential, clever, or popular they are. It's how much they love and fear God. The person who will do what it takes it takes to live in the perfect will of God is the kind of friend who imparts something of the goodness of the Lord to you every time you are with them."~Stormie Omartian
"You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory- victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory, there is no survival."~ Winston Churchill
"After years of hearing the heart-cry of women, I am convinced beyond a doubt of this: God wants to be loved. He wants to be a priority to someone. How could we have missed this? From cover to cover, from beginning to end, the cry of God's heart is, 'Why won't you choose me?' It is amazing to me how humble, how vulnerable God is on this point. 'You will find me,' says the Lord, 'when you seek me with all your heart.' In other words, 'Look for me, pursue me- I want you to pursue me.' Amazing. As Tozer says, 'God waits to be wanted."~John Eldredge
"A woman in the presence of a good man, a real man, loves being a woman. His strength allows her feminine heart to flourish. His pursuit draws out her beauty. And a man in the presence of a real woman loves being a man. Her beauty arouses him to play the man; it draws out his strength. She inspires him to be a hero."~John Eldredge
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." ~Theodore Roosevelt
"God's will is not going to change. If there has to be any change, it is in our wills. If we each align our wills with the will of God, if we make the purpose of God our purpose in life, we will be as unshakable and undefeatable as the will of God. "He who does the will of God abides forever." The crucial issue for every person is, Are you aligned with God's will? Is God's purpose your purpose?"~Derek Prince
"Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth."~Stephen R. Covey
"God's will is not going to change. If there has to be any change, it is in our wills. If we each align our wills with the will of God, if we make the purpose of God our purpose in life, we will be as unshakable and undefeatable as the will of God. "He who does the will of God abides forever." The crucial issue for every person is, Are you aligned with God's will? Is God's purpose your purpose?"~Derek Prince
"Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth."~Stephen R. Covey
“I will seek to balance
career and family as best as I can since both are important to me. My home will
be a place where I and my family, friends, and guests find joy, comfort, peace
and happiness. Still I will seek to create a clean and orderly environment, yet
livable and comfortable. I will exercise wisdom in what I choose to eat, read,
see and do at home. I especially want to teach my children to love, to learn,
and to laugh- and to work and develop their unique talents. I value the rights,
freedoms, and responsibilities of our democratic society. I will be a concerned
and informed citizen, involved in the process to ensure my voice is heard and
my vote is counted. I will be a self-starting individual who exercise initiative
in accomplishing my life’s goals. I will act on the situations and
opportunities, rather than to be acted upon. I will always try to keep myself
from addictive and destructive habits. I will develop habits that free me from
old labels and limits and expand my capabilities and choices. My money will be
my servant, not my master. I will seek financial independence over time. My
wants will be subject to my needs and my means. Except for long term home and
car loans, I will seek to keep myself free from consumer debt. I will spend
less than I earn and regularly save or invest part of my income. Moreover, I
will use what money and talents I have to make life more enjoyable for others
through service and charitable giving.”
“Succeed at
home first. Seek and merit divine help. Never compromise with honesty. Remember
the people involved. Hear both sides before judging. Obtain counsel of others.
Defend those who are absent. Be sincere yet decisive. Develop one new
proficiency a year. Plan tomorrow’s work today. Hustle while you wait. Maintain
a positive attitude. Keep a sense of humor. Be orderly in person and in work.
Do not fear mistakes- fear only the absence of creative, constructive, and
corrective responses to those mistakes. Facilitate the success of subordinates.
Listen twice as much as you speak.”~ Rolfe Kerr
“The Lord
works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would
take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then
they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing
their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The
world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”~ Ezra
Taft Benson
“Wherever the Word of Gd has been
faithfully preached, results have followed that attested its divine origin.
Sinners felt their consciences quickened. Deep conviction took hold upon their
minds and hearts. They had a sense of the righteousness of God, and cried out:
“Who shall deliver me from the body f this death?” Things they once hated they
now loved, and things they once loved they hated. The proud became meek, the
vain and supercilious became serious and unobtrusive. The drunken became sober,
the profligate pure. Christians sought not the “outward adorning of plaiting the
hair, and wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but…that which is not
corruptible, even the ornament f a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight
of God a great price.”~ Ellen G White
“I knew a young pastor in Denmark who was
facing the problem of divorced people wanting to remarry. He had refused to
marry one couple but consented to marry another, and he was being criticized
for it. He was not sure if he was doing the right thing, so he took time off to
seek the Lord on the issue. He prayed, ‘Lord, why didn't you make it clear in
the New Testament your standards for marriage and divorce and remarriage?’ The
Lord answered him, ‘If I had you a set of rules, you would just have used them
legalistically to bring people into bondage, and you would have shown no
mercy.’ So the pastor said, ‘Lord, if You’ll just show me what You would do,
then I’ll do that.’ The Lord responded, ‘On the contrary, if you’ll decide what
you will do, I’ll do that’.”~ Derek Prince
“The inside-out approach says that private victories precede
public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves precede making
and keeping promises to others. It says it is futile to put personality ahead
of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving
ourselves.”~Stephen R. Covey
“We have all messed up and hurt those we love, and we will
continue to do so from time to time. But
with God, there is always mercy and forgiveness. And more than that, there is renewal. Though we stray from the path, if we ask God
and put our trust in Him, He will always be there to guide us back to where He
wants us to be.The amount of times we’ve failed is not as important as the true
desire of our heart to honor God and our future spouses. King David made a multitude of mistakes, and
yet he was considered a man after God’s own heart. I think this is because he always returned to
God and allowed God to forgive and renew him.”~ Jason T. Vanderlaan
“I have learned that every time I minister fruitfully, it is
due to self-denial. As long as I am pleasing myself, I am not ministering the
life of Christ. The two are opposites. Christ’s life flows from only where self
has been denied. Jesus said we are to take up our cross daily. Your cross is
the place where your will and God’s will cross- and you have to come to the place
of surrender on a daily basis. A person can be very religious, yet never die to
his own will. ”~Derek Prince
“First, Jesus requires total commitment. ‘Leave it all;
follow Me. I’m not telling you where we’re going; you just have to follow Me in
faith. Put your life in My hands and let Me take care of the consequences.’
That is essential. God cannot really work His purposes until His people are
fully committed.”~Derek Prince
“God has given in His Word decisive evidence that
He will punish the transgressors of His law. Is He too merciful to execute
justice upon the sinner? Look to the cross of Calvary. The death of the Son of
God testifies that “the wages of sin is death”, that every violation of God’s
law must receive retribution. Christ three sinless became sin for man. He bore
the guilt of transgression and the hiding of His Father’s face until His heart
was broken and His life crushed out-all this that sinners might be redeemed.
And every soul that refuses to partake of the atonement provided at such a cost
must bear in his own person the guilt and punishment of transgression.”~ Ellen
G White
“I
was born in a very poor neighborhood in the Bahamas. My ten brothers and
sisters and I slept on the floor of our two-bedroom wood house, the corners of
which rested on four stones. In my neighborhood, questionable characters were
always present, exerting a negative influence. But when I discovered the
Creator’s principles, they not only changed the way I thought about myself, but
they altered the course of my life. I recognized the potential within me and
gained a vision for my life that has stayed with me to this day. Some people I
know went off track because they violated moral principles and laws. Some of
them are in prison now. When I visit them, they say, ‘You’ve done well.’ I
reply, ‘I’ve just made some decisions that were different, that’s all’.”~Dr.
Myles Munroe
I have a Maker
He Formed My Heart
before even time began
my life was in his hands
He knows my name
he knows my every thought
he sees each tear that falls
and hears me when I call.
“Those who are under the power of a carnal mind, will
have their lusts fulfilled, though it be to the certain damage and ruin of
their precious souls.” ~Mathew Henry
“Every assignment, every call of God, every direction
from Him starts somewhere. God has specific assignments for your life. But how
do you discover them? How will you hear His voice? How will you know His will
for your life, His plans for you? Whom you should marry? Where should you live?
What job should you take? What mission field is calling your name? The answer
can be found in the appeal Paul made to the Romans: “Present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.””
~Jentezen Franklin
“We must avoid promoting a false image of ourselves, because life has a way of eventually bringing our private self to the public stage. Who you truly are will manifest itself somewhere along life’s journey, and it can destroy the image of “you” that others have bought into. Therefore, make sure you won’t mind if who you are in private becomes public. Finally, remember this: Hardly anyone is able to die with his privacy intact.”~Dr Myles Munroe
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