During this Advent season...

"During this Advent season as we celebrate the new relationship between God and his people, may that be mirrored in our renewed relationships with spouses, children, family and those near and dear to us. May we speak tenderly to each other amidst all the rush of the season and transform the shopping days till Christmas into the true Advent of Christ."

~ Casely Essamuah

The meaning of Christmas...

"Commercialization has obscured the meaning of Christmas. The commercial has become more important than the carol. What man has to sell [has become] more important than what God has given."

~ Anonymous

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

"When a Christian finds himself in a difficult situation, he should immediately give thanks to the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, to keep his heart from complaining and fretting. The devil moves in when a Christian starts to complain, but thanksgiving in the Spirit defeats the devil and glorifies the Lord." ~ Warren Wiersbe

"Thankfulness is not something God gives us. It is not a spiritual gift and it is not a spiritual fruit. We can receive God's peace, joy and love, but thankfulness is something that we give to God and to others. It is a choice that we make. Let us thank Him today with songs of celebration, hearts of strong devotion and acts of admiration." ~ Roy Lessin

"We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning."
~ Albert Barnes

A Woman's Heart

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her." ~ M. Angelou

Healing...

"We all have need of healing. And while our world spends billions of dollars each year on pills, potions, and procedures, it is all a shadow of what we need most. What good is a life prolonged if it only extends the season of cowardice and sin? What good is a new heart if it’s only to be filled with hate or regret – or new eyes, if all they can see is criticism and intolerance? These are questions we must all ask ourselves."

Quote taken from page 331 of Richard Paul Evans' book The Gift

None is more impoverished...

None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy. ~Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

...great tempations...

"All the great temptations appear first in the region of the mind and can be fought and conquered there. We have been given the power to close the door of the mind. We can lose this power through disuse or increase it by use, by the daily discipline of the inner man in things, which seem small and by reliance upon the Word of the Spirit of truth. It is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is as though He said, 'Learn to live in your will, not in your feelings.' "
-- Amy Carmichael

Prayer is...

"Prayer is the same as breathing of air for the lungs. Exhaling makes us get rid of our dirty air. Inhaling gives clean air. To exhale is to confess, to inhale is to be filled with the Holy Spirit." ~ Corrie ten Boom

Lord, teach me to listen...

"Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, "Speak, for Thy servant heareth." Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking. Amen."

A. W. Tozer

Thanksgiving...

"We can always find something to be thankful for, no matter what may be the burden of our wants, or the special subject of our petitions."
~ Albert Barnes

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 4:6-7

WWJD?

"We can ask, "What would Jesus do?" or "What would John Wesley do?" or even "What is the Church ... doing? But the ultimate spiritual question is, "What will I do?"
~ Ellen Decker taken from her book "Africa's Soul Hope: The AIDS Crisis and the Church"

What do you have in your hand?

"What do you have in your hand? Perhaps you, like Moses, feel that you have nothing with which you can serve God. But think about what your neighbours need. Maybe you can help them with whatever is in your hand. Maybe that is exactly what they need."

~ Dick Nieusma

When I go down to the grave...

"When I go down to the grave I can say, like many others, 'I have finished my day's work!' But I cannot say, 'I have finished my life.' My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare! It closes on the twilight, it opens on the dawn!"

~ Victor Hugo