Poverty & Feelings

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” ~ Mother Teresa

One Word Frees Us...

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love." ~ Sophocles

What is Hell?

“What is hell other than a realm in which unholiness works without restraint in body and soul?”
~ Abraham Kuyper (The Work of the Holy Spirit)

What Are the Eternal Consequences?

‎"There are eternal consequences resulting from all our thoughts, words and actions, of which we take far too little account." ~ J.C. Ryle

Answer the Question

"Is not the commission of our Lord still binding upon us? Can we not do more than now we are doing?" ~ William Carey

Keep Learning

"Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will." ~ Howard

Are You that Man?

"The world is anxiously waiting to see what Jesus Christ can do in, by, for, and through one man wholly given to him - God-led. You can be that man." ~ Frank Buchman

Pray In God's Power

"You must pray with all your might. That does not mean saying your prayers, or sitting gazing about in church or chapel with eyes wide open while someone else says them for you. It means fervent, effectual, untiring wrestling with God...This kind of prayer be sure the devil and the world and your own indolent, unbelieving nature will oppose. They will pour water on this flame." ~ William Booth

Opinion of the Day...

“It is terrible to observe the power which the fear of man has over most minds, and especially over the minds of the young. Few seem to have any opinions of their own, or to think for themselves. Like dead fish, they go with the stream and tide. What others think is right, they think is right; and what others call wrong, they call wrong too. There are not many original thinkers in the world. Most men are like sheep, they follow a leader. If it was the fashion of the day to be Roman Catholics, they would be Roman Catholics, if it was to be Islamic, they would be Islamic. They dread the idea of going against the current of the times. In a word, the opinion of the day becomes their religion, their creed, their Bible, and their God.” ~ J.C. Ryle

What Is Your Effect on People?

"Here’s something to think about: What effect do you have on the people you hang out with? Do they want to be more and better, to live selfless and sacrificially, because they were with you? Do they desire to be more Christian or less by your presence?" ~ Hamilton

90 Percent

"Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it." ~ Chuck Swindoll

Stop the Excuses

"We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God." ~ Chan

Opportunities for...

"We do not very often come across opportunities for exercising strength, magnanimity, or magnificence; but gentleness, temperance, modesty, and humility, are graces which ought to colour everything we do. There may be virtues of a more exalted mould, but... these are the most continually called for in daily life." ~ Francis de Sales

What Is Sin?

“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.” ~ Susanna Wesley

Are You a Reader?

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” ~ Harry S. Truman

How YOU can CHANGE the Future

‎"When you forgive, you in no way change the past- but you sure do change the future." ~ Bernard Meltzer

You Are Chosen!

"God has chosen us to help one another." ~ Smith Wigglesworth

Would You Come?

If you knew that only a few would care that you came, would you still come? If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still care? If you knew that the tongues you made would mock you, the mouths you made would spit at you, the hands you made would crucify you, would you still make them? Christ did." ~ Max Lucado

Are You Comfortable?

"Why would we need to experience the Comforter if our lives are already comfortable?" ~ Francis Chan

What Are You Going to Do?

“The best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Sinners, Doubters & Uneven Performers

"All the persons of faith I know are sinners, doubters, uneven performers. We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of us. Neither our feelings of depression nor the facts of suffering nor the possibilities of defection are evidence that God has abandoned us." ~ Eugene Peterson

We Need Faith

‎"If it can be verified, we don't need faith... Faith is for that which lies on the other side of reason. Faith is what makes life bearable with all its tragedies and ambiguties and sudden startling joys." ~ Madeleine L'Engle

What God Has Done

"Our security, our priorities, our sense of worth and uniqueness – all the things we call identity – should be based on what God has done for us and in us. This means that if we do not have a name, if we are insecure and have to ‘find who we are,’ we have either no grasp or an inadequate grasp of what God has done." ~ Tim Keller

Overcome Spiritual Stagnation

"The antidote to spiritual stagnation is the Word of God...not new doctrines and revelations but new applications and timeless truths." ~ David Jeremiah

Prove by the Word of God Only

"We are not to believe things in religion merely because they are said by Popes or Cardinals,—by Bishops or Priests,—by Presbyters or Deacons,—by Churches, Councils, or Synods,—by Fathers, Puritans, or Reformers. We are not to argue, “Such and such things must be true, because those men say so.” We are not to do so. We are to prove all things by the Word of God." ~ "Knots Untied" (taken from the J.C. Ryle Facebook page)

Love & Trust

"All the graces of Christianity always go together...where there is love, there is also trust; and where there is a holy trust in God there is love to God; and where there is a gracious hope, there also is a holy fear of God." ~ Jonathan Edwards

Don't Rely on Emotions

"Gracious Lord, let us not become victims of our own shadowy emotions. Grant that we may rise above hostility or bitterness, and that whenever it seeks to seize us, we will be given the grace and wisdom to resist." ~ Michael

What to Do?...Ought to Do...Want to Do...

"Most of us know perfectly well what we ought to do; our trouble is that we do not want to do it." ~ P. Marshall

All or None

"If you believe what you like in the gospel and reject what you don't like-it's not the gospel you believe but yourself." ~ Augustine

Prayer Changes...Me...

‎"All prayer...is to be God-centered, ever admitting that prayer does not change God. It should change us. The prayer that does not is not prayer at all." ~ Peter Beck

They May See Jesus

‎"When those around you see you forgive, they may see Christ in a way they have never known Him before. And they may be drawn to love, worship, and trust our great pardoning God." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

In the Hands of God

"Adversity is always unexpected and unwelcomed. It is an intruder and a thief. But in the hands of God, adversity becomes the means through which HIS Supernatural Power is demonstrated." ~ Charles Stanley

Be Strong in Spirit

"Let us not be surprised when we have to face difficulties. When the wind blows hard on a tree, the roots stretch and grow the stronger, Let it be so with us. Let us not be weaklings, yielding to every wind that blows, but strong in spirit to resist." ~ Amy Carmichael

What You Should Never Lend

‎"Don't lend your eyes out to sin. God has given you eyelids. Use them!" ~ Adrian Warnock

Servanthood

"A servant's job is to do all he can to make life better for others - to free them to be everything they can be. A servant's first interest is not in himself but others. Servanthood is a loving choice we make to minister to others." ~ Gayle Erwin

Genuine Praise

“Praise, unlike flattery, is used to reinforce positive, constructive behavior. It should be highly specific than general.” ~ James Dobson (The New Dare to Discipline)

Wait on God

"It is important that we get still to wait on God. And it is best that we get alone, preferably with our Bible out-spread before us. Then if we will we may draw near to God and begin to hear Him speak to us in our hearts." ~ A.W. Tozer

His Beloved

"Why is it so important that you are with God and God alone on the mountain top? It's important because it's the place in which you can listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved." ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen

Celebrate Friends

“He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.” ~ Abraham Kuyper

Faithful Friend = Priceless

"Thank God for faithful friends who share life’s journey with us, regardless of circumstance. Their support, humor, honesty, forgiveness, and encouragement are priceless." ~ C. Jean

Enthusiasm Required

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Go to Jesus and Drink Deeply

"Come to Him and drink. Drink deeply; keep on drinking; let Him quench your thirst, and then watch as rivers of living water flow out through you to quench the thirst of those around you." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss (A Place of Quiet Rest)

Extreme Makeover?

"Jesus is remaking you into a person who actually loves people and who begins to consider their best interests. Our opinions and impulses no longer reign." ~ David Powlison

Interruptions: Nuisance or Opportunity?

"Invite God to interrupt you. If your heavenly Father wanted to, could he interrupt you at any time during your day to ask you to do something with him? I used to view interruptions in life as a nuisance and a hindrance. Now I see them as opportunities." ~ Marilyn Hontz

American Dream or ?

“The price is certainly high for people who don’t know Christ and who live in a world where Christians shrink back from self-denying faith and settle into self-indulging faith. While Christians choose to spend their lives fulfilling the American dream instead of giving their lives to proclaiming the kingdom of God, literally billions in need of the Gospel remain in the dark” ~ David Platt

Find Your Courage

"We have reached the moment where we, too, must find our courage and rise up to recover our hearts and fight for the hearts of others. The hour is late, and much time has been wasted. Jesus calls you to be his intimate ally once more. There are great things to be done and great sacrifices to be made. You won't lose heart if you know what's really gong on here, where the Story is headed and what your Lover has promised you." ~ John Eldredge (from his book Epic)