Treasures

"We try so hard to hold onto our stuff. We call it our treasure and expect to feel joy. But in God’s economy if we want to gain, we must give up. For joy won’t ever be found in collecting treasures. Joy radiates in our life only when we share our treasures." ~ Lysa TerKeurst

Calvary Love

"If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting "Who made thee to differ? And what hast thou that thou hast not received?" then I know nothing of Calvary love." ~ Amy Carmichael

God-Centered View...

"The key question is this: Will we approach marriage from a God-centered view or a man-centered view? In a man-centered view, we will maintain our marriage as long as our earthly comforts, desires, and expectations are met. In a God-centered view, we preserve our marriage because it brings glory to God and points a sinful world to a reconciling Creator." ~ Gary Thomas "Sacred Marriage"

Each Year You Live...My Daughter

‎"Let us strive, every year we live, to become more deeply acquainted with Scripture." ~ J.C. Ryle

Fellowship with Christ

"Many of us place top priority not on becoming Christ like in the middle of our problems but on finding happiness.... I must firmly and consciously by an act of my will reject the goal of becoming happy and adopt the goal of becoming more like the Lord. The result will be happiness for me as I learn to dwell at God's right hand in fellowship with Christ." ~ Larry Crabb

Promises...

"The event of Christ is the only event in human history that promises relocation and centering, meaning and purpose. This promise and its fulfillment evoke passionate and heartfelt praise and thanks, especially for those aware of their own brokenness and the healing which Christ brings into their lives." ~ Robert Webber

Management Vs. Leadership

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." ~ Peter F. Drucker

The Forgiven Forgive

"We forgive because God has forgiven us; we are gracious because we have received grace; we are merciful because we have obtained mercy." ~ Boyd

The Call

"Holiness calls us to moral and spiritual excellence. It’s about giving God our very best." ~ Stan Toler

Passion for Jesus

There’s significant wear and tear upon those called to ministries such as pro-life work, jail ministry, helping the poor. If you’re going to endure, you must have a passion for Jesus that’s bigger than your passion for the cause. Otherwise, even if you don’t burn out, your cause will take the place of your Lord, becoming an idol. ~ Randy Alcorn

“For to this end we toil…because we have our hope set on the living God.” ~ 1 Timothy 4:10

Avoidance Works

"It’s always easier to avoid sexual temptation than to resist it. As Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife, so we must run from the lures, baits, and hooks of impurity. When it comes to sexual temptation, God says, be a coward." ~ Randy Alcorn

“Flee from sexual immorality” ~ 1 Cor. 6:18.

Randy's Sexual Temptation Booklet is free (not sure how long it will be listed as free) – free download

Will It Be Worth It?

“I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.” ~ John Wesley

What is True Happiness?

‎"Don’t tell me of your happiness if it daily depends on the uncertainties of the earth. Your home may be rich in comforts; your family may be all you could desire; your income may be amply sufficient to meet all your wants. But oh, remember, if you have nothing more than this to look to, that you are standing on the edge of a cliff! Your joy may be deep and earnest, but it is fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness." ~ J.C. Ryle

Follow Christ

"You are to follow no man further than he follows Christ." ~ John Collins

Go...

Jesus didn’t say, “Go set up a booth somewhere, and if people stop by, do what you can for them.” He didn’t lead them into the temple but sent them into the world. “Take the good news to the villages,” Jesus said. ~ W. Kincaid

Teach Your Child to Pray

“Remember, that this is the first step in religion which a child is able to take. Long before he can read, you can teach him to kneel by his mother’s side, and repeat the simple words of prayer and praise which she puts in his mouth. And as the first steps in any undertaking are always the most important, so is the manner in which your children’s prayers are prayed, a point which deserves your closest attention. Few seem to know how much depends on this. You must be careful that they don’t say their prayers in a hasty, careless, and irreverent manner." ~ J.C. Ryle

Forgiveness

"If we run out of forgiveness, we will run out of friends. Let's treat others as God treats us." ~ Gary Thomas

Don't Gossip

Refusing to gossip is a beautiful decision to make. It not only creates richer friendships but, more importantly, it makes our relationship with the Lord more authentic and believable. We honor God when we honor each other. ~ Lysa TerKeurst

High Standards

"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself - and be lenient to everybody else." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

What Are the Options?

"The only way to cultivate freedom is through experiencing and learning how to handle an increasing number of options." ~ Danny Lee Silk

Actions Speak Loudest

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” ~ John F. Kennedy

Make Your Choice ~ Choose Wisely

‎"The grateful heart that springs forth in joy is not acquired in a moment; it is the fruit of a thousand choices." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss (from Choosing Gratitude)

Celebrate Life

"We all need to eat and drink to stay alive. But having a meal is more than eating and drinking. It is celebrating the gifts of life we share. A meal together is one of the most intimate and sacred human events. Around the table we become vulnerable, filling one another's plates and cups and encouraging one another to eat and drink. Much more happens at a meal than satisfying hunger and quenching thirst. Around the table we become family, friends, community, yes, a body. That is why is is so important to "set" the table. Flowers, candles, colorful napkins all help us say to one another, 'This is a very special time for us, let's enjoy it.'" ~ Henri Nouwen

Replace the Lies

"I have to mentally replace the lies using some of my favorite verses to remind myself of just how filling God’s love really is." ~ Lysa TerKeurst (From her book, Made to Crave).

We Give Thanks

We Give Thanks...

"For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do Good

Don't wait for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations." ~ Charles Richter

Express Your Gratitude

"The more we express our gratitude to God for our blessings, the more he will bring to our mind other blessings. The more we are aware of to be grateful for, the happier we become." ~ Ezra Taft Benson

Wake Up

"Many do not recognize the fact as they ought, that Satan has got men fast asleep in sin and that it is his great device to keep them so. He does not care what we do if he can do that. We may sing songs about the sweet by and by, preach sermons and say prayers until doomsday, and he will never concern himself about us, if we don't wake anybody up. But if we awake the sleeping sinner he will gnash on us with his teeth. This is our work - to wake people up." ~ Catherine Booth

All Things are Small in Comparison

‎"Live near to God, and all things will appear little to you in comparison with eternal realities." ~ Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Because of HIS Sacrifice

"Every spiritual benefit is yours as a result of his sacrifice." ~ Toler

Be Grateful

“I find that the more willing I am to be grateful for the small things in life, the bigger stuff just seems to show up from unexpected sources, and I am constantly looking forward to each day with all the surprises that keep coming my way!” ~ Louise L. Hay

Gluttony and Obesity

‎"America is becoming known as a nation of gluttony and obesity, and churches are a feeding ground for this problem. If religious leaders and organizations neglect this issue, they will contribute to an epidemic that will cost the health-care system millions of dollars and reduce the quality of life for many parishioners." ~ Ken Ferraro (Professor of sociology at Purdue University who has studied religion and body weight since the early 1990s.)

God's Boundaries Are Protective

‎"Oh Lord, let my wild heart always remember…Your instructions, Your boundaries, aren’t cruel barriers to keep me from freedom. They are protective restrictions meant to define where safe freedom can be found." ~ Lysa TerKeurst

"Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." ~Psalm 16:5-6 (NIV 1984)

Greater Than We Can Ask

"We are urgent about the body; He is about the soul. We call for present comforts; He considers our everlasting rest. And therefore when He sends not the very things we ask, He hears us by sending greater than we can ask or think." ~ Richard Cecil

19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. ~ Ephesians 3:19-21 (ESV)

You Are a Manager

"We’re not to feel guilty that God has entrusted us with abundance. But we are to feel responsible to compassionately and wisely use that abundance to help the less fortunate." ~ Randy Alcorn (Managing God's Money)


“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail” ~ Luke 12:33

Humility...

"Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Share the Story

"I challenge you: Share the story. Tell others how God is establishing the work of your hands. Let them see the beauty of the Lord in you." ~ N. Gunter

Desperate Prayer

Though my natural instinct is to wish for a life free from pain, trouble, and adversity, I am learning to welcome anything that makes me conscious of my need for Him. If prayer is birthed out of desperation, then anything that makes me desperate for God is a blessing… Puritan pastor William Gurnall makes this point in his writings, “The hungry man needs no help to teach him how to beg.” ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss (A Place of Quiet Rest)

Actions Speak Loudest

"Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts." ~ Henri Frederic Amiel

Incomprehensible Love

‎"The Truth is, God does love you. Whether or not you feel loved, regardless of what you have done or where you have been, He loves you with an infinite, incomprehensible love." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Service Is...

“The depth and the willingness with which we serve is a direct reflection of our gratitude.” ~ Gordon T. Watts

My God Hears Me

"What a blessed prospect in my work - to know that even when the answer is long delayed, and there is a call for much patient, persevering prayer, the truth remains infallibly sure - 'My God hears me.'" ~ Andrew Murray

Be Thankful...

“I've started to look at life differently. When you're thanking God for every little you - every meal, every time you wake up, every time you take a sip of water - you can't help but be more thankful for life itself, for the unlikely and miraculous fact that you exist at all.” ~ A. J. Jacobs

The Thankful Heart

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Advantages...

“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Do You Look Like Jesus?

“Why is it that our evangelistic efforts are often fraught with failure? One main reason is that we don’t look like the Christ we proclaim.” ~ John Stott

Reflection of the Heart

‎"The outward appearance of a Christian woman is to reflect a heart that is simple, pure, and well-ordered; her clothing and hairstyles should not be distracting or draw attention to herself. In this way, she makes the Gospel attractive to the world." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

God Is Good ~ All the Time

‎"God is good. Whether or not His choices seem good to us, He is good. Whether or not we feel it, He is good. Whether or not it seems true in my life or yours, He is still good." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

The Habit of Appreciation

“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.” ~ Ralph Marston

Gratitude

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” ~ Jean Baptiste Massieu

What's Wrong?

“An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly.” ~ A.W. Tozer

How to be Fruitful

"If we will let God break us and spend us and possess us, will live in fellowship with Christ, and our lives will be fruitful." ~ Dennis F. Kinlaw

Just a Little More

"You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled." ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Where Should You Look?

"If I look in I'll be discouraged. If I look around I'll be distracted. If I look at Jesus I shall have peace." ~ E. S. Jones

Give Your Time to God and Money to the Poor

“No man is a better merchant than he that pours out his time for God, and his money upon the poor.” ~ Jeremy Taylor

Thankfulness

William Clement Stone has insight into thankfulness: "If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share."

Abide in Prayer

‎"If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: "God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled." When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage." ~ John Owen

"Every human heart needs a deeper cleansing by the Holy Spirit. We ought to thank God for the person who irritates us or makes us angry or jealous. That person provides the means for God to teach us something about ourselves. That irritating person shows the true colors of my heart, and only once my heart is displayed in all of its corruption can it be washed white and clean." ~ Dennis F. Kinlaw (from his devotional book, This Day with the Master)

What Are You Doing?

‎"Do nothing that you would not like God to see. Say nothing you would not like God to hear. Go no place where you would not like God to find you. Never spend your time in such a way that you would not like God to say, 'What are you doing?'" ~ J.C. Ryle

Give God Your Best

"Holiness calls us to moral and spiritual excellence. It’s about giving God our very best." ~ Stan Toler

Atonement

"You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you running it out into the practical issues of your life? Every bit of your life, physical, moral and spiritual, is to be judged by the standard of the Atonement." ~ Oswald Chambers

Set Your Heart on Things Above

"The whole purpose of God in redemption is to make us holy and to restore us to the image of God. To accomplish this He disengages us from earthly ambitions and draws us away from the cheap and unworthy prizes that worldly men set their hearts upon." ~ A.W. Tozer

Civilization and Progress

"Civilization is impossible without traditions, and progress is impossible without the destruction of those traditions. The difficulty, and it is an immense difficulty, is to find a proper equilibrium between stability and variability." ~ Gustave Le Bon

Humble Yourself

"As you worship, remember to humble yourself before your Creator--the One who loves you most. Be in awe." ~ M. Ellen

Don't Wait...

‎"Don’t wait for God to break you. You can choose to be broken or you can wait for God to crush your pride." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Don't Focus on Circumstances

"Biblical thanksgiving does not focus on our circumstances, but on the character of God. Circumstances change; God does not." ~ Michael Youssef

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ~ James 1:17 (NIV 1984)

Drug of Choice

‎"Someone had to learn the discipline of giving up some things and that someone was me. And those 'things' were poor food choices that were sabotaging my body, my mental energy, and even my spirit.

Food had become like a drug. And honestly, it's a good drug of choice for a Christian woman. Every church event I attended readily provided my drug out in the open with no hesitation or judgment."

~ Lysa TerKeurst (Made To Crave)

Life Giving

"With the coming of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit, God brought his promised new covenant. This new covenant does not revolve around the giving of a law -- of letters written on a page commanding certain behaviors -- but it revolves around the purifying power of the Holy Spirit to transform us to be like Jesus and to conform us to the holy character and compassion of God himself. God wants us to understand that the focus of the Spirit is life-giving, not law-bringing." ~ Phil Ware

Who Will You Be?

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” - Charles Jones.

Here's hoping you meet with Jesus and read the Bible daily...

Sanctification

"Am I prepared to let God grip me by His power and do a work in me that is worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me, and He has to get me into the attitude of mind and spirit where at any cost I will let Him sanctify me wholly." ~ Oswald Chambers

Thankful Heart

"The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Holy Desire

"The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people." ~ A.W. Tozer

Advancement of God's Kingdom

"We raise awareness, involvement, and dollars. But if those objectives don’t lead to the advancement of God’s kingdom, we have failed as Christians and as fundraisers." ~ Terry T. Munday, "It’s not about the Money"

Don't Stop Voting

"The election is over, but the truth is that every season of our lives is election season.Voting isn’t something you do just every few years. We cast multiple votes each day. We cast votes for Heaven or Hell, for grace or truth. For self-control or self-indulgence. For the Spirit or the flesh. For abiding in Christ, or independence from Christ. For wisdom or foolishness, and blessing or curse.

Every decision we make, every action we take—and the heart attitude with which we conduct our lives—casts a vote for one kingdom or another. Every vote counts. Eternity will be affected by them."

~ Randy Alcorn

Race for the Prize, the Real Prize

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (NIV 1984)

How Do You Respond?

"It is how one responds to the imperfections of others that will determine one's growth." ~ Lucille Johnson

I'm NOT on a DIET

"I'm not on a diet. I'm on a journey with Jesus to learn the fine art of self-discipline for the purpose of holiness." ~ Lysa TerKeurst

Take it to Jesus

‎"What is the crisis, the difficulty, the decision you are facing? Spread it out before the Lord, and pray." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV 1984)

Vote

"I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuring election, and advised them, 1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy: 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: And, 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side." ~ John Wesley, October 6, 1774

You Are More

Your problem is how you are going to spend this one and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.” ~ Anne Lamott

You Are More by Tenth Avenue North

Spiritual Resources

"Living a holy life doesn’t guarantee riches; it guarantees spiritual resources." ~ Toler

Vote Prayerfully

‎"I hope that you’re planning to get out tomorrow and vote—to vote prayerfully and carefully and intelligently and based on a thoughtful and biblical worldview and where different candidates stand on important issues." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Give Him All You've Got

"A Christian who lives by a two standards is a laughingstock to the world and reproach to Jesus Christ. Therefore, it only makes sense to study scripture in order to learn how we should live....We are in the world, but NOT of it. We have to make a choice. "Will I do the will of God, or stay safe and follow the crowd?" Be BOLD for Jesus...Be willing to separate yourself from things of the world....After all, He deserves nothing less than everything we've got." ~ Percella "Percy" Snyder

Fill Your Mind with God's Word

‎"The devil wants to rob you of every blessing that God has prepared for you. Satan wants to take every good thing from you he can. So it's up to you to fill your mind with all that God has done for you. Let that knowledge of salvation and all its benefits become like a helmet of bronze on your head to protect your mind from the "battle axe " of the enemy.

As you faithfully meditate on the Word of God and allow it to work in your thought life, your mind will be renewed. Salvation will become real to you--you will become so convinced of your salvation and all of its benefits --that your mind will be able to rest securely in God, no longer capable of being penetrated by doubt and disbelief."

~ Rick Renner "Dressed To Kill :A Biblical Approach To Spiritual Warfare and Armor"

Alternatives to the Vicious Repetitions of the Past

"Hope dares to imagine the future as a legitimate alternative to the vicious repetitions of the past. But the refusal to forgive is a toxic memory of the unforgiven past poisons the present and contaminates the future." ~ Brian Zahnd (from his book Unconditional the Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness)

Relationship Vs. Religion

"If we are His followers, we will go to the lost and bring them the good news about a relationship with Him that is greater than a mere religion." ~ Eugénio R. Duarte  

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV 1984)

Help Those in Need

“As a community of faith, we dedicate our tithe to helping those who need the help. There is nothing wrong with building great sanctuaries. There is nothing wrong with funding unique and creative ministries. But in doing so, are we forgetting those whose who were intended as recipients of at least a part of our tithe? […] We can’t forget that God’s tithing plan provided both for the work of the Temple and the needs of others such as widows and orphans, the hungry and homeless, the prisoner and the stranger.” ~ Tom Felder (The Tithing Principle, 2011, p. 74)

Surrender to God's Will

‎"Every time you and I bow our heads in surrender to the will of God, we embrace the cross and we manifest to the world the heart of Christ who bowed His head to the will of His Father." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Grateful & Generous

"Grateful people are almost invariably generous, and generous people are almost always grateful." ~ Dr. Jesse C. Middendorf

Watch What You Say

"Be careful with your words. Once they are said they can only be forgiven, not forgotten." ~ Author Unknown

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” ~ Ephesians 4:29 (NIV 1984)

Small Changes

‎"A small motorboat can suddenly turn 90 degrees without difficulty. But an ocean liner must turn slowly, just a few degrees at a time; otherwise it will come apart at the seams and sink." {Charles Hummel, "The Tyranny of the Urgent"}

Beyond Arroagance

"Pride goes beyond arrogance; it’s blindness. No one who sees as God sees can maintain the illusion of pride." ~ Gary Thomas

God Is NOT Ordinary

‎"To treat God as common or ordinary is to profane His name, to disregard Him, to disrespect Him, or to do what some people do and that is overtly trample on His character." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

The Gift of 86,400

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"" ~ William A. Ward

Prayer of Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving is just around the corner begin now to think about what you are thankful for...

Take five minutes and say a prayer of thanksgiving. What are five things you are thankful for today?

NO Complaceny

"The world needs Christians who don't tolerate the complacency of their own lives." ~ Chan

You Are a Reflecting Pool

"Every child of God is a reflecting pool who reflects the power and holiness of God." ~ Toler

What Do You Tolerate?

"When we tolerate sin in our lives and make a little deal about, what we’re doing is really spurning the love and the grace of Christ. We’re trampling on His cross, and we’re counting His sacrificial death to be of no value." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss