Assurance of Salvation

“My friend, if you are making a bee line for the New Jerusalem, the greatest accusation that [could] be brought against you at the judgment will be that you saw something in every human being worth dying for.” ~ Uncle Bud Robinson 

Pessimist...Optimist...

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~ Winston Churchill

Are You Ready for Christmas

"As we move into this Advent season, let us remember with thanksgiving that Christ was born to show us how to live and to give us the opportunity to be reconciled to God and one another. What will we need to let go of to prepare room in our hearts, our lives, our work and our play for Christ? Will we be ready this year for Christmas?" ~ Kate Lasso 

Solution to Loneliness

"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community." ~ Dorothy Day

Thanksgiving!

In the original language, "he gave thanks" reads "eucharisteo." . . . The root word for eucharisteo is charis, meaning "grace." Jesus took bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks." ~ Ann Voskamp

Gossip...

"No one gossips about other people's secret virtues." 

~  Bertrand Russell

Christ in Me

"It is not my presence that has redemptive value, but the presence of Christ in me." ~ G. Crocker

Seeds of Greatness

Man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.  ~ Zig Ziglar

Darkness vs. Light

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Private Prayer

“Nature and the devil will always oppose private prayer, but it is worthwhile to break through. That it is a cross will not hinder its being a blessing; nay, often the more reluctance, the greater blessing.” ~ John Wesley

Seeking Heart

"God’s seasons are not at your beck. If the first stroke of the flint doth not bring forth the fire, you must strike again. God will hear prayer, but He may not answer it at the time which we in our minds have appointed; He will reveal Himself to our seeking heart, but not just when and where we have settled in our expectations. Hence the need of perseverance and importunity in supplication. " ~  C.H. Spurgeon

Offer Christ's Hope

“All around us are people who are praying a heartfelt, “Why.” They don’t need clichéd answers. Be real. Offer them Christ’s hope and your empathy.” ~ Hosher

Renew Your Covenant with God

“Let's renew our covenant with God, that by his grace we will be the church—the God-created Body of Christ on earth.” ~ N. Gunter

Prayer ...

"Prayer breaks all bars, dissolves all chains, opens all prisons, and widens all straits by which God's saints have been held.” ~ E. M. Bounds

Duty of Christians

"It is the duty of Christians to create the kingdom of God on Earth. This kingdom will exist only when we all have enough to eat, when our children, brothers, parents don’t have to die from hunger and malnutrition. That will be the “Glory,” a Kingdom for we who have never known it." ~ Rigoberta Menchu

What Is the Objective

"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)

Peace in God

“The fact is, when our lives are out of balance spiritually and physically, we are not operating at our best. But the good news is that in spite of life's circumstances, we can find peace in God. ~ Graves

Christian Parents

"What does it mean to be Christian parents, whether we are ministers or dedicated laypeople? It means loving our wives or husbands the way Christ loved the church. It means intentionally loving and investing our lives in our children and grandchildren." ~ Porter

Follow Jesus

"The goal of the church is not to perpetuate an  institution.  It is to follow Jesus into His mission in the world." ~ Busic

Breath of Life

"God has breathed into you the breath of life, not the breath of timidity, not the breath of anxiety, not the breath of worry. The breath of life!" ~ Lutz

A Genius or Hero

“He who seldom speaks, and with one calm well-timed word can strike dumb the loquacious, is a genius or a hero.” ~ Johann Kaspar Lavater

Holiness Is...

“Holiness is nothing more and nothing less than living in the world like Jesus, through the indwelling power of the Spirit of Jesus.” ~ David Busic

Aim for Success

“Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.” ~ David M. Burns

God's Plans...

"What God wants to make of us is more important than what we can make of ourselves." ~ B. Brown

The Lord knows all human plans;
    he knows that they are futile. ~ Psalm 94:11 (NIV)

A Prayer...

“Dear Father; please stir our hearts to reach out for all that you have promised us.  Forgive our carnality, our indifference to the spiritual realities around us, and our dependence on human resources rather than your power.  Teach us to pray and wait upon you in humility and faith; send the wind and fire of your Spirit upon us.  Transform us into men and women who bear powerful witness in word and deed to the reality of Jesus Christ our Savior.  We ask all of this in his precious name.  Amen.” ~ Jim Cymbala  (Fresh Power)

SIX QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR PRAYER LIVES

1. Is prayer changing me?
2. Is prayer making any difference in my life?
3. Is my prayer life bringing me closer to the Lord?
4. Am I moving toward giving control of my life to God?
5. Do I constantly try to tune into God's presence?
6. Are any my prayers helping me develop a more loving relationship with others?

     If you answered no to any of these questions, then one more question comes to mind: WHY NOT?

Luke 18:1

~ Author Unknown

Anywhere With Jesus

"Without Christ, not one step; with Him, anywhere!" ~ David Livingstone

Anywhere With Jesus

He's Praying for You

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. ” ~ Robert Murray M’Cheyne (Minister in the Church of Scotland)

Shaping a Life

“Wise is the father who understands that shaping a life is more important than winning a game.  Wise is the parent who knows that the biggest victories are seldom posted on a scoreboard.” ~ Phil Callaway (Daddy, I Blew Up the Shed)

Private World of Your Teenager

“If you are going to enter the private world of your teenager you must be brave enough to be open and to relate some of the realities and complexities of your own life.” ~ Kevin Leman (Smart Kids, Stupid Choices)

An Obligation

“I have a right, even an obligation, to insist that my children choose right rather than wrong actions.  This is what I’ve been given parental responsibility for!” ~ William and Candace Backus (Empowering Parents)

Living a Double Life

“When people attempt to live a double life spiritually, that is, to appear pure on the outside but are not pure in the heart, they are anything but blessed. Their conflicting loyalties make them wretched, confused, tense. Having to keep their eyes on two masters at once makes them cross-eyed, and their vision is so blurred that neither image is clear. But the eyes of the inwardly and outwardly pure are single, that is, focused upon one object, and their sight is not impaired. That’s why Jesus said, “For they shall see God.” ~ Clarence Jordan

All Have Value

You can't make the other fellow feel important in your presence if you secretly feel that he is a nobody. ~ Les Giblin

Living and Active

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ~ Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

Problems Can Be Pain or Potential

“Yourself in your own hands is a pain and a problem; yourself in the hands of God is a possibility and a potential.” ~E. S. Jones

Becoming Christlike,

“God doesn’t expect perfect actions in a parent, because He realizes that becoming Christlike is a lifetime process.” ~ Jorie Kincaid (The Power of Modeling)

Past...Future...

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” ~ George Orwell (1984)

Your Children Need...

“Your children need your dual role of love and discipline. 

Love without discipline is sentimentality.

Discipline without love is bondage.

God’s parent keeps these two actions of love and 

discipline in their proper balance.” 

~ Jim George