No Work for God Is Unimportant

  No Work for God Is Unimportant

Colossians 4:7-18

The final lines of Colossians seem to have little theological impact. Most of the names listed, except for Luke and Mark, are unfamiliar. We could easily skip these verses and jump to 1 Thessalonians. But Paul’s closing words to the Colossians carry the subtle message that no ministry is unimportant.

It isn’t hard to recognize Paul’s amazing contributions to the faith—much of the New Testament is made up of his divinely inspired letters. The people mentioned in his Colossian missive seem to pale in comparison, but the apostle considered all of them important enough to include. For instance, Tychicus, the first mentioned, played a big role—wherever he appears in Scripture, he is running errands for Paul (Acts 20:4, Eph. 6:21, 2 Tim. 4:12). Thanks to this man, the Colossian letter traveled over 800 miles to its destination, then moved from church to church to be read repeatedly and copied. Tychicus’s job was important in spreading the gospel; without his assistance to Paul, modern believers might not have this valuable letter.

We tend to judge types of service as important or unimportant, and too often pride prevents our approval of a particular ministry. We want a big, impressive job to prove to everyone how much we love the Lord. But God desires the exact opposite: He wants our love for Him to motivate us to do anything He asks, no matter how insignificant or unnoticeable it may seem.

What is God asking you to do that you are resisting? Repent of your pride, and humble yourself to do all that He desires. None of His work is unimportant.

A New Creature, A New Person Abloom

When Christ comes into my life, somehow the desert of my heart begins to blossom. The man who has been paralyzed by sin, helpless and down in the
dust, is taken hold of by the Spirit of God, and is made anew. That is the wisdom of God and the power of God.

Alan Redpath

Relying on God’s Power, Not Our Own

Relying on God’s Power, Not Our Own

Philippians 4:10-13

Humanly speaking, the apostle Paul had much to boast about—his qualifications are found in Philippians 3:4-6. However, he understood that impressive “credentials” are not what really matter. Paul rightly saw that knowing Christ and relying on Him are the source of genuine value in life.

Writing from places that were lowly in both a physical and emotional sense, the apostle is a triumphant example of how believers should view themselves—namely, as the Father does. The best way to do that is to recognize God as the source of our power: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (4:13).

Many of us know this verse by heart, but have we accepted its truth? To say “all things” may seem like a bold statement, but it is balanced. The emphasis is not on “I can,” but rather on the fact that I can through Christ—He supplies everything we need to carry out His plan for our life.

This verse is an important confession that we cannot do God’s will in our own power. But that does not mean we should simply sit back and become spectators. As Christians, we have a responsibility to obey the Lord’s leading in small matters as well as in “big” circumstances. What’s more, it is our hands, feet, body, voice, compassion, and desires that the Father will use to accomplish His ultimate goals for our lives.

Obeying by faith can seem frightening, but the comfort zone isn’t where godly people choose to spend their time. To do all things through Christ involves some risks, but you’ll discover that the rewards for obedience are deeply satisfying.

We Are Not Giving To Him, We Are Just Returning What Was His...

Not how much of my money will I give to God, but how much of His money will I keep for myself.

Anonymous

Whatever You Do...

Colossians 3:17

Verse Concepts

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Fathe
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Work,-As-Ordained-By-God#sthash.5knIHxY8.dpuf

Colossians 3:17

Verse Concepts

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Fathe
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Work,-As-Ordained-By-God#sthash.5knIHxY8.dpuf

Ordinary work, which is what most of us do most of the time, is ordained
by God every bit as much as is the extraordinary.

Elisabeth Elliot

He Will Carry You

I dreamed last night, and now I understand. I dreamed I had fallen into a deep pit where I lay helpless and despairing. Confucius came and said, 

"Let me give you advice, my friend; if you get out of your trouble, never get in again." Buddha came and said, "If you can climb up to where I can reach you, I will help you." 

Then Christ came. He climbed down into the pit and carried me out.

Anonymous

His Work, His Timing- Greg Laurie Daily Devotions

Greg Laurie Daily Devotions


Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. - (Philippians 1:6)

I am an “artist”—kind of. Actually, I am an artist with very limited skills. But sometimes when I’m spending time with friends, they will ask me to draw something. So I’ll pull out a felt-tip pen and draw little cartoons.

Then someone inevitably says, “Draw me! Draw me!” They like me to do caricatures of them, but the thing about caricatures is they are never flattering. If you ever look at political cartoons, they always exaggerate a person’s features. If someone has a nose that is slightly long or ears that are somewhat big, the cartoonist exaggerates everything. That is the whole idea. But people don’t like that.

I’ve also noticed that when I’m drawing, people don’t see what I see. As they are looking over my shoulder, almost breathing down my neck, they want to know what I’m doing. They may see only a circle, but in my mind’s eye, I already see the finished work.

Sometimes when we look at the blank canvas of our lives, we ask, “What is going on? What is God doing? Where is this going? This doesn’t make sense. I don’t even know whether I agree with that.” But God, as an artist, is at work. And as Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

God’s work will be done in His time. He sees the expected end. He knows what it will look like before He has finished because He is God. He knows how your life is going to turn out.

So don’t put a period where God has put a comma. He is not done with you. No matter your age, you are a work in progress—and He is still working.

We Hold On To You, LORD

We, Filipinos are grateful to all COUNTRIES who made themselves available to extend help for our countrymen who were devastated by super typhoon Yolanda. God bless you all in Jesus' name, for He blesses those who bless.


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=356701587800609&set=a.356701284467306.1073741835.323973651073403&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-prn2%2F1424369_356701587800609_1808880737_n.jpg&size=800%2C533

"The trial of your faith."

"The trial of your faith."
1 Peter 1:7

Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.

Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities.

-Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening 

http://links.biblegateway.mkt4731.com/ctt?kn=4&ms=NDQzMzU5MzIS1&r=MzQwNzIwMjA4MDMS1&b=0&j=MjEyNzA5MzE4S0&mt=1&rt=0

The LORD's Free Men - Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon



"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace"   (Romans 6:14).

Sin will reign if it can: it cannot be satisfied with any place below the throne of the heart. We sometimes fear that it will conquer us, and then we cry unto the LORD, "Let not any iniquity have dominion over me. This is His comforting answer: "Sin shall not have dominion over you. " It may assail you and even wound you, but it shall never establish sovereignty over you. If we were under the law, our sin would gather strength and hold us under its power; for it is the punishment of sin that a man comes under the power of sin. As we are under the covenant of grace, we are secured against departing from the living God by the sure declaration of the covenant. Grace is promised to us by which we are restored from our wanderings, cleansed from our impurities, and set free from the chains of habit. We must lie down in despair and be "content to serve the Egyptians" if we were still as slaves working for eternal life; but since we are the LORD's free men, we take courage to fight with our corruptions and temptations, being assured that sin shall never bring us under its sway again. God Himself giveth us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Don't Be Dismayed, Fix Your Eyes On Jesus

Keep your eye steadily fixed on the infinite grandeur of Christ's
finished work and righteousness. Look to Jesus and believe, look to  Jesus and live! Nay, more; as you look to him, hoist your sails and
buffet manfully the sea of life. Do not remain in the haven of distrust, or sleeping on your shadows in inactive repose, or suffering your frames and feelings to pitch and toss on one another like vessels idly moored in a harbor. The religious life is not a brooding over emotions, grazing the keel of faith in the shallows, or dragging the anchor of hope through the oozy tide mud as if afraid of encountering the healthy breeze. Away! With your canvas spread to the gale, trusting in Him, who rules the raging of the waters. The safety of the tinted bird is to be on the wing. If its haunt be near the ground--if it fly low--it exposes itself to the fowler's net or snare. If we remain grovelling on the low ground of feeling and emotion, we shall find ourselves entangled in a thousand meshes of doubt and despondency, temptation and unbelief.

J. R. Macduff

The Magnitude of Grace -Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Our weakness should be prized as making room for divine strength. We might never have known the power of grace if we had not felt the weakness of nature. Blessed be the LORD for the thorn in the flesh, and the messenger of Satan, when they drive us to the strength of God. This is a precious word from our LORD's own lip. It has made the writer laugh for joy. God's grace enough for me! I should think it is. Is not the sky enough for the bird and the ocean enough for the fish? The All-Sufficient is sufficient for my largest want. He who is sufficient for earth and heaven is certainly able to meet the case of one poor worm like me. Let us, then, fall back upon our God and His grace. If He does not remove our grief, He will enable us to bear it. His strength shall be poured into us till the worm shall thresh the mountains, and a nothing shall be victor over all the high and mighty ones. It is better for us to have God's strength than our own; for if we were a thousand times as strong as we are, it would amount to nothing in the face of the enemy; and if we could be weaker than we are, which is scarcely possible, yet we could do all things through Christ.

What Keeps Grace from Flowing?

What Keeps Grace from Flowing?

James 4:1-6

We know from the Bible that God continually showers His children with blessings. However, most believers don’t always feel as though He’s pouring His favor upon them. What could be blocking the free flow of divine grace?

Proverbs 6:16-19 provides a list of seven things that God hates. Certain attitudes and behaviors are categorized as detestable to Him, and the first thing mentioned is pride.

Nothing will interfere with spiritual growth as much as a proud spirit. That is why God considers it an abomination. Pride misaligns priorities in such a way that we—and not the Lord—become our own priority.

We can find many examples of pride throughout Scripture. For instance, the serpent convinced the first woman that if she ate of the forbidden fruit, she would “be like God” (Gen. 3:5). That sounded good to Eve, who apparently thought she deserved this high honor. So she and Adam ate the fruit, thereby bringing all manner of destruction and pain into the world.

If you have been struggling to feel God’s hand of blessing in your life, a wise first step is to humbly pray and ask the Lord to reveal any hidden areas of pride in your life. His arms are full of blessings that He desires to give you. As the preacher D. L. Moody once observed, “God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” Will you choose instead to be full of God? You can start by laying your pride at the foot of the cross. Then your life can overflow with blessings.

See God in Everything

 

When you have no helpers, see all your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God; when you have everything, see God in everything.
Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Standing on God’s Word

Standing on God’s Word

Ezekiel 13:1-6

The United States Marine Corps is always on the lookout for what they call “a few good men.” The eyes of the Lord are likewise scanning the earth in order to find godly men and women who will step forward and use their influence to exalt righteousness in the land. That is what we see in Ezekiel 22. God says, “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it” (v. 30).

 A “gap” in this sense is some place where error or falsehood has crept in, allowing Satanic confusion and inviting the judgment of God. Sometimes these gaps are so serious that they imperil entire nations and carry them to the brink of destruction.Israel was facing such a time following the Exodus, but the Word of God records this remarkable statement: “Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them” (Ps. 106:23).

In all likelihood, not too many of us will ever be called upon to save a nation. But we can nonetheless build up the walls of protection around our families and churches by drawing wisdom from the whole counsel of God. We can resist the Devil daily and refuse the sensuality and perversions of this present age. God has called His children into His service and will equip them in righteousness. In Moses’ day, one man made all the difference. Why not be the one who makes a difference today?

Heavenly Wealth -Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon



Many pleasing things the LORD may withhold but "no good thing." He is the best judge of what is good for us. Some things are assuredly good, and these we may have for the asking through Jesus Christ our LORD.

Holiness is a good thing, and this He will work in us freely. Victory over evil tendencies, strong tempers, and evil habits He will gladly grant, and we ought not to remain without it.

Full assurance He will bestow, and near communion with Himself, and access into all truth, and boldness with prevalence at the mercy seat. If we have not these, it is from want of faith to receive and not from any unwillingness of God to give. A calm, a heavenly frame, great patience, and fervent love--all these will He give to holy diligence.

But note well that we must "walk uprightly." There must be no cross purposes and crooked dealings; no hypocrisy nor deceit. If we walk foully God cannot give us favors, for that would be a premium upon sin. The way of uprightness is the way of heavenly wealth-wealth so large as to include every good thing.

What a promise to plead in prayer! Let us get to our knees.

Double Minded Man

When you believe, you are in one mind and accept something as true.
Unbelief is to be of one mind and reject that something is true.
 To doubt is to waver between the two, to believe and disbelieve at the same time, and so to be in "two minds." That is what James calls, in Chapter
1, a '"double minded man," or as the Chinese say, "Doubt is standing in two boats, with one foot in each."

Os Guiness

Spend more time with Him...-Time with God

Time with God

2 Peter 3:14-15

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you...

Since you know for sure that Jesus is returning, live in a way that will bring Him great joy when He returns!

“Since you look for these things” — Peter expects that we keep Jesus’ return in our minds all the time that we are expecting it and anticipating it eagerly. What a difference that expectation would make in our daily lives.

If we truly believed that Jesus was returning soon, wouldn’t we be much more aware of the things in our lives that need to be cleaned out and thrown away? Wouldn’t we be much more careful to do those things that we knew He loved? Wouldn’t we spend more time with Him and obey His leading in our lives?

Well, guess what? He IS returning at any time. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe before tomorrow. Maybe next month.

Make sure that when He arrives, your relationship with Him is right and good, strong and responsive. “Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.”

If He came right now, how would you feel? What do you need to get right with God about today?

 John North

Making Big Requests of God

Making Big Requests of God

John 14:9-14

Jesus often spoke about the role of prayer for the believer and the church. He guaranteed His presence when two or more gather in unity to pray. He also promised to act whenever believers speak to God in the authority of Christ’s name. Jesus taught that God is to be the focus of our petitions, and He showed by example that the basis for ministry is communion with the Father.

If we want God to release His power into a situation, it’s important that we do two things:

First, we must depend solely on Jesus’ merits and mediation. Our new life as children of God began when we acknowledged our helplessness and accepted Christ’s substitutionary death on our behalf (Rom. 5:6). He acted as our mediator and reconciled us to the Father (1 Tim. 2:5). If we want God to do mighty works in and through us, we must continue in that same spirit of dependence on Christ (Gal. 2:20).

Second, we must separate from all known sin. At the cross, when the Savior paid our penalty for transgression, sin’s controlling power over us was broken. However, its presence remains in this world and also lingers in us. Gossip, laziness, gluttony, and selfishness are commonplace occurrences. The remedy for every sin is to confess it to God, turn away from that attitude or behavior, and receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9). He uses cleansed vessels.

If we are going to make big requests of God, we must come to Him with clean hearts and hands—that is, solely on the merits of His Son Jesus.

Tell Me Who Your God is and I will Tell You, Who You Are

The Lord wants to spend time with us not all for His glory, but also for our best benefit. As we worship Him, He rests in our praises, so joy is released thus showering us His glory; sharing with us His divine holiness, healing and wisdom, for in His presence darkness cannot prevail. As Moses' face shone when the Lord spoke with him, that same glory was communed to us as we come in His presence.

Holiness is a Lifestyle

Progressive holiness is an evidence of Christian growth; and it is possible to happen because God will complete His work in us.

The Passion for Joy

“God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion

 for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in

 that glory, and that these two are one passion.” 

― Jonathan Edwards

Confess In Prayer What We Need

Even when it is the Lord Himself initiating something, earnestly desiring to do it, He still needs us to ask. Andrew Murray succinctly speaks of our need to ask: "God's giving is inseparably connected with our asking... Only by intercession can that power be brought down from heaven which will enable the church to conquer the world."

Dutch Sheets

Our Actions have to Sync with Our Words

One element of Christianity is not religious ceremonies; not even righteous acts we put up, but our off guarded words. 

Better to Give, Than to Receive

Giving should not be hard for Christians, for once we expected to receive favor from God, and even so now that we continue on it. Helping then becomes our vocation, not to receive immediate rewards but to show how the grace of God works in our lives.

God's Persistent Love

There is no depth, deep enough, nor width, wide enough,to keep us from the love of God....
His faithfulness transcended time just to keep His promise of salvation;
and so does  power has lost its meaning compared to His stubborn love toward us....

His Love Causes the Goodness in Us

Not by our might, neither by our own nature that we do good but by God's love in our heart, which He allows to overflow.


“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 
― C.S. Lewis

God's Multiplication Table- Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Faiths Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Works for the LORD often begin on a small scale, and they are none the worse for this. Feebleness educates faith, brings God near, and wins glory for His name. Prize promises of increase! Mustard seed is the smallest among seeds, and yet it becomes a treelike plant, with branches which lodge the birds of heaven. We may begin with one, and that "a little one," and yet it will "become a thousand." The LORD is great at the multiplication table. How often did He say to His lone servant, "I will multiply thee!" Trust in the LORD, ye ones and twos; for He will be in the midst of you if you are gathered in His name. "A small one." What can be more despicable in the eyes of those who count heads and weigh forces! Yet this is the nucleus of a great nation. Only one star shines out at first in the evening, but soon the sky is crowded with countless lights. Nor need we think the prospect of increase to be remote, for the promise is, "I Jehovah will hasten it in his time." There will be no premature haste, like that which we see at excited meetings; it will be all in due time, but yet there will be no delay. When the LORD hastens, His speed is glorious.

Undealt sins block our prayers to reach the Doors of Heaven...

To pray with bitterness toward fellow men nullifies hours on our knees.

Dick Eastman

Faith is the foundation of our relationship with the Lord...

The unbelieving mind would not be convinced by any proof, and the worshipping heart needs none.

A. W. Tozer

When we endure in faith, we become more Christ like...

When we have done all we can, we must still wait for God to accomplish His purposes. As we wait, we can fix our eyes on Jesus as a companion who empathizes with our suffering and a Savior who is working behind the scenes. Difficult circumstances seem to increase our ability to experience intimacy with Christ.

Ruthann Ridley

Praying is not a task, to get tired of, but an attitude to enjoy and love doing....

It is always too soon to quit praying, even when praying is the last
thing we seem able to do.

Harold Lindsell

We are sealed with Jesus, and that is final...

The moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, our salvation is sealed for eternity. In Him, we are hidden, we may still falter as we walk through life, but our sonship will remain as God intended to be. His mercy blots out our name from eternal damnation. His grace will always cleanse us white as snow.

True essence of success is the sole goal of God for us...

He will be with you every step of the way. And though it may take time, He has a celebration planned for when you cross over the Red Seas of your life.

Charles Stanley

Our minds may be wild and wide, but still not enough to contain the greatness of God's love bestowed upon us...

Our little things are all big to God's love; our big things are all small to His power.

Billy Graham

Our wisdom, unless Christ inspired is just a blow in the wind....

Teaching unsupported by grace may enter our ears, but it never reaches the heart. When God's grace does touch our innermost minds to bring understanding, then his word, which is received by the ear, can sink deep into the heart.

Isidore of Seville

Preparation for Spiritual Warfare

Preparation for Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:10-13

Believers are caught in a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, but the Lord has provided everything we need to stand firm against the forces of evil. Why, then, do Christians fail so often and give in to temptation and sin? I think there are a number of reasons.

• We are unaware of the battle. Even if we know about spiritual warfare, during everyday life, it’s easy to forget an invisible war is raging around us. Our inattention makes us prime candidates for an attack.

• We are ignorant about the Enemy. Satan will hit us with one scheme after another when we don’t recognize his tactics or understand his goals.

• We are untrained for battle. Believers are soldiers whether they want to be or not. God’s Word is the training manual that gives instruction for discerning deception, resisting temptation, standing firm in faith, and walking in integrity.

• We allow Satan a foothold. The primary battleground for Christians is the mind. If we begin to listen to the Tempter and consider the benefits of his suggestions, he will gain a foothold into our thoughts, feelings, and desires. Left unchecked, the foothold will become a stronghold, and we’ll soon find ourselves mired in sin.

The time to prepare for warfare is now. You cannot be complacent and unaware of your Enemy, or you will become his victim. Begin filling your mind with God’s Word, and obediently listen to the Spirit’s inner warnings. That’s the way to experience the joy of victory in Christ.

As God is eternal, so is His love and mercy toward us...

"Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. As the King can never die, so his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit, and daily his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. There are seven feast-days in his weeks, and as many as are the days, so many are the banquets in his years. Who has ever returned from his door unblessed? Who has ever risen from his table unsatisfied, or from his bosom un-emparadised? His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening."

 - Charles Spurgeon

http://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/morning-and-evening

We are free from sin, not to sin...

Do not let us mistake necessary evils for good.

C. S. Lewis

Christianity is indeed a privilege but with it goes a responsibility...

Christianity is not just a church activity but a lifelong testimony of grace and mercy. It doesn't end at saying I am saved, but a beginning of commitment to good works, sincerity and a lifestyle of selflessness.

We die to ourselves to live for Christ....

If there be any reserve in my giving to Him who so loved that He gave His Dearest for me; if there be a secret "but" in my prayer, "Anything but *that*, Lord," then I know nothing of Calvary love.
Amy Carmichael

The evidence of our faith in the Lord is our obedience to His will...

“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”

C.S. Lewis
Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/22-awesome-c-s-lewis-quotes/#ixzz2h50tDu5q

So hard to let go of our pride... But Christ let go of His blood...

Though justification costs us nothing but the sacrifice of our pride, 
it has cost Christ His blood.

Frederick Brotherton ( F. B. ) Meyer

The security of our faith lies on Truth...

The truth-seeking spirit and the spirit of faith, instead of being opposed, are in the deepest harmony. The man whose faith is most genuine is most willing to have its assertions tested by the severest scrutiny. 
And the passion for truth has underlying it a profound conviction that what is real is best; that when we get to the heart of things we shall find there what we most need. Faith is false to itself when it dreads truth, and the desire for truth is prompted by an inner voice of faith.

George Springs Merriam

His strength is our comfort zone...

The word "comforter" as applied to the Holy Spirit needs to be translated by some vigorous term. Literally it means "with strength."
Jesus promised his followers "The Strengthener" would be with them forever.

Paul Hovey

In our loss in Christ, we gain more....

Let no one imagine that he will lose anything of human dignity by...voluntary sell-out of his all to his God. He does not by this degrade himself as a man; rather he finds his right place of high honour as one made in the image of his Creator. His deep disgrace lay in his moral derangement, his unnatural usurpation of the place of God. His honour will be proved by restoring again that stolen throne. In exalting God over all, he finds his own highest honour upheld.

A. W. Tozer

God never stops talking to us, we just have to listen...

God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from 

listening to him.

Francois Fenelon

True Spirit Does Not Deny Christ

The true fire is kindled at the Altar of Sacrifice. The false fire
ignores the blood. There is much religious fire today which is merely
the so-called "enthusiasm of humanity," or the emotion stirred by
eloquence, art or zeal for some human cause and selfish interest. It is
not enough to believe in the Spirit, for spiritism and spiritualism all
do this; but the true Spirit always comes in association with the blood.

A. B. Simpson

Relying upon Him-Daily New Life

Daily New Life

Do the demands of this day threaten to overwhelm you? If so, you must rely not only upon your own resources but also upon the promises of your Father in heaven. God is a never-ending source of support and courage for those of us who call upon Him. When we are weary, He gives us strength. When we see no hope, God reminds us of His promises. When we grieve, God wipes away our tears. God will hold your hand and walk with you every day of your life if you let Him. So even if your circumstances are difficult, trust the Father. His love is eternal, and His goodness endures forever.

Faith is not merely you holding on to God—it is God holding on to you. - E. Stanley Jones, 100 Days of Prayer

When you have no helpers, see all your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God; when you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord. - C. H. Spurgeon

The more you give your mental burdens to the Lord, the more exciting it becomes to see how God will handle things that are impossible for you to do anything about. - Charles Swindoll

God uses our most stumbling, faltering faith-steps as the open door to His doing for us “more than we ask or think.” - Catherine Marshall

Today’s Prayer
Heavenly Father, You never leave or forsake me. You are always with me, protecting me and encouraging me. Whatever this day may bring, I thank You for Your love and Your strength. Amen

The Importance of a Sincere Testimony

The Importance of a Sincere Testimony

Psalm 78:1-7

What is a testimony? Some believers think that it’s just a brief account of the way God has worked in their life. While that may be true, our testimony is much more than simply a short story.

One important aspect of our testimony is our character, which should include a spirit of obedience. Do we follow God’s instruction on occasion but ignore Him the rest of the time? An obedient spirit follows His guidance, no matter what. At times our actions may outwardly display obedience, but nobody except God knows what lies within our heart. He sees our true character, and it should line up with the story we tell others to glorify Him.

Our conduct—in other words, what we do—is another facet of our testimony. If what we say conflicts with our behavior, then we cloud our witness, and unbelievers may consider us hypocritical or doubt the genuineness of our faith. The way we act should confirm who we are in Christ.

Finally, a third part of our testimony is our conversation. As Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” This gives us an opportunity to tell others what God is doing in our lives. Our words can be significant to an unbeliever who doubts the existence of God or the divinity of Christ.

When our character, conduct, and conversation fail to match who we are in Christ, we hamper our ability to reach others with the gospel. A testimony can make the difference between doubt and faith in the life of an unbeliever. How authentic is your personal testimony?