scripture
Proverbs 16:19
Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.
quote
Make sure it is God's trumpet you are blowing- if it is only yours it won't wake the dead, it will simply disturb the neighbors.
W. Ian Thomas
scripture
Matthew 9:35-38
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
quote
The command has been to 'go,' but we have stayed -- in body, gifts, prayer and influence. He has asked us to be witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth ... but 99% of Christians have kept puttering around in the homeland.
Robert Savage, Latin American Mission
thoughts
A Christian friend of mine just called. He mentioned that someone in his church shared with him that he received a call from God to be a pastor. He mentioned that he has doubts if God speaks this way now that we have the Bible. However he said that he’d support him in this pursuit nonetheless. I was reminded of a message by Brad Buser, a missionary who spent 20 years with his family serving in Papua New Guinea, called For God so Loved the World. In it he explains that he never received “the call”. His experience was that 90% of the missionaries he met never got “the call”. They simply read the Bible and said, “Okay, Lord. I will go”. He shared a story about a man he knew that had received a call. This man was welding in the bottom of a ship and out of the metal God said, “Serve Me now or I will strike you dead”. I shared this message with my friend and we agreed that if God wants to speak to someone like this then that’s wonderful. We are in no position to question God’s means. But we fear for those Christians that use the “I haven’t been called” excuse to evade service.
scripture
Romans 14:7-9
For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
quote
I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.
John Keith Falconer
scripture
Romans 13:11-14
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
quote
I cannot recall, in any of my reading, a single instance of a prophet who applied for the job.
A. W. Tozer
thoughts
The average US household watches 494 minutes (8hr 14m) of television a day. (Nelson Media Research) That comes out to 3458 minutes (57hr 38m) a week.
Over a period of an average life span of 75 years, that amounts to over 13 million hours of life being spent in front of a lifeless box.
Are there not better things that we can be doing with our time? Most technology is obsolete with a few years anyway. Why not invest in something that will provide a return?
scripture
Matthew 23:27-28
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
quote
True evangelical faith cannot lie sleeping, it clothes the naked, it comforts the sorrowful, it feeds the hungry, it shelters the destitute, it cares for the sick, it becomes all things to all people.
Menno Simons
thoughts
Theology cannot survive in the space between the pulpit and the pew; it must penetrate into your heart and cause action. What does it matter if our theology is miles wide if it is but only a few inches deep?
scripture
Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
lyrics
You turned a page inside my heart
Brought the light when my world was so dark
I feel something I can't explain
You consumed me and took on my shame
Everything is gone that held me down
Your arms are around me
All the pain has left my selfish heart
And your love it surrounds me
Myself by Fireflight
scripture
Psalm 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah (pause and think about that)
quote
"My grace is sufficient for thee." Upon that great word many a weary head has rested; many wounded hearts have been healed by it; discouraged souls have heard its infinite music and have set their lives to new endeavor until they have become victorious. That stake in the flesh, that messenger of Satan, is in My grace. It is part of My method. The stake in the flesh is sent. The messenger of Satan is My messenger. That is not something that is against you, but for you. This hard and difficult and trying circumstance is not something outside My providence, My economy, which you must overcome with My help: it is of My purpose, it is My plan. I am high enthroned above all the powers of darkness, and to the trusting soul Satan himself is compelled to be a means of My grace. All your suffering is in My economy. I have poised in My own hand the weight of your burden and know it. Everything that is imposed upon you is under My control. "My grace is sufficient for thee." It is enough for you to know that what you are suffering is part of My discipline, evidence of My love.
G. Campbell Morgan
scripture
Proverbs 4:25-27
Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.
Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
quote
"Some seek knowledge for
The sake of knowledge:
That is curiosity;
Others seek knowledge so that
They themselves may be known:
That is vanity;
But there are still others
Who seek knowledge in
Order to serve and edify others:
And that is charity."
-Bernard of Clairvaux
scripture
God appoints Jeremiah as a prophet
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
"Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
quote
What is Christian perfection? Loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
John Wesley
scripture
Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
quote
Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.
Jonathan Edwards
