The glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
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More Than Conquerors
January 7, 2015 
4 Comments
It is not a true Gospel that gives us the impression that the Christian life is easy, and that there are no problems to be faced. That is not the New Testament teaching. The New Testament is most alarming at first, indeed terrifying, as it shows us the problems by which we are confronted. But follow it-go on! It does not stop halfway, it goes on to this addition, this second half; and here it shows us the way in which, though that is the truth concerning the battle, we can be enabled to wage it, and not only to wage it, but to triumph in it. It shows us that we are meant to be “more than conquerors.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Lord, What Are You Trying To Teach Me?
January 5, 2015 6 Comments
Recently I’ve been learning that life comes down to this: God is in everything. Regardless of what difficulties I am experiencing at the moment, or what things aren’t as I would like them to be, I look at the circumstances and say, “Lord, what are you trying to teach me?”
Catherine Marshall
Have A Meaningful New Year
January 1, 2015 7 Comments
Life is not life without God by our side.
He is the reason why we are alive.
He is everything.
Offer your prayer of thanks, and stay full with God’s love.
Have a meaningful New Year! 🙂
Under The Word
December 17, 2014 6 Comments
The church is always to be under the Word; she must be; we must keep her there. You must not assume that because the church started correctly, she will continue so. She did not do so in the New Testament times; she has not done so since. Without being constantly reformed by the Word the church becomes something very different. We must always keep the church under the Word.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
One Alone…
December 16, 2014 1 Comment
Life passes, riches fly away, popularity is fickle, the senses decay, the world changes. One alone is true to us; One alone can be all things to us; One alone can supply our need.
John Henry Newman
The Glory Of The Gospel
November 27, 2014 3 Comments
The glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
It Was In Paradise
November 21, 2014 3 Comments
“The terrible, tragic fallacy of the last hundred years has been to think that all man’s troubles are due to his environment, and that to change the man you have nothing to do but change his environment. That is a tragic fallacy. It overlooks the fact that it was in Paradise that man fell.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
Follow Close After The Lord
November 20, 2014 4 Comments
It is easy to follow a person’s footprints if we walk close behind him, but if we walk some distance back, we might fail to see them as clearly. Similarly, if we follow close after the Lord, we would easily see the footsteps along the way, but if we try to follow afar off, we would find it difficult to know the path of His will.
Andrew Bonar
Christian Living
November 19, 2014 2 Comments
“There is nothing which I know of which is more unscriptural, and which is more dangerous to the soul, than to divide doctrine from life… The reason for this is that if your life and your mode of living is not the outcome of your doctrine, it is not Christian living; it is something else.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans – The Gospel Of God
Grieving God’s Heart
November 18, 2014 4 Comments
“We’re more concerned about our own “victory” over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve God’s heart.”
Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness
Inadequate Conception Of Sin
November 17, 2014 6 Comments
It is because man has an inadequate conception of sin that he has an inadequate conception of the grace of God.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Ephesians – God’s Ultimate Purpose
Wars In The World
November 10, 2014 4 Comments
“Why are there wars in the world? Why is there this constant international tension? What is the matter with the world? Why war and all the unhappiness and turmoil and discord amongst men? According to this Beatitude, there is only one answer to these questions-sin. Nothing else; just sin.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
Our Pursuit Of Holiness
October 24, 2014 2 Comments
“Too often, we say we are defeated by this or that sin. No, we are not defeated. We are simply disobedient. It might be good if we stop using the terms victory and defeat to describe our progress in holiness. Rather, we should use the terms obedience and disobedience. When I say I am defeated by some sin, I am unconsciously slipping out from under my responsibility. I am saying something outside of me has defeated me. But when I say I am disobedient, that places the responsibility for my sin squarely on me. We may in fact be defeated, but the reason we are defeated is because we have chosen to disobey.
We need to brace ourselves up and to realize that we are responsible for thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We need to reckon on the fact that we died to sin’s reign, that it no longer has any dominion over us, that God has united us with the risen Christ in all His power and has given us the Holy Spirit to work in us. Only as we accept our responsibility and appropriate God’s provisions will we make any progress in our pursuit of holiness.”
Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness
I Don’t Think I’m Good Enough?!
October 22, 2014 6 Comments
“To make it quite practical I have a very simple test. After I have explained the way of Christ to somebody I say “Now, are you ready to say that you are a Christian?” And they hesitate. And then I say, “What’s the matter? Why are you hesitating?” And so often people say, “I don’t feel like I’m good enough yet. I don’t think I’m ready to say I’m a Christian now.” And at once I know that I have been wasting my breath. They are still thinking in terms of themselves. They have to do it. It sounds very modest to say, “Well, I don’t think I’ good enough,” but it’s a very denial of the faith. The very essence of the Christian faith is to say that He is good enough and I am in Him. As long as you go on thinking about yourself like that and saying, “I’m not good enough; Oh, I’m not good enough,” you are denying God – you are denying the gospel – you are denying the very essence of the faith and you will never be happy. You think you’re better at times and then again you will find you are not as good at other times than you thought you were. You will be up and down forever. How can I put it plainly? It doesn’t matter if you have almost entered into the depths of hell. It does not matter if you are guilty of murder as well as every other vile sin. It does not matter from the standpoint of being justified before God at all. You are no more hopeless than the most moral and respectable person in the world.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure
Love Is Amazing
October 20, 2014 1 Comment
“Love is amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Isaac Watts
Your Time Is Your Life
October 11, 2014 5 Comments
“Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
It is not enough to just say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. “My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is “T-I-M-E.”
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
Morality & Ethics Without The Gospel As A basis
October 7, 2014 4 Comments
“The Church has been trying to preach morality and ethics without the Gospel as a basis; it has been preaching morality without godliness; and it simply does not work. It never has done, and it never will. And the result is that the Church, having abandoned her real task, has left humanity more or less to its own devices.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers
Unity And Maturity In The Body Of Christ
October 6, 2014 3 Comments
Ephesians 4:1-6 New International Version
Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Knocking The Smell Out Of It
October 4, 2014 9 Comments
“It must be the rain knocking the smell out of it”
My lovely wife Sarah
Sarah & were walking home from town in the pouring rain this afternoon, and as we walked past the lovely lavender plant which is on the wall of a nearby house, we were gifted with a beautiful scent of this lovely plant.
Sarah then said “It must be the rain knocking the smell out of it“
After a little chuckle i said “lol, yeah doesn’t that remind you a little of the Christian walk? The Holy Spirit spends our whole lives trying to knock the smell (the amazing fragrance of Grace) of of us!” 🙂
Following Jesus
October 3, 2014 5 Comments
“In teaching people what it means to be a Christian, we spend much of our time and effort bringing them to a point of belief without clearly calling them to follow. We have taken “believe” and we have written that in capital letters with bold print: BELIEVE. But everything that has to do with following has been put in small print: follow.”
“Jesus doesn’t hold back with Nicodemus.
Following Jesus would require a commitment that would cost Nicodemus a great deal….In fact, it’s true throughout all of Scripture….Following Jesus isn’t something you can do at night where no one notices. It’s a twenty-four-hour-a-day commitment that will interfere with your life. That’s not the small-print–that’s a guarantee.”
Kyle Idleman, Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
No Limits
September 29, 2014 2 Comments
“If we believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the only begotten Son of God and that He came into this world and went to the cross of Calvary and died for our sins and rose again in order to justify us and to give us life anew and prepare us for heaven-if you really believe that, there is only one inevitable deduction, namely that He is entitled to the whole of our lives, without any limit whatsoever.”
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
Self-Focused Pride
September 27, 2014 3 Comments
“It is amazing how little we know about ourselves. God has to take us through all kinds of failures to reveal the self-focused pride that lies dormant in the corners or our character.
The only way we can be of any use to God is to respond with discernment to our disappointments. Discernment leads us to truth- and the truth punctures our pride, all for His purpose of molding us to the image of His Son.”
June Hunt, Success Through Failure
The World’s Value System Or The Truth Of God’s Word
September 26, 2014 4 Comments
“What most of us do not realize is that we are being transformed in our thinking all the time—either by the world’s value system or by the truth of God’s Word. The world’s values bombard us daily with thousands of messages on billboards, in movies, songs, video games, and television programs that all reinforce a worldview that tells me life is about “me.” Life is about what I can get, what I can achieve, who I can impress, what I can possess, where I live, what I drive, how much education I have, how much money I make, who knows my name, and how successful I am . . . and the list goes on. By contrast, God uses His Spirit, His Word, nature, great books, and the authentic community of fellow believers to remind us that life is about “Him.” And life in Christ is all about what I can give, who I can love, how God can use me, how significant and accepted I am regardless of what I make, where I live, what I drive, or who knows my name.”
Chip Ingram, True Spirituality: Becoming a Romans 12 Christian
becoming Fashionable
September 25, 2014 2 Comments
“Vice does not lose its character by becoming fashionable.”
John Wesley
Grace Is Everywhere
September 21, 2014 1 Comment
“Grace is everywhere, like lenses that go unnoticed because you are looking through them.”
Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace?
Alcohol
September 20, 2014 3 Comments
“I would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains.”
William Shakespeare, Othello
Give Me All Of You!!!
September 16, 2014 3 Comments
“Give me all of you!!! I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self—in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
My Deepest Awareness Of Myself
September 15, 2014 1 Comment
“My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”
Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
Sin
September 13, 2014 2 Comments
It is one thing for sin to live in us; it is another for us to live in sin.
John Murray
Children Of God
September 12, 2014 1 Comment
To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. Power to become children! … Born, says John, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
N. T. Wright, Sermon at the Eucharist on Christmas Morning 2007
Where Is Your Sanctuary
September 11, 2014 4 Comments
“Where Is Your Sanctuary? Where do you go when you’re hurting? Let’s say it’s been a terrible day at the office. You come home and go — where? To the refrigerator for comfort food like ice cream? To the phone to vent with your most trusted friend? Do you seek escape in novels or movies or video games or pornography? Where do you look for emotional rescue? The Bible tells us that God is our refuge and strength, our help in times of trouble — so much so that we will not fear though the mountains fall into the heart of the sea (Ps. 46:1 – 2). That strikes me as a good place to run. But it’s so easy to forget, so easy for us to run in other directions. Where we go says a lot about who we are. The “high ground” we seek reveals the geography of our values.”
Kyle Idleman, Gods at War: Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your Heart
The Preacher
September 10, 2014 4 Comments
The story is told of a church that secured a new preacher, and the word spread around town about how well he preached. The church members were abuzz about what an improvement he was over their former preacher, and how much more attention they gave to his sermons. When the town cynic asked what made this new preacher so much better than his predecessor, he was told, “The old preacher told us that we’re all sinners, and that if we didn’t repent, we’d burn in hell forever!” This cynic then asked, “And what does this new one say?” The answer was, “That we’re all sinners, and that if we don’t repent, we’ll burn in hell forever!” When the cynic responded that he didn’t see any difference between the two of them, he was told, “This new preacher says it with tears in his eyes.”
Tony Campolo
Glory, Glory, Glory
September 8, 2014 5 Comments
“Man’s thought is always of the punishment that will come to him if he sins. God’s thought is always of the glory man will miss if he sins. God’s purpose for redemption is glory, glory, glory.”
Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life
Biblical Truth
September 5, 2014 4 Comments
“Don’t believe something just because you want to, and don’t embrace an idea just because you’ve always believed it. Believe what is biblical. Test all your assumptions against the precious words God gave us in the Bible.”
Francis Chan, Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We’ve Made Up
Some knowledge Is Too Heavy For Children
September 2, 2014 11 Comments
“And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, “Father, what is sexsin?”
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.
Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said.
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
It’s too heavy,” I said.
Yes,” he said, “and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”
Corrie ten Boom – The Hiding Place
New Beginnings
September 1, 2014 12 Comments
“You win over people just like you win over a dog. You see a dog passing down the street with an old bone in his mouth. You don’t grab the bone from him and tell him it’s not good for him. He’ll growl at you. It’s the only thing he has. But you throw a big fat lamb chop in front of him, and he’s going to drop that bone and pick up the lamb chop, his tail wagging to beat the band. And you’ve got a friend. Instead of going around grabbing bones from people… I’m going to throw them some lamb chops. Something with real meat and life in it. I’m going to tell them about New Beginnings.”
David Wilkerson, The Cross and the Switchblade
Developing Negatives
August 28, 2014 4 Comments
“Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.”
Wanda E. Brunstetter
Members Of God’s Holy Family
August 27, 2014 0 Comments
Ephesians 2:17-22 The Voice
17 The Great Preacher of peace and love came for you, and His voice found those of you who were near and those who were far away. 18 By Him both have access to the Father in one Spirit. 19 And so you are no longer called outcasts and wanderers but citizens with God’s people, members of God’s holy family, and residents of His household. 20 You are being built on a solid foundation: the message of the prophets and the voices of God’s chosen emissaries with Jesus, the Anointed Himself, the precious cornerstone. 21 The building is joined together stone by stone—all of us chosen and sealed in Him, rising up to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In Him you are being built together, creating a sacred dwelling place among you where God can live in the Spirit.
The church is not a building constructed by humans but a divine institution, built on the living Stone, Jesus. He’s the strong, foundational building block of the church, and his followers are living stones who are being built into a spiritual house.
As one of the many little living stones in the church, remember that each diverse stone has great worth to Jesus and to his body. When you’re tempted to ignore your need for others or to discount those who aren’t like you, remember that each stone is balanced by all those around it, and all rest on the living Stone himself.
Quote from: “NIV Devotions“
Faith Is A Gift Of God
August 27, 2014 3 Comments
“People think of faith as being something that you don’t really believe, a device in helping you believe simply it. Of course that is quite wrong. As Pascal says, faith is a gift of God. It is different from the proof of it. It is the kind of faith God himself places in the heart, of which the proof is often the instrument…
He says of it, too, that it is the heart which is aware of God, and not reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not be reason.”
Malcolm Muggeridge, The End of Christendom
We Desperately Need God
August 25, 2014 2 Comments
“The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time.”
Francis Chan
Faith In The Biblical Sense
August 22, 2014 0 Comments
“Faith in the biblical sense is substantive, based on the knowledge that the One in whom that faith is placed has proven that He is worthy of that trust. In its essence, faith is a confidence in the person of Jesus Christ and in His power, so that even when His power does not serve my end, my confidence in Him remains because of who He is.”
Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods
You Really Are Accepted
August 20, 2014 0 Comments
“And Grace calls out, ‘You are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon, a middle-aged woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out, a young person feeling the fire in the belly begin to grow cold. You may be insecure, inadequate, mistaken or potbellied. Death, panic, depression, and disillusionment may be near you. But you are not just that. You are accepted.’ Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that you really are accepted.”
Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
God’s Grace
August 19, 2014 5 Comments
Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died for me. Without his sacrificial death, without God’s grace, I am powerless to save myself or make myself righteous. Jesus did for me what I could not do and paid off my debt to sin which I could not pay. He did it for me; not because I was good enough to be worthy of his death, but because I couldn’t be worthy without him.
Daily Prompt: Uncanned Laughter
August 18, 2014 9 Comments
Tell us about a time you (or someone else) said or did something unintentionally funny.
Yesterday at the church morning meeting during Holy Communion, Sarah and i were the last to receive the bread plate (Sarah usually reaches and passes me a piece as i can’t really see the plate etc) It is sometimes cut into nice little squares but this time it was a loaf of bread. Then……to my surprise Sarah dumped a massive chunk of bread into my hand (the biggest communion bread i’ve ever had!) This made me start laughing, and as the chuch was silent and somber i quickly switched my laugh into a smile.
I then started thinking how i was participating in an outward sign of an inward grace freely given from God through Jesus. It is an act celebrating Jesus’ gift of new life through his death and his resurrection. It is a celebration of the coming of the new creation first witnessed in and through Jesus. And if this is also a celebration of the FREE gift of new life, then why is everyone so somber? We seem to be so good at focusing on his death, and not so good at focusing on His amazing act of love that gives new life to anyone who chooses it.
Then my thoughts went to what Jesus Did, and continues to do 24/7 as he loves me (and you) that much! This always completely blows my mind as i really am not that special in my eyes, yet he created us and loves and values us more than we can comprehend!! 🙂
Quote from Rev. Edward F. Markquart
Jesus is the source of life, the source of eternal life, the source of the values of our daily lives, the source of love for our daily lives. The basic food staple of the world is bread and Jesus is the basic spiritual staple of the world.
Jesus is never just bread. Jesus is always the bread OF LIFE. Jesus is always the LIVING bread. As we consume bread, it gives us nourishment and energy for our physical lives. As we consume Jesus into our lives, he is the nourishment and energy for our spiritual, emotional and moral lives.
Is Holy Communion a joyful or somber celebration for you? Can it be both?
See more of my Daily Prompts
Heaven Enfolded In A Bud
August 16, 2014 2 Comments
“Lord, give me an open heart to find You everywhere, to glimpse the heaven enfolded in a bud, and to experience eternity in the smallest act of love.”
Mother Teresa
Poisonous Thoughts
August 15, 2014 11 Comments
Once upon a time a man whose ax was missing suspected his neighbor’s son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But the man found his ax while digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor’s son, the boy walked, looked, and spoke like any other child.
Lao Tzu
Having Sight With No Vision
August 14, 2014 11 Comments
“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”
Helen Keller
This quote really hits home for me in so many ways. I spent 24 years of being fully sighted just feeling lost, empty, angry and wasting my selfish life, being pulled one way and the other, not caring who i hurt.
Then in 2004 after losing most of my sight, Jesus became the light of my world. “I was blind but now I see”. see my About Steve page…
Now with Jesus as my destination on my “Spiritual Sat Nav” I have Vision, purpose, worth, and directions to follow. 🙂
How is your vision?
No Walls Can Confine You!
August 13, 2014 18 Comments
Every Sunday the ducks waddle out of their houses and waddle down Main Street to their church. They waddle into the sanctuary and squat in their proper pews. The duck choir waddles in and takes its place, then the duck minister comes forward and opens the duck Bible. He reads to them: “Ducks! God has given you wings! With wings you can fly! With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles. No walls can confine you! No fences can hold you! You have wings. God has given you wings and you can fly like birds!” All the ducks shouted, “Amen!” And they all waddled home.
Soren Kierkegaard
You Are Really & Truly & Completely free!
August 11, 2014 5 Comments
You are really and truly and completely free. There is no kicker. There is no if, and, or but. You are free. You can do it right or wrong. You can obey or disobey. You can run from Christ or run to Christ. You can choose to become faithful… or unfaithful. You can cry, cuss, and spit, or laugh, sing, and dance… You’re free… really free.
Steve Brown (A Scandalous Freedom)
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