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We Want The Crown Without The Cross.
Mankind wants glory. We want health. We want wealth. We want happiness. We want all our felt needs met, all our little human itches scratched. We want a painless life. We want the crown without the cross. We want the gain without the pain. We want the words of Christβs salvation to be easy.
John MacArthur
Silly Idea
A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is… A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.
C S Lewis
What Are We Waiting For?
There are fathers waiting until other obligations are less demanding to become acquainted with their sons.Β There are mothers who sincerely intend to be more attentive to their daughters.Β There are husbands and wives who are going to be more understanding.Β But time does not draw people closer.Β When in the world are we going to begin to live as if we understood that this is life?Β This is our time, our dayβ¦and it is passing.Β What are we waiting for?
Richard L. Evans
Tomorrow

Always put off until tomorrow what you shouldnβt do at all.
Morris Mandel
Nobody Ever Outgrows Scripture

Between Two Thieves

The cross must be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am claiming that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble, because that is where He died and that is what he died about and that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen should be about.
George Macleod
Walk In The Way

There is only one basis for really enjoying life, and that is, to walk in the way in which God leads you. Then you are prepared to find delight in all sorts of wayward incidentsβ¦.When a man is drifting through life, seeking nothing outside of self-gratification, the world must become increasingly a barren and forbidding wilderness. But it is wonderful how many delights fall to the lot of him who is led by God. For such a one the clasp of a friendβs hand, a cool drink in the heat of noon, a merry salutation from a passing traveler, a glimpse of beauty by the road, a quiet resting place at night, are all full of unspeakable pleasure.
Leaves of Gold
Impressions About Christmas

“One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.” βΒ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Most of our impressions about Christmas revolve around concepts like “peace” and “harmony” and “unity.” But the first Christmas was filled with intense contrasts. On one hand, we have Herod who is willing to murder countless innocent babies in order to save his position as king. Then there are the three Magi, the wise men from the east:
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. βΒ Matthew 2:11
These were gifts of great monetary and symbolic value:
- MYRRHΒ was a substance used in embalming fluid. This little boy had been born to die as the Savior of mankind! So in giving that gift, the wise men said, “You are Savior, You are worthy to be trusted, we trust You fully.”Β
- INCENSEΒ was burned in the Tabernacle and in the Temple as an act of worship to God. In giving frankincense, they were saying, “You are God, and You are worthy to be worshiped!”Β
- GOLDΒ was a gift given to kings. In giving the gold to Jesus, they said, “You are King, You are worthy to be followed.”
There was a time when your sinful nature was inclined to do what Herod did β clinging to and defending your position as king of your own life. But now that you are in Christ, now that your sinful nature has been crucified with Him (Romans 6), now that His Holy Spirit lives within you (Romans 8), you can listen to His voice that invites you to bow down and worship the Child as Savior and King today.
Jesus, my Lord! With great joy, I follow the leading of Your Spirit in my heart today. I bow before You as my Savior and my King. May my words, thoughts, and actions all be expressions of sincere worship to You. Amen.
How Better We Can Love

Is life not full of opportunities for learning love? Every man and woman every day has a thousand of them. The world is not a playground; it is a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love.
Henry Drummond
“But You Gave Me Two”

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Distinctive Mark Of A Christian

A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord. Thank God in the midst of trials and every persecution.
Billy Graham
The Spirit Of Christmas

βThe spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world.β
Stuart Briscoe
Verbal Sunshine

Be generous with encouragement. It is verbal sunshine. It costs nothing and it warms hearts.
Happy Thanksgiving

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18Β The Voice
Celebrate always, pray constantly, and give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. (This is Godβs will for all of you in Jesus the Anointed.)
God’s Special Work Of Art

Each one of us is God’s special work of art. Through us, He teaches and inspires, delights and encourages, informs and uplifts all those who view our lives. God, the master artist, is most concerned about expressing Himself- His thoughts and His intentions- through what He paints in our character; He wants to paint a beautiful portrait of His Son in and through your life. A painting like no other in all of time.
Joni Eareckson Tada
Not Necessarily Doubting

We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.
C. S. Lewis
Study The Word Of God

Study the word of God daily. You will sense Him speaking to you directly β refreshing your heart, feeding your mind and changing your life.
Seeking Happiness?

The foolish person seeks happiness in the distance; the wise person grows it under his feet.
James Oppenheim
In His Hands

Those who put themselves in His hands will become perfect, as He is perfect- perfect in love, wisdom, joy, beauty, health, and immortality. The change will not be completed in this life, for death is an important part of the treatment. How far the change will have gone before death in any particular Christian is uncertain.
C. S. Lewis
Resentment

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The Greatest Source Of Power

If you are a stranger to prayer, you are a stranger to the greatest source of power known to human beings.
Billy Sunday
Through The Eyes Of A Dog

βGod, make me the person my dog thinks I am.β
Church sign
Immortal Flowers

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Moral Acts

The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, βI was wrong.β
Sydney J. Harris
Through The Eyes Of God

The Struggle Within

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Wounds Of The Spirit

There are wounds of the spirit which never close and are intended in Godβs mercy to bring us nearer to Him, and to prevent us leaving Him by their very perpetuity. Such wounds then may almost be taken as a pledge, or at least as a ground for a humble trust, that God will give us the great gift of perseverance to the end. This is how I comfort myself in my own great bereavements.
John Henry Newman
Nothing Transcends The Power Of God

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February 12, 2014 





























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