Romans 12:12

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Quotes

"Christianity is NOT a religion; it's the proclamation of the end of religion. Religion is a human activity dedicated to the job of reconciling God to humanity and humanity to itself. The Gospel, however - the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - is the astonishing announcement that God has done the whole work of reconciliation without a scrap of human assistance. It is the bizarre proclamation that religion is over, period." -Robert F. Capon, "The Astonished Heart" There is a war going on. All talk of a Christian's right to live luxuriously "as a child of the King" in this atmosphere sounds hollow -- especially since the King himself is stripped for battle. John Piper

More Quotes

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: To understand reality is not the same as to know about outward events. It is to perceive the essential nature of things. The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential. But on the other hand, knowledge of an apparently trivial detail quite often makes it possible to see into the depth of things. And so the wise man will seek to acquire the best possible knowledge about events, but always without becoming dependent upon this knowledge. To recognize the significant in the factual is wisdom. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. -- Proverbs 3:5-6 A true love of God must begin with a delight in his holiness. -- Jonathan Edwards All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired. -- Martin Luther The purpose of Christianity is not to avoid difficulty, but to produce a character adequate to meet it when it comes. It does not make life easy; rather it tries to make us great enough for life. -- James L. Christensen To be like Christ is to be a Christian. -- Daniel Webster For we walk bt faith, not by sight. -- Corinthians 5:7 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. -- Timothy 6:12 Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe. -- Saint Augustine Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. -- Hebrews 11:1 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. -- Matthew 7:21 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. -- Luke 23:46. Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. -- Luke 9:1,2. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. -- Romans 10:9 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. -- Hebrews 13:8 In trouble then and fear I sought The Man who taught in Galilee; And peace unto my soul was brought, All my faith came back to me. Anonymous If Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God in the experience of those who trust and love him, there needs no further argument of his divinity. -- Henry Ward Beecher Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe." Augustine "Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading." Chambers, Oswald "Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods." Lewis, C.S. "Without Christ, not one step; with Him, anywhere!" Livingstone, David "If we cannot believe God when circumstances seem be against us, we do not believe Him at all." Spurgeon, Charles "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done." Lewis, C.S. "When you have no helpers, see 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." Spurgeon, Charles "God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the IMPOSSIBLE." Booth, William "I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done." Taylor, Hudson Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible." Category: Ten, Boom, Corrie "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God." Carey, William "Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ." Tozer, A.W. "What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow." Luther, Martin "Monastic vows rest on the false assumption that there is a special calling, a vocation, to which superior Christians are invited to observe the counsels of perfection while ordinary Christians fulfil only the commands; but there simply is no special religious vocation since the call of God comes to each at the common tasks." Luther, Martin "This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it." Baxter, Richard "We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in his word, he intended to be conspicuous in our lives." Spurgeon, Charles "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie Ten Boom "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength." Corrie Ten Boom "If God has fit you to be a missionary, I would not have you shrivel down to be a king." Spurgeon, Charles

Pop quizzes....

Into the flow of everyday life God sends “pop quizzes”–those unexpected trials that show us what we’re made of; that reveal the true quality of our faith and character; that show our willingness to obey Him. We need courage to acknowledge our own weaknesses and to change. We need understanding in handling moral dilemmas and family crises. Thankfully, God has given us the strength we need. By His power we can “participate in the divine nature” and triumph over our sins and the temptations and corruption of the world.

God Knows....

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You do scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1-3). “God knows instantly and effortlessly all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirits, all being and every being, all creaturehood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every uttered secret, all thrones and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven, and hell…” A. W. Tozer The Apostle Paul wrote, “Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!” (Rom 11:33) God knows all our habits, plans, aims, desires, attitudes, ambitions, etc. are known to Him. “You understand my thoughts from afar” (v.2b). “He knows the secrets of the heart” (Ps. 44:21b). Jesus said, “God knows your hearts” (Lk. 16:15). The LORD said to Samuel, “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (I. Sam. 16:7). Again to King Solomon God said, “The LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever” (1 Chron. 28:9). “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27).

Wishful Thinking of God

Are we corrupting our thoughts with our wishful images of God? We need to view God as our spiritual contentment which is the opposite of image (Idolatry). Contentment is excitement in the midst of illness, compassion over the needs of someone who is worse off than us, joy in the midst of pain. Contentment says, "Thy will be done, Lord," even when His will means a cross. Contentment is never being possessed by our wishful thinking images of God. What I am trying to say in this post as well as all of my posts in the past, God knows everything simply because He is GOD. I am finally understanding that God don't want me to live in a easy life, but rather make me a stronger Christian. If God allow me to go through tough circumstances, He will get me through it. I am learning that God will always lead me to His providential circumstances for my own good, in His will and for His glory. Faith in God means that I TRUST God regardless what circumstances I am going through. True faith produces a life full of spiritual actions, not a head full of biblical facts. There are many people who have their own image of God and they believe that God have good life planned for them but there are so few who want to put themselves in a place where they can really hear Him. C.S. Lewis once said "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world". The tragedy is that, knowing Him, there are some of us who still insist imaging God their own way even though God allowed things to happen in our lives. People are forgetting that God takes us into deep waters, not to drown us but to make us a better Christian. When God sees your future and seeing what direction you are going based on your free-will, He will find ways to make your change by planting His authority in our lives. God allows us to live in "free-will" but at the same time, God is using us to Glorify Him. God allow things to happen so that non-believers can see us having strong faith in Him regardless how bad our lives can be and they will turn to God. God is always making provisions for our future according to His will by providing and guiding for His glory. The Bible clearly teaches that God knows beforehand what we will need and He will provide beforehand according to His will. Wisdom sees everything in focus and be able to trust God no matter what happens. God leads us to our destiny according to His will and glory. No matter what we do, God is always guiding us through our circumstances (good and bad). Nothing is impossible for Him. We all assumed that we have planned and executed our lives according to our free-wills, but we were really never aware that our lives have always been guided by God regardless my free-will decisions. God will use our free-will decisions and when we do make them, God allow us to go through tough circumstances to wake us up from our free-will and direct us back to Him. Christian history revealed that there were many GREAT Christians of the past suffered (not just persecution) and they have survived and used their circumstances to let people see you glorifying God. Circumstances are to be used to teach us patience and made us look upward to God for hope. In Romans 8:27, "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Romans 8:28 basically means "Christian should always have hope" and later in Romans 15:13, "Hope comes from the Holy Spirit." Hope is living because hope rests on reality and not on fantasy. We must be careful that we do not use this as a wishful dreaming but realistic expectations from our Loving God. The Bible clearly teaches that suffering purifies us like fire refines gold (1 Pet. 1:7). So that we can have STRONG faith in God that no matter what happens to us as a Christian, God will ultimately work out for our good and for His Glory. The Bible and the Holy Spirit will clearly teach you that God didn't merely promise us that temporal good will come out of difficult situations but did promised that whatever we do during our trials that God will be with us and we will Glorify God.

More Quotes

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world -- C. S. Lewis Nothing under God's control is ever out of control. - Charles Swindoll To gain self-control, give God control. (Unknown) Be as patient with others as God is with you. (Unknown) Christianity is a battle, not a dream. - Wendell Phillips God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. - Jim Elliot The Bible was not written to satisfy your curiosity; it was written to transform your life. - Howard Hendricks, 1991. Sin adds to your trouble, subtracts from your energy, multiplies your difficulties, and divides you from God. (Unknown) God and his work are one. (Unknown) To God, our journey is as important as our destinations. - Beth Moore If being Christian was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you? (Unknown)