Good Words for Today
Persistence is a great instructor in the school of Christian growth.
"So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up" (Galatians 6:9). Here is all God asks of us: Don’t give up! Don’t stop! Don’t grow weary! Keep on going. There will be a wonderful harvest to come. That harvest will partly come in life and much of it will come when we finally get to heaven. Who knows? Perhaps we will look down from heaven and find out that we changed someone’s life simply because every day we smiled and said hello.
Thoughts for today: Do people forget to say, “Thank you"? Help them anyway. Some people are hardheaded. Share Christ with them anyway. Not all your prayers are answered. Keep praying! God doesn’t do what you think he should do? Trust him anyway! Do your friends make fun of your Christian faith? Do right anyway! (And you may want to think about getting some new friends.) Are you scared? Keep believing! Do you feel like giving up? It’s always too soon to quit.
To love God’s law means to embrace it wholeheartedly as the rule of your life. Because we love God, we love his Word, and we make it the foundation and the center of all that we do.
The only truly happy people I have known are those who have prayed, “Thy will be done.” They have the “great peace” of Psalm 119:165. They have discovered that the way to peace is to yield everything to the Lord.
Satan pays off in compound interest—but so does the Lord! No one will ever regret serving the Lord. There are rich rewards in this life—and unimagined glory in the life to come.
Most of us talk too much and pray too little. Pray more, talk less, and your words will have a greater impact.
Lord Jesus, teach us that we only keep what we give away. We have tried so hard to hoard things, only to have them slip through our fingers. We have tried stinginess, Lord, and it didn’t work. Teach us to be generous. We thank you that we have everything we need and more besides. Open our eyes to see what you are doing in the world. Save us from spending our lives building castles of sand. Help us to invest in those things that will outlast us. Amen.
When God calls, there are no guarantees about tomorrow. Abraham truly didn’t know where he was going, didn’t know how he would get there, didn’t know how long it would take, and didn’t even know for sure how he would know he was there when he got there. All he knew was that God had called him. Period. Everything else was up in the air. Faith takes the next step even when we don’t know where it will lead.
"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent word! What more can He say than to you He hath said— To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?"
Spiritual progress begins when we see ourselves as God sees us. Nothing gets our attention like a cold splash of reality that wipes the cobwebs from our soul. It’s one thing when a friend says, “This is what you look like.” It’s another thing for God to utter those words. We can sometimes fool our closest friends, but it’s impossible to fool the Lord.
When the Son of Man comes… Will he find faith in your church? Will he find faith in your family? Will he find faith in your heart? (Luke 18:8)
Three Steps to Personal Renewal from 2 Chronicles 7:14: Humility leads to prayer. Prayer leads to seeking God’s face. Seeking God’s face leads to turning from our wicked ways. Then we will hear from heaven, and healing will begin.
When you see a turtle on a fence post, You know one thing for sure: He didn’t get there by himself!
Built your life on God’s Word, the Bible, and you will have strong faith for dangerous days. There may be more shaking of the foundations in the days to come. We would all be wise to build our lives on Jesus Christ. He is the one true firm foundation that can stand the test of time.
The life of faith means that you live until you die and you don’t die until you’re dead. I don’t want to die until I’m dead. I want to live until the very last moment, fully invested for Jesus Christ and for his kingdom, doing everything I can to advance his cause in the world.
"If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold, And you have to get along with meager fare, Just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird— Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there." Refrain: "Leave it there, leave it there, Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there; If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out— Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there." Charles A. Tindley, 1916
Sometimes in our zeal to protect God, we try to explain why bad things happen to good people. That’s almost always a bad idea. We are like little children looking into the face of an infinitely wise Father. It is not possible that we should understand all he does. It is enough that we love him and know that he is there.
Praise is a choice. A thankful heart is a choice you make. No one is forced into bitterness. You choose the way you live.
If you have a lot or if you have a little, as long as you have God, you have what you need, and you are greatly blessed.
Did Joshua know how the walls of Jericho would come tumbling down? No, but he moved out anyway. What Joshua did, any of us can do if we are willing to trust God and step out in faith.
It is good to recall what soldiers are told before a battle begins: “You have to go. You don’t have to come back.” The same is true for the soldiers in the army of the Lord. When Christ calls, we have to go. We don’t have to come back.
God’s workers die, but God’s work goes on.
Gratitude is the highest duty of the believer and the supreme virtue, the fountain from which all other blessings flow.
The secret of a thankful heart is a conscious choice not to forget what God has done for you.
God is greatly glorified when we don’t give up in prayer. Don't give up and don't stop praying. Keep believing and keep on praying. You never know what God will do.
It’s always easier to confess someone else’s sins. Ask God what stands between you and a new experience of his power and blessing. If you ask in sincerity, God will surely answer.
O Lord, Deliver me from fear. Teach me to trust you. Do things I’m not used to. Bring me to the place where I will trust you more than ever before. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
It is a false and dangerous theology that says, “If I trust God, everything will work out fine and all my dreams will come true.” Many times the very opposite seems to be true. Too many people follow Jesus for the wrong reasons. What did you sign up for? A picnic in the park? A tea party? Jesus calls you to take up your cross daily and follow him.
Often we focus on the spectacular answers to prayer. God says, "That’s not always where you’re going to see me. Look for my fingerprints in the small things and listen for the whisper of my voice." God always speaks loud enough for the willing ear to hear.
If your name is Noah and God told you it's going to rain, it's all right to pray for an ark but while you're praying, go out and cut down some gopher wood.
When you are tempted to despair, remember that you can’t go back, you can’t stay where you are, but by God’s grace, you can move forward one step at a time.
To be almost right about Jesus is to be totally wrong. Why? Because we are not saved by good opinions about Jesus. Does it matter what we believe about Jesus? Yes, it does. The truth about Jesus is the difference between heaven and hell.
Better to do what you need to do than to waste four hours dreaming about what you would like to do.
We weaken the church and we do not help the world when we lower our standards for membership. If anything, churches would do well to raise the bar so that membership truly means something.
When the foundations are being destroyed, we need a fresh view of God and a long view of history. The God who sees all things will judge the wicked and bring them down in the end, and the righteous will see God’s face.
If we want to see God work, we must move forward by faith, knowing that as we go through the open doors, adversaries await us. Will we have the courage to go forward anyway?
Can you really do "all things"? Through Christ you can. Jesus will give you everything you need to do everything he calls you to do today.
Forgiveness means giving grace to those who don’t deserve it. If people deserved forgiveness, they wouldn’t need it.
Clovis Chappell says that on the west coast of England there is the grave of a man who was much loved by all who knew him. When he died, these words were inscribed on his headstone: “Here lies a man who was satisfied with Jesus.” Could that be said of you and me?