Good Words for Today

“The man who has met God is not looking for anything; he has found it. He is not searching for light, for upon him the light has already shined. His certainty may seem bigoted, but his assurance is that of one who knows by experience his religion is not hearsay. He is not a copy, not a facsimile. He is an original from the hand of the Holy Spirit." A. W. Tozer

‌“I send you forth as sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:16). If Jesus sends us, and he goes with us, we’re safer among the wolves than if we stayed in the pen.

Lost people may not listen to our sermons or pay attention to our doctrine, but they notice the way we live under pressure. When we are broken by life, if Christ still shines through us, they may see our faith and come to believe that Jesus is alive today.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). So rare is this kind of person that when people see a peacemaker, they say, “There goes a child of God.” And God smiles from heaven and says, “That’s one of my kids.”

When Paul gave a benediction, he often said something like "May the Lord himself do such-and-such." When trouble comes, we don't need more words; we need the Lord himself. Thank God, we don't have to walk through the valley alone. The Lord himself walks with us.

" I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). Your doubts are not the end of the story. Your fears are not the end of the story. Your worries are not the end of the story. Your uncertainties are not the end of the story. Your troubles are not the end of the story. Because Jesus rose from the dead, better days are coming. The grave will not have the last word. One day the children of God will exit the cemeteries once and for all. One day, the dead in Christ will rise, and we will rise with them to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). Between now and then, we are living on the edge, waiting for what God has promised. It’s like a TV cliffhanger where the end of the episode says, “Come back next week to see how the story ends.” Stay tuned, child of God. The best is yet to come.

Guard your mind. You become what you think about. What fills your mind will soon fill your heart.

Just a reminder from Proverbs 23:9 : "Do not talk directly to a fool, because he will despise the wisdom of your words." Sometimes it's better to say nothing at all. Just let it pass, or walk away. Arguing with a fool is like wrestling with a pig. You get dirty and the pig loves it.

Sin is addition. Grace is multiplication. When your sin adds up, God multiplies his grace so that it is covered, forgiven, forgotten.

“He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). The hotter the fire, the more the pain but the quicker the gold comes forth. In the end you will be both approved and improved by God. Your trials are not wasted nor are they random acts of fate. You will be approved—found to be good. You will be improved—made to be better. I can’t tell you when your trials will end, but I do know this much: He’s an on-time God. You can’t rush him, but he’s never late either. When the appointed time has come, the fierce heat will dissipate and the gold of tested character will come forth in your life.

If you can’t be thankful for what you have received, be thankful for what you have escaped.

When Satan wants to tempt you, he asks a question that God has already answered.

Find out what God is doing in the world and then fling yourself wholeheartedly into his cause. Throw yourself without hesitation into God’s work in your world. And then get ready for the time of your life. That’s God’s call to all of us. If we win, we win. If we lose, we lose. But in the end, the only losers will be those who held themselves back from teaming up with God.

The world watches closely to see if our religion works as well in the darkness as it does in the sunlight. Many people have been converted not by a sermon but by the testimony of God’s grace shining through the pain a believer endures.

O Lord, increase my faith to trust in you even when the waves rise and my little boat is about to sink. Amen.

Heavenly Father, today we pray for persecuted saints around the world. May their steadfast endurance be living proof that Jesus is enough even in the hardest moments. Amen. 

You discover what you believe when you obey God and things get worse, not better. Will you still obey God anyway?

Don't quit too soon. The walls of Jericho didn't fall on the first day.

When you stand strong under pressure, four things happen: 1. You are living proof of God’s power. 2. You make your faith visible to others. 3. You glorify Christ with your life. 4. You share in his ultimate victory. (See 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

“All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided.”