Good Words for Today
"’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home."
"I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more, But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry, From the waters lifted me, now safe am I."
"One who believes the Lord has called him and given him a gift to preach and teach, need not be hasty or anxious. Power makes itself felt, and it is well to begin in a small way." William Kelly
"Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, But our toil He doth richly repay; Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross, But is blessed if we trust and obey."
Lord, if I can’t change the whole world, help me to improve my little corner. Amen.
"I only pray when I am in trouble. But I am in trouble all the time so I pray all the time." Isaac Singer.
If hell is real, the kindest thing we can do is to warn people about it. What they do with that information is up to them, but at least we ought to tell them the truth.
”Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling.”
May our love for you be a thousand times greater than our outrage at anyone else.
"And gradually, though no one remembers exactly how it happened, the unthinkable becomes tolerable. And then acceptable. And then legal. And then applaudable.” Joni Eareckson Tada
Lord, if I get in trouble today, may it be because I did something right, not something wrong. Amen.
“A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9). Open doors and adversaries generally go together.
Heavenly Father, grant that we might be great risk-takers for the kingdom of God. Shake us loose from the security of staying in the boat. Help us to walk on the waters of faith because we believe that Jesus will hold us up. Amen.
"Esau . . . sold his own birthright for a single meal" (Hebrews 12:16). It doesn't take much to ruin your life. We remember Esau because he traded his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew. Misplaced desires lead us to do the same thing today. Don't sell your soul for a quick fix. Don't trade the eternal for the temporary.
The only thing harder than yielding to God is not yielding to him.
If I have trouble loving my enemies, I should remember that I am someone else’s enemy.
"Stand up, stand up for Jesus! Stand in His strength alone, The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own; Put on the gospel armor, and watching unto prayer, Where calls the voice of duty, be never wanting there."
Forgiveness is a gift I give to someone who doesn’t deserve it. If they deserved forgiveness, they wouldn’t need it.
"I find it impossible to avoid offending guilty men, for there is no way of avoiding it by our silence or their patience; and silent we cannot be because of God's command, and patient they cannot be because of their guilt." Richard Baxter
"Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; Sight, riches, healing of the mind, Yea, all I need in Thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come, I come."
Most hills are not worth dying on. Just a reminder, lest you find yourself a casualty in a useless battle today.
If you are trusting Jesus to take you safely to heaven, can you not trust him to take you safely through this day?
When you pray, pray from your heart. That's all God requires. Let's get rid of all extraneous notions about posture, eyes open or shut, hands folded or lifted,and loud volume versus whispered prayers. None of that matters. It doesn't even matter how long we pray. What matters is that we pray from the heart. Little children know to cry out to their father when they are scared. No wonder Jesus told us to become like little children. Pray like a child prays and you will be heard.
Lord, help me to live each day for you so that when the time comes, I can die without regret. Amen.
Deliver me from the fear of man, O Lord, that I may live for your pleasure, your will, and your glory. Amen.
"So it was not you who brought me here, but God" (Genesis 45:8). Joseph prospered in Egypt because he saw God's fingerprints everywhere, even in the worst that men could do to him. It is a great advance to see God at work in your trials because then bitterness gives way to blessing and groaning turns to gratitude.
A servant whose master was dying was asked, “How is your master?” “He is dying full of life,” came the reply. It is a grand thing to die “full of life.” This is possible for those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Pruning hurts, but there is no other path to fruitfulness. God never cuts in order to hurt but only to help and to heal. When the pruning is done, you will discover fruit in your life that could never come any other way.
"They gave up God: and therefore God gave them up" (Romans 1:24 Phillips). The final judgment of God is to do nothing at all, as if he said, "Since you think you don't need me, I will let you live without me, but you won't be happy with where you end up."
"Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave; Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.” Fanny Crosby, 1869
"Hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil" (Ephesians 6:16). "The devil specializes in morning arrows" (John Piper). Wake up ready to fight, or you will be defeated before you get out of bed.
"Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish" (Jonah 1:3). When you are running from God, you can always find a ship that will take you where you want to go.
Joseph Parker called grace "the surprise of heaven." He's right. Nothing is more surprising than that God should save sinners. When we talk about "amazing grace," we tend to think of people we regard as wretched sinners--murderers and thieves. But that's not exactly right. The real surprise is that God would save you and me because we are the "chief of sinners." It has been said there will be three surprises in heaven: First, some people are there we didn't expect to be there. Second, some people aren't there we were sure would be there, Third, the greatest surprise will be that we ourselves are there. Perhaps we should slightly amend John Newton's famous hymn: "Surprising grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me." Grace is both surprising and amazing, and it's the only reason we are going to heaven.
Famed comedian and talk-show host Conan O-Brien recently reflected on how death means we will one day be forgotten. He came to this conclusion: "Eventually all our graves go unattended." He's right. They could depress us, but it shouldn't. Conan was just reminding us of what Ecclesiastes says: "Vanity of vanities. All is vanity." If you are looking for immortality, you won't find it in this world. You have to go outside this world. That's where 1 John 2:17 becomes so relevant: "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." If you try to save your life, you’ll lose it in the end. If you lose your life for Jesus’ sake, in the end you will save it. Ten thousand years from now, you'll be glad you lived for Christ.
"God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength." Vance Havner
Lord Jesus, slow us down so that we can hear your voice. Help us to stop striving and learn to rest in you. Amen.
“Either we are unfaithful in order to be popular, or we are willing to be unpopular in our determination to be faithful. I very much doubt if it is possible to be faithful and popular at the same time.” John Stott
"Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish" (Jonah 1:3). Any time you run from God, you never go “up"; you always go “down.”
God does not change, which means he will be there when we need him most. In the midst of our difficulty, when we have failed, when we say, “I deserve to go to hell,” the Father speaks from heaven and says, “I have made a promise, and I swore an oath. Your sin cannot cancel my grace.” Thank God for his oath! He takes us to heaven in spite of ourselves.
Plan your days and make a schedule, but always leave room for God.