Good Words for Today
Lord Jesus, help me to stay out of trouble today, unless you need me to get into trouble for you. Amen.
"Jesus! what a Friend for sinners! Jesus! Lover of my soul; Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He, my Savior, makes me whole." "Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end." J. Wilbur Chapman, 1910
"There's hope for the hopeless And all those who've strayed Come sit at the table Come taste the grace There's rest for the weary Rest that endures Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't cure" From "Come As You Are" by Crowder
"Where there is hatred, let me sow love." We're all going to sow something today. We've got plenty of hatred--more than enough. Why not sow love?
If you're going let God be in the driver's seat, you've got to let go of the steering wheel.
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (Romans 16:20). God has one thing to say about Satan: He's doomed. His infernal reign is coming to an end soon. If you're not smiling, you should be. "Lo! His doom is sure, one little word shall fell him." Martin Luther
"What is the chief end of preaching? I like to think it is this. To give men and women a sense of God and His presence.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"He appears when you're terribly tired and makes a very reasonable request which you know you shouldn't grant." Fiorello La Guardia
This is no time for compromise. Speak up for the Savior. Let your voice be heard so loudly that no one can doubt whose side you are on.
“No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.” George Nathan
"You will not get to steal quietly into heaven, into Christ's presence, without a conflict and a cross." Samuel Rutherford
God's silence does not always mean God's refusal. His "no" doesn't always mean "no." It often means "not this, not now, not yet." Pray on, child of God! Our Lord hears the tiniest cry of your heart. When the time is right, the answer will come.
"When we say we want to be the hands & feet of Jesus, we must remember what happened to the hands and feet of Jesus." Trevin Wax
"When a man goes to church he often hears a preacher in the pulpit rehash everything that he has read in the editorials, the newspapers, and the magazines. On the TV commentaries he hears that same stuff over again, yawns, and goes out and plays golf on Sunday. When a man comes to church, actually what he is saying to you is this, 'Preacher, I know what the TV commentator has to say; I hear him every day. I know what the editorial writer has to say; I read it every day. I know what the magazines have to say; I read them every week. Preacher, what I want to know is, does God have anything to say? If God has anything to say, tell us what it is.'" W. A. Criswell
“It cannot be emphasized too much that the only name which brings fear to Satan is the name of Jesus, and the only place that makes him give way is Calvary. There is power in the blood of Jesus. There is nothing like it in all the world” Michael Green
"We are all one bad decision away from disaster, so choose wisely!" Quinton Chad Foster
"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart, O take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above"
"A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for one whom he has never seen; talks familiarly every day to someone he cannot see; expects to go to heaven on the virtue of another; empties himself in order to be full; admits he is wrong so he can be declared right; goes down in order to get up; is strongest when he is weakest; richest when he is poorest; and happiest when he feels the worst. He dies so he can live; forsakes in order to have; gives away so he can keep; sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passes knowledge. 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
"My God, I want to do what you want. Your teachings are in my heart" (Psalm 40:8 NCV). Two questions: Do I want what God wants? Does God's Word fill my heart? When you can answer yes to both questions, you will know and do God's will.
"The sun will be turned to darkness . . . before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes" (Joel 2:31). Just in case today is "the day" . . . Are you ready?
If you think you deserve grace, you can never have it. If you admit you don’t deserve it, you can have as much as you need.
It's possible you know more than God about how to run the universe, but I doubt it.
"The more you read the news, the more you should read the Bible. The second interprets the first, without the second it leads to despair." Charlie Dates
"If God is your partner, make your plans big!" D.L. Moody
"We have this hope as an anchor for the Soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). In stormy weather, it's not the size of the boat that matters. You need a strong anchor that will never move an inch, even when the wind howls and the waves pound the hull. Jesus is the true anchor for the soul. Rest in him. When the storms have passed, your anchor will still be holding fast.
"Death is all around us We are not afraid Written is the story Empty is the grave" From "This Dust" by Kip Fox
"We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us" (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit prays for us when we can't pray on our own. He asks what we would ask if we knew what he knows.
Lord, when I am dazzled by the bright lights of this world, remind me that your kingdom lasts forever and everything else fades away. Amen.
"We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12). This is my favorite one-sentence prayer because it perfectly describes how most of us feel most of time. Admit your weakness, cry out to God, then stand back and see what the Lord will do.
"When my lifework is ended, and I cross the swelling tide, When the bright and glorious morning I shall see; I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side, And His smile will be the first to welcome me. Refrain: I shall know Him, I shall know Him, And redeemed by His side I shall stand, I shall know Him, I shall know Him, By the print of the nails in His hand." Fanny Crosby, 1891
Sometimes we look at life and think, "Our glory days are all behind us." But for the Christian, all our glory days are yet to come.
"Amazing love, how can it be? That you, my king. would die for me Amazing love, I know it's true It's my joy to honor you." Chris Tomlin
Can God set a table in the wilderness? Yes, he can. But you’ll never know as long as you stay in Egypt.
Do not mistake God's delays for God's denials. His "no" may simply be "not this, not now, not yet."
"Let us pray for all — the worst, the hardest, and the most unbelieving. Let us continue praying for them year after year, in spite of their continued unbelief. God's time of mercy may be a distant one. Our eyes may not see an answer to our intercession. The answer may not come for ten, fifteen, or twenty years. It may not come until we have exchanged prayer for praise, and are far away from this world. But while we live, let us pray for others." J. C. Ryle
When Paul gave a benediction, he often said something like "May the Lord himself do such-and-such." Until recently I had never thought about that. 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.
“But where sin increased, grace multiplied even more” (Romans 5:20 CEB). The translators struggle a bit because Paul uses a verb in the first clause that means to add, but in the second he uses a verb that means to multiply. Sin is addition. Grace is multiplication. It’s not as if sin goes up to “Level 37” and so grace goes up to “Level 38.” That in itself would be good news, that grace always goes beyond sin. But the text does not suggest this. It is more like, if sin goes up to “Level 37,” then grace goes up to “Level 3700.” Grace far outstrips whatever sin can do.
"No matter the jarring, a jar of fresh water can’t spill filthy water. When you’re upset, you upset what’s really in you." Ann Voskamp
We do not pray because we know what we need. We pray because we don't know but God does.
"One great tragedy of our era is that our mouths have gotten bigger as our hearts have gotten smaller. Canyon mouths betraying pebble hearts." Beth Moore