Good Words for Today

"Don’t look at the world, don’t look at history, don’t look at the news the way unbelievers do. They don’t see a plan. Therefore, they don’t see reality for what it really is. Everything is moving according to plan. When Satan, with Adam and Eve, introduced sin into the world, if he thought he was wrecking the plan of God, he was a fool. Before the world existed, the plan was: a slain Lamb as the center-point of history with his foot on the bruised head of Satan. Satan didn’t wreck the plan; he set it up." John Piper

“If some of you plume yourselves with the notion that you are righteous, I pray God to pluck those fine feathers off you and make you see yourselves, for if you never see your own nothingness, you will never understand Christ’s all-sufficiency. Unless you are pulled down, Christ will never lift you up.” Charles Spurgeon

"If Satan cannot control all of your mind, he is quite content to take the part you will let him have. He knows he will get more later." Mark Bubeck

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) So far from being a cold, hard doctrine, the sovereignty of God fills the believer’s heart with comfort. In this world with so many questions, we know with certainty that his throne is in heaven, he rules over all, and he loves us so much that he gave his Son that we might have everlasting life. He who upholds the universe holds me in the palm of his hand. He who guides the stars guides my life too. He who knows all things from beginning to end knows me. And I entrust my life to him.

There is a world out there. Get in it. There is something going on out there. Don't sit on the sidelines. God gave you two hands. Use them. God gave you a voice. Speak up. God gave you two feet. Get moving. Do something with the life that God gave you. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

We need a happy confidence in God. By this I mean a confidence that sees the hand of God in all the varied and changing circumstances of life. This sort of confidence sees God at work in good times and hard moments, leading you through some very dark valleys. This confidence looks at the present and says, “I am here by God’s appointment, therefore it is good for me to be here even though I might prefer to be elsewhere.” And it looks to the future with anticipation, knowing that God will lead you step by step so that you end up exactly where he wants you to be.

"Lord make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be." Robert Murray McCheyne

"Ask . . . Seek . .. . Knock" (Matthew 7:7). Anyone may pray to God about anything. And the emphasis falls not on our prayers but on the certainty of answers from God. Three times Jesus mentions our part. We are to ask, seek, and knock. But six times he tells us that we will receive, will find, and the door will be opened to us. It is as if God is pleading and begging with us to dare to come to him in prayer. I am reminded of Billy Graham’s remark that there are rooms in heaven filled with answers to prayer for which no one has thought to ask.

"I’ve found a Friend, who is all to me, His love is ever true; I love to tell how He lifted me And what His grace can do for you." "Saved by His power divine, Saved to new life sublime! Life now is sweet and my joy is complete, For I’m saved, saved, saved!" Jack Scholfield, 1911  

"They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green, to declare: “The Lord is just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him" (Psalm 92:14-15). Here is a worthy goal for those who have lived to see the crowning years of life. Do not go silently into the night. Do not let these precious days go by quietly. Speak up for the Lord. The young need you more than you know. They need your testimony, your years of experience, and most of all, they need you to declare that the Lord is a Rock upon whom we can all rest. Show us the way and we will thank you by sharing with our children and grandchildren what you have told us.

O God of truth, I thank you for the Holy Scriptures for in them I discover the way to life. Fill my heart with your Word today. Amen.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). Here is the Christian life in four words: "I can through Christ." I am not saying, "I can do all things." Those are the words of a boaster. I am not saying, "I can do some things." Those are the words of a doubter. But I am saying, "I can do all things through Christ." Those are the words of a believer.

To approach God apart from Jesus Christ is to guarantee that we will be turned away. You may pray in the name of Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, or you may claim that your faith in Mohammed somehow ensures that God will hear you. You may come to God in the name of any other religious leader you choose to follow. But it will do you no good. The only One who can bring you into God’s presence is the Lord Jesus Christ. “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). If you do not come to God through him, you cannot come at all.

We pray not to be made rich, but to know our riches in Christ. We pray not for comfort, but to know more of your strength. We pray not for an easy road, but for grace to walk the Calvary road. We do not ask for the world’s applause, but for courage to walk pleasing in your sight. We do not ask for rest, but for more determination to do your work in the world.

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:2). Some translations say, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” His prayer is, “May you have more and more of God’s grace and God’s peace.” This is our compensation for being strangers in the world. There are no limits on God’s grace or God’s peace. We can never come to the end of either one.

"I heard about His healing, Of His cleansing pow'r revealing. How He made the lame to walk again And caused the blind to see; And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, Come and heal my broken spirit," And somehow Jesus came and bro't To me the victory." From "Victory in Jesus" by Eugene Bartlett, 1939.

Salvation doesn’t start with me; it starts with God’s work in me. I didn’t choose him; he chose me. God always makes the first move, and if he didn’t make the first move, I wouldn’t make any move at all. Write it down in big letters: Salvation is of the Lord—first, last and always.

"It is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God" (1 Peter 2:19). Do you believe God has you where you are for a purpose—even if you can’t see what that purpose is? If you answer yes, then you will endure suffering even though it is painful and frustrating. If you answer no, then you will almost certainly try to bail out of your situation and you will probably become bitter and angry in the process. We are not angry with the world simply because we do not flourish in it. We are not unhappy that others have it easier than we do. We are not sullen when we are mistreated. Why? Because we are conscious of God. Your suffering is not about you. It’s about God. Learn that truth and it will transform your life.

"Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height, for my understanding is in no way equal to that, but I do desire to understand a little of your truth which my heart already believes and loves. I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand; and what is more, I believe that unless I do believe I shall not understand." A prayer of Anselm of Canterbury, ca. 1093.     See more at: http://kathwilliamson.blogspot.com/2009/06/famous-prayers-prayer-of-anselm.html#sthash.TM0I779a.dpuf

"The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Sometimes people say that nothing is as certain as death and taxes.  But I know one thing more sure than that:  Some Christians will never die. One generation—the final one—will be living when Christ returns, and that generation of Christians will never taste death but will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Are you ready?

We must pray for the lost that God will open their eyes, give life in place of death, enable them to hear, create within them a desire to understand, give them a hunger for Jesus, and then grant them faith to believe the gospel. In short, as we prepare to share Christ with others, we must fervently pray that God will go before us. When we pray for the lost, we are saying to God, “You go first! If you don’t go first, all our efforts will be in vain.”

"Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! Thy wings shall my petition bear To Him whose truth and faithfulness Engage the waiting soul to bless. And since He bids me seek His face, Believe His Word and trust His grace, I’ll cast on Him my every care, And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!" From "Sweet Hour of Prayer" by William W. Walford, 1845

"We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will" (Colossians 1:9). When we want what God wants, when we surrender our will and our agenda, when his purposes become our purposes, then our lives will be dramatically changed, and we will find purpose and  meaning in everything that happens to us. Life becomes an adventure with God every day. When that happens, our lives become joyful, visibly different, and eternally significant. Do you want what God wants, or are you still trying to do it your way?

This is how Jesus builds our faith: Over and over again he puts us in positions where we are helpless, and then he says, “Do something!” In our desperation we cry out to heaven, “How?” and he replies, “I’m glad you asked.” It’s not that Jesus wants us to fail, but he does want us to know that without him we can do nothing. Our success depends totally upon him, and the sooner we learn that, the happier we will be.

Direction makes all the difference. I would rather be one foot away from hell heading toward heaven than one foot away from heaven heading toward hell.

If you are a Christian, your life has two parts—B.C. and A.D.—Before Christ and After Deliverance.  You've gone from B.C. to A.D. Why would you want to live back in B.C.? You don't belong in that life anymore.

The story is told of an old Spartan who tried in vain to make a corpse stand upright. But after failing time and again, he declared, “It wants something within.” How true for all of us. That is what we all want – we want something within. We want a power that can break the chains of sin. We want a power that can enable us to stand upright, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. Where can we find such a power within? Only in the cross of Christ.

"With the world on the brink of pandemonium, it is our responsibility to point people -no matter their heritage, ethnicity or religion – to the one and only solution, Jesus Christ." Jerry Falwell

What will you boast about when you stand before the Lord? Your job . . . a big bank account . . . a new house . . . all the important people you know? Do you think that will impress the Lord Jesus Christ? I don’t think so. In that day the only thing that will matter is the people you brought with you to heaven. Everything else will fade away.

In this life there are many roads a person may travel, but only one that leads to heaven. The road to heaven starts at Calvary. Just keep walking in the blood-stained path of the crucified Savior and that road will take you safely home at last.

"Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame, from everlasting thou art God, to endless years the same." From "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" by Isaac Watts, 1719.

In the late 1920s Christians in China faced intense persecution. Twelve China Inland Mission workers had been killed and many others had been withdrawn from their stations for their own safety. An urgent call went out for 200 new workers to come to China to help spread the gospel. In 1931 missionary Frank Houghton penned a hymn called "Facing a Task Unfinished" in support of that appeal. The goal was reached by the end of that year. Here is the first verse of the hymn: Facing a task unfinished That drives us to our knees A need that, undiminished Rebukes our slothful ease We, who rejoice to know Thee Renew before Thy throne The solemn pledge we owe Thee To go and make Thee known Keith and Kristyn Getty recently recorded a new version of this hymn. On this Sunday, February 21, 2016, thousands of churches will sing "Facing a Task Unfinished" as part of a global movement to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus. I hope you'll take a few moments to watch the video and learn the words to this powerful missionary hymn.

Spirit of God, fill us with Your power so that we may speak when we need to speak and be silent when nothing more needs to be said.  Amen.

Once upon a time, a turtle wanted to spend the winter in Florida but he knew he could never walk that far. He convinced a couple of geese to help him, each taking one end of a piece of rope, while he clamped his vise-like jaws in the center. The flight went fine until someone on the ground looked up in admiration and asked, “Who in the world thought of that?” Unable to resist the chance to take credit, the turtle opened his mouth to shout, “I did—” Sometimes it’s a good idea to keep your mouth shut.

What does the church need? The answer is clear. The church needs the Bible. What should pastors be preaching? Pastors should preach the Bible. What should elders be teaching? They should teach the Bible. What should church members be studying? Let them study the Bible. When we are doing what God has commanded, every church will truly be a “Bible church” and every Christian will be a “Bible Christian.” This is what we need, this is what we must have, this is the basis for all that we do and all that we say. Apart from God’s Word, we have nothing to offer to a hurting world.

"Love does not envy" (1 Corinthians 13:4). If you live long enough, you’ll probably find someone who does what you do better than you can do it. You’ll meet people with your talents and your gifts—only much more of them. You’ll find people who surpass you in every way. What will you do then? This is one test of love. And if you live long enough, you are certain to encounter people who are less talented and less gifted than you in every way, yet they seem to catch all the breaks and end up ahead of you in the great game of life. True love is generous. Can you love even when you seem to be losing? To paraphrase Amy Carmichael, if I love only when I am winning, I know nothing of Calvary love.

"God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools...and He has not been disappointed....If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world." Justice Antonin Scalia

“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.” Abraham Lincoln

"We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord And we pray that all unity may one day be restored And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love." Peter Sholtes, 1968

In one of his news reports, Paul Harvey told about a man named Carl Coleman who was driving to work when a woman motorist, passing too close, snagged his fender with hers. Both cars stopped. The young woman surveying the damage was in tears. It was her fault, she admitted. But it was a new car—less than two days from the showroom. How was she ever going to face her husband? Mr. Coleman was sympathetic but explained they must note each other’s license number and automobile registration. The woman reached into the glove compartment of her car to retrieve the documents in an envelope. And on the first paper to tumble out, in a heavy masculine scrawl, were these words: “In case of accident, remember, Honey, it’s you I love, not the car.”