Good Words for Today
"The seed of every sin is in every heart." John Owen
"Many things are possible. Following Jesus and being liked by everybody is not one of them." Bob Smethurst
"God will take you where you have not intended to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own." Paul Tripp
Plan the seed and then water it. God will take care of the harvest.
Here is Billy Graham's prayer for the new year, written in 2008, but very fitting for our day. I encourage you to read this prayer out loud as we start the new year together. Our Father and our God, as we stand at the beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance as we face the future. We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us—but You alone know what it holds for us, and only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year. In the midst of life’s uncertainties in the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love. In the midst of life’s inevitable disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and comfort we will need. In the midst of life’s temptations and the pull of our stubborn self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost. And in the midst of our daily preoccupations and pursuits, open our eyes to the sorrows and injustices of our hurting world, and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are friendless and in need. May our constant prayer be that of the ancient Psalmist: “Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end” (Psalm 119:33). We pray for our nation and its leaders during these difficult times, and for all those who are seeking to bring peace and justice to our dangerous and troubled world. We pray especially for Your protection on all those who serve in our armed forces, and we thank You for their commitment to defend our freedoms, even at the cost of their own lives. Be with their families also, and assure them of Your love and concern for them. Bring our divided nation together, and give us a greater vision of what You would have us to be. Your Word reminds us that “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12). As we look back over this past year we thank You for Your goodness to us—far beyond what we have deserved. May we never presume on Your past goodness or forget all Your mercies to us, but may they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the foundation and center of our lives this year. And so, our Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. This I ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection has given us hope both for this world and the world to come. Amen
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” Minnie Haskins
"There is no shame in repentance because it only shows that God was right all along." Rosaria Butterfield
“He may come at any time. He’s sure to come some time. Let’s be ready when he does come.” Andrew Blackwood
"The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake." Early American hymn, 1787
"God is dangerous. That is the way the Bible portrays him. You don’t have to like it. You can deny his existence. You can pet him if you like — just don’t expect your arm back." Drew Dyck
“All God's giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reackoned on God being with them.”J. Hudson Taylor
"The Gospel is for the weak, the Gospel is for the unable, the Gospel is for the fool, the Gospel is a welcome to people who say, 'I can’t,' but they are running to a Redeemer who can." Paul Tripp
"Awake, glad heart! get up and sing! It is the birthday of thy King." Henry Vaughan, 1650
"How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is giv'n So God imparts to human hearts the blessing of his heav'n. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in." Phillips Brooks
"Born as a Man so He could relate to us. Died as a Savior so He could redeem us. Raised as Lord so He could rule over us." Ken Whitten
“O Lord, make my heart a manger where the Christ child can be born.” Rose Kennedy
"It is this crying baby that will wipe away every tear; this defenseless infant that will end all war." Tullian Tchividjian
Jesus began his earthly journey in a borrowed manger and ended it in a borrowed tomb. What a Savior!
“Christmas is the end of thinking you are better than someone else." Tim Keller
"Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the Virgin’s womb: Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity, Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel." Charles Wesley, 1739
When God wanted to say, “I love you,” he wrapped his love note in swaddling clothes.
His kingdom will never end. Why would you follow anyone else?
Nothing about the birth of Jesus appeared supernatural. There were no halos, no angels visible, and no choirs singing. If you had been there, and if you had no other information, you would have concluded that this was just a baby born to a poor young couple down on their luck. Nothing about the outward circumstances pointed to God. Yet all of it—every part of it, every single, solitary, seemingly random detail—was planned by the Father before the foundation of the world. To the unseeing eye, nothing looks less like God; to those who understand, God’s fingerprints are everywhere.
"He whom the world could not enwrap Yonder lies in Mary's lap; He is become an infant small, Who by his might upholdeth all." Martin Luther
At Bethlehem God struck a blow to liberate the world from sin and death. And his front line soldier was a tiny baby boy.
"Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell, when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle." C. T. Studd
God has an eternity to set right what has gone wrong in this world.
"It is difficult to be indifferent to a wide-awake Christian.” Clarence Jordan
"As a Christian, I am under no obligation to attempt to reconcile the Bible's teachings with modern philosophy. Biblical truth does not parallel human opinion in any generation; it usually opposes it!" Billy Graham
"Let us never forget that the gospel is not good advice, but good news." B. B. Warfield
There is a real sense in which the preacher has an audience of one—God. He first must preach so that the Lord is pleased with his message. If the Lord is pleased, it matters not what men say. If the Lord is not pleased, the applause of millions will make no difference.
So many times we walk through life saying, "What have you done for me lately, Lord?" And the Lord answers back from heaven, "If only you knew."
To a world that rejects authority, the church must declare the authority of God. The world says, “We want freedom.” God says, “If you want freedom, obey my Word.”
Never be ashamed of the gospel. Never be ashamed to stand up for Jesus. Never be ashamed to own his name and to confess your allegiance to him. The workers of iniquity aren’t ashamed of their sin. Why should we be ashamed of our Savior?
We think the Christian life ought to be easy. It’s not easy, and it’s not supposed to be easy. Today is the day of struggle, combat, warfare. Today we march to battle in the name of the Lord. The day of rest comes later.
"Hug your kids every chance you get. Tell them you love them every chance you get. You don't know when it's going to be the last time." Tony Dungy
"Contemplate the love of Christ, and you will love. Stand before that mirror, reflect Christ's character, and you will be changed into the same image from tenderness to tenderness. There is no other way." Henry Drummond
"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." Quaker proverb
“God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers he uses to crush us with. If God would only use his own fingers and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way! But when he uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, we object. We must never choose the scene of our own martyrdom. If ever we are going to be made wine to drink, we will have to be crushed. You cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.” Oswald Chambers
"People say that God does not speak to men as he did long ago. The truer statement is that men do not listen today as they did long ago." J. Sidlow Baxter