Quotes

If a commission by an earthly king

is considered an honor,

how can a commission by a Heavenly King

be considered a sacrifice?

~ David Livingstone

 

O that thou couldst dwell in the knowledge and sense of this! Even, that the Lord beholds thy sufferings with an eye of pity; and is able, not only to uphold thee under them, but also to do thee good by them. Therefore, grieve not at thy lot, be not discontented, look not out at the hardness of thy condition; but, when the storm and matters of vexation are sharp, look up to Him who can give meekness and patience, can lift up thy head over all, and cause thy life to grow, and be a gainer by all. If the Lord God help thee proportionaly to thy condition of affliction and distress, thou wilt have no cause to complain, but to bless His name.

I. Penington

A great quote is the highest form of literature,needing no context to liberate a life, save a soul, or direct a destiny. (seen on a Rick Warren tweet).

“For having lost so much time, you have the greater need of diligently improving what time yet remains” Jonathan Edwards

 Not many of us are living at our best, We linger in the low because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steep and ruggedness discourage us, so we stay in the midst of the valleys and never learn the mysteries of the hills, We do not know what is lost by our self-indulgence, what glory awaits if we only have the courage to climb, or what blessings we will find if we only ascend the mountains of God! J.R.Miller

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.

- Victor Borge

 "You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness." —Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Worry is not believing God will get it right, and bitterness is believing God got it wrong.(Tim Keller)

Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.

- Winston Churchill

Our only business is to love and delight ourselves in God. Brother Lawrence

  "HATE SIN! Instead of loving it, cleaving to it, excusing it, playing with it,
we ought to hate it with a deadly hatred." ~ J.C. Ryle

 “A friendship does not grow up spontaneously. It must have a good soil in which to take root, good seed from which to start, and care and cultivation, in order to become its best. The good soil is sincerity and truth coupled with kindness and affection. The good seed is love and appreciation.”

“And it must be watched closely that no weeds of jealousy or envy creep in, and the soil must be constantly stirred by kind acts, words of appreciation and affection, and mutual admiration. There dare be no selfish interests nor untrusting suspicions in true friendship. The smallest bit of mistrust will blight it like frost. Friendship is tender, but it is beautiful.”
~ Taken from the book: Beautiful Girlhood by: Karen Andreola, pgs. 97-98 ~

Faith is the vision of the heart; it sees God in the dark as well as in the day.-Unknown
Be a connector, not a networker. Connectors are others-focused, while networkers are me-focused. (seen on Twitter)

If you're not willing to learn, no one can help you.  If you ARE willing to learn, no one can stop you!

"As important as it is to keep picking yourself up and brushing yourself off, it's also important to stop tripping over your own two feet."

Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it.~~ Anonymous

The grass is always green where you water it!

If we do not know how the story of the Gospel begins, then we do not know what that story means. Make no mistake: a false start to the story produces a false grasp of the Gospel.  (Dr. Albert Mohler, re. the Adam and Eve controversary)

Real optimism is aware of problems but recognizes solutions;
Knows about difficulties but believes they can be overcome;
Sees the negatives, but accentuates the positives;
Is exposed to the worst but expects the best;
Has reason to complain, but chooses to smile.

~William Arthur Ward

► “Good conduct arises out of good doctrine.” ~ John Stott

► “The chief occupational hazard of leadership is pride.” ~ John Stott

► “Persecution is simply the clash between two irreconcilable value-systems.” ~ John Stott

►”In expository preaching the biblical text is neither a conventional introduction to a sermon on a largely different theme, nor a convenient peg on which to hang a ragbag of miscellaneous thoughts, but a master which dictates and controls what is said.” ~ John Stott

► “These then are the marks of the ideal Church – love, suffering, holiness, sound doctrine, genuineness, evangelism and humility. They are what Christ desires to find in His churches as He walks among them.” ~ John Stott

Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful, or to discover something that is true.

  ~William Inge

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.
~Mother Teresa

 a Celtic Prayer:

I am giving Thee worship with my whole life,

I am giving Thee assent with my whole power,

I am giving Thee praise with my whole tongue,

I am giving Thee honor with my whole utterance,

I am giving Thee love with my whole devotion,

I am giving Thee kneeling with my whole desire,

I am giving Thee love with my whole heart,

I am giving Thee affection with my whole sense,

I am giving Thee my existence with my whole mind,

I am giving Thee my soul, O God of all gods.

Give the Lord credit for knowing things you don't understand. C. H. Spurgeon

 Evil isn't an ACT of God;  evil is the ABSENCE of God. (no source attributed)

How much richer we wold be if we would refuse the books of the hour and discover again the books of the ages.  (W. Wiersbe)

Chris Tiegreen  "This world is my passage, not my portion.”

"What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity." J. Sidlow Baxter

"Faith is not about everything turning out okay.
Faith is about being okay no matter how things turn out."

God allows everything to happen for a reason. Circumstances will either direct you, 

correct you, or perfect you.

We are not meant to be seen as God's perfect, bright shining examples

but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary lives exhibiting the

miracle of HIS grace

~Oswald Chambers

When something is missing in your life, it usually turns out to be Someone.
-Robert Brault

 
Layman's 10 Commandments.

1]  Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in  trouble, but it is a "steering wheel"  that directs the right path throughout.
  
2]  Why is a car's WINDSHIELD is so large & the Rear view Mirror is so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So, Look Ahead and Move on.
  
3]  Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes a few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.
 
4] All things in life are temporary.  If going well, enjoy it, they will not last forever. If going wrong, don't worry, they can't last long either.
 
5] Old Friends are Gold! New Friends are Diamond! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a Base of Gold!
 
6]  Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end!

7]  When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.

8]  A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"
 
9] When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.
 
10] WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES, it takes away today's PEACE.

  "This world is my passage, not my portion."  Christ Tiegreen

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. 

Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Experience is a dim lamp, which only lights the one who bears it." Louis-Ferdinand Celine

"If our personal faith in Christ has no positive outward expression, then our faith has a hole in it" - Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel
 "If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled." (Spurgeon)
 
"Our spirit grow by surrender, and waxes strong by sacrifice" - F.B. Meyer
"Begin to know Him now, and finish never" - Oswald Chambers
"Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He wants to be wanted" - A.W. Tozer
A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content.

“Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate.” – Barnett R. Brickner
























"As a man prays, so he is." AW Tozer

"Oh to be known at the throne." Armin Gesswein

"On the cross, He died praying. He died as He lived." Armin Gesswein

"In the book of Acts they are praying in every chapter except two, and in those chapters they are in trouble." Armin Gesswein

"We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties." Oswald Chambers

"He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has heaven and earth at his disposal." C. S. Spurgeon

"When you are pursuing love, running toward Christ, you do not have opportunity to wonder, Am I doing this right? or Did I serve enough this week? When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear.  As long as you are running you are safe." -Francis Chan

"One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time." ~ John Piper

DON'T BE LATE.

IT GIVES OTHERS TOO MUCH TIME

TO THINK ABOUT YOUR

OTHER FAULTS.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann (1872-1945) Terre Haute, IN his hometown.

 "If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them." --George Orwell

"Every increased possession loads us with new weariness."
~John Ruskin

What you think of me is none of my business.  

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.  -E.B. White 

Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. ~ Rita Mae Brown
"We need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that the basic assumptions have been quite different in different periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary in fashion. A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village: the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age."  C.S. Lewis

"Great Rules of Writing" ~ William Safire

Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
       Pathway to Happiness

"When we start to count flowers,

we cease to count weeds;

When we start to count blessings,

we cease to count needs;

When we start to count laughter,

we cease to count tears;

When we start to count memories,

we cease to count years."

~from the book, "Whispers of Joy"

 A creative mess is better than tidy idleness.
Author Unknown

"You find yourself refreshed in the presence of cheerful people. Why not make an honest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy." Lydia M. Child


"Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all."

-- Winston Churchill

"By nature, worship is not some performance we do,
but a presence we experience."
~ A.W. Tozer

"Don't despair. Only the mediocre person is always at his best."
~ W. Somerset Maugham

"Youth is not entirely a time of life; it is a state of mind. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." Douglas MacArthur

Ralph Lauren has been credited with saying,

"When friends enter a home, they sense its personality and character, the family's style of living - these elements make a house come alive with a sense of identity, a sense of energy, enthusiasm, and warmth, declaring, 'This is who we are; this is how we live.'"

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.~ Henry David Thoreau

Few people know how to be old. ~ François de la Rochefoucauld

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~ Howard Thurman
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
~Leonardo Da Vinci

I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
Duke Ellington
"God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede." ~Oswald Chambers

"Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nothing taken for granted; everything received with gratitude; everything passed on with grace." ~ G.K. Chesterton

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. ~Reinhold Neibuhr~

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." Albert Einstein

"Spend your time in nothing which you know must be repented of; in nothing on which you might not pray for the blessing of God; in nothing which you could not review with a quiet conscience on your dying bed; in nothing which you might not safely and properly be found doing if death should surprise you in the act." ~ Richard Baxter

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beat)tie

"If God be your partner make your plans LARGE." Dwight L. Moody

For money you can have everything, it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.
--Arne Garborg, writer (1851-1924)


“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.” ` Glenn Clark

RETIREMENT is when you stop living at work & start working at living!

Grow in your new courage --Virgil

"Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything." (Thomas Merton)

Enough Already
If you always wish for more, you will never know the peace and satisfaction of having enough. Realizing that you already have enough is one of the most profoundly empowering thoughts you can think.
 
Fully enjoying the first piece of cake does not prevent you from having a second. Yet obsessing over whether or not you'll get another piece will always prevent you from enjoying what you have.
 
It's great to be ambitious and to create new value. Yet that is best done from the position of power that comes with having enough.
 
Being satisfied does not mean you must be complacent. Being satisfied enables you to draw strength from your desires instead of letting them enslave you.
 
Discipline, integrity, commitment and effectiveness flow naturally from a strong sense of having enough. When you're truly accepting of where you are, your eyes are fully open to the best possibilities.
Understand that you already have enough. And you'll tap into the power of peaceful purpose.
-- R.Marston

The Apostle Paul: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." (Philippians 4:11)

• “In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair, the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die." (Dorothy Sayers)

•  I am GOVERNED by His providence; I am GROWING by His plan; I am GRACED by His prayers; I am GLADDENED by His presence; I am GUIDED by His purpose. (Adrian Rogers on John 6:16-21): 

• Sherry Harrah, recalling her father's  (Ray Ortlund)’s advice to her in her formative years: “Dad said I don’t care if you choose to be a ditch digger, but don’t be a half-hearted Christian, because they know just enough to be miserable people."
• "One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy." Elisabeth Elliott
• "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" Erma Bombeck

MEASURE YOUR HEALTH...by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature,if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you--know that the morning and the spring of your life are past. Thus may you feel your pulse. (Thoreau)

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on the trees and flowers and clouds and stars." (Martin Luther)
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
From Max Lucado's book "In the Eye of the Storm"

Love God more than you fear hell.
Once a week, let a child take you on a walk.
Make major decisions in a cemetery.
When no one is watching, live as if someone is.
Succeed at home first.
Don't spend tomorrow's money today.
Pray twice as much as you fret.
Listen twice as much as you speak.
Only harbor a grudge when God does.
Never outgrow your love of sunsets.
Treat people like angels; you will meet some and help make some.
"Tis wiser to err on the side of generosity than on the side of scrutiny.
God has forgiven you; you'd be wise to do the same.
When you can't trace God's hand, trust His heart.
Toot your own horn and the notes will be flat.
Don't feel guilty for God's goodness.
The book of life is lived in chapters, so know your page number.
Never let the important be the victim of the trivial.
Live your liturgy.

Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. (John Maceda, in The Laws of Simplicity)

"Those who know when enough is enough will always have enough."

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor’s except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends…and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit. These are the little guideposts on the footpath to peace. Henry Van Dyke


When you dig others out of their troubles,
you find a place to bury your own.

A man of gladness seldom falls into madness.

He who loses money loses much;he who loses faith loses all.
 
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.

Be sure there's a problem in the first place,before working hard to solve one.

Life is like photography:We use the negative to develop.
 
The inner joy can be sought or caught;
but never be taught or bought.

Every king was once a crying baby;
and every big building was once a blueprint.

Be bold when you lose and be calm when you win.

Concern should drive us into action and not into depression.

Remember: The greatest threat in life is indifference.