Quotes by Unknown Author
Scripture does not command Christians to fast. It is not something that God requires or demands of Christians. At the same time, the Bible presents fasting as something that is good, profitable, and expected. The Book of Acts records believers fasting before they made important decisions (Acts 13:4; 14:23). Fasting and prayer are often linked together (Luke 2:37; 5:33).
Christian Fasting – What Does the Bible Say? www.GotQuestions.org. Used by Permission.
We’ve created a God that we must help out, who we must explain, who winks at sin, who excuses our lack of love for people and God’s Word.
Offertory Prayer: “Lord, no matter what we say or do, here is what we really think of You. Amen”
I need to repent of my repentance.
The Valley of Vision, ed. Arthur Bennett, 1975, p. 76, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money
I believe in comforting the afflicted and in afflicting the comfortable.
Sin adds to your trouble, subtracts from your energy, and multiplies your difficulties.
You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him.
Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny for yourself, your family, your church and your world.
Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single one.
Character can never be summoned in a moment of crisis, if it has been squandered through years of compromise and rationalization.
Character is built on daily decisions. Never let character give way to convenience.
When God speaks, He always uses words of hope, encouragement, direction and promise. Even in times of discipline, He is quick to restore and renew our fellowship. If the voice you hear within your heart is one of accusation, know it belongs to the deceiver. Therefore, take your stand against the enemy and ask God to fill your heart with His truth.
God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.
Money will buy a bed but not sleep; books but not brains; food but not appetite; finery but not beauty; a house but not a home; medicine but not health; luxuries but not culture; amusements but not happiness; religion but not salvation – a passport to everywhere but not heaven.
Failure to establish good spiritual habits will lead to poor spiritual health.
Good habits are hard to acquire but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to acquire but hard to live with.
Self-will – a stubborn, unteachable spirit; an arguing, talkative spirit; harsh, sarcastic expression; an unyielding, headstrong disposition; a driving, commanding spirit; a disposition to criticize and pick flaws when set aside and unnoticed; a peevish, fretful spirit; a disposition that loves to be coaxed and humored?
A preacher who prays little may see some results of his labors, but if he does it will be because someone, somewhere is praying for him. The “fruit” is the pray-er’s – not the preacher’s. How surprised some of us preachers will be one day, when the Lord shall “reward every man according to his works.” “Lord! Those were my converts! It was I who conducted that mission at which so many were brought into the fold.” Ah, yes – I did the preaching, the pleading, the persuading; but was it “I” who did the praying?
A powerless pastor is a prayerless pastor.
Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister.
His public prayers were an inspiration, but his prayers with the family were to me more wonderful still. Mr. Spurgeon, when bowed before God in family prayer, appeared a grander man even than when holding thousands spellbound by his oratory.
Written by a close friend of C.H. Spurgeon. Quoted in: Prayer Makes History by David Smithers.
One of the hardest jobs for a parent is making a child realize that “no” is a complete sentence.
The things we take for granted are dreams to many people.
Thanksgiving gives effect to prayer, and frees from anxious carefulness by making all God’s dealings matter for praise, not merely for resignation, much less murmuring. Peace is the companion of thanksgiving.
The would-be counselor should have some basic knowledge of human psychology, normal and abnormal. He must be a good listener, slow to interrupt, until he feels sure that he has something worthwhile to contribute, some helpful question to ask. The counselor should be genuinely humble and receptive, with an objective approach to the problem under discussion, and he should avoid all well worn clichés, truisms and easy slick solutions. He is not there to sermonize or to moralize – certainly not till he has heard all that the enquirer has to say, and he must avoid a holier-than-thou attitude. Further, he should not show shocked surprise, disapproval or condemnation.
Quoted by Derick Bingham, Encouragement – Oxygen for the Soul, Christian Focus, 1997, p. 70. Used by Permission.
The Word of God became flesh. The Son of God became man. The Lord of All became a servant. The Righteous One was made sin. The Eternal One tasted death. The Risen One now lives in men. The Seated One is coming again.
In Christ we have:
A love that can never be fathomedA life that can never die
A righteousness that can never be tarnished
A peace that can never be understood
A rest that can never be disturbed
A joy that can never be diminished
A hope that can never be disappointed
A glory that can never be clouded
A light that can never be darkened
A purity that can never be defiled
A beauty that can never be marredA wisdom that can never be baffled
Resources that can never be exhausted.
True courage is not the absence of fear – but the willingness to proceed in spite of it.
We are so dead, so blind, so perverse, that neither can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when it shines, nor assent to the will of God when it is revealed, except the Spirit of the Lord Jesus quicken that which is dead, remove the darkness from our minds, and bow our stubborn wills to the obedience of the blessed gospel.
The Bible is accurate archeologically, geographically, historically, systematically, scientifically, prophetically, and it is miraculous in that it is life changing. It was written over a span of 1,500 years, by more than 40 authors, spanning 3 continents, and yet is perfect in accuracy. Try to apply this test to other religious books!
For God, who is rich in mercy, according to His unchangeable purpose of election does not take His Holy Spirit from His own completely, even when they fall grievously. Neither does He let them fall down so far that they forfeit the grace of adoption and the state of justification, or commit the sin which lead to death (the sin against the Holy Spirit), and plunge themselves, entirely forsaken by Him, into eternal ruin.
The Canons of Dort, The Fifth Main Point of Doctrine: The Perseverance of the Saints. Article 6-God’s Saving Intervention.
1. There are four male suicides for every one female; however, at least twice as many females as males attempt suicide.
2. Sixty percent of all people who commit suicide kill themselves with guns.
3. Guns are now used in more suicides than homicides.
4. Women are more likely to use drugs or poison than violent means; men are more inclined to use a quick, violent means of suicide such as a gun or hanging.
5. 500,000 Americans survive suicide attempts each year.
6. Of those who commit suicide, only 25% are determined to have been mentally ill.
7. Of those who commit suicide, 80% warned someone that they were contemplating doing so.
8. The highest suicide rates are among people ages 35-49 and people 65 and over.
9. The suicide rate on American Indian reservations is 5 times the national average.
Statistics used in Sam Storms, Suicide, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Original source: Associated Press, Public Health Service.
How easily and contentedly we speak of Jesus Christ as our example. Do we realize what it means? If we did, it would revolutionize our life. Do we begin to know our Bible as He did? Do we begin to pray as He did? How thoughtful He was for others, how patient toward dullness, how quiet under insult! Think of what it meant for Him to take a basin and towel like a slave and wash the disciples’ feet! Do we stoop to serve? Can anyone say of us, as was said of Him, that we go about “doing good?” Think of His words, servants of His, “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” “Christlike” is a word often on our lips. Do not speak it too lightly? It is the heart of God’s predestination. It is our high calling.
There is a preacher of the old school but he speaks as boldly as ever. He is not popular, though the world is his parish and he travels every part of the globe and speaks in every language. He visits the poor, calls upon the rich, preaches to people of every religion and no religion, and the subject of his sermon is always the same. He is an eloquent preacher, often stirring feelings which no other preacher could, and bringing tears to eyes that never weep. His arguments none are able to refute, nor is there any heart that has remained unmoved by the force of his appeals. He shatters life with his message. Most people hate him; everyone fears him. His name? Death. Every tombstone is his pulpit, every newspaper prints his text, and someday every one of you will be his sermon.
Those who wait to repent until the eleventh hour often die at ten thirty.
God forms; Satan deforms; Holy Spirit conforms; Preaching reforms; Bible informs; Christ transforms.
The Christian walk is not so much characterized by perfection, as it is by direction.
[A Christian is] seeking and doing those things that please God, in all things, at all times, to the glory of God, in the name of Jesus, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
There are more than 14,000 promises in the Bible – God has not broken one of them.
The desire of love is to give. The desire of lust is to get.
Biblical prophecy provides some of the greatest encouragement and hope available to us today. Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ’s first advent, so both testaments are filled with references to the second coming of Christ. One scholar has estimated that there are 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ – an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are 8 which look forward to His second!
When you come to the end of yourself, you find the beginning of God.
Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.
Unforgiveness is the poison we drink, hoping others will die.
Too many people confine their exercise to jumping to conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth, bending over backward, lying down on the job and side stepping responsibility.
We have no right to expect that all our illnesses will be healed in this present age, only in the eternal state will Christ’s work be fully applied and all disease gone. Still, we should pray for the sick knowing that our God may bring healing if we ask in faith and trust in His good purposes.
As with many things in life, there are extremes in the area of exercise. Some people focus entirely on spirituality, to the neglect of their physical bodies. Others focus so much attention on the form and shape of their physical bodies that they neglect spiritual growth and maturity. Neither of these indicates a biblical balance. First Timothy 4:8 informs us, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Notice that the verse does not negate the need for exercise. Rather, it says that exercise is valuable, but it prioritizes exercise correctly by saying that godliness is of greater value.
Got Answers, Question: “Should a Christian exercise? What does the Bible say about health?” Used by Permission.
Do your giving while you’re living so you’re knowing where it’s going.
Wisdom is, and starts with, the humility to accept the fact that you don’t have all the right answers, and the courage to learn to ask the right questions.
Reading a proverb takes only a few seconds; applying a proverb can take a lifetime.
Where the will of God leads you, the grace of God will keep you.
Thou canst not make me happy with Thyself, till Thou hast made me holy like Thyself.
The Valley of Vision, ed. Arthur Bennett, 1975, p. 93, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA
Did it ever occur to you that nothing occurs to God?
It is never a question with any of us of faith or no faith; the question is always in what or whom do we put our faith.
It is neither the quantity nor the quality of faith, but rather the object of your God given faith.
Transcendent worship is directly related to the depth of comprehending divine truth. Those who understand the gospel most deeply worship God with the greatest exaltation and exhilaration.
[Church] growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
As churchpeople, we sometimes assume that we are immune to the temptations of power. We don’t make much money. Society gives us so little power that we think ambition – the drive to succeed, achieve and have prestige and influence over others – is a problem only for people in business or politics, not for people like us. We thus sometimes fail to see how we get caught up, for the very noblest of reasons, in the same ambitions that motivate everybody. Eventually, the people climbing to the top of the body of Christ can look just like those scrambling to the top of General Motors. Often you can’t tell much difference between our leaders and those of the gentiles.
Following the path of least resistance is what makes rivers and men crooked.
Love: Seeking the highest possible good for the object of your affection, in purity, protection, and provision.
My faith can sleep sound on no other pillow than Christ’s omnipotence.
Better the storm with Christ than smooth waters without Him.
He is the first and last, the beginning and the end!
He is the keeper of creation and the creator of all!
He is the architect of the universe and the manager of all times!
He always was, He always is and He always will be unmoved, unchanged, undefeated and never undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings peace!
The world can’t understand him, the armies can’t defeat Him, the schools can’t explain Him and the leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him, the Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him and the people couldn’t hold Him!
Nero couldn’t crush Him, Hitler couldn’t silence Him and the New Age can’t replace Him!
He is light, love, longevity and Lord!
He is goodness, kindness, gentleness and God!
He is holy, righteous, mighty, powerful and pure!
His ways are right, His word is eternal, His will is unchanging and His mind is on me!
He is my Redeemer, my Savior, my guide and my peace!
He is my joy, my comfort, my Lord and He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love, His burden is light and His goal for me is abundant life!
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise, the power of the powerful, the ancient of days, the ruler of rulers, the leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and the sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come!
He will never leave me, never forsake me, never mislead me, never forget me and never overlook me!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face death, He carries me home!
He is God!
He is faithful.
I am His and He is mine!
God is in control, I am on His side and that means all is well with my soul.
For a truly God-called man, one of his greatest fears is of his life not counting for Christ, all his efforts making little difference for the sake of the kingdom.
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.
She has a more influential and powerful role than any political, military, religious or educational figure. Her words are never fully forgotten. If you were blessed with a good mother, you will enjoy the advantages for the rest of your days. If your mother neglected you and her responsibilities, unfortunately the impact is almost certainly still felt today. Whether it’s good or whether it’s evil, a mother’s impact is permanent. A child’s mother is arguably the most influential figure in their life, giving credence to the old adage: the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
After years of society belittling the calling of motherhood, something wonderful is happening – something wonderfully counter-cultural! In the midst of the anti-life, anti-motherhood philosophies which pervade the culture, there is a new generation of young ladies emerging whose priorities are not determined by the world’s expectations of them. They have grown up in homes where fathers shepherd them, where children are not merely welcome, but where they are deeply loved. Some of these women have been home educated, which means that many of them have grown up around babies and their mothers. They have learned to see motherhood as a joy and a high calling, because their parents see it that way. And when asked about their future, these girls know their own minds. These are the future mothers of the Church. Young women who are not afraid to say that the goal of all of their education and training is to equip them to pursue the highest calling of womanhood, the office of wife and mother.
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Motherhood in America, May 9, 2008, Vision Forum Ministries, Used by Permission.
Sex is a sacred act, a gift of God, which is secured and protected by marriage.
If you are having troubles with your spouse it is not because of what you think of him or her, it is not because of negative thought patterns, it is not because you haven’t first loved self. But it is what you think of Jesus. Do you love Him First? Do you live for Him First? Is your life, His? If you are right with Jesus Christ the King of Glory, then it will be right with your husband or your wife. And this is what is right with God.
God does not owe this grace to anyone. For what could God owe to one who has nothing to give that can be paid back? Indeed, what could God owe to one who has nothing of his own to give but sin and falsehood?
The Canons of Dort, The Third and Forth Main Points of Doctrine: Human Corruption, Conversion to God, and the Way It Occurs. Article 15- Responses to God’s Grace.
When God shows up, our first impulse is often to build a booth or a box to put Him in. The problem is when we stop to take a look, He’s usually not there anymore. Yet, throughout church history, people have tightly clutched their boxes long after the Lord of glory had departed.
Adversity can cause us to reevaluate our priorities.
The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears.
The trouble with the advice, “Follow your conscience” is that most people follow it like someone following a wheelbarrow – they direct it wherever they want it to go, and then follow behind.
Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels so good.
Patience is waiting for God to solve problems that we cannot.
Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby before the foundations of the world were laid, He hath constantly decreed by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honor. Wherefore they which be imbued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God’s purpose by His Spirit, working in due season; they through grace obey the calling; they be justified freely; they be made sons of God by adoption; they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ; they walk religiously in good works and at length by God’s mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.
The idea of election goes back to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). God chose to make a nation of that patriarch’s descendants. He chose Israel to be his people. He worked his purposes out through that one nation and in due course sent his Messiah as a Jew. After that, God continued to choose, or elect, people in accordance with his purpose (Rom. 9:11), grace (Rom. 11:5), love (1 Thes. 1:4), and foreknowledge (1 Pet. 1:2). The “elect” can rely on God’s concern for them (Luke 18:7) and on their sure salvation (Rom. 8:33). They are to live lives befitting their status (Col. 3:12-14). Mystery is inherent in the concept of election, because we also know that God desires the salvation of all persons (1 Tim. 2:4).
This is the well-known decision of election and reprobation revealed in God’s Word. This decision the wicked, impure, and unstable distort to their own ruin, but it provides holy and godly souls with comfort beyond words.
The Canons of Dort, The First Main Point of Doctrine: Divine Election and Reprobation. Article 6- God’s Eternal Decision.
Election (or choosing) is God’s unchangeable purpose by which He did the following: Before the foundation of the world, by sheer grace, according to the free good pleasure of His will, He chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of particular people out of the entire human race, which had fallen by its own fault from its original innocence into sin and ruin. Those chosen were neither better nor more deserving than the others, but lay with them in the common misery. He did this in Christ, whom He also appointed from eternity to be the mediator, the head of all those chosen, and the foundation of their salvation. And so He decided to give the chosen ones to Christ to be saved, and to call and draw them effectively into Christ’s fellowship through His Word and Spirit. In other words, He decided to grant them true faith in Christ, to justify them to sanctify them, and finally, after powerfully preserving them in the fellowship of his Son, to glorify them. God did all this in order to demonstrate His mercy, to the praise of the riches of His glorious grace.
The Canons of Dort, The First Main Point of Doctrine: Divine Election and Reprobation. Article 7- Election.
Election took place, not on the basis of foreseen faith, of the obedience of faith, of holiness, or any other good quality and disposition, as though it were based on a prerequisite cause or condition in the person to be chosen, but rather for the purpose of faith, of the obedience of faith, of holiness, and so on.
The Canons of Dort, The First Main Point of Doctrine: Divine Election and Reprobation. Article 9- Election not based on Foreseen Faith.
When we face difficulties, we sometimes forget God’s past faithfulness. We see only the detours and the dangerous path. But look back and you will also see the joy of victory, the challenge of the climb, and the presence of your Traveling Companion who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you.
I am suicidal again. I have no energy or reason to fight. I am numb and tried all the things I know how to try. I know that I won’t be able to function like this much longer. There is no one to talk to. I’m suffocating. I can think the best thoughts all day and still feel like this. No one knows how badly I want to die. My thoughts are obsessive and won’t stop. They keep saying, “I want to die.”
Men of power are without exception men of prayer. God bestows His Holy Spirit in His fullness only on men of prayer. And it is through the operation of the Spirit that answers to prayer come.