Favorite Pastor Quotes 2

Favorite Pastor Quotes 2

Grounded in Truth

Psalms 25:4-10

If we'll let the truths of Scripture fill our minds, guard our emotions, and influence our conduct, God will richly reward us. I'm talking about spiritual blessings here (though He at times chooses to bless materially as well). By reading and meditating on His Word, you'll learn to understand His ways. This isn't something we can figure out on our own, because His ways are unlike ours--they are higher, bigger, and eternal.

Also, your relationship with the Lord will grow increasingly more intimate because He chooses to reveal Himself to those who seek Him and obey His instructions. When you see that God always keeps His promises, your confidence in His faithfulness will soar. No matter what the situation, you'll know you can trust Him. Then He'll transform your worries into joyful anticipation about what He's going to do next in your life. Even if hard times await, you'll be convinced that the Lord will work them out for good.

A life grounded in truth is powerful. Those who live by the Word develop spiritual discernment, which guides their choices and guards against deception. Because they demonstrate wisdom and godliness, the Lord enables them to impact others greatly. Since He knows they can be trusted, He also gives them greater responsibilities and opportunities for service in His kingdom.

With all this available to us, wouldn't it be wise to invest our time and energy in building the truth of God's Word into our lives? The other activities which clamor for our attention seem so important or pleasurable, but none of them can offer us the spiritual riches of a life grounded in truth.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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For Just a Little While

Today's Scripture will start with the very last word of 1 Peter 1:4, just so you know who it is talking about, and go through verse 7,

...you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Notice in verse 6 it says, Though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.  That phrase "a little while" literally means a season.  The King James Version says, Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.

I like the phrase "a little while".  That tells me the season is going to end.  It is not forever.  Every season ends.  Winter ends.  Spring ends.  Summer ends.  Fall ends.  Every season has a beginning, and every season has an end.

If you are in a trial right now and feeling the weight of it, you are grieved because of it,  I have good news.  It will not be forever.  Things are going to change.  It may not seem like it, but that season will come to an end.

Even if you are not experiencing a trial today, I am confident you have gone through such a season, and it is likely that you will probably experience such a season again.

When you do, or if you are today, be encouraged.  God's Word wants you--and me--to remember it is for just a little while. 

~Bayless Conley~

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Developing a Tender Heart

Ezekiel 36:25-28

The Lord wants to give each of us a "heart of flesh" so that we will be pliable and responsive to Him. When touched by the finger of God, a tender heart yields to the pressure and assumes the form He desires, much like a lump of clay that allows the potter to determine the shape of the vessel.

To aid in this process, God has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell each believer and awaken responsiveness in him or her. By yielding to the Spirit's promptings with ready obedience, the heart becomes increasingly tender and sensitive to His leading. The Lord is able to impart greater understanding of His Word to a soft heart because it has faithfully accepted and obeyed previous teachings.

Any resistance to God will result in hardening. But those who are accustomed to intimacy with Christ--which is the result of submission to Him--will be quick to deal with sin and return to the place of obedience and blessing.

People with tender hearts stay closely connected to the body of Christ, seeking to build up and encourage others in their walk of faith. Such individuals are not only receptive to what God wants to tell them; they are also teachable, in that they are willing to listen and be corrected by others.

This week when you read your Bible and pray, let your heart be soft toward the words of God. As He pokes His finger into each hard area, listen to His instructions, and rely on the Spirit's power to help you yield and obey. Let Him shape you into a beautiful and useful vessel.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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A Word of Encouragement

I want you to look today at a passage of Scripture that helps guide us in what to say, who to say it to, and when and how to say it.  Isaiah 50:4-5,

"The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.  He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.  The Lord GOD has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away."

First, we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  He will teach us how to speak a word in season to the person who is weary.  As it says, He will awaken our ear.

Jesus made it very clear in Matthew, chapter 10 verses 19-20, that the Holy Spirit is quite able to give us the right words to say at the right time.  In Isaiah 51:16, God says, "I have put My words in your mouth."  In Isaiah 57:19, He says, "I create the fruit of the lips."

Chances are there is someone in your world today who needs to be given a word of encouragement.  The key is being sensitive and available.  Sometimes we are so embroiled in our own struggles that we don't even give a thought to the fact that there may be someone around us who needs encouragement...a coworker, a neighbor, your spouse, your child.

I personally think our children need to be given encouragement every day.  Like the little boy said, "Daddy, let's play darts.  I'll throw, and you say ‘Wonderful!'"  Children crave affirmation and encouragement.

There is someone who you either have contact with now, or you will have contact with, who needs encouragement.  And you are God's messenger.

~Bayless Conley~

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Finding Clear Guidance

Psalms 25:12

How can you be sure you’re making the right decision? Sometimes it may seem as if God plays hide and seek when we’re trying to know His will, but that’s not the way He operates. He wants to give us clear direction. The real question is, What do you need to do to hear His voice?

Clear the pathway. We have two main obstacles that hinder our discernment: sin in our life and our own strong desires about the situation. To receive the Lord’s guidance, we must repent of all known sin and make our desires secondary to His.

Exercise patience. Sometimes it takes a great deal of strength to stand still when everything within you is shouting, “Hurry! Time is running out!” But if you rush ahead of God, you may miss His will.

Persist in prayer. The Bible clearly instructs us to keep coming to the Lord with our concerns. As we continue to pray, He will gradually weed out anything confusing until we come to His conclusion about the matter.

Search the Scriptures. The Word of God has an answer for every need, and the Holy Spirit knows just how to point us in the right direction. I remember times while I was reading the Bible that a verse jumped off the page and supplied the exact answer I needed to make an important decision.

So often when we’re faced with a critical choice, all we want from the Lord is a quick answer. But He delights to meet with us in order to deepen our relationship with Him. Don’t let the urgency of your need keep you from enjoying the intimacy of His presence as you seek His will.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

Favorite Pastor Quotes

Favorite Pastor Quotes

One of the secrets of happy and beautiful life!

(J.R. Miller)

"As your days--so shall your strength be!" Deuteronomy 33:25

One of the secrets of happy and beautiful life, is to live one day at a time. Really, we never have anything to do any day--but the bit of God's will for that day. If we do that well--we have absolutely nothing else to do.
 
Time is given to us in days. It was so from the beginning. This breaking up of time into little daily portions means a great deal more than we are accustomed to think. For one thing, it illustrates the gentleness and goodness of God. It would have made life intolerably burdensome if a year, instead of a day--had been the unit of division. It would have been hard to carry a heavy load, to endure a great sorrow, or to keep on at a hard duty--for such a long stretch of time. How dreary our common task-work would be--if there were no breaks in it, if we had to keep our hand to the plough for a whole year! We never could go on with our struggles, our battles, our suffering--if night did not mercifully settle down with its darkness, and bid us rest and renew our strength.

We do not understand how great a mercy there is for us in the briefness of our short days. If they were even twice as long as they are--life would be intolerable! Many a time when the sun goes down--we feel that we could scarcely have gone another step. We would have fainted in defeat--if the summons to rest had not come just when it did.

We see the graciousness of the divine thoughtfulness in giving us time in periods of little days, which we can easily get through with--and not in great years, in which we would faint and fall by the way. It makes it possible for us to go on through all the long years and not to be overwrought, for we never have given to us at any one time--more than we can do between the morning and the evening. 

If we learn well the lesson of living just one day at a time, without anxiety for either yesterday or tomorrow, we shall have found one of the great secrets of Christian peace. That is the way God teaches us to live. That is the lesson both of the Bible and of nature. If we learn it, it will cure us of all anxiety; it will save us from all feverish haste; it will enable us to live sweetly in any experience.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
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We not only need help every day--but every moment!

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion")

"Help me, O Lord my God! O save me according to Your mercy." Psalm 109:26

We not only need help every day--but every moment!
Our weakness is extreme.
Our foes are numerous and mighty.
Our duties are difficult and arduous.
Our dangers are great and imminent.
How, then, shall we be able to stand, to conquer, to overcome?

Our God has said, "I will strengthen you--yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness!" Blessed be His holy name--He is as good as His Word!
He has helped us in every need.
He has helped us out of every difficulty.
He has helped us all through our journey until this day.
And tonight He is as ready to help us as He ever was.
  His ear is open.
  His heart throbs with infinite love to us.
  His throne of grace is accessible.
  His mercy is rich and free!

With such thoughts as these in our minds, O Lord, we approach You tonight, confessing to Your honor--that you ever have helped us; and now beseeching You to help us quite through the rough journey of life. Help us, O our God . . .
  to conquer our inbred lusts;
  to overcome and crucify the old man;
  to mortify the flesh with its vile affections;
  to overcome this present evil world;
  and to tread Satan under our feet.

Help us, as Your chosen people, holy and dearly loved by You--to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; and, above all, love, which is the bond of perfectness. Save, O save us, from all pride, self-sufficiency, high-mindedness, and worldly wisdom.
Make us humble, meek, and deeply spiritual.
Fill us with the spirit of Jesus.
Produce in us the temper of Jesus.
Enable us exactly to copy the example of Jesus.
O make us Christ-like and holy!

"Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love; turn unto me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies." Psalm 69:16
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All that we need drops from His palm!

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion")

"The eyes of all look to You--and You give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand, and satisfy the desires of every living thing." Psalm 145:15-16 

All our supplies come from God, therefore our dependence should be on Him, and our expectations from Him. Creatures act towards us in kindness and sympathy--according to His direction. 

The eyes of all creation are upon the Lord, and all the tribes of His creatures are fed by His hand. How much more, then, should His children look to Him, seek from Him, and expect to be supplied by Him! 

Whatever God does--He does wisely and seasonably; and whatever He gives--is in season. When our needs are felt, and our cry is heard--then our supply is certain. It is but for God to open His hand--and all that we need drops from His palm! When God's hand opens--our desires will soon be satisfied. Every temporal mercy, every spiritual gift, and all the supplies needed by our souls--lie in the hand of God for us. He loves for us to fix our eyes on Him, to lift up our voice to Him, and seek every blessing from Him. 

Merciful Lord, You have fed us this day. Your loving heart and open hand have supplied all our needs. We gratefully acknowledge Your wondrous goodness, and bless You for Your suitable supplies. And now, O Lord, close up the day with us in mercy--give us a sense of Your forgiving love, and faith in Your protecting care. Help us to cast every care on You, and to fall asleep tonight as on a parent's bosom. Let Your peace pervade us, and inspire us with strong confidence in Your providential protection.

"Behold, as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress--so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till He shows us His mercy." Psalm 123:2
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If chastisement were not necessary

(James Smith, "The Evening Sacrifice; Or, A Help to Devotion")

"No chastening seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11 

Afflictions are always painful--and days of affliction are often gloomy. But as we are training for eternity, as we are maturing for Heaven, and as afflictions are necessary discipline--we must be afflicted. If chastisement were not necessary--then our loving Father would never use the rod. But as every one of us needs correction--He chastens every son whom He receives. God's chastisements are intended for our instruction--they are designed to teach us . . .
  the evil of sin,
  our need of grace,
  the holiness of God,
  the preciousness of Jesus,
  the emptiness of the world,
  and the blessedness of Heaven. 
These are lessons of the deepest importance to us--lessons that we are slow to learn; and therefore we must have line upon line, and stroke upon stroke.

Heavenly Father, help us to bow to Your sovereign will, to bear with patience every stroke of Your rod, and to learn the holy and important lessons which You intend to teach us. May we not only submit to Your discipline--but, seeing the love which ordains it, and the need there is for it--even acquiesce in it. Keep us from fretting at pain, repining at losses, or giving way to too much grief at bereavements--knowing that all these things come from You, and that You design them for our good. Help us to understand that every trial and every trouble is a blessing--and will end in eternal glory. Sweet thought! 

O for grace to yield ourselves to You--and to sweetly acquiesce in all Your paternal dealings!

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects--so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." Job 5:17 

The Work of the Ministry # 11

The Work of the Ministry # 11

Pressing On for the Prize

"Brethren, I count not myself yet to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13, 14).

When Paul was pressed into journeying over to Macedonia, he little realized what great spiritual values lay in the city of Philippi. For him it must have been a time of extreme bewilderment. There seemed to be no way open for his ministry. The Spirit forbade him to speak the word in Asia. When he made an attempt to move towards Bithynia, the Spirit of Jesus would not allow him to proceed. It must have appeared very negative, with the Lord only saying "No" to all his plans and prayers. But God is never negative. He only checks and restrains because He has some better thing in view. At last the apostle discovered a way of life. When all his own ideas and plans had been rejected, when he was brought to a standstill, then the vision of the man of Macedonia gave him the clue to the Lord's direction.

What a wonderful sphere then opened up to him! He not only moved into a new continent: he entered into a much richer phase of spiritual ministry. And of all the churches which came into being as a result of this move, there was none to be compared with Philippi. It is very clear that the saints of that city were a great comfort and joy to the apostle as indeed they must have been a real joy to the Lord. How often must Paul have thanked God for checking and disappointing him when he had so strongly tried to work in Asia. How thankful he must have felt, too, that he had obeyed the Spirit. If Paul had forced matters, as we are often tempted to do; if he had brushed aside the Spirit's restraints and just pushed on; he would have missed Philippi, and nobody knows how great a loss that might have been. It may be that we also have been knowing disappointments and apparent frustration. And it may be that Lord now wishes to reveal to us His purpose in His strange dealings with us. He sets before us that which is of supreme importance, the prize. Let us be careful not to miss it.

A Spiritual Man's Ambition

As we read this letter to the Philippians, we get the impression of great confidence and intimacy between the writer and the readers. The love and understanding are such that the apostle is able to disclose his own deepest thoughts and desires. Many people would have misunderstood him. They might have thought that he was claiming some spiritual superiority or special privileges. The Philippians, however, would not do this. They would sympathize  with his aspirations. Indeed they would share them. They would feel that this "prize" of which Paul wrote must be something of supreme importance. It evidently was to him, and he sought that it should be for all the people of God. One cannot but feel that when the letter had been read to the assembled church it must have clarified their vision, challenging every earthly and unworthy motive, and revealing the great goal for the redeemed. They, too, were destined for the prize, and must bend all their spiritual energies to obtain it.

Paul was a man of great spiritual attainment. Yet he confessed that there was something more. The Philippians were fine, spiritual Christians, some of the very best; and yet the apostle was clearly not satisfied with them either. This should cause us to think. What is this prize, which ought to be gained, but which may be lost?

What the Prize Is Not

Perhaps it will help us if we first consider what the prize is not. Of course it is not salvation; that hardly needs to be said. Paul was so assured of everlasting life that it mattered little to him whether he lived or he died. He was not reaching out for the satisfying of personal needs at all. They were fully provided for in Christ. He could say, "I have all things, and abound" (4:18). Yet he still stretched out eagerly for the spiritual prize.

1. Personal Position

This could not have been concerned with his own personal position or apostleship. Most of us would truly covert to be an apostle Paul. If we had anything like the position which he held among the people of God, we should feel that all our highest ambitions were realized. But this is not the prize. It is one of the perils of our day, this wanting to be a great figure among the Lord's people, to be given a prominent place in evangelical circles. When we first turned our back on the world, we probably decided that we wanted no place for ourselves. We were willing to be just nothing, so long as Christ should be magnified. But, all too subtly, those personal ambitions are apt to grow up again, often disguised as being for the glory of the Lord. The truth is that we want to enjoy the praise of men. We say, and perhaps we think, that we want it all for the Lord, but the fact remains that we are pressing on towards a goal which after all is earthly and personal. We seek a position among men.

Paul already had this position. He was outstanding and preeminent in the work of the gospel. He was the great apostle of the nations. He could have been even more popular if he had cared to compromise a little. But to him this was certainly not the prize; and neither must it be to us.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 12 - Personal Possessions)

The Work of the Ministry # 10

The Work of the Ministry # 10

The Wondrous Ways of God

"Thy way was in the sea,
And Thy paths in the great waters,
And Thy footsteps were not known,
Thou ledest Thy people like a flock,
By the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psalm 77:19, 20)

What a strange juxtaposition of similes! It would be difficult to have a great contrast than is presented in these two verses - the pilot through the sea, and the shepherd with his flock. The sea in a rage and an uproar, the tempest and the storm - and, right alongside of it, the shepherd and his flock. One a picture of unrest, disturbance, anxiety, stress, mighty forces in action: the other of tranquility, restfulness, calm. What a contrast! - and yet brought together in one statement as to what the Lord is to His people - a pilot, a shepherd.

You need to read the whole psalm to get the full value of that. The first part of the psalm is a record of distress, perplexity, bewilderment, a crying out in trouble, reaching the agony of "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" "Is His loving-kindness clean gone for ever?" - questions about the Lord. And then the writer recollects and says, "This is my infirmity... I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High"; and the whole tone changes. Recollection and review, as to how it all worked out in the long run, brings reassurance, leading finally to this summary at the end. And yet it is only an introduction - because undoubtedly the last two verses of this psalm are in introduction to the next one, that great historic record of the Lord's dealings with His people - Psalm 78. What a long psalm it is, recounting the movements of the Lord's people and the Lord's guidance and dealings with them. The psalmist has worked up to that in this way. With all there is here for most helpful, encouraging, reassuring meditation, we can at the present time only look at the gist of the matter.

I am going to change the metaphor again, from the pilot through the storm, and the shepherd with his flock, to the mountaineer. There are three peaks which every child of God has to master - peaks that are suggested by this psalm. We are not really qualified for the service of the Lord, nor for life itself in relation to the Lord, until we have mastered these three peaks. They will challenge us; they may challenge us again and again; but somehow or other we have got to be the masters of them and they have got to be things that have lost their terror for us, have lost their dread, have lost that which makes them for us things that defeat and weaken.

Divine Purpose Governing All

The first of these peaks which arises out of this psalm so clearly is Divine purpose governing all. You know how this mountain presented itself to Israel at the beginning of their history. When the psalmist refers to 'His way in the sea' and 'His paths in great waters', what is he talking about? Undoubtedly about the Red Sea as it confronted them. What a terror, what a dread there was that night!  We may picture how the East wind howled and the water lashed. What a dread that sea was to the people - with what fear and trepidation did they approach its bank! The waters piled up as a wall on the left and the right served little to abate their terror. It was a terrible night, the passing through the Red Sea. It was, in a sense, a veritable mountain to be negotiated - and a mountain of, for them, terrible possibilities. But do you notice what the psalmist says? He says (Psalm 77:16) that these waters were - well, our translation does not give us the exact word. They were troubled, they were in anguish, they were groaning and the original word which is used to describe the state of the waters suggests that they were in travail, the sea was in travail, and the nation was born in that sea that night. A nation was born in the Red Sea that night, and the waters were in anguish. It is a picture.

You see Divine purpose, all that seemed so awful that night, Divine purpose was governing, producing a nation, bringing a nation to birth - "paths in the great waters". That is one thing that we have sooner or later to settle, that the raging, the terror, the dread, the threatening, the thing that seems to mean our undoing,k is being governed by Divine purpose to produce something of very great value to the Lord. The recollection of this saved the psalmist when he was crying out with those questions - "Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Is His loving kindness clean gone for ever?" The psalmist was in a state of distress. I think he was expressing the state of the people at that time, and wondering whether the Lord had not forsaken His people altogether and left them. Then he says, 'Let us look back - let us go back to our beginning as a nation. Were we not born in a threat? Did we not begin our history in what seemed to speak destruction? Was it not in the most terrible tempest that we, by the mighty power of God, came out His people, delivered, saved, set apart?' That recollection saved the psalmist in his hour, and we too have to reach the place where we say, with every new tempest, raging, threat, dread, fear, onslaught, whatever it is - God has something in this; purpose governs.

But then that involves something else, carries something else with it.

Divine Wisdom Dictating

The second mountain peak is this - Divine wisdom dictating. It is not only that there is purpose which is the end, but that there is wisdom dictating the way to the end. The psalmist looked back and saw, and said to himself, Ah! at the time we could see no wisdom of God at work, the way we were going seemed to be such a confused way, a contradictory way, everything seemed to be anything but the dictating of Divine wisdom; but now I can see God chose the way, the method, the means which He knew would most effectively reach His end, and we have to negotiate that mountain. It does seem so strange, the way the Lord goes. What is the Lord doing? Why? All the questions come up. But wisdom is dictating the way to the end.

Divine Love Controlling

And then, Divine love controls. It controls the end, the way, the motive - yes, the Pilot; but He is not a disinterested detached pilot, just doing his job without any heart-relationship to the people in his care. The metaphor changes at once, as though to say, "Ah, there is something more in it than that. God is not just negotiating through difficulties in a cold, detached way. He is a Shepherd.' And if there is one picture in the Bible of a heart-relationship to others, it is the picture of the shepherd. God's heart is bound up with His people, and the psalmist says an interesting here. "Thy way was in the sea, and Thy paths in great waters, and Thy footsteps were not known." What does he mean?

Go back again, after it is all over, to the other side of the Red Sea. The wind has quieted down,and the tempest has come to rest. You look to see where His 'footprints' are, and you cannot find them. You cannot say, 'He did it like this and that'. You cannot fine out just how He did it. The fact is that He did it, and that is all; you cannot explain, define, mark it out. The psalmist is saying - 'That is how God does things'. He does the most wonderful things - things which involve the whole question of life and death for us; and when He has done them, you just cannot see any trace of how He did it - but it was done. Do we not have to say that? We come up against a situation like the Red Sea, and say, 'How are we going to master this? What is the Lord going to do with this one?' He just does it. We look back, again and again and say, 'The Lord has done it, but how, I do not know'. "Thy footsteps were not known." You cannot trace out how the Lord does things, but He does them. He brings the mighty tempest to serve His end, by His wisdom, in His love, because He is the Shepherd of His flock - because His heart is bound up with them. It matters to Him about us!

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 11 - Pressing On For The Prize)