The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus, you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life.
When we live in the love of God, we begin to pay attention to people the way God pays attention to us.
Solitude is the one place where we can gain freedom from the forces of society that will otherwise relentlessly mold us. Solitude requires relentless perseverance.
The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God. Prayer becomes real when we grasp the reality and goodness of God’s constant presence with ‘the real me.’ Jesus lived his everyday life in conscious awareness of his Father.
If we do not become changed from the inside-out – if we don’t morph – we will be tempted to find external methods to satisfy our need to feel that we’re different from those outside the faith. If we cannot be transformed, we will settle for being informed or conformed.
We must assess our thoughts and beliefs and reckon whether they are moving us closer to conformity to Christ or farther away from it.
Today, see each problem as an invitation to prayer.
The possibility of transformation is the essence of hope.
The most frequent promise in the Bible is ‘I will be with you.’
Never try to have more faith – just get to know God better. And because God is faithful, the better you know Him, the more you’ll trust Him.
Wise people build their lives around what is eternal and squeeze in what is temporary. Not the other way around.
It only makes sense to ask God for guidance in the context of a life committed to “seeking first the kingdom.”
What matters is not the accomplishments you achieve; what matters is the person you become.
One of the most painful aspects of suffering is the loneliness of it. Others may offer support or empathy, but no one can walk the road to Moriah in our place.
Self-improveme nt is no more God’s plan than self-salvation.
You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday life with God.
I hate how hard spiritual transformation is and how long it takes. I hate thinking about how many people have gone to church for decades and remain joyless or judgmental or bitter or superior.
True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.
Genuine brokenness pleases God more than pretend spirituality.
Imagine watching all that God might have done with your life if you had let him.