More than once Jesus deliberately addressed certain issues that quickly diminished the number of onlookers. It was commitment that thinned the ranks.
Which should be an excellent reminder that when God tells you to do something, you’d better do it; He always has a reason.
A selfless devotion. High-impact people don’t care about who gets the credit, and they never complain about the role they fill.
Nothing can compensate for a lack of authenticity.
A. W. Tozer says, “A true and safe leader is likely one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and by the press of the external situation.
We don’t like waiting, but that’s when God does some of His best work on our souls.
Grace strips away the tin, rips off the masks, helps us to be ourselves so that when we speak of our faith it rings true.
Sound advice comes from veterans of pain.
Second, always speak the truth without fear.
The world is waiting to hear an authentic voice, a voice from God – not an echo of what others are doing and saying, but an authentic voice. – A. W. Tozer3.
Unfair suffering is never funny.
Grace releases people not only from sin but from shame.
I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.
You may have had big-time plans in your life-major league dreams that haven’t panned out. You were going to write a best-selling book, but the opportunities just haven’t come along. Are you willing to write for your church newsletter?
A warning is in order. Reject any teaching that even suggests material wealth, physical health, or favorable circumstances have anything to do with the amount of faith you have or how pleased God happens to be with you. And beware those who teach that financial donations will unlock an endless abundance of God’s blessings. They are false shepherds who will rob you of your money and destroy your relationship with God. The “faith” they proclaim is a toxic faith.
Yet, those who are truly honest and humble enough to admit the truth come to the end of their earthly lives acknowledging that they have barely scratched the surface.
The late President Harry Truman often referred to leaders as people who can get others to do what they don’t want to do-and make them like doing it!
That is the way God works. Without even a hint of warning, He speaks to ordinary people, on ordinary days.
It was Sir Winston Churchill, in the midst of Nazi bombings, who said to the people of London, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.“′ He was the one who offered the best definition of success I’ve ever read: “Success is moving from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Without our realizing it, we were trained to think that the most significant people are star athletes, actors, and musicians – the ones we applaud, those whose autographs others seek. They aren’t. Not really. Most often, the people worth noting are the individuals who turn a “nobody” into a “somebody” but never receive credit.
Let me ask you, what are you planning to do with the rest of your days?