So here is what it comes down to: the ultimate choice in life is between pleasing ourselves and pleasing God.
Loving God more than anyone or anything else is the very foundation of being a disciple. If you want to live your Christian life to its fullest, then love Jesus more than anyone or anything else.
The resurrection of Christ from the dead, next to the Crucifixion itself, is the most significant event in church history. It isn’t a peripheral issue; it’s foundational. It’s bedrock. It’s the bottom line.
Just as a car parked on a hill will naturally roll backward when shifted into neutral, we will naturally go the wrong way if we shift our Christian lives into neutral and stop seeking to learn and grow as believers.
Jesus took His place in a manger so that we might have a home in Heaven.
We also need to recognize that God may have other plans in store for us, and we must be willing to accept that.
And any declaration of faith that does not result in a changed life and good works is a false declaration. It is faith alone that justifies. But faith that justifies can never be alone.
Prayer is not the answer. God is the answer. Prayer is the vehicle by which we reach God.
I take it very seriously when I take the pulpit. That I’m representing God.
In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity and love.
I have never received a heavenly dispatch. Rather, I have found that divine guidance often comes as a result of taking steps of faith. And God not only has His will, but He also has His timing for each and every situation. The Bible tells us, ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time’
The real message of Christmas is not the gifts that we give to each other. Rather, it is a reminder of the gift that God has given to each of us. It is the only gift that truly keeps on giving.
What we now consider to be radical behavior was to early believers nothing more than a sincere attempt to live obediently.
As time passes, you will look back with twenty-twenty hindsight, and you will say, ‘Thank God He did not answer my prayers’ or ‘Thank God He answered my prayers,’ whichever the case may be.
We can trust God’s heart even when we can’t trace His path.
The message of the season is not, “Let it snow” or even, “Let us shop.” The real message of Christmas is, “Let us worship.” That is what the wise men came to do. And that is what we should be doing as well.
Giving is a responsibility. It is an opportunity. And it is a blessing for every follower of Jesus Christ.
God allows hardship in our lives so that our beliefs-those handholds of faith in a troubled world-will became more and more real to us and less and less theory.
If you give, it will be given to you. And I have found that generous people are blessed people.
Know this: God’s delays are not necessarily His denials. So keep praying.
I have found that if you invest in the lives of people, well-feed sheep will reproduce themselves.