God does not want to condemn you. God wants to accept
you. So get that condemnation complex out of your system. And dare to
believe in a forgiving God.
Just because a biblical text could be human assessment of God does not make it a fabrication. If so it is remarkable that a group of men from many backgrounds and periods of time have all fabricated more or less the same story. That certainly defies probability for me.
When you are overly cautious you may even turn God out.
I never run with my ideas. I walk with them.
You desire what you do not have. But the great lesson to be learned is to desire what you do have.
This is my voice. And God will speak through it. I will sit back and relax.
Recognize your foolishness. It will be the beginning of your humility.
The truth that Jesus embodies must be experienced and understood, only then can Jesus become believable. We need to see the truth of Jesus in order to believe in him. And this is the truth: God loved the world, which was lost in sin, and the only way to save the world was by God's sacrifice of his own son, which he offered on Calvary 2000 years ago. To see the truth one must recognize the fact that one is lost in sin and can be saved only by the death of Christ. To experience the truth one must accept it and live according to it.
Christian legalism is not in spirit different from Jewish legalism. Christians may no longer insist on following the law of Moses. But many still adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible, which leads to inflexible, truculent attitudes. Many intolerant, inhumane attitudes have found their origin in a narrow, unimaginative and literal reading of the biblical text, and these are imposed by Christians on fellow-believers who dare not question the authority of such "knowledgeable" brothers and sisters. But God himself cannot be codified, and his love defies human definition. If God is love, and if he loves everyone unconditionally, he is also tolerant of people and their individualities. No limitations on God's loving acceptance of all human beings may be set by anyone, particularly by means of literal and inhumane interpretations of the biblical texts.
A grave sickness shows to me what truly matters. What truly matters is love. What truly matters is concern. What truly matters is consideration. All negative feelings, prejudices and unfavourable opinions are swept away by the news of a person’s grave illness. This is what I discovered. It’s good to know that my negative feelings have not triumphed over my essential humanity and Christian feeling. Thank God for that.
Someone is not well. I heard the news and I was filled with sadness. Though this is not a person who is close to me I cannot feel anything but sadness. The nature of the sickness is grave. And the situation offers little hope. As I sat in my room, reflecting on this piece of news, I asked myself the question, “What would I have done if this had happened to my mother?” My answer was, “I would have prayed. I would have prayed desperately. I would have cried out to God most urgently to heal my mother.” And then I said to myself, “I need to do the same for this man. I should pray for him as I would pray for my mother.”
Be happy with what you have and more will be given to you.
The venom of a fellow-believer is worse than the sting of an unbeliever.
God's love and forgiveness have put my swords to shame. The battles that I was eager to win once I am now willing to lose so that I may have the incomparable grace to love those whom I desired to hate with all my heart. This is never from me. This is from God.
Do not be ruled by what people say about you and think about you. Remember that God loves you no matter what you are and what you do and focus on what he says about you.
I have wrestled with powerful desires. As in physical wrestling I have fallen many times and have been overpowered many times. I have even been laid flat on my back many times. But the wrestling match in my life has not ended. And it is nowhere near ending. Something keeps it going. I'm still wrestling. Today I wonder: why have my powerful, worldly desires not overpowered me completely? If they have overcome me why will I still be wrestling with them? No, they have not overcome me. Because there is another desire in me, equally great and perhaps greater, and not from this world, but from another. This is a desire to be where God is. It is because of this desire that the wrestling bout still goes on.
God loves us no matter what we do. His love has no bearing on our actions. The knowledge of this should free us from the terrorizing fear of how God may see our actions and fall out of love with us.
Blessed is the state of an undivided heart. My heart is not so blessed.
In the act of loving there is much losing.
The pain of a lost son outweighs the joy of a present son.
I mustn't mourn for Absalom too much. I must care about my other sons.
Love. You cannot love in your own strength. You cannot love with what you have. And what you have is not love. But you may love with God. You may love with God in you. God is love, and when he lives in you, love lives in you and you may learn to love just as he does. It may not come quickly. It may not come easily. But it will come if you believe. Believe. Believe in God. Believe in love. And love without restraint and without stipulation. Love. Love those who are difficult to love. Jesus said in the New Testament, “Love those who are difficult to love" (a paraphrase). And the implication of that statement is this: love people whom you would not normally love. Love people whom you would walk away from. Love people whom you would avoid. Love those who seem repulsive to you. Love those who seem hateful to you.
The knowledge of my littleness is a great help.
“I’m dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” This is one of my favourite declarations. I make it every now and then, but not as frequently as I would like to make it. There are times when I feel that I am alive to sin. Many times I feel that I am alive to sin. Sometimes I say, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” At the same time I think, “I do want.” The Lord is my shepherd, but I still want. I want despite the fact that the Lord is my shepherd. There are times when I declare one thing and feel something else. And that bothers me.
Don't ever desire the hectic life. If your life is slow and even uneventful learn to appreciate it.
Let me learn to say "Thank you God". Let me learn to say it promptly and honestly.
You don't need to be loved to love someone. It is in your nature to love.
I thought that the first month of this year was going to be a tough one for me and my family. But God saved us from hard times by granting us a sudden financial blessing. I did not even pray hard. Yet God proved to be faithful. All that I have to say today to a fellow believer in Jesus Christ is this: "Keep trusting God. He will not let you down."
Know yourself. But don't be troubled by yourself. God loves the mess that you are.
The only approval you are likely to get in the world is from other human beings. So learn to live with human approval and not because of it. Live as though all human praise, fleetingly satisfying as it is, ultimately means nothing and counts as nothing.
Don't try to make up for what you didn't do yesterday. Let yesterday's work remain incomplete, for then it will show you the value of every day.
Whatever your troubles today, do not forget to worship your Lord Jesus Christ. Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you.
Jesus is King. He is the King of your life. Submit to Him entirely. Surrender all your fears to Him. Cast all your cares on Him today. And trust in Him to work out the solution to your unending problem.
Thank God when you can. For a time may come when you cannot thank God easily.
Embrace your gifts even when they feel like nothing. Rejoice in your blessing even when it feels like a curse.
The way to celebrate God is to celebrate what he has given you.
If only I could see the shock therapy behind the foul words I will have compassion on this repeat offender.
I believe that God is free to do whatever he wants. He always chooses to do good, because he is good. And though his good may not always seem good to us, it is in fact good. He can do bad and sometimes it does seem to us that God does do bad things as well. Job admitted this: "Shall we accept good from God and not bad?" God can do bad but this is not what he ultimately does. God's love and God's goodness eventually overpower whatever is bad within him. Yes, God can hate and destroy. But he tries his best not to express these negative qualities. Because God is ultimately love, it is his love that will have the final say. God may seem bound by his promises. But this is what results from the irrevocable nature of his words. However this does not impair his free-will.
Say a prayer for someone else. Think about someone else. It is not easy to be selfless. Therefore always strive to consider others and their problems.
Enlightenment, according to me, is the awareness that every human being is a child of God. Every human being is made in the image of God. And every human being deserves respect because he or she is made in the image of God. When you turn a human being out for not being dressed appropriately, you are paying more attention to the dress that a human being wears than to what the human being is.
And what is a human being? He is made in the image of God. A human is a wonderful creature. He displays a complexity that is worthy of admiration. No clothes are really necessary to add to his wonderful nature. No education is actually necessary. But what I think is really necessary is an awareness – an awareness of who a human being is, of what God has made him to be.
Don't aim at perfection. Aim at satisfaction.
Blessed is he who knows the pettiness of his anger.
What is the truth regarding giving? The Bible says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Jesus said, “Freely you have received. Freely give.” This is the reason why we should give. We should give because we have been commanded by God to give. Giving is an act of obedience to God. We give not because we want to feel good about ourselves. There is nothing good in us. St. Paul said, “Nothing good lives inside me.” There is nothing good about us. So we should not aim at feeling good about ourselves. We should aim at obeying God, who said, “Give”. God told us to give. God commanded us to give. This is why we should give. Not because we feel good when we give. There is no reason why we should feel good about ourselves. If we give it is not because of any good quality in us. We give because God commands us to give. We give because God lives in us. We give because God inspires the giving in us. Then what are we happy about? If we are happy about anything let us be happy about God living in us and inspiring us to give. And we must give in all circumstances, not only when we have plenty, but also when we have less. And we must encourage others to give as well and not discourage them.
There is a God out there who cares about me. There is a God out there whom I should care about. There is a God out there whom I should tell people about. These basic facts will do for me.
Can I respect you without any regard to your wallet? This is the test of my integrity.
Every act of ours is targeted for applause. Every speech act of ours is targeted for approval. We strive to be noticed and admired. This is our ugliness and what separates us from beauty.
All of us toil for appreciation. This is the nature of our existence.
Few of us would like to see the processes that run within our bodies, for some of them do seem ugly and disgusting. But one cannot really appreciate the beautiful exterior without knowing the ugly interior.
May God's will be done in your life. May peace and strength flood your heart today. Be well. God is with you.
Let me slow down and appreciate what God has created to give me joy.
Can I go on despite my zeroes? I most certainly can.
Can you appreciate a little thing? That is the test of your greatness.
We are petty, self-centred people aiming to be lofty and selfless.
My desires are paltry. God's desires are lofty.
Extreme positions are best avoided.
I avoid crowds. That's good.
We believe that God created beautiful flowers. So we praise him.
Don't be in a hurry to move ahead. Remain behind where you are. There is much to gain from that.
Our sins separate us from God. Our sins also lead us to God. When we know our sins we run to God.
Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, is a model of faith for all of us, who are eager to obey God. Mary was obedient to the will of God, though she was troubled by what God intended to do through her.
How do we know that God created anything? We don't. We just believe what we have been told. And no other explanation seems good enough to those who believe.
The act of giving is good because it is something that Christ commanded us to do. We must give. We give not because we expect to receive. We give because we have already received. I want to share this with you so that you may also consider giving if you haven’t done that already. The Bible says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Shall we give today?
Hold on to nothing except God.
I am not getting out of this without a fight. I will fight till I am everything that God wants me to be.
Salvation is not based on my performance. Thank God for that.
Those who are determined to see God will see God.
It's been difficult for me. And that's good.
One grows up fighting and one learns to seek peace. But peace comes only after many fights and festering wounds.
If I can't love many people let me love at least one.
Let me not forget the bird in my hand today.
The entry of a rat may bring about the entry of a cat.
We who walk after Jesus Christ are selfish, immoral creatures aspiring to be selfless and moral. But if we ever attain the selflessness and the morality that we seek these will never be our achievements.
Why should I get people to like me when God can do that for me in the most appropriate manner?
We will not be drawn to God if He has no love.
To be called "Dad" seems like the most welcome address to me. It is something that I have never heard addressed to me. But I still hope that a day may indeed come when I hear it in that manner.
Mary is the most blessed of women. Let us honour and respect the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may we remember her and her faith. She said, "Behold the handmaiden of the Lord! Here I am, the servant of the Lord!" This is how she received the good news that Gabriel gave her. Though it was good news, it was news that troubled her. She wondered how she could bear a child while she was still a virgin. Finally she accepted the message of God.
What is Christmas without Christ? What is Christ without God? And what is God without love?
We are trivial creatures aspiring to be great and being constantly reminded of our triviality.
If I can't help anyone, maybe I can receive help from them. This I believe is a positive outlook.
I should let people live their lives. This is my greatest act of love for them.
Some people apparently do not need my help. This should not bother me, but it does.
I am repelled by a judgemental attitude in anyone. But when I see it in a Christian, who is commanded by God not to judge (i.e. condemn and shun someone), I am even more repelled.
I wanted to do something that is noticed by the whole world. God led me to do something that no one notices. Actually a few people do notice, but the work that I do seems hopeless many times.
Nevertheless if God asked me to do it, then there must be light at the end of this tunnel.
We are here to help each other, not to compete with each other.
The spirit of competition is inimical to enlightenment.
For whatever you receive no matter from where you receive it give thanks sincerely to God.
There's an absolute nothingness to what appeals to my flesh. And yet I crave it with all my heart.
There are great sufferings going on in other people's lives. Let me step back from my own life and consider these trials that people go through and try to say a prayer for them.
O Lord, may I realize the futility of every desire except the desire for your presence and mastery over my life.
As I enter a New Year in my life I realize that troubles are still with me. Afraid as I am, I believe that along with troubles God is present. The promise of God is most obvious, is most desirable. I seek the promise of God. I trust in the promise of God, who said, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I have a good plan for you, not a plan to harm you.” In this I will rest today.
When humans fail you will turn to God.
There was a time when I believed that I was a self-made man. There was a time when I believed I was self-directed. Today I understand that there is no such thing as self-direction in my life. If I am where I am today it is because someone has externally directed me. Someone continues to externally direct me. And I believe that this person is God. I have not seen him. I have not heard his voice. I have not seen his physical presence in my life. I have heard of him. I have read about him. I imagine him in my life. Very rarely I feel him.
Trouble humbles a man greatly. The troubles in my life have humbled me. There are times when I feel that I’m something, that I can do something. But troubles speak very loudly to me. Troubles let me know how little I am, how insecure I am, how incapable I am of taking care of my problems. Troubles make me understand my need of God. Troubles take me to God. Troubles bring me close to God. And troubles also make me understand my own insignificance.
Trouble is good. It brings a man down to a place of reality. There are times when a man can fool himself into thinking that he is secure, that he is even good and maybe great and probably invincible. A man is no such thing. A man cannot be good. A man cannot be great. A man cannot be invincible. Trouble makes a man realize this.
O Lord, thank you for all your benefits in the year 2013. How much we have received from you! Every day is a blessing. Every moment is a blessing. Every breath is a blessing. Every day of health is a blessing. Every friend we’ve made, every relationship in our lives is a blessing. Every opportunity to speak about your love, every opportunity to share your message is a blessing. And you gave me so many blessings. You gave my family so many blessings during this year. Thank you very much O Lord.
At the end of a year we ask ourselves questions: “What have we done this year and in the previous years? What have we not done? What should we do in the coming year?” These questions may trouble us. They may lead us to self-analysis. They may reveal certain truths about us. But this is the truth that we must be aware of: we are the creations of God made to be in union with God. And if we are not united with God we will not find purpose in our lives. But this is our purpose: to know God, to know the one who created us, to know the one who gave us life, who gave us the privilege to live in this beautiful world, who gave us the privilege to be able to think, to be able to wonder, to be able to even ask this question: “Does God exist?”
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