Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - February 2015

It may not be always possible to feel joy in God. But we must learn to rejoice in the fact that even during troubles God is blessing us, for difficulties lead us to God.

In the most trying circumstances let me be calm and think kind thoughts about people who have not behaved well.

Let the true colours of your faith be exposed by troubles.

All trouble is humbling. And all humbling is ultimately good.

Don't try to understand trouble. Just try to give love. And try to say a prayer.

Fill me with your love O God. Your love alone will help me absorb the wickedness of this day.

My life in pursuit of God seems like an experiment gone terribly wrong. Yet there are also moments when I see the immense use of it. There are moments when I feel that I have lost more than I gained. And there are other moments when I'm glad I lost it for whatever I have gained. Feelings are bound to fluctuate. Impressions are equally fleeting. A most suspect God appears totally faithful in a matter of moments. So I cannot go by feelings. But I should go by truth, not by my truth, for I don't know what it is, but by God's truth that seems so hard to believe, yet must be believed for the sake of trust, which lies at the core of my dealings with him.

Forgiveness feels like the worst thing when directed at others. Yet it seems like the best thing when directed at us.

Every scathing moment is a brilliant opportunity to forgive.

Someone said today that he marvels at my videos. I respond to him by saying that I marvel at my own videos. How can I speak so calmly about my faith when I am going through turmoil in my life? I wonder whether anyone can guess what suffering I went through even as I spoke my messages calmly and collectedly for my God. Even now as I go through another wave of turbulence I say to God, "I'm still hoping in you, I still believe in your goodness, though what I see in my life are disturbing scenes. God give me the faith to believe in you today. God give me your peace. For I see everything heading toward ruin. Please pray for me Holy Spirit. I cannot even pray for myself right now."

I have had a good life. God gave me plenty of time to make mistakes. And these mistakes have led me to God.

My life is in God's hands. And I will not worry about what I cannot do anything about.

A person who says, "I love you. I love you so much", and does not show up or express his love in any action is, to say the least, a most unconvincing person.

To talk about love and not express it is the most pitiable thing of all.

The rule of love remains the same for all of us. It doesn't differ from person to person. If you cannot discard your own father or mother or brother or sister, then you should not discard someone who is not related to you by blood, as well. Discarding people and detaching from them is more for your protection than for the purpose of love. Love truly bears all things. Human beings with their imperfect ability to love cannot.

We must love everyone no matter what influence they have on us. And we must give to everyone, especially to those who do not know Christ. Distancing ourselves from people is the last thing we must do. For if Christ had done that to us, we will not be saved today. Our lives with others should not be marked by paranoia of what they may be able to do to us, but by confidence in Christ, who will enable us to do all things for others. Our love should know no fear.

No goodness will go unresisted in this world.

The best of men was hated by many men to the point of being murdered on a cross. What hope do lesser man have of escaping the hatred that runs in human blood?

A religion which is based on Jesus Christ, who taught us to love everyone, cannot marginalise those who are not within its perimeter of acceptability. Such a religion cannot be like Christ who spent much of his time with the social rejects of his age. He who welcomed prostitutes and tax collectors cannot be the founder of a religion which keeps out moral and social offenders and has little love to offer anyone who is disturbingly different. Jesus Christ taught us to love those who are different from us and accept them as one of us. They are made eligible to be in his kingdom not by status or education or morality or religion but by his overpowering love, which cleanses each and every one of us of our essential human corruption. None of us, even in the name of religion, can show contempt for anyone or any group that fails to match our social and moral standards, for none of us ever deserved to be included in God's kingdom. Those who received grace cannot practise a religion based on Christ without grace.

A life with God has brought me a lot of trouble. But with that trouble has come a string of benefits, which I could not have obtained without God.

My father was a Hindu. Could I have rejected him and failed to fellowship with him because of his religion? No I could not have done that. My father is my father. Ultimately I don't care about his religion. And my father cared even less about my Christian faith. Our father son relationship rose above all these man made distinctions. After he died I cried for many days. I wept for a man whom I couldn't love when he was alive. And whatever trouble I had with him while he was alive had nothing to do with religion or faith. After he died, all that buried love was resurrected from my heart. And that I believe was a work of my Christian God. Think of that. A Christian God awoke the love in my heart for my Hindu father. If I have a son someday, and if he were a Muslim, would I fail to fellowship with him? Absolutely not. I would love my son unconditionally. He is my son. I am his father. And that is all that matters. Anyone who withdraws himself from another on the basis of religion or any other distinction is someone who does not know the first thing about love.

The rule of love remains the same for all of us. It doesn't differ from person to person. If you cannot discard your own father or mother or brother or sister, then you should not discard someone who is not related to you by blood, as well. Discarding people and detaching from them is more for your protection than for the purpose of love. Love truly bears all things. Human beings with their imperfect ability to love cannot..

There is only one thing that matters today. We need to love one another despite our many irreconcilable differences.

A part of being wise is to be able to ignore the voices of idiots.

The best approach is to be direct. If what you want to say or do is acceptable, then do it promptly and directly.

If you want to be with God be prepared for trouble. And when you are faced with many troubles learn how to rejoice.

There is only one way to run this race. And it is not by being afraid.

A boy said to me once, "Why do you want to pray for me? I have everything." Those who are in Jesus Christ are the children of God. They indeed have everything. Yet some of them are far from being as confident as this boy who is not even a Christian. They seem guilt-laden, fear-ridden and panic-stricken. And displaying these qualities they attempt to win other people over to Jesus Christ.

A fear-stricken faith is as pathetic as slavery to sin.

No human can keep the commandments of God. No human should even aim at keeping the commandments of God. A human must only aim at being in Jesus Christ, who alone has kept the commandments of God. It is God's plan that those who seek Jesus Christ and desire him as their Saviour, will be ascribed his righteousness. And with his righteousness as ours we become fit to be citizens of heaven.

Should we be scared? Or should we be bold? Should we be bound? Or should we be free? Let everyone answer this question himself or herself. This is how I answer. I should be bold and free. I should be bold to live without the fear of punishment, for all my sins are already paid for. I should be free to serve God without the fear of condemnation, for I am the very righteousness of God in Christ. And this is not a truth that can be erased.

To be aware of one's faults is one's blessing. May such blessings never end.

When God appears to be doing nothing, that is when you have to keep your hopes up and believe that he is up to something in your life. You must lay aside your feelings and doubts and trust in the unchanging nature of God, who will not fail those who trust in him.

It is good to declare and expect the goodness of God in your life. But beware of this. God's goodness may come in a form that you may not be looking forward to.

Trust in God and wait for him to answer, even if takes a very long time.

Trust in God and what he made you to be. And then live the life he gave you by doing what you know will please him and do it without fear.

Don't sleep in the morning. We were not made to stay awake at night and sleep in the morning. The morning is the most stirring and vibrant time of the day. It's the time when all life wakes up. We should not miss God's recreation of the new day every morning. Acknowledge God early in the morning. Declare his goodness in your own life. Recognize yourself as the child of God who has a good plan for you, a plan to prosper you and not to harm you. Then speak to him as a child would speak to his or her father. Tell him that you will rest in his truth and trust in his faithfulness no matter what happens today. And then work with your hands and devote your mind and heart to glorify God in some way.

We may not have tomorrow. So let's love today.

Belief in God is difficult. Your belief must stand the test of difficulties. You must endure severe trials of your faith and survive the fear of defeat. Will you believe like that?

No matter how dark this journey of life is, don't forget what Jesus promised you. He will never leave you alone. So be strong today.

I'd like to keep my faith simple. So my simple cry of "Father help me!" will serve as an adequate prayer today, for I am in need, and only God my father can supply my need.

He may have a stern exterior. But no one understands and sympathises with the human being as much as God. So approach him boldly today expecting to receive his kindness. He will not disappoint.

We should not be afraid of being influenced by other people. Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. Love should not be marked by fear. There is no fear in love. And we must love people without fear.

Jesus loved people and accepted them more than he preached to them. You don't change people by preaching to them. I don't think Jesus related to people at the spiritual level only. To love people you must meet them at every level.

Your loving someone does not make sense if the other person does not receive your love. To love someone without associating yourself with that person can hardly do good to that person. And it can't do any good to you either.

Jesus came as a great light to illuminate our dark world. He came that those who lived in darkness might see his light. He walked into our darkness shining his light. He could not have given his light to us if he did not want to step into our darkness. The sole purpose of his light is to dispel darkness. His light lives in us, and if we do not shine it into the darkness of other people, how then shall they be filled with the light? So if you are anything like Christ I know you will not hesitate to step into the darkness of another person's heart and shine your light there. I believe that this is what Jesus expects of you.

Let the Bible not become your excuse for not loving someone unlike you today. You should love like God. And God loves everyone. And God wants everyone to be his child. We should not forget this.

God shows us how to love. Let us learn to love like God today. And let us not give up if we fail.

Let us love others despite their many faults just like God loves us despite our many faults.

In the Jesus kind of love the recipient is always an unworthy one.

If you feel that the other person is worse than you, so he or she is not the right one to be with, you are in trouble.

God is not just good. He is better than that. He is great.

Even John the Baptist doubted Jesus Christ. If the greatest man who ever lived could reach that point, I can't see how lesser mortals can avoid that doubt.

We do more damage to God as spiritually cocksure people than we would do as spiritually humble people. Everything about God is a matter of faith and nothing can be established with undeniable proof. The only thing we can do for God is to show what he has done in our lives. We must show his strength rising above our weaknesses. And we should pray that he does something like that in the lives of those we want him to touch. It is he who does the touching. We cannot do that.

No faith is flawless just like no man is flawless. We must learn to admit our inadequacies with regard to the spiritual life as we admit our inadequacies with regard to the earthly life. In the spiritual life, it is better to be poor in spirit than rich. Jesus made that clear.

When I cast my care on God, l leave the situation with him and trust him to do what only he can do. I will not try to help him do it.

The scenario is highly discouraging. Yet don't be discouraged. Let us hope against hope.

We need to dismantle the places of worship that we have built over the years. We need to throw away everything that we held central in the place that only God should occupy. We need to throw away everything that hinders and seek God with a repentant heart.

We may not even be aware of what God is doing in our lives. But as long as we are alive we are receiving from him the great gift of life. For this let us be thankful.

The highest point in faith is to survive the sense of abandonment that a believer in God feels at a moment of crisis in his life. Even Jesus Christ felt this abandonment. But a moment later he felt a sense of unity with God. His great despair came before the great reward of the resurrected life that God bestowed on him.

Will you reject your own son if he rejects God? Will you reject any member of your family if he or she should reject God? No we are commanded to love one another. And one another means everyone, even those who are not aware of God. God loved the world, not just the believing world, but also the unbelieving world. He came to save the lost and not to be content with the ones that were still with him. We who say we love Christ, must also seek the ones who are lost and go after them determined to find them and bring them to God. Anything less than this is not service to God.

"Love one another as I have loved you", said Jesus to all his disciples. How did Jesus love us? Did Jesus separate himself from sinners and unbelievers? Jesus came to save those who were in darkness. Surely saints and believers are not in darkness. The great commission of the Lord is to spread the message of love to all people in all parts of the world. So we the followers of Jesus must tell unbelievers about the love of God. Separating ourselves from them and forming Christian clubs will hardly appeal to those who are not aware of God. We must be inclusive and not exclusive. And we must always reach out, especially to the most resistant.

Approach with love and give joy to others. You cannot fail.

Fasting is not merely a matter of abstaining from food and water and spending time in devotion and prayer. It is actually a matter of helping others in distress and saving people from their difficult situations. It is not turning away from your own flesh and blood. This is the kind of fasting that God has ordained.

If your reply is going to hurt, then don't reply. But if you must reply to do good, then reply even if it causes hurt.

Just say, "God will not fail me", even if the ground under you is shaking.

Now that we are in with God we must look forward to suffering. Those who are with God become the enemies of the devil. And he will fight against the children of God all day every day. Be ready. Above all be willing.

The worst thing we can do for God is to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude while dealing with his people.

Appreciate when you want to find fault. Compliment when you want to rebuke. Just love people today despite their faults. For the day will come and may have already come when you need the same thing from others.

We are different but we are made by the same God. Therein lies our oneness.

Even as distressing and disturbing events take place in my life I am trying to say, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." it is not easy. It seems even hopeless. But I must say it.

It is not important whether you observe Lent or Christmas. Observe love. Think the thoughts of love. Speak the language of love. And perform the actions of love. This is what you really need to observe.

When you see the light you have to smile.

God is love. And love is the language of his creations. The one language all living beings understand and respond to is love. So learn to speak love.

Love is the safest investment in the world. It always provides returns.

Today look for what unites you with others. Don't search out what tears you apart.

We need to trust in God because we cannot trust in anything else.

When you give you have not wasted your time. You have not wasted your God-given energy.

You can't ever discount the heart. It is the most deceptive of deceivers. Even a dying ember can resurrect in a demonic blaze. So you need something outside of yourself to keep it checked. And that is the power of God.

Today I choose what brings life even as my heart desires what brings death. As time moves on I discover that my heart is not as persuasive as it used to be, and that my head is now in the ascendant. Above all, the Spirit of God has occupied more territory in me and is now more palpably bringing God's kingdom to me.

Regardless of how I am today God will be great.

Faith minus love is nothing.

The problem with accepting God's forgiveness is this: we can't forgive ourselves for what we've done, so we can't accept God's forgiveness for our sins. We want to be punished. We expect to be punished. But God welcomes us with open arms. And we are ashamed to approach him.

Whatever I wish for myself I wish for you as well my brother and sister. Therein lies what Christ has done in me.

God's greatness will be revealed in our lives today. Let's hope in this.

Instead of telling people that they might fry in hell, tell them that they will be forever in the embrace of God. That will make a world of a difference in the way they respond to God.

Look forward to the love of God today. God is a just god, and his justice will be done. Above all his love will reign supreme.

Let the fear of hell and imminent death not scare you into believing in Jesus Christ. Know his heart and be moved by his love. He loved you enough to give up his life for you. He cared for you so much that he didn't want you to perish. He desires the very best for you and wants you to live with him eternally. Know all this, and belief in Jesus Christ will follow.

Love even those whom God did not give you. For all need love.

Jesus did say, "Repent!" But we cannot repent without knowing his love. The adulteress could repent only after Jesus said, "Even I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more." So it takes the experience of love to evoke repentance. And repentance is a gift from God, and cannot be humanly produced. So let us ask God today for a revelation of his love.

It is only when we experience the love of God that we can repent for our wrongdoings. Repentance is a gracious gift of God to those who are irresistibly drawn to him. It cannot be humanly produced.

Christians come and Christians leave, but Christ goes with me forever.

Those who follow Jesus Christ and worship God should be honest with one another. They should be kind, considerate and helpful whenever they can. They should honour their word and if they cannot do so they should explain and even apologize to those who are affected. The God we worship would find a lack of honesty and kindness among his people more lamentable than the grief he supposedly feels over the way his people celebrate Christmas and Easter, which are described by some as pagan in origin. What God cares about is the way we treat one another. His final commandment to us is that we should love one another as he loved us. I believe God cares more about this than our celebration of festivals.

The last thing I will do today is to overrate the power of evil. God is in me, and he is bigger than any evil that lurks around.

Today I will bask in the light and not wander in the darkness. There is a lot of darkness in the world. But the only way to dispel the darkness is to increase the light. Let the seekers of light walk into the light and may they reflect more light on the dark parts of this world.

Has God waited 2000 years to terrorize people into heaven? He waits because he is patient. He waits so that people may respond to his love and approach him on their own without coercion. None of us want anyone to come to us under duress. None of us desire love that is forced and given to earn a reward from us. God is certainly not trying to do that. Let us not make him out to be one who demands our love with threats of the worst punishment in a terrible lake of fire if we fail to give him what he wants. It is a dreadful way to present a wonderful God.

Any friend of God is a friend of mine, despite any personal disagreement.

Those who believe in God should allow God to solve their problems without interference. Though it is hard to be still this is exactly what they must do.

We should thank God even when nothing makes sense. For this is what God expects of us at all times, and especially at such times.

Prayer is not asking. Prayer is speaking. It is speaking to God our best friend. It is acknowledging his role in our lives. It is acknowledging the fact that we cannot live without him. We may live without knowing him. But we can never live without having him in us, for our very life is a breath from his nostrils.

Fear-mongering is the lowest tactic in religion. It has brought many terrorized people to God. But It has also driven many brave people away from God.

Even if God didn't exist, a life for God will never be a waste. It will be lived for others and will be a blessing to everyone. For God is the noblest person in life. From him come all notions of goodness and beauty. Anyone who embraces God, even if he should turn out to be a gigantic effort of collective imagination, will not be a loser.

The Christian ought to be the humblest, the most repentant and the most accepting person in the world. He should be glad to be seen with the lowly and the sinful without any care for his own reputation. His only goal should be to love the unlovely and to care for the downtrodden. He should lose everything he values to embrace what no one values.

May we reach out boldly to the one who is waiting at our door today. May we not restrain ourselves from doing what we ought to do.

You don't get to bottle love and store it away for a rainy day. You need to pour out that love today indiscriminately and with total abandon for anyone and everyone you meet in life. And you need not fear running out of love, for you will receive even more of it from the only one who can give you an endless supply of it. His name is God.

Don't bottle your love. Let it flow freely to all around you.

The most heroic thing in this world is a persevering faith in God.

We have to rejoice in the Lord always no matter what is coming at us.

It is God who gives. People are only agents.

Let prayer not be our excuse for inaction today. Let our prayers lead to action whenever that is possible.

The best way to thank God for his priceless gift of life is to live it joyfully, exploring what is beautiful and edifying to our souls.

There is only one way in which evil is overcome. And it is by doing good to those who do evil. It is by blessing those who curse you, and praying for those who hate you. You do this only in God's strength, for God alone is love, and his love alone can extinguish the hatred glowing in human hearts.

Jesus Christ came into the world to show the love of God to people who were living in darkness. He came not to condemn the world but to save the world through laying down His life for us. We, who follow Christ, must endeavour to reveal the love of God expressed in Christ to all who do not know it. It is love alone that compels a human soul to step out of its darkness.

One of the best things we can do for others is to pray for them. But if there is something more that we can do for them, and we still choose only to pray, we reveal a reluctance to move out of our comfort zone. Prayer is very essential, Yet doing something to help, when such help is possible is even more essential.

One of the regrettable things anyone can do is to make a promise and then fail to keep it. But for a Christ follower to do it, seems even more regrettable. Failing to keep a promise is bad enough. But failing to apologize for not keeping the promise is even worse.

Don't look at what you do not have. Look at what you have.

Rejoice in what you have. Give thanks to God for what He has given. Count your blessings. And expect to receive more.

I will make an attempt to be friendly today no matter how many times my friendship is not accepted. I give not to receive. I give because I have received.

The human being is the most compelling evidence for God. We stand apart from the entire animal kingdom in our ability to reason. In the very act of our questioning God's existence we prove that we are unlike other living forms, and that we are unique in this ability to question and verify every concept. Thus we prove the biblical assertion that we are the crown of God's creations and made in the image of God. Like God we seek what is true and even question truth in the process of knowing what is true.

Don't seek human approval. You never need it.

To be able to love your neighbour you must be able to love yourself.

To love God more you must be forgiven more.

Sometimes God seems distant from us, though He is really quite near. Our prayers don't seem to reach Him, though He actually hears them. Yet His apparent silence and inactivity send the wrong signals to us. So we must persevere in faith and expect Him to intervene and save, though there seems to be little hope of that happening.

What God does for me is so much better than what I do for myself. I've received the best gifts in my life without much praying.

A Christian must have the heart to forgive. When an offender reaches out in apology, he must be forgiven. If a Christian can't forgive even after an apology, then he must seriously consider his relationship with Jesus Christ, who forgave all His killers even before they apologized for their murderous act.

God's faithfulness far exceeds our faithlessness. So He is perfectly able to be faithful and good even while we are faithless and lost.

It is not by human might, or by human power, but by your Spirit that the work of God will be done. This I will not forget today.

 

 

Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - January 2015

We may look for solutions to our problems and suffer needlessly. But if we wait on God, He will provide what He alone can give.

If we know the love of God it is our blessing to show it to those who do not know it.

There is nothing impossible for him or her who believes. So let's believe that we'll conquer our difficulties despite the hopelessness of our situations.

Let's decorate our minds with the love Jesus wanted us to show to one another.

Let God's grace not be a license to sin. Let it be a freedom to do what pleases God.

I will not abandon hope in God, for to hope in God is the surest thing in the world.

Don't forget to say thank you for every blessing that you know and for every one that you do not know. Great love is given to us sometimes without even our knowing it. Every moment of our life is a testament to a divine love.

The best miracles are the unexpected ones.

Only God makes the ordinary into the extraordinary. Only He can transmute the base creature into something glorious. And credit entirely belongs to Him.

If you need help, help someone. If you want God to help you, pray to God for someone else who needs help. To reap you must sow.

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 certainly do bad, and sometimes it does seem to us that God does 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 we see as bad within him. Yes, God can be seen as hateful and destructive. But he eventually emerges as love. 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.

In a trouble-filled life Jesus is the person the afflicted one turns to every time. Jesus is everything to the person who has nothing else.

I must continue to do the work that God inspired in me. And I will do it as he inspires it. We may not differ in the crucial aspects of Christianity at least in my eyes. But where you see a difference that makes you separate yourself from me I see only diversity, a mark of the human race, which will continue to resist homogeneity. I maintain that differences should not drive us apart but bring us together. As far as I know I have said nothing that is against the spirit of Christ. Christ was never here to condemn the world but to save the world. And he saves the world by love and by accepting it just as it is. The people who were with him will not be suitable companions to most of us even today. Yet that is how Jesus lived and that is how the followers of Jesus should also live.

Now that I am Job I will have to hear out three or more friends.

To give the lie the appearance of truth, you must mix the lie with the truth.

The spokespersons of Satan believe that they speak the truth. They may even believe that they speak for God.

The purveyors of deception are themselves deceived. That's the salient point.

To care about something and to do nothing about it is not caring at all.

The man of God is supported by God through His people.

I do not work for humanity. I work for God. And as far as he takes me forward, I shall gladly go. What one sees now is only what one has been allowed to see.

Someone is praying for you even when you cannot pray. God himself is praying. And I will pray too.

"What am I doing with my life?", I have often wondered. Am I frittering my life away pursuing an imaginary goal set by an imaginary god? Or am I truly following the voice of the living God? I try to speak for God and about God as well as I know him. I want to be as honest as possible about my knowledge and experience of God, so that I am not unworthy of my calling. But do I really succeed? Is my message really heard? Is anyone really benefited and guided to God through my voice? That is a question that has not been answered yet at least clearly.

I study the Bible. I read Christian authors. I read experts on religion. I even read the atheists. I speak for God. I speak about my own experiences. I read the Bible on YouTube. I try to enthuse others about God. I do little else.

I fooled around a lot. I spent my time on worthless activities as well. I abused my speech, i.e. overspoke and misspoke. But after all the nonsense I went back to sense refreshed.

I wasted a lot of time on the pleasures of the world. At least this is what I thought sometimes. But at other times, I realized that I needed to waste time so that I could learn from it. There is much to learn from nonsense and idiocy. And after you spend time on the useless you can turn to the useful with great hunger.

My first obligation is to God. My only obligation is to God.

Let's not forget how great wonderful God's love is. Whatever we are going through today we have God's love with us.

Don't be in a hurry. Be willing to go at God's pace.

If you want to see Jesus Christ today, you will have to see him in the people in whom he lives.

We speak of light because we are filled with light. It is not the light of our own. It is the light of God who lives in us. So let us not be proud of our light, or expect commendation for it. Instead let us praise and thank God for filling our darkness with his light.

How can we learn to serve without expecting gratitude and thanks? This should be our most urgent question to God today.

Today and every day our attitude to others should be: what can we give to others without wanting to take anything from them?

We are all rebels. Let us not measure the extent of our rebellion. But let's remember this. We now belong to God despite our rebellious hearts. You and I belong to God.

It is best to be weak. When you are weak, then you are strong. The Lord works best in our weakness. Just say to yourself, "I belong to God no matter how I feel and regardless of what I think and do."

Keep trying as long as it takes. Be determined to get it out of you. See someone who is in touch with God. Above all set your mind on God and focus on him alone. There are demons in all of us. But let us choose to see the higher presence. Greater is he who is in us than the devil who is also with us.

We may not believe in the effectiveness of our prayers. But the name of Jesus Christ is enough as long as you trust in its power. Just trust. Be absolutely determined. You belong to Christ. Believe it. Say it a hundred times and even more.

Just say, "Deliver us from evil. Deliver me from evil." Pray for all your brothers and sisters caught in similar webs. Focus on God. Fix your eyes on him. And this is what he says to all of us, "Fear not, I am with you." He will neither leave you nor forsake you. He is right there beside you, near you and in you. Remember him and look to him.

I know. It seems unfair. And God seems distant and uninterested. If we didn't believe in God we would think that he is a terrible cheat and a liar. But we do believe in God and we accept his goodness and faithfulness by faith. So let's hang in there with a devil or many devils, as God wills. You take it easy. The battle belongs to the Lord and never to you, though it seems like it's all yours. Don't lose heart. Fix your eyes on God and just relax. Believe that you are well already. Just believe it and declare it, though it may feel like you're fooling yourself. Think about the good in your life. Celebrate the goodness of God that you have observed in this world. God's there for you. That's what I choose to believe. I'm praying.

You will have whatever God wants for you. Just say the greatest prayer everyday. "Thy will be done in my life."

Be strong in the Lord. Declare yourself to be strong and free. You are God's child. And you are blessed and you cannot be cursed. You belong to God alone, and no matter how you feel, know that God will never let you go. Speak to Him and seek His wisdom. Listen patiently till you hear His gentle voice within you.

When you are weak then you are strong. He is always with you no matter what you do. Sometimes when I struggle with myself I remember what Paul said, "Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." I just say this to remind myself of what I could be, what I ought to be. But In Christ, we are already more than conquerors. Let us run this race to win.

Despite what the enemy tells we will believe in God. The enemy is persuasive and the evidence seems to confirm his harmful suggestions. But we will trust in the Lord, won't we?

Life seems like a never-ending struggle. Still God does show up every now and then, and infuse hope into what seemed like a hopeless situation. I know that. And I wish every child of God knows that.

We are well. Let's believe that and live accordingly.

But even Elijah knew fear. And Moses was not exempt from it. Fear may not be bad. Sometimes it leads us to seek God even more.

Pray for a heart that seeks God above all things. But distractions may also serve a purpose. The more we are distracted the more we are aware of what we need to follow. I think distractions are only distractions. The obsession will stand out against the distractions.

I like human approval as well. But the more we seek it, and the less we are satisfied by it, we will eventually turn away from it. Or at least we will not glamorize it any more.

If Satan is telling you anything, it is so because He sees you as someone who belongs to the other camp. If you belonged to his camp, He will not waste any time with you.

Remember the mystery about weakness. When we are weak, then we are strong. It is when we are weak that God works best.

Satan preys on our weakness, which is ignorance. Remember what God said. "My people are destroyed out of ignorance." We are ignorant of this: that we are weak, and this, far from being a barrier to God, is really the mindset in which He works best. We are sinful. But Jesus has washed away our sins. So let us not be obsessed with our sins, and worry about sinning. The process of sin is not halted in this life. And if we sin, we are directed to confess to God who will wash away our iniquity. So why should we worry about our place with God on account of sin? We are in His hands, and nothing, not even our weaknesses and sins, can pluck us away from them. Yet this is exactly where Satan attacks. He wants us to believe that we can ruin our relationship with God by our sinful acts, which are already atoned for.

If you are uncomfortable about Satan that is a good thing. The people who belong to Satan are those who are so comfortable with him that they do not even know that he exists.

You can't sell your soul to Satan now. It is not yours to sell anymore. When you accepted Christ He became the owner of your soul. Only He can sell it or give it away. And He will do neither.

Weeping may endure for a night. And the night may seem endless. But remember this, and look forward to this, REJOICING COMES IN THE MORNING.

How supremely confident we ought to be be in what God is doing in us, when we are actually afraid of what might happen to us.

And let the laughter continue. For He who makes you a conqueror never ceases to do so.

Satan is most persuasive many times. But there comes a time when one must look beyond and see through his lies. And then one will see God who till then appeared unlikely to be the truth.

Yet our fears hold us back. We must abandon our fears altogether if we are to be with God.

I will surrender all to Him. That is the key to being relieved. As long as I hold on to my baggage, I will never feel relieved.

I surrender all = I abandon all

We surrender only when all other hope fails.

Someone asked me what's in a name. Quite a lot I think. Remember Jacob who became Israel.

We all doubt. And we all learn to reject our doubts. That is the way of faith.

Jesus wants you to stop doubting. Just as he said to Thomas. You are hurting yourself more by your doubts. And that's what He really cares about. May God ease your soul, and let it enter into His rest. Just determine to believe that He is good and faithful, no matter how it looks.

God is great. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. We ARE free despite how we feel.

Rest in His faithfulness. Submit everything and everyone to God.

Yes. But this is a long battle. It will take some time, but we're getting there.

We're all selfish. But with Christ, our selfishness will be slowly stripped away. But this is a process. And we must learn to live with our imperfections for now.

If only we would be at peace with our weakness! This is the one thing that nails us to the cross.

Remember that it is when you are weak you are strong. If you desire strength, that is fine. But now, cling to your weakness. That may well be the road to your strength.

Know your weakness. But don't despise yourself. Because God sees you as His workmanship. Love what you are going to be when God is done with you.

Love God and do whatever you want, said Saint Augustine. When you love God you will only do what He wants. You can't love Him and cheat. You can't love Him and be selfish. Just pray that God fills you with love, the love for God and godliness. Meanwhile don't be so hard on your human nature. For it will surely pass.

Yes, it is scary. Our boat will surely be rocked. But who is in our boat apart from us? Let us remember Him.

If Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith and everything else about us, then we should just trust and walk on.

We have nothing to lose, when we are with God.

You will not be destroyed. Just cling to God and declare that you belong to God. Say that you have been freed by Christ and are certainly free. Believe and then speak. Don't be afraid. Be clear about this. You belong to God.

God is real. His love for you is real. That Christ died for you is real. That the Holy Spirit is with you is real. Hold on to that. By faith.

I don't know whether God speaks audibly to his people. But we are required to believe by faith. If faith is required, then God will by and large avoid anything that overrides the need for faith.

The only voice you need to hear is that of God. And he has already spoken loud and clear. In the Bible.

You should value your life. It belongs to God. But you must rest now. Rest in the knowledge that no matter what, nothing shall separate you from the love of God, which is in Jesus. Say this to yourself: "NOTHING shall separate me from God's love, neither angels nor demons will be able to separate me from God's love." Stand up in faith. And God will be faithful.

No demon can pluck you out of God's hand. We all fall and we all make a fool of ourselves. But that's all right. For God knows how hard it is. And he will forgive and restore. Think about the goodness of God and not about the badness of the devil.

Don't give up. God is good despite our worst doubts.

Now let's hope for the best. We all need help. None of us have made it.

We cannot give up, though it seems impossible that any good will come out of this. We must persist in faith, for there is no other alternative.

We have the mind of Christ, whether we experience it or not. And we have everything that is required to live the godly life. To be sane is to know that God is good even when He appears to be anything but good.

Remember, the last thing we need to do as Christians is to worry. When we submit a problem to God, we should learn to take our eyes away from it to Him, who is able to do whatever we ask of Him.

Love God more than you love anyone else. And you'll be well.

To have faith is to believe no matter how hopeless it looks.

We are in a great battle right now. But let's not lose sight of this. The battle belongs to the Lord. We should only stand and watch our deliverance. Will we stand? Let's pray for strength and determination.

We all have a major distraction in our lives. If we could only make God our only attraction these distractions will fall into place. Keep fighting. Ask God for an undivided heart. Take control of your mind and think about something else. Love someone. Help someone. Rejoice in what you can still do. Don't focus on what you can't do.

Don't worry. We're all in God's hands. And He won't drop us. No one can pluck us out of His hands.

I am strong. I am rich. I am dead to sin. I am a conqueror. I am the righteousness of God. No matter what we feel like, all these are true of every one in Christ Jesus.

Don't try so hard. You're more than a conqueror in Christ. What you need to triumph over you have already triumphed over in Christ. All that you need to do is to discover it gradually.

My righteousness does not come from my acts. My righteousness comes from Jesus Christ who gave it to me in exchange for my sins.

This is what we should remember today and every day. It's not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit that we go on.

The greatest challenge in faith is to believe in the goodness and faithfulness of God when he appears to be anything but good and faithful. The greatest challenge is to be still, and to be hopeful, when nothing seems to happen and everything seems to deteriorate.

A prayer is the most beautiful offering we can give to God. Yet sometimes we can do even more.

A prayer of David is still the need of the hour. May God give us a clean heart and a steadfast spirit today.

Be untiring in your appreciation of others. For that's exactly how you would expect them to be with you.

The one who wants to share cannot be shy. Share everything, give away everything. Withhold nothing that can help anyone.

We are all little yet God values us greatly. Let us also respect and like one another despite our faults and shortcomings. Let us learn to look at others as God looks at them. This is how we discover the image of God in us.

The Lord is my Shepherd. I WILL NOT be in want. This is not merely a declaration of faith. I believe it has already happened, though I am still very much in need. For this is the way of God's people. They live by faith. They look at the unseen in great hope without being defeated by the hopelessness of what is seen.

If I am acceptable to God, I'm also acceptable to the world. If God made me this way and if He loves me, then the world can also love me. I will believe in what God has made me to be. I will not be ashamed of who I am.

I want my blessing. I want my place with God. I will wrestle with him and I will prevail.

You cannot merit grace. You can only receive it. And you can receive it only if you are unintentionally hopeless.

When I consider the problems of others my own problems seem little in comparison.

God is our father. We are his children. So he will not abandon us.

It is better to believe that God is on our side, that he will not forsake us, that he will supply all our needs eventually, that we will always have enough of his grace to draw from in every dire situation. This is what I choose to believe today even as I am staring at a very bleak scene all around me.

We don't worship an inept God who does not know how to keep us. We are safe in his hands. And though we may wander a fair distance we are never really out of his grip. No one can pluck us out of his hands. If we believe this we can rest.

There's nothing to fear. That there's something to fear is the great deception. You won't get lost. God redeems your life from destruction and leads you in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. You can't get lost. God's name is at stake. And he won't let it be tarnished.

The situation seems impossible. Hope seems hopeless. But God is with you. And He is faithful.

Everything is a miracle. Every breath is a miracle. This day is a miracle. And if we are here tomorrow, tomorrow is a miracle as well.

When a miracle happens acknowledge it.

Rush not my son. Be content to walk at God's pace.

There is nothing wrong with love even if it is in a guise that you hate.

If religious bigots deal in hatred and exclusion let Jesus followers deal in love and inclusion. Let them dare to love even hateful bigots and overcome evil with good.

If religion is bad, it also necessitates the good. The bad creates the desire for the good. Just as darkness makes the light desirable religious prejudice and hatred make acceptance and love worth pursuing.

Religion is not so bad. I knew that there was someone called God only from religion. Religion is a starting point. Sadly some people just stay there.

What is an unbearable temptation will turn into a bearable temptation if you delay falling into it.

Focusing on God in this fallen world is hard work. But in the end it is well worth the strife.

No matter how great your trouble is don't fail to worship your God today.

Our convictions are at best suspect and at worst preposterous.

Don't fall so easily into what tempts you. Know the difference between what thrills temporarily and what pleases lastingly. Knowing this will take a little time, but acting on what you know and avoiding the temporary thrill may take a much longer time. Yet you must strive.

To be saved people should believe in Jesus Christ and what God did through Him. People are required to participate in their salvation, and even work it out with fear and trembling. It is not something that comes to all human beings automatically. Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus, when we apply it on us, and participate in His sufferings. They are not washed away by merely looking at His suffering as a spectator.

Shine as much light as you can till you can. This is how our little lights together can dispel the great darkness.

We cannot love everyone and everything. We are just not equipped for that. Let us then love those whom we can love and appreciate what we can appreciate, and let us do this well.

God has given each of us something to be very thankful for, and let us not lose any opportunity to thank Him for it.

To connect with people you have to appreciate them.

Don't give up on yourself. God has not given up on you.

I'll not forget the benefits I received from God. This day and every day I will remember His many kindnesses to me.

This life that I live for God and the work that I do for Him cannot happen without God's gracious help. Apart from God I can do nothing. This realization is clearer today than it ever was. I need God's help and plenty of it. May God send it now any way He chooses. I'm waiting in hope. May we who hope in the Lord not be put to shame.

Lord, teach me how to respond to beauty. Teach me how to respond to anything. I need to learn from scratch.

O Lord, you keep my smile going.

I need only one recognition. That is God's recognition. Every other recognition is ultimately useless.

Speak the message of love as many times as you can, till it is heard, or till your last breath.

The love of God endures all forms of human coldness. Let us aspire to love like God, without expectation and without letting our love be defined by human response.

When someone curses you don't curse back. Remain silent and forgiving. Bless that person. Ask God to reveal his great love and mercy to that person. And may he or she be transformed by that love. Every time someone curses us we have the great opportunity to bless. And when we bless the one who cursed us we render impotent the evil effects of the person's curse. For we overcome evil not with evil but with good.

Those who curse are the weakest ones in the world. They deserve our pity, even our blessing.

God is with us always. We may not always be aware of His presence. But His voice is heard at the right time. Sometimes when I'm about to do or say something rash, a voice speaks quickly, "Wait, don't do that!" That is God. At other times the voice is not so clear, yet I hear it, even when I do wrong. Sometimes God is quiet even as I do something wrong. And later I hear God but not in condemnation. He speaks compassionately and helps me amend my wrongs.

When we have so much wrong with us, it is not right for us to point out someone's wrongs and condemn the person for those wrongs.

We may not recognize a blessing when we see it. But we should know that God is with us always and that he desires to bless us.

Why Should We Trust In God?

Recently I asked a question. Why should we trust in God when it appears that sometimes in life God is not with us? There are people in the world who have suffered great tragedies even while believing in God. There are people who waited for miracles and never experienced them. There are people whose entire lives have been destroyed even after they trusted in God. How could these things happen? It seems that God has abandoned some of his people. It appears that God is not always answering prayers. It appears that God is not always helping his people. So I asked this question. Why should we trust in God? Is it necessary? Is it important? Can we not live without God? Do we really need God when he appears so erratic?

And this is the answer that I received from my mother. She said, "No matter what happens let's trust in God." Whatever happens in life let's trust in God. Let's not worry about those moments when God appears insensitive. Let's not think of those times when God appears absent. Let's just trust him. Let's keep on trusting him.

There are times in my life when God has come to my rescue. And there are other times when God appeared absent. But I'm still going on. I'm still here. I'm still holding a camera. I'm still speaking despite the difficulties, despite the wreck that my life appears to be. Despite the troubling, dismal outlook I'm still here, still doing the work of God. And for once, it appears that I'm being heard.

It does appear at times that God is not interested. It does appear at times that God is absent. It does appear at times that God is even an enemy. But we are told that God is our friend. Saint Peter said, "Cast all your cares on God for he cares for you." Saint Paul said, "And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory." Let us be reassured today. No matter how difficult life is, let us trust in God, for there is simply no one else whom we can trust. God alone can be trusted. King David said, "Some trust in chariots, others in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." Shall we learn to trust God like King David today? Shall we declare our faith along with him?

- Samuel Godfrey George

Is Man's Weakness God's Fault?

Man suffers a great deal with guilt. Why does he feel this guilt? What is the source of this guilt? Who inspired this guilt? Isn't it God? Isn't it God who inspired this guilt in Man? God's rules are so antithetical to Man's essential nature. Man is essentially a rebel. Man is born in rebellion against God. And all his life Man finds it difficult to live according to the rules of God. And his suffering comes from guilt. Human suffering is born of guilt, the terrible guilt that issues from not living according to God's rules. So, isn't God really the cause of Man's sufferings? If God is indeed responsible for human suffering, then Man is not responsible. If God is responsible for Man's fallenness, then Man is not responsible. Man can be exonerated. Man is free from blame. Man should not be blamed for the way he conducts himself. Is this a justifiable position? It does seem that God did not create Man perfectly. It does seem that God came up with rules that are contrary to Man's nature. All this seems wrong. It seems like God made a big mistake. But did God make a mistake? Is Man really not to blame?

Man is the creation of God. God is the Creator. The Bible admits that. Man is also a flawed creation. The Bible acknowledges that. There is a flaw in human nature. It is said that Man was made in the image of God.  But if one were to consider a human being, one may not find much of God in that person. Sometimes one may not see anything of God in a certain human. Still it is said that Man was made in the image of God. Then why does Man have a problem with being like God? Shouldn't it be effortless for Man to be like God? Yet Man finds it difficult to be like God. Though Man was made in the image of God, he has forsaken that image. He has forsaken and forgotten that image. When God created Man he looked very different from the way he looks today. How we human beings look today is very different from how we used to look before we fell. And we fell.

Man fell from a certain lofty place. When God created Man, Man existed at a certain level. And Man fell from that level. Man disobeyed God. Man did not just disobey God, he also wanted to make his own rules. Above all he wanted to be like God. That was the temptation at Eden. The temptation was not to eat a certain fruit. The temptation was to be like God. That is what led Man to his fall. Man forgot his place. He forgot the fact that he was a creation and wanted to be like the Creator. Is Man not responsible for his fall?  Can Man say, "Look, I have been created imperfectly. That's why I fell. The person who programmed me did not do a good job. That's why there was an error."  I don't think he can.

God gave Man the entire world, in fact the entire Garden of Eden. Man was free to eat from any tree in the garden except one. God forbade Man to eat from a certain tree. Man was given the freedom to do anything he wanted except to eat from that tree. But it was the fruit of that tree that Man desired to eat above everything else. He chose to disobey God. He chose to give up all his privileges for tasting the fruit of that tree. He ate that fruit believing that it would make him like God. This was a conscious decision that Man made. So Man then could not say that it was not possible for him to say no to the temptation. The truth is that he could have said no, but he actually said yes. And that has remained the way of all flesh. Even now humans do what God told them not to do. Even now human beings say yes when they ought to say no.

Is God responsible for Man's fall? Or is Man responsible for his own fall? The Bible clearly presents Man as guilty. It presents Man as responsible for his fallenness. Man was given a certain privilege. He was given the freedom to choose. And he chose what God forbade. And that is what all human beings continue to do. We humans often choose evil. It is not that we are powerless to choose good. It is that we prefer evil to good on many occasions. We choose evil because we prefer evil. Evil appeals to us more than good does. The Bible clearly states that Man is guilty. And I believe that Man is guilty because Man has the power to say no to evil, and yet he says yes. He chooses to do evil. Every time Man does evil, he chooses to do it. And it is he who is responsible for his action.

God did not create Man to behave like a robot. He did not want humans to obey his rules without understanding and acceptance. He wanted us to understand and accept his goodness. This is the power that he gave Man -- the power to judge and to know. All human beings have been given that power. Adam had that power. But he preferred to do what was evil. And that tendency has stayed with all of us, his children. When Adam, our father, chose to do evil, he knew it was evil. He knew it was not what God wanted him to do. And yet he did it. He did it knowingly. So he was responsible for his actions. He could not say, "I was too weak. God made me so weak that I could not resist the temptation." That was not the way it was. He could have chosen not to eat the fruit that was forbidden. But he chose to eat. Even today we, his children, could chose not to do many of the lamentable things that we actually do. Yet we do them anyway. We do them knowing well that we should have acted differently. As long as we know that, we are responsible for our actions. So we are responsible for the way we are. We suffer because of the mistakes that we knowingly make, not because of how God created us to be. Therefore it is not God who is culpable, we are.


Samuel Godfrey George

Sayings Of Samuel Godfrey George - December 2014

I have cast my cares on God. And I expect Him to do something for me today. I expect a miracle. May God grant all His children His saving miracles.

Love the absolute mess that you are, and you are on your way to loving others and God.

You don't overcome sin by hating it. You overcome sin by loving God. He has already done the overcoming for you.

To be humble does not mean to have a low opinion of yourself. To be humble is to know your need of God, without whom you can do nothing.

Never be ashamed of what you have. Be proud of what you have. Because what you have was given to you by God. And what he has given must be displayed with joy.

I expect a miracle today. May I know it when I see it. And may I receive it with gratitude.

To serve like Jesus is to serve even without appreciation and gratitude from those whom we serve.

God is not common sense. God is beyond any of our senses. He is certainly not common.

None of us deserve God. So let us not try to deserve him. He loves us not because of what we are, but because of what he is.

All beauty is essentially pure and our handling of it should therefore be pure. Yet many times we cannot see beauty the way it really is, and we approach it with our own corrupt intentions.

A difficulty that fundamentally weakens me is what propels me to God on a daily basis.

Don't be afraid when you face troubles. You have a God who cares about you. He cared enough for you to send you his son Jesus, so that the Son may reveal how much the Father cares.

Exercise peace. Exercise forgiveness. You'll exercise love and love is Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas.

Today I gave though it hurt. And I am glad.

Everyone need a little appreciation and a pat on the back. If we would give them these, there would be a considerable improvement in our interpersonal relationships.

Sometimes you'll have to love someone from a distance. Even that is a great blessing.

This is all that I need to say to you who are suffering silently today. God never fails those who trust in him. It may be hard to believe, but it is true. This is the only truth that matters.

If you want a hug give one.

Christmas is unlikely to be the exact birthday of Jesus Christ. But it should not be a trivial or an unspiritual acknowledgement of Jesus the Saviour of the world.

More than any other good thing that can be consumed during Christmas I will consume the Lord Jesus Christ as he commanded me to do.

It is not knowing their story that makes you love others. It is knowing your story.

Let's not use our energy to find fault with one another today. Let's appreciate the good, even the little good that we see in others. And let's appreciate all that God has done for us.

Let's go to God today and be sheltered by his love. Let's not choose to walk alone today. It's not possible to go far without God.

To be like God you must be prepared to wait.

With God we can turn grief into beauty.

We can all meet in a calm place with a smile.

Sometimes a miracle is to keep going on when nothing seems to work in our favour.

How does one rejoice in trouble? Not by smiling and laughing, but by knowing that there is a God who delivers his children from all troubles and thanking him for doing that.

A foul temper gets foul results.

Whatever anybody does you do what is right and good. Be good, be nice even when people fail to be good and nice to you.

The saddest thing we can do today is not to trust in God.

I may not be a light in every way, but as long as I am still able to touch even a single person out there I am fine, and what I am doing is fine.

Don't desire human appreciation. It is ultimately worthless.

Sometimes all you need to do is to whisper your love.

Say nothing when you are angry. Let a few days pass before you say anything.

To accept the truth about oneself is most difficult. To admit it is even more difficult.

We may not know even the good that we have done.

Even if God has chosen a petty little hut for me, I will be happy with it, for God is wise and he knows what is best for me.

Not tied to anyone means not tied to anyone's expectations. There is freedom in that.

I was born alone. I was raised alone. Even with others I was alone. Now as I stand among a noisy crowd I am still alone. Many times I was troubled by my loneliness. But today I stand in a crowd utterly alone, and this enables me to walk straight to the one who alone can give me comfort. To him I will go today alone.

When nothing happens be still and know that you are in the hands of God.

I have asked and I have received. God is true.

The topics that I'd rather not discuss are the topics that I should discuss.

Is Jesus the only way to God? No human verdict can decide this. But Jesus has this to say about himself, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Questions such as, "Did Jesus really say this? Could he have meant this statement to be taken literally? Could the way be something broader than mere faith in Jesus?" are in the realm of speculation, and reveal the human need to embrace more than Jesus, and even something else than Jesus.

Praying to God and receiving answers from him do not always happen according to our expectations. Sometimes God delays his answers and at other times God does something else. But we must trust in God and his good intentions toward us. We must believe that he wants the best for us and will do only what is good for us.

If you have Jesus you don't need anything else.

O God, you will not fail me. I may fail you. But you will not fail me.

I'm not in the convincing business. I'm in the sharing business.

There is no way I can dilute the truth that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. This is my faith, and it is most specific.

Giving is loving. Give today and love someone.

Say this today. "It may not look like God is going to bless me. But I believe that God is going to bless me."

In your distress try to ease another person's distress.

Look always at Christ. Look away from every other thing.

Let us not look down on the Pharisee and the hypocrite. We may be worse than these. Let all judgement be reserved for God.

As difficult and unpredictable as life is, let us not say anything without the will to keep our word. When we raise hopes in others, it is ultimately sad when those hopes are not realized. As children of God, we should try not to do it.

Let's look beyond the flawed exteriors into the beautiful minds of those around us. And let's celebrate them.

Wait. And you'll get the work done.

Once a man threatened to kill me. I forgave him and accepted him as a friend. I cared for him and helped him. Now he cares about me and does whatever he can for me. He cares about me and my family in our time of need. God inspired me to forgive him. Now God is showing his great love through this man.

Just say, "Thank you Lord", no matter what the circumstances.

This is a work of love that Jesus Christ is doing in me. I am grateful to be a voice for God, and I want to speak for Him always. God alone can make this possible. May God give strength and send help.

People come and people go, but God is with me forever.

It is we who let our hearts be troubled. Let us decide firmly today that no matter what comes against us, we will not be troubled. For we trust in God and in Jesus, whom he sent to save us.

The delay and the rejection are acts of love.

Life is beautiful. Life is horrible. May the beautiful overpower the horrible.

Accept the rejection.

Today if you see a brother in need do not turn away from him.

Happiness is a choice. It arises from gratitude. Today if we have grateful hearts let's choose to be happy regardless of the situation we find ourselves in. We may be in trouble. We may be in debt. We may even be grieving. But we have a God who loves us just the way we are. And he has died for us to keep us with him forever. This is the most compelling reason for joy.

People search for Jesus Christ without even knowing it.

The hunger for love is the hunger for Christ.

We need to love one another and help each other grow into responsible, caring citizens. We show our love for God, our maker, by loving and caring for one another. If we fail to do this we fail to honour God because we refuse to live in obedience to his will.

O God, when I ask you to supply my needs I also know that it is you who have supplied all my needs until now. I know that you already know my needs before I address them to you. Yet this will not stop me from speaking about my needs. And it will not stop me for giving thanks for all that I have received. Yesterday you saved me by a gift that I didn't even expect. It was enough to meet a certain need in my life. But there are more needs and at least one emergency that I must face. Please continue to supply my needs and help me overcome my present problems. Thank you Lord for answering my prayer.

A Christian may not have an enemy as vicious as another Christian.

What determines a child of God is not what church he attends, or what denomination he belongs to or what doctrine he holds fast to. What actually determines a child of God is what love he has for an utterly unlovable neighbour.

How do I love God you ask. God is invisible and you cannot love an invisible God without being able to love his visible creations. You should love human beings first. You were commanded by God to love your fellow beings as you love yourself. Jesus further commanded you to love others as he loved you. It is not easy to love others, for very little is lovable about them. There is much to despise, hate and reject. But you must love others just as God loved you who are not lovable at all. None of us deserves God's love, yet he loves us. He loved us so much that he died for us. We were all sinners destined for hell, but God still loved us enough to take our punishment and give us a way out of eternal doom. Yes we must love like God for we are made in his image. And if he is love, we too are love. At least that is what we must be.

If only we would seek God rather than his blessings, those blessings will probably reach us faster.

When I feel I'm spent, God infuses a new energy in me, and gives me a new reason to work.

To love like Jesus is the scariest kind of love. Not many will like to try it.

Embrace everyone in Christ. Embrace particularly the one you would shun.

Don't forget to thank God for the little thing today. For some little things may be big things in disguise.

If God has given you something, then go ahead and share it with the world.

If God has done something for you, then go ahead and tell it to the world.

If you want to love people you should be ready to accept whatever they give you in return.

Let parents tell their children about Jesus and why Christmas cannot be celebrated without knowing who Jesus is and why his birthday is important.

Some say that Christmas is a time to love. I say that every day is a time to love, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ.