A Thought for Today 21-12-2012

Zephaniah 3:16-17 (NLT)

On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid! For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

“We sinned for no reason but an incomprehensible lack of love, and He saved us for no reason but an incomprehensible excess of love.”
(Peter Kreeft)

 

A Thought for Today 20-12-2012

Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

“It is just as crazy not to be crazy about Christ as it is to be crazy about anything else.”
(Peter Kreeft)

A Thought for Today 19-12-2012

Psalm 71:3 (NLT)

Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

“All life is an emergency.”
(Peter Kreeft)

A Thought for Today 18-12-2012

Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NLT)

“For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. And this will be his name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’ In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.

“We are all insane. That is what original sin means. Sin is insanity. It is preferring finite joy to infinite joy, creatures to the Creator, an unhappy, Godless self to a happy, God-filled self. Only God can save us from this disease. That is what the name "Jesus" means: 'God saves'.”
(Peter Kreeft)

 

A Thought for Today 17-12-2012

Psalm 71:7-8 (NLT)

My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection. That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long.

“Most theists are deists most of the time, in practice if not in theory. They practice the absence of God instead of the presence of God.”
(Peter Kreeft) 

 

A Thought for Today 14-12-2012

Isaiah 48:17 (NLT)

This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.

When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
(Khalil Gibran)

A Thought for Today 13-12-2012

Isaiah 41:13 (NLT)

For I hold you by your right hand — I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.
(Mark Twain)

A Thought for Today 12-12-2012

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus exclaimed, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

The yoke you wear determines the burden you bear.
(Edwin Louis Cole)

 

A Thought for Today 11-12-2012

Isaiah 40:6-7 (NLT)

A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people.

The surest thing in the world is not death and taxes, it's death and eternity. Yet, we're so unconcerned.
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 06-12-2012

Matthew 7:21-22 (NLT)

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

If I don't believe the Word of God, why should you believe it? If we don't believe it and act it, why should the world believe us?
(Leonard Ravenhill)

 

A Thouht for Today 05-12-2012

Isaiah 33:22 (NLT)

For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us.

When Christ entered our world, he didn't come to brighten our Decembers, but to transform our lives.
(Rich Miller)

 

A Thought for Today 04-12-2012

Isaiah 11:1-10 (NLT)

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot — yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

The spirit of Christmas needs to superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world.
(Stuart Briscoe)

 

A Thought for Today 03-12-2012

Matthew 8:5-7 (NLT)

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

God is not drying up in His resources.
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 30-11-2012

Matthew 4:19 (NLT)

Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

If I don't believe the Word of God, why should you believe it? If we don't believe it and act it, why should the world believe us?
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 29-11-2012

Psalm 100:2-3 (NLT)

Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Jesus doesn't want your sins! What will they do for Him? He wants you! He must be Saviour AND Lord. If Jesus is not Lord of all then He isn't Lord at all.
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 28-11-2012

Luke 21:36 (NLT)

Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.”

There are two kinds of people in the world-- only two kinds. Not black or white, rich or poor, but those either dead in sin or dead to sin.
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 27-11-2012

Luke 21:28 (NLT)

So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!”

Three things faith does: it reckons on God; it risks with God (and) it rests in God.
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 26-11-2012

Matthew 24:42, 44 (NLT)

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

The surest thing in the world is not death and taxes, it's death and eternity. Yet, we're so unconcerned.
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 23-11-2012

John 10:27 (NLT)

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

"If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere."
(Leonard Ravenhill)

Weekly Blessing 11/22/12

A Thought for Today 22-11-2012

Psalm 95:8 (NLT)

The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.

"Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?"
(Leonard Ravenhill)

A Thought for Today 21-11-2012

1. John 2:5

Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him.

Obedience is the fruit of faith.
(Christina Rossetti)

 

A Thought for Today 20-11-2012

1 John 4:10 (NLT)

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.
(Paulo Coelho)

 

A Thought for Today 19-11-2012

Psalm 1:1-2 (NLT)

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

Lawless are they that make their wills their law.
(William Shakespeare)

A Thought for Today 16-11-2012

Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that.
(Harper Lee)

A Thought for Today 16-11-2012

Luke 17:20-21 (NLT)

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.
(William Law)

A Thought for Today 14-11-2012

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

All our discontents about what we want appeared to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.
(Daniel Defoe)

A Thought for Today 13-11-2012

Matthew 4:4 (NLT)

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
(Mother Teresa)

 

A Thought for Today 12-11-2012

Luke 17:1-3 (NLT)

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves!

All human sin seems so much worse in its consequences than in its intentions.
(Reinhold Niebuhr)

 

A Thought for Today 09-11-2012

Philippians 2:9-10 (NLT)

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

The price of greatness is responsibility.
(Winston Churchill)

A Thought for Today 08-11-2012

Philippians 2:8 (NLT)
He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
(Charles R. Swindoll)

A Thought for Today 07-11-2012

Philippians 2:6-7 (NLT)

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
(Winston Churchill)

A Thought for Today 06-11-2012

Philippians 2:5 (NLT)

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.
(Scott Hamilton)

 

A Thought for Today 05-11-2012

John 8:31-32 (NLT)

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

We usually know what we can do, but temptation shows us who we are.
(Thomas Kempis)

 

A Thought for Today 02-11-2012

John 6:39 (NLT)

And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.

Bear the Cross cheerfully and it will bear you.
(Thomas Kempis)

A Thought for Today 01-11-2012

Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?
(Thomas Kempis)

A Thought for Today 31-10-2012

2 Thessalonians 2:14 (NLT)

He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living.
(Thomas Kempis)

A Thought for Today 30-10-2012

John 15:15 (NLT)

I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.
(Elbert Hubbard)

A Thought for Today 26-10-2012

Psalm 95:8 (NLT)

The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.

The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.
(Gilbert K. Chesterton)

A Thought for Today 25-10-2012

Luke 12:49 (NLT)

“I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!..."

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
(Terry Pratchett)

A Thought for Today 23-10-2012

Ephesians 2:12

 Do not forget that you had no Christ and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise; you were immersed in this world, without hope and without God. 

The Christian faith can never be separated from the soil of sacred events, from the choice made by God, who wanted to speak to us, to become man, to die and rise again, in a particular place and at a particular time.
(Joseph Ratzinger)

 

A Thought for Today 15-10-2012

Psalm 119:88 (NLT)

In your unfailing love, spare my life; then I can continue to obey your laws.

A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.
(Carl Sandburg)

A Thought for Today 11-10-2012

John 14:6 (NLT)
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

God is more interested in getting us to the right place than we are in obeying him.
(Michael Ramsden)

 

A Thought for Today 10-10-2012

Psalm 119:24 (NLT)

Your laws please me; they give me wise advice.

To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.
(G. K. Chesterton)

 

A Thought for Today 09-10-2012

Luke 11:28 (NLT)

Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
(Yogi Berra)

 

A Thought for Today 08-10-2012

John 6:63 (NLT)

The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Nothing is more common than for men to think that because they are familiar with words they understand the ideas they stand for.
(John Henry Newman)

 

A Thought for Today 05-10-2012

Proverbs 17:22 (NLT)

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
(Groucho Marx)

Weekly Blessing 10/4/12

A Thought for Today 04-10-2012

Matthew 4:4 (NLT)

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
(Mother Teresa)

 

A Thought for Today 03-10-2012

Philippians 3:8-9 (NLT)

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

In California, they don't throw their garbage away - they make it into TV shows.
(Woody Allen)

A Thought for Today 02-10-2012

Psalm 119:36 (CEV)

Make me want to obey you, rather than to be rich.

Obedience is the fruit of faith.
(Christina Rossetti)

A Thought for Today 27-09-2012

John 14:6 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.
(Frank Howard Clark)

 

A Thought for Today 25-09-2012

Luke 8:19-21

The mother and the brothers of Jesus came looking for him, but they could not get to him because of the crowd. He was told, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you’ But he said in answer, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’

 

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.
(Jessica Lange)

 

 

A Thought for Today 17-09-2012

Psalm 119:27 (NLT)

Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.

Let us be moral. Let us contemplate existence.
(Charles Dickens)

 

A Thought for Today 14-09-2012

John 3:13-17

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘No one has gone up to heaven

except the one who came down from heaven,

the Son of Man who is in heaven;

and the Son of Man must be lifted up

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.’

 

You cannot be responsible for salvation until first you've been responsible for sin.
(Edwin Louis Cole)

 

 

 

 

 

A Thought for Today 13-09-2012

James 1:21 (NIRV)

So get rid of everything that is dirty and sinful. Get rid of the evil that is all around us. Don’t be too proud to accept the word that is planted in you. It can save you.

There is a high cost for low living.
(Edwin Louis Cole)

A Thought for Today 12-09-2012

1 John 2:5 (NIRV)

But if anyone obeys God’s word, then God’s love is truly made complete in that person. Here is how we know we belong to him.

Truth is life's most precious commodity.
(Edwin Louis Cole)

A Thought for Today 11-09-2012

John 15:16 (NIRV)

“You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear fruit. It is fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name."

God never ends anything on a negative; God always ends on a positive.
(Edwin Louis Cole)

A Thought for Today 10-09-2012

John 10:27 (NIRV)

My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

“Education can't make us all leaders, but it can teach us which leader to follow”
(unknown)

A Thought for Today 05-09-2012

1 Samuel 16:7

God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.

 

Character is more important than talent.
(Edwin Louis Cole)

 

 

A Thought for Today 03-09-2012

Ezekiel 34:31

You, my sheep, are the flock I shall pasture, and I am your God – it is the Lord who speaks.

 

Too many leaders act as if the sheep... their people... are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep.
(Ken Blanchard)