Ideas, stories, quotes, and short essays or selections from books that stimulate thoughtful consideration of a topic or spiritual principle.
“Don’t avoid prayer because you think you are not articulate or expressive. The stumbling, bumbling words of a tear-stained heart ring out louder in the spirit realm than the finest resonating voice of an orator.”
Author: T. D. Jakes
Source: “T.D. Jakes Speaks to Men”
“…most of us, if asked to explain the biblical concept of joy, might have difficulty clearly defining it. Yet Scripture presents a distinct definition–vastly different from the world’s definition of joy, which is simply happiness…It is associated with hope and life, but the experiences of sorrow also prepare for and enlarge the capacity for joy…
Jesus used the analogy of a woman giving birth to a child (Jn 16:21). During the process of birth, there is much pain and agony. But after the birth, the pain and agony are turned to joy at the sight of the newborn child. Sorrowful experiences enlarge the capacity for joy when they are viewed in terms of their results.
There are three essential biblical features of joy that separate it from the world’s ‘happiness’:
-Joy is eternal.
-Joy is reserved for the believer.
-Joy is a state of mind not dependent on circumstances.
1. Joy is eternal…Joy is an eternal part of the kingdom of God, for it is a part of the nature of the Holy Spirit…
2. Joy is reserved for the believer…’The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’…An unbeliever may manifest semblances of these spiritual fruits, but he cannot experience what believers experience. Apart from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, true joy cannot exist…
3. Joy is a state of mind not dependent on circumstances. Whereas happiness depends largely on happenings,
good health and so on, joy is inherent within the Christian life (the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.)…Only the hope created by God gives a reason for joy and peace…”
Author: Ronald F. Bridges
Source: “Rediscovering Your First Love” (Here’s Life Publishers, Inc.)
Scripture
Romans 15:13
When people dedicate themselves to Christ their love for one another certainly does not diminish; rather it becomes more fervent. It also makes a man so humble that he believes that even yesterday’s beginner can teach him something
today.
Niklaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
Some people think belief consists of forcing yourself to accept something that you do not and cannot understand. God requires a different faith, though. He is content if you believe what you can experience. Be faithful and hold on to what you have, not to what you do not have.
C. F. Blumhardt
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live,
or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair;
but ask me what I am living for, in detail,
and ask me, what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.
–Thomas Merton
“Being thankful is not telling God you appreciate the fact that your life is not in shambles. If that is the basis of your gratitude, you are on slippery ground. Every day of your life you face the possibility that a blessing in your life may be taken away. But blessings are only signs of God’s love. The real blessing, of course, is the love itself. Whenever we get too attached to the sign, we lose our grasp on the God who gave it to us. Churches are filled with widows who can explain this to you. We are not ultimately grateful that we are still holding our blessings. We are grateful that we are held by God even when the blessings are slipping through our fingers.”
Craig Barnes
“An offender can be punished. But to punish and not restore – that is the greatest of all offenses… If a man takes unto himself God’s right to punish, then he must also take upon himself God’s promise to restore.”
-Alan Paton
“Francis of Assisi taught me that there is a wound in the Creation and that the greatest use we could make of our lives was to ask to be made the healer of it. ”
Alan Paton
It is precisely when every earthly hope has been explored and found wanting, when every possibility of help from earthly sources has been sought and is not forthcoming, when every recourse this world offers, moral as well as material, has been drawn on and expended with no effect, when in the shivering cold every log has been thrown on the fire, and in the gathering darkness every glimmer of light has finally flickered out, it is then that Christ’s hand reaches out, sure and firm, that Christ’s words bring their inexpressible comfort, that his light shines brightest, abolishing the darkness for ever.
Malcolm Muggeridge
There are many people who are sincere without being simple: they are ever afraid of being seen for what they are not; they are always musing over their words and thoughts and thinking about what they have done, in fear of having done or said too much. These people are sincere, but they are not simple: they are not at ease with others, and other people are not at ease with them. There is nothing easy about them, nothing free, spontaneous or natural. People who are imperfect, less regular, less masters of themselves, are more lovable. This is how people find them, and it is the same with God.
François Fénelon