Quotable Quotes

We have often said a single quote can teach us more than a sermon. Today's quotes are on the theme of faith -

"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters." - Mother Teresa

"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light." - Helen Keller

"It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable." - Maya Angelou

"What is to give light must endure the burning."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"In God's eyes our words have only the value of our actions." - St. Ignatius Loyola

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King Jr.

"What does the Lord require?

Only to act justly

and to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8

"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark." - Rabindranath Tagore

"Each activity of daily life in which we stretch ourselves on behalf of others is a prayer in action." - Richard J. Foster

God has not called me to be successful; God has called me to be faithful." - Mother Teresa

"Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God." - St. Teresa of Avila

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe." - Voltaire

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation." - D. Elton Trueblood

As you practice counting your blessings, you will find that your faith is being suddenly revitalized." - Robert Schuller

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” - Corrie ten Boom

"Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right." - Max Lucado

A Grateful Heart

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being.

James E. Faust

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

When Satan Laughs in Delight

In the 70s there was a very famous song called American Pie. It was a chart buster and remains popular till this day. A line in the song is very thought provoking and it says, "I saw Satan laughing in delight". 

Strange, isn't it? But think about it. What makes Satan delighted. Do you and I delight Satan?

We spend so much time on developing our lives to delight God and trying to follow it, we seldom stop to think what about our life delights Satan. Let's think about it today.

Possibly because we are a material society, we believe what we see, therefore we have a far-off belief in the spiritual wars we face and hence don't take the trouble to know our enemy - Satan. Big mistake because then we severely underestimate the tactics and character of our enemy.

In the ancient Chinese military classic, The Art of War (attributed to Sun Tzu), it is commented, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

Let us then prepare for battle and understand what makes Satan happy, because that makes God sad.

Delight no. 1

Blake Labaree says - "If we, being friends of God, can be moved against Him in action, word, or thought, the Devil will have accomplished something that he could never do by his own hand, chiefly, the disgrace of the child of God bringing reproach on God’s name". Most common reason: our pride.

Delight no. 2

Being unforgiving or holding a grudge against our fellow men. Gossiping, backbiting, judging. Common enough?

Delight no. 3

Giving in to Satan's pressures. Very common. We try and take the easy was out without pausing to think if that is the way God would want. Remember, Satan can cause a lot of pressure, so much so that we break and give in and turn away from our goal of delighting God our father or doing His work. This pressure can be at work, financial mountains, personal sickness, anything to break us. We are not the only ones. Remember 1Th 2:18 "Therefore we wanted to come to you--even I, Paul, time and again--but Satan hindered us". If he can hinder Paul, who are we?

To hinder is to impede. To not let it happen by cutting off the way. Satan is all about cutting off our way to the destination God planned for us.

Delight no. 4

Our will and way over Gods will and way. A very common act that most of us do without a second thought. Let's call it "unconscious rebellion". This state is so actively promoted by the devil and his cohort that it spares none. He uses temptation, fear, pride, ego as well as a fond memory of a past sin even though one asked for forgiveness. All this and more and every other weakness of man are in his arsenal.

And in the midst of all of this is our tendency to sin, "idolate", hate, prejudice, and judge.

How can we overcome?

Corrie Ten Boom, a holocaust survivor, who's story we talked about in an earlier post (you Can read it here) has this to say-

"When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.”

These are reasons as well as the antidote to overcome the poison of Satan. Three very vital practices that every child of God can employ: Fellowship. Study of the Word and Prayer.

Today, can we identify areas of our life which delight Satan? Can we become actively conscious of them and use Corrie Ten Booms advice to overcome all those weaknesses which delight the devil.

A very relevant sermon on how we can overcome was given by Pastor Jolly Raj, of the Bethel Methodist Church in India, and we strongly recommend you hear it here.

The Power of Prayer: Pastor Rajiv's Message for the Week

 

The Farmer's Prayer: A story by Crystal Ross

 

A while back I read a story of a visiting pastor who attended a men's breakfast in the middle of a rural farming area of the country.

The group had asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast.

"Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going. The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable.

Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So, Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits Amen."

Within that prayer there is great wisdom for all when it comes to complicated situations like we are experiencing in the world today.

Stay strong, my friends, because our LORD is mixing several things that we don't really care for, but something even better is going to come when HE is done with it. AMEN

Crystal Ross 

Re-Purposing Failure: The Professionals Bible

* the Free Dictionary

How many times in life we take a decision or done or not done something only to realize we have blown it? When failure stares us in the face we dread the result with that sinking feeling, with the knowledge of the outcome of our failure?

But guess what? We know of at least 5 Biblical characters who went through failures and yet built on it for success.

You see it is not the failure itself that Hurts us but our reaction to that failure. And there are enough examples in the Bible. But God does not turn His face away when we fail. He loves a good come back !

Look at King David - he broke half the commandments! David coveted Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:2-3), committed adultery with her (2 Sam. 11:4) effectively stealing her from Uriah (2 Sam. 12:9), lying to him (2 Sam. 11:12-13) , and eventually having him murdered (2 Sam. 12:9).

The prophet Elijah had such a major burnout he ran and hid himself.

And what about Paul's awful history, Peter's denial, Moses' disobedience?

So when we fail, spiritually or otherwise, or make choices which do not turn out well, we do not have to lie down and cry but turn to the life book called Bible and take advice, instruction and motivation from the stories there. That's what they are there for so take heart. 

The key lies in this: Failure is not the opposite of Success. It is part of Success. Without failure there will be no success because failure teaches us what not to do. 

Read Jeremiah 8:4 Jeremiah, say this to the people of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You know if a man falls down, he gets up again. And if a man goes the wrong way, he turns around and comes back.

As Eric Schenkel said - "The only way that failure can get the last word in our life is if we choose to let it. We serve a God who is able to take our defeats and missteps and still use us to bring glory to his name".

Shattered Dreams : Looking Beyond Failure

The Book of Ruth is one of only two books of the Bible to be named after women (the other is Esther). It's a short book and often easily overlooked. Yet it has always inspired us to look beyond failure and loss.
The short Book of Ruth in the Hebrew scripture has three main characters, Ruth, Naomi and Boaz, from whom you can learn many lessons. The story of Ruth covers a period of loss and despair for Naomi, persistence and devotion of Ruth, a time of bestowing grace and favor for Boaz and an ending of joy and blessing for all three.
As a woman in ancient Israel, Ruth's loss of a husband and her sons was equivalent to losing her security and future. All of her dreams were shattered. It is a study on how to respond to shattered dreams as we follow Naomi's development from a bitter, depressed woman returning home with nothing but a foreign daughter-in-law, into a joyful woman with an adopted son at the end of the story, and with the all important mission of establishing the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ruth was the great grandmother of Jesus).
We all have faced situations of extreme disappointment, and the story of Ruth shows us how to respond to them. Failure isn't about failing it is about learning. It is about transformations.
In essence, when we face our shattered dreams, we need to show resilience and courage like Ruth, not run away from the situation. Ask God for His vision for us, change our focus or profession or outlook, and be willing to work hard (like Ruth) even if it means we go out of our comfort zone to survive.
With a change in focus, we get new opportunities and a new horizon. It's not easy. it's not quick.
Looking beyond our failures also means we don't look back. Though we may see many possibilities - we choose one in consultation with God - in line with His will. We pray for wisdom, for patience for trust and for faith. And we pray for protection.
We all fail at one time or another, whether we admit it or not. But beyond failure there is God.