These are quotes I’ve collected since about 1986.
I hope you find some you like.
(Best viewed on a computer or a tablet.)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
– Hebrews, 11:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for thou art with me,
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
– Psalm 23
If at home, sir, He’s all my exercise, my mirth, my matter.
– William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale, I.ii.ll165-6 Polixenes about his son, Florizel
Footprints
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he notice two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life passed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.
The Lord replied, “My son, My most precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
– Anonymous
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.
And the peace of God, which passes all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:6-7
Actions speak louder than words.
– Anonymous
Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
– I Corinthians 13:4-8
True faithfulness is actually one of the supernatural qualities God’s Spirit produces in our lives as we grow in our trust relationship with Jesus Christ.
– Galatians 5:22
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
– Philippians 4:13
So, throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise.
– Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Ch. XXVII
Otherwise, you may say in your heart, “My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.”
But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
– Deuteronomy 8:17-18
Yes, but what do we mean when we talk of God helping us? We mean God putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak. He lends us a little of His reasoning powers and that is how we think: He puts a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another. When you teach a child writing, you hold its hands while it forms the letters: that is, it forms the letters because you are forming them. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it.
– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant, they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, the are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the council of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful. Strive to be happy.
– Anonymous, 1692
Found in Old St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore
If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
– Jesus Christ, John 8:31a-32
But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven . . .
– Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:44-45
Ain’t the best prayin’ jest bein’ with God and talkin’ a while, like He’s a good friend, stead a-like he runs a store and you’ve come in a-hopin to git a bargain?
– Olive Ann Burns, Cold Sassy Tree, Grandpa Blakeslee
I have always striven in my writings to express veneration for the life and lessons of Our Savior, because I feel it . . .
– Charles Dickens (in a letter written to John M. Makeham. Perhaps some of the last words he wrote.)
Omnipotence means power to do all that is intrinsically possible, not to do the intrinsically impossible. You may attribute miracles to Him, but not nonsense. This is no limit to His power. If you choose to say, “God can give a creature free will and at the same time withhold free will from it”, you have not succeeded in saying anything about God: meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire meaning simply because we prefix to them the two other words, “God can”. It remains true that all things are possible with God: the intrinsic impossibilities are not things but non-entities. It is no more possible for God than for the weakest of His creatures to carry out both of two things mutually exclusive alternatives; not because His power meets an obstacle, but because nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God.
– C.S. Lewis, Problem of Pain
All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there was a sandbox at nursery school.
These are the things I learned: Share everything__Play Fair__Don’t hit people__Put things back where you found them__Clean up your own mess__Don’t take things that aren’t yours__Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone__Wash your hands before you eat__Flush__Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you__Live a balanced lift__Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon__When you go out into the world, watch traffic, hold hands, and stay together__Be aware of wonder__Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup — they all die. So do we.
And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all. LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and sane living.
Think of what a better world it would be if we all — the whole world — had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it’s best to hold hands and stick together.
– Robert Fulgham
Unwise choices create unwanted changes./blockquote>
– Dan Brenton (Campus Crusades for Christ)
Humility restores honor.
– Dan Brenton
If a man were to know the end of this day’s business ere it come, let it suffice us that the day will end, and then the end be known. If we meet again, well then we’ll smile. If not, then this parting was well made.
– Julius Caesar, quoted by Gene Hackman in Uncommon Valor
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
– Jim Elliot
The best form of spiritual exercise is to touch the floor regularly with your knees.
– Anonymous
Christianity is a battle, not a dream.
– Wendell Phillips
15 Success Traits
1) A strong and active faith in God
2) Being a dreamer / Having a sense of greatness
3) Enthusiasm
4) A feeling of being fortunate / lucky
5) No fear of failure / Risk taking
6) A sense of urgency – a “go-getter”
7) Hard-working; persistent
8) High self-esteem
9) Strong personal discipline
10) The will to finish stronger than you started
11) Decisiveness – results oriented
12) Ability to concentrate on one thing at a time
13) Continuously listening and learning
14) A commitment to excellence
15) A dedication to making the world a better place
– Charles “Red” Scott, CEO, Chairman of the Board Intermark, Inc.
AAA – Attitude, not Aptitude, leads to Altitude
– Charles “Red” Scott
. . . Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
– William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
– Abraham Lincoln
Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.
– A. S. Roche
What I spent, I had; What I saved, I lost: What I gave, I have.
– Ancient Epitaph
Never esteem anything as of advantage to thee that shall make thee break thy word or lose thy self-respect.
– Marcus Aurelius
When Death strikes down the innocent and young, for every fragile form from which he lets the panting spirit free, a hundred virtues rise, in shapes of mercy, charity, and love to walk the world, and bless it. Of every tear that sorrowing mortals shed on such green graves, some good is born, some gentler nature comes.
– Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop
You can have anything you want. You just can’t have everything you want.
– John Roger & Peter McWilliams
Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
– Will Rogers
Happiness is willing to be what you are.
– Erasmus, 1500
Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
– Henry Ford
Lives based on having are less free than lives based either on doing or on being.
– William James
A winner says, “Let’s find out”; a loser says, “Nobody knows”.
A winner makes commitments; a loser makes promises.
A winner says, “I’m good, but not as good as I ought to be”; a loser says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people”.
A winner credits his “good luck” for winning – even though it wasn’t his good luck; a loser blames his “bad luck” for losing – even though it wasn’t his bad luck.
A winner listens; a loser just waits until it’s his turn to talk.
A winner respects those superior to him and tries to learn from them; a lower resents the superiority of others and try to find chinks in their armor.
A winner does more than his job; a loser says, “I only work here”.
A winner says, “I fell”, a loser says, “Somebody pushed me.”
– “Dear Abbey” column, 3/21/91
Too often in our careers, we set goals too shallow to endure for a lifetime.
– John Garder, Excellence
A person’s mind is their greatest barrier to achievement.
– John Garder, Excellence
Excellence is a moving target.
– Shelby Carter, University of Texas at Austin Marketing professor
Management Principles
1) On decision making
Consensus if possible, but participation mandatory
2) On management cooperation
Agree and commit, disagree and commit – or just get the hell out.
3) On responding to the market
The right answer is the best answer.
The wrong answer is the second best.
4) On individual initiative
To ask permission is to seek denial.
5) On reviews
Confidence is excellent, but control is better.
6) On persistence
Never take no from someone who can’t say yes.
7) On survival
Profit isn’t the most important objective – it is the only objective, for without it, nothing else can happen.
8) On personnel
Hire the best people, and then listen to them.
9) On ethics
Remember, you are the last thin line regarding ethical behavior.
– Shelby Carter, 1991
One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes these to put in place of the ones that die so that there will be enough people to take care of things here on Earth. He doesn’t make grown ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make . . .
God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, ‘cause some people like preachers and things, pray other times besides bed time, and Grandpa and Grandma Dutton pray every time they eat (except snacks). God doesn’t have time to listen to radio or TV on account of this.
God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting His time asking Him for things that aren’t very important or go over your parents’ heads and ask for something they said you couldn’t have.
– Danny Dutton, 8 years old, printed in the Dallas Morning News, 25 July 1992
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.
– Johnathon Winters
Christ is either Lord of all, or not Lord at all.
– Peter Warren, YWAM Director
Are we God’s friend, or just another customer.
– Peter Warren
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done”. All that are in Hell, choose it.
– C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
We are not sent to battle for God, but to be used by God in His battlings. Are we being more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ?
– Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Cadet Prayer
O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of human hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural.
Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretense ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life. Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service. Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance, and soften our hearts with sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer. Help us to maintain the honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied and to show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point in doing our duty to Thee and to our Country. All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of all. Amen.
– Westpoint Cadet Prayer
The best security blanket a child can have is parents who respect each other.
– Jean Blaustone, The Joy of Parenthood
We have become a generation of people who worship our work, who work at our play, and who play at our worship.
– Charles Swindoll, Stress Fractures
A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.
– Jack London
On Children
You may give them your love, but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
– Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
– Oliver Goldsmith
Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.
– C.S. Lewis
Beware of posing as a profound person; God became a baby.
– Oswald Chambers, Not Knowing Whither
You are a child of God. Now go out and act like it.
– Zig Ziglar
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.
– G.K. Chesterton
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
– St. Francis of Assisi
I asked God for strength that I might achieve –
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things –
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy –
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men-
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life —
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I, among all men, am most richly blessed.
– Anonymous, quoted by Hink Johnson
Think of John stepping on shore
And finding it Heaven;
Of taking hold of a hand
And finding it God’s hand;
Of breathing a new air
And finding it celestial air;
Of feeling invigorated
And finding it immortality;
Of passing through the storm and tempest
To perfect peace —
Of waking up
And finding it Heaven.
– Anonymous, quoted by Rusty Tye upon my Dad’s death, 9/14/95
Amazing Grace
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me/
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
Through may dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
– John Newton
The Optimist Creed
Promise yourself:
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues
I. TEMPERANCE – Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
II. SILENCE – Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
III. ORDER – Let all things have their place; let each part of your business have its time.
IV. RESOLUTION – Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
V. FRUGALITY – Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
VI. INDUSTRY – Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
VII. SINCERITY – Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
VIII. JUSTICE – Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
IX. MODERATION – Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
X. CLEANLINESS – Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
XI. TRANQUILLITY – Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
XII. CHASTITY
XIII. HUMILITY – Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
– Benjamin Franklin
St. Jerome (c. 342-420), the great scholar who translated the Scriptures into Latin from their original tongues, one day toward the end of his life was encountered by Jesus. The old saint and scholar gazed at Jesus for a moment and then asked, “Lord, what do you want from me?” Jesus said nothing, and continued to look lovingly upon his faithful servant. This silence disturbed Jerome greatly.
“Lord,” Jerome insisted, “what do you want of me? My writings are all yours, my mind and my gift for languages are all yours, my piety and prayer life–they are all yours.” “Jerome,” Jesus said, “I have all these things already. I want what you have kept from me. Give me your sin.”
– Studying the Sunday Scriptures, Year A
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
– William James
The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.
– Plutarch
Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
– Benjamin Franklin
Children Learn What They Live
If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
– Dorothy Law Nolte, 1972
Our salvation comes so easily because it cost God so much.
– Oswald Chambers, The Place of Help
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
– Matthew 5:16
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
– James 3:1 (NIV)
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
– James 3:9,10 (NIV)
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
– James 4:3
The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blewst;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
– William Shakespeare
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
– Aesop
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
– Edmund Burke
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
– Kahlil Gibran
The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit of doing them.
– Benjamin Jowett
Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow; the same Everlasting Father who cares for you today, will take care of you tomorrow an every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.
– St. Francis de Sales
BE STILL
You do not have to look for anything –
JUST LOOK.
You do not have to listen for specific sounds –
JUST LISTEN.
You do not have to accomplish anything –
JUST BE.
And in the looking,
the listening,
the being,
FIND ME.
– Anonymous
I asked God to take away my pride,
and God said, “No”.
He said it was not for Him to take away,
but for me to give it up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole,
and God said, “No”.
He said her spirit is whole,
her body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience,
and God said, “No”.
He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation.
It isn’t granted, it is earned.
I asked God to give me happiness,
and He said, “No”.
He said He gives me blessings.
Happiness is up to me.
I asked God to spare me pain,
and He said, “No”.
He said, “Suffering draws you away from worldly cares, and brings you closer to me.”
I asked God to make my spirit grow,
and God said, “No”.
He said I must grow on my own,
but He will prune me to make me fruitful.
I asked God if He loved me,
and He said, “Yes”.
He gave His only son who died for me,
and I will be in Heaven someday because I believe.
I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me.
And God said, “Ah, finally, you have the idea.”
– Claudia Minden Weisnz
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
We cannot go back and make a new start, but we can start now to make a new ending.
– Franklin Covey, Successories, Inc.
The greatest thing in the world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we’re moving.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
– Dale Carnegie
Many men go fishing their entire lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.
– Henry David Thoreau
There is a choice you have to make,
In everything you do.
And you must always keep in mind,
The choice you make, makes you.
– Author Unknown
The best mathematical equation:
1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given
– Author Unknown
Salvation is free, … but discipleship will cost you your life.
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the Ready-Aim-Aim-Aim Syndrome. You must be willing to fire.
– T. Boone Pickens
The world crowns success; God crowns faithfulness.
– “Our Daily Bread”, 6/11/01
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
– Traditional Irish Blessing
When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything.
– General George Patton
The Golden Rule is of no use whatever . . . unless you realize it’s your move.
– Frank Crane
Men see only the accomplishments of the hand, but God sees the sincerity of the heart.
– Andrew J. Hill
Jesus wants a relationship, not a religion.
– Pine Cove Shores 2007
May the best ye’ve ever seen
Be the worst ye’ll ever see
May a moose ne’er leave yer girnal
Wi’ a tear drap in his e’e
May ye aye keep hale an’ he’rty
Till ye’re auld eneuch tae dee
May ye aye be jist as happy
As we wish ye aye tae be.
Translation
May the best you’ve ever seen
Be the worst you’ll ever see
May a mouse never leave your girnal*
With a tear drop in his eye
May you always keep hale and hearty~
Till you are old enough to die
May you always be just as happy
As we wish you always to be
– Traditional Scottish Toast, from Ian Caldwell
*A “girnal” is a storage chest for meal (oats, etc.) placed in the kitchen.
~Here “hale and hearty” means strong and healthy.
Jesus said, “Give to him who asks you, not because he deserves it, but because I tell you to.”
– Oswald Chambers
“What is God like?” If by that question we mean “What is God like in Himself?” there is no answer. If we mean “What has God disclosed about Himself that the reverent reason can comprehend?” there is, I believe, an answer both full and satisfying. For while the name of God is secret and His essential nature incomprehensible, He in condescending love has by revelation declared certain things to be true of Himself. These we call His attributes.
– A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
Speaking is like pouring water on the sand. Once said, words cannot be taken back.
– Traditional African saying
Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
Had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us.
– Unknown
It is only possible to be humiliated when we are serving our own pride.
– Oswald Chambers
Each man, each nation, each era must make its own choice under new options, yet the options in essence do not change, for always the alternatives are man’s futile will or God’s overruling will . . .
– George Arthur Buttrick, God, Pain and Evil
You don’t know how steep a hill is until you start climbing it.
– Emily Gindler,10, on a walk with her dad
The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.
– Stephen and Alex Kendrick, The Love Dare
Those who know how to win are much more numerous than those who know how to make proper use of their victories.
– Polybius
Enjoying warm sunshine on your back, a cool breeze in your face, the beauty of the ocean, the non-believer is as close to heaven while on earth as he or she will ever be.
With the sickness, the challenges, the decay present on earth, the Christ follower is as close to hell while on earth as he or she will ever be.
– Matt Carter (paraphrased) – January 23, 2011
When the Bible starts to work in you, it’s going to come out of you.
– Matt Carter (paraphrased)
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?”
– Job 39:1a
Love the Bible like you love your eyes, not because they are beautiful, but because with them – you can see all that is beautiful.
– John Piper
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile – hoping it will eat him last
– Sir Winston Churchill
Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known.
– Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)
Deceived by Satan’s lies, Adam and Eve exchanged a life of communing with God for competing with God.
– Doug Sherman, More than Ordinary
Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they only want to be saved from the penalty of their sin.
– Francis Chan, Crazy Love
Prosperity hardens the heart.
– William Wilberforce, quoted in Crazy Love
Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure, but of succeeding in things that don’t really matter.
– Tim Kizziar, quoted in Crazy Love
Something is wrong when our lives make sense to non-believers.
– Francis Chan, Crazy Love
We live like we need a teacher to make us better, not a savior to make us new. Jesus did not come to make us better. He came to make us new.
– Tyler David, sermon at Austin Stone Community Church 11/11/12
Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
– A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin to Pooh
You won’t actually know how much of a servant you actually are until you are treated like one.
– Tyler David, Pastor Austin Stone in sermon “Defining Greatness”
God created man in His image and then man returned the favor.
– George Bernard Shaw
Study the Bible like a soldier on a mission, not a scholar on a sabbatical.
– Mark Driscoll
Worry is not believing God will get it right, and bitterness is believing God got it wrong.
– Tim Keller
Gay may be HOW you are, but it is not WHO you are.
– Rosaria Butterfield
When you condone what God condemns you become a millstone bearer.
– Rosaria Butterfield (ref. Matt. 18:6)
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
– Matthew 6:33-34
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
– Corrie Ten Boom
And what does our anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but it empties today of its strength. It does not give escape from evil, but it makes us unfit to cope with it when it bursts on us. It does not bless tomorrow, and it robs today. For every day has its own burden, which is quite heavy enough for the day’s strength. Sufficient for each day is the evil which properly belongs to it. We shall be wise if we do not add tomorrow’s weight to today’s load, nor drag the future, wrongly conceived as it will be sure to be, into the present, where there is no place for it. The present has enough to do in looking after its own concerns.
– Alexander Maclaren (often incorrectly attributed to Charles Spurgeon)
I’m amazed that so many Christians want the benefits of the Kingdom of God, with the caveat that they themselves will be the King.
– John Cooper
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
This is what the past is for! Ever experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.
– Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place
…The worldling blesses God while he gives him plenty, but the Christian blesses him when he smites him: be believes him to be too wise to err and too good to be unkind: he trusts him where he cannot trace him, looks up to him in the darkest hour, and believes all is well.
– Charles Spurgeon, “A Happy Christian” sermon
Those who think themselves secure are more dangerously exposed than anyone else. The assistant of sin is self-confidence.
– Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, January 17th, Evening
Reproofs are ordinarily most profitable when they are least provoking.
– Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, John 4-26, 6.2.2
Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not better it, but do not look upon thy neighbor, and wish that he were as thyself. Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.
– Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, March 12 Morning
Jesus in the Spirit stood with me in a kind of spiritual epiphany and just as definitely and irrevocably as I once took Christ crucified as my sin bearer I now took the Holy Spirit for my burden-bearer.
– Adoniram Judson Gordon, quoted in They Found the Secret
If the devil cannot convince you that heaven is not real, then he will do what he can to convince you that life on earth is better.
– DesiringGod.org, from the Globdrop letters
Love God and do whatever you please. For the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the one who is beloved.
– St. Augustine
Into thy hands, O merciful Savior, we commend the soul of thy handmaid, Jane Harakal, now departed from the body. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech Thee, a sheep of Thine own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of Thy mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the Saints in light. Amen.
– Orthodox Prayerbook for Mom’s Funeral, sent by Fr. Mark from St. Peter’s Church (Mom’s church)
A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.
– C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet
God has to work in you deeply before he can use you significantly.
– Chip Ingram, Good to Great in God’s Eyes
Don’t let grass grow on the path between you and the cross.
– Erik Spruyt, Le Rucher Ministries
The problem may be 5% caused by you, but you are responsible for 100% of that 5%.
– Erik Spruyt, Le Rucher Ministries