“When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand 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
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.” —Florence Nightingale
“Be like the brave Spartan who would never lose his shield, but would come home either with it or on it. ‘Cast not away your confidence.’ You trusted in God in those early days, and nothing seemed to daunt you then. ‘Cast not away your confidence.’ Rather, get more to add to it. Let there be no thought of going back, but may there rather be a distinct advance!” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Hebrews 10:34-35
“Nobody can imagine how nothing could turn into something. Nobody can get an inch nearer to it by explaining how something could turn into something else. It is really far more logical to start by saying ‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth’ even if you only mean ‘In the beginning some unthinkable power began some unthinkable process.’” —G.K. Chesterton
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May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. (2 Thessalonians 3:5 NIV)
God’s love and the patient steadfastness of Jesus is the winning combination, and is the prayer Paul desires us to pray for ourselves and others.
I like some of the aspects of this verse that are amplified in different translations:
May the Lord direct your hearts into realizing and showing the love of God and the steadfastness and patience of Christ and in waiting for His return. (AMPC)
May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. (NLT)
And check out what Jesus said to the Church at Ephesus about not losing hold of their first love as they patiently endure (Revelation 2:3-4).
The agape love of our Heavenly Father
+ The patient endurance of Jesus
+ The instruction and encouragement of the Holy Spirit
= My loving endurance which is a testimony to others
As a Christian, when you are sharing your testimony and someone wants to argue with you, remember that you are not fighting against people but you are fighting FOR people. Remind yourself of this over and over so that you respond in love.
“Now in history there is no Revolution that is not a Restoration. Among the many things that leave me doubtful about the modern habit of fixing eyes on the future, none is stronger than this: that all the men in history who have really done anything with the future have had their eyes fixed upon the past. I need not mention the Renaissance, the very word proves my case. The originality of Michael Angelo and Shakespeare began with the digging up of old vases and manuscripts.” —G.K Chesterton
Dr. Stephen Nichols tells of a national day of thanksgiving in 16th century England that began from a very unlikely source.
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” —Dale Carnegie
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. … I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12, 14)
There is no neutral, but always going forward.
There is no complacency, but always striving.
There are no shortcuts, but always straining.
There is no baggage, but always something new.
There is no regression, but always progression.
There is no relaxing, but always gripping tightly.
There is a reward—an eternal reward—which I eagerly long to receive.
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How do leaders make sure that obstacles to their personal or organizational growth don’t become permanent?
This clip is from a lengthy conversation Greg and I had about leaders being like gardeners. You can check it out here. The main point is this: The seeds have what they need to grow, so the gardener-leader simply has to remove the obstacles to growth.
You may also want to check out a couple of related posts:
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The Jordan River was a powerful border guard. For years it had served the Canaanites well, protecting their eastern border from large-scale attacks from their enemies. Now the Jordan was all that stood between the Israelites on the east side of the river and their promised land on the west side.
Joshua gave some unusual instructions to the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He told them to carry the ark while they walked into the middle of the flood-level river. He said they should trust that God would stop the flow of the river while they stood there (see Joshua 3:1—4:11).
I can imagine the two priests carrying the ark at the front stepping into the water, feeling the current rush around their ankles, and holding their breath as they took their next steps deeper into the river.
Step after step the two priests in front waded into the Jordan. Until finally they walked far enough that the priests carrying the ark from the back stepped into the Jordan.
And all of a sudden, the water levels begin to go down! Lower and lower until the priests were standing on a damp riverbed that had been completely covered by water just a few minutes earlier. To their left, as they looked downstream, no water was to be seen. To their right, as they looked upstream, they might have glimpsed the wall of water piled up as the invisible Hand of God held it back.
Only then did the Israelites began crossing the previously uncrossable river. Family after family, tribe after tribe began to march at long last into their promised land.
And while all Israel passed over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan. … For the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people…. (Joshua 3:17, 4:10)
It was only after every Israelite had crossed the Jordan, and memorial stones had been gathered from the riverbed and carried to the shore, that the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came across themselves. It was immediately after this that the mighty Jordan River began flowing again at full strength.
Second, godly leaders stand their ground until all the people enter into God’s blessing. Remember that God is patient, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
So leaders, let me encourage you—
Keep going first in obeying God, keep standing firm in His promises, keep showing others the path they need to follow to step into God’s blessings, and keep encouraging people to walk into that blessing.
Don’t be slow in obeying. Don’t fear going first into the unknown. And don’t become weary or frustrated or nervous and walk away too soon.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” —Albert Einstein
“A steady and balanced diet of God’s Word provides the spiritual energy disciples need for the work of the Lord. … Preachers and teachers must always bear this in mind. Disciples don’t grow into Christlikeness in leaps and bounds, but incrementally, here a little and there a little. We must teach the glory and majesty and scope of the whole counsel of God, but we must teach the disciples how to discern what that requires for every next step in their lives.” —T.M. Moore
Some skeptics of Christianity try to push their claim that Easter is really a pagan holiday co-opted by Christians. But reading the historical records shows that this is clearly not the case. Check out this helpful article from Michael A.G. Haykin.
Every “miss” along the journey can be a stepping stone to future success. If you don’t win, at least learn. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had.
“A leader must embody the strength that inspires others to follow. And yet, this strength must be tempered with humility, for Christ Himself came not as a warrior-king but as a servant-leader, washing the feet of His disciples.” —Lost Kings reading plan on YouVersion
John Piper identifies the roots of false teaching in his Look at the Book teaching on 1 Timothy 6—
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There is one word that people seem to speak that is blocking the blessings that God wants to send to them.
Check out this latest episode of The Podcast.
Get into God’s Word, and let His Word build your faith to cling to Him in faith until His promise ultimately appears. Don’t let the negative people around you, or your current circumstance, or anything else cause you to walk away from the blessing God wants to give you!
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Last week we saw that if we make prayer our priority, we can expect that our eyes will be opened to the answers that God has for us. Hagar and Eliezer seemed to get pretty quick answers. Nehemiah had to wait four months for the answer to his prayer.
We saw in Psalm 5 that David laid his requests before God first thing in the morning, and then he went out of his prayer closet in expectation of an answer (Psalm 5:1-3). But how long did he wait?
Psalm 6 may not happen historically right after Psalm 5, but listen to David’s heart, “Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint; heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, LORD, how long? (Psalm 6:2-3). And then again in Psalm 13:1-3, David asks, “How long?” four times in the first two verses!
When we read the training Jesus gave His disciples about prayer in Luke 11:9-10, we see how He implores them (and us) to keep on praying. It becomes even more emphatic in the Amplified Bible—
So I say to you, ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
But once again we have to ask: how long are we to continue asking, seeking, and knocking? This is what Job asked in the middle of his trial (Job 6:8, 11-13).
Charles Spurgeon said, “God has measured the crosses of all His children: Israel in Egypt, 430 years; Joseph in prison, 3 years; Judah in Babylon, 70 years.” That means that God knows what He is doing, God knows His timing for answering, and that our part is to simply to continue to ask, seek, and knock as we throw our total trust on Him!
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” (Lamentations 3:19-24)
During these times of waiting, we need to keep recalling what we know:
God’s love is unfathomable—Romans 5:5, 8:38-39
God’s timing is perfect—Deuteronomy 32:4
God’s method is flawless—Romans 8:28
God’s gifts are good—Luke 11:11-13, 12:32
In Psalms 6 & 13, David doesn’t record any answers from God, but listen to this assurance from Jesus, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
Jesus doesn’t tell us how or when God will bring us comfort, but He does assure us that we will be comforted!
In a couple of the examples from David, you can see this assurance as he continues his prayers (Psalm 6:2-4, 8-10; 13:1-6). Paul also experienced this confidence (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), and so did Jesus (Matthew 26:38-39, 50-54).
The writer of Hebrews assures us that Jesus was heard in His, “How long?” cries, and therefore He knows exactly how to intercede for us today as we lift up the same cry (Hebrews 5:7-8; 2:10, 14, 17-18)!
How long? Quite simply stated: Until God answers or until He lifts our burden.
In the meantime, the examples in Scripture and the assurance of Christ’s intercession for us us encourages us to…
Keep asking with full confidence that God hears you
Keep expecting an answer
Keep worshiping God for Who He is
Keep trusting that your Heavenly Father wants to give you the very best!
Preaching to ourselves is not only a good rescue from anxiety, but it’s also a good inoculation to keep us from sliding from contentment into crisis.
Craig T. Owens 