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From Sermon by Dr. Charles Stanley 1988
1. A growing hunger for God.
2. An increasing desire to know the Truth of God's Word.
3. A greater sensitivity to sin.
4. A decreasing desire for the world system.
5 Your sphere of love is continually expanding.
6. It is easier to forgive those who offend you.
7. An increasing desire to obey God.
8. An ever increasing faith.
9. An increasing concern for the spiritual condition of others.
10. The feeling of love for God is growing.
God's Warrior
You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love... The test of a man then is not, 'How have I believed?' but 'How have I loved?' The test of religion, the final test of religion, is not religiousness, but love. Not what I have done, not what I have believed, not what I have achieved, but how I have discharged the common charities of life. --Henry Drummond
Many people think that the mark of an authentic Christian is doctrinal purity; if a person's beliefs are biblical and doctrinally orthodox, then he is a Christian. People who equate orthodoxy with authenticity find it hard to even consider the possibility that, despite the correctness of all their doctrinal positions, they may have missed the deepest reality of the authentic Christian life. But we must never forget that true Christianity is more than teaching - it is a way of life. In fact, it is life itself. "He who has the Son has life," remember? When we talk about life, we are talking about something that is far more than mere morality, far more than doctrinal accuracy. --Ray C. Stedman
One day when a certain man who wavered often and anxiously between hope and fear was struck with sadness, he knelt in humble prayer before the altar of a church. While meditating on these things, he said: "Oh if I but knew whether I should persevere to the end!" Instantly he heard within the divine answer: "If you knew this, what would you do? Do now what you would do then and you will be quite secure." Immediately consoled and comforted, he resigned himself to the divine will and the anxious uncertainty ceased. His curiosity no longer sought to know what the future held for him, and he tried instead to find the perfect, the acceptable will of God in the beginning and end of every good work. --Thomas à Kempis
Wherever a father's heart is turned toward anything other than his children, a curse can be released upon the family. Even Christian households can fall under deception when the priorities of the parents are not in line with God's priorities. In my own household, my heart was more inclined toward deep-sea fishing in the early years, and then later to ministry. I was blinded to the needs of my family, thus we lived under a curse, and the results were obvious: my wife spiraled into a deep depression, and my children were acting out their frustration in unhealthy and angry ways. I was oblivious to it all, because my focus was not on what took place at home; my focus was on building a reputation and a ministry so I could change the world. It didn't matter that I had a ministry that I was touching the lives of thousands of people; I was not making ministry to my own family first priority, and my wife's and children's lives began to fall apart. We needed a restoration, a reversal of the curse that had been allowed to enter and wreak havoc in our home." (See Malachi 4:6 for scriptural support)... --Jack Frost, Experiencing the Father's Embrace
The single most significant problem in the Christian community is that we men have failed to exhibit the Christ-like leadership that God requires of us. If we did, we would be able to cure relationship problems. We demonstrate this lack of Christ-like leadership by our unwillingness to take the steps to understand women, which prevents us from bringing lasting solutions to relationship problems...Christ-likeness is God's first priority for every man - that we as men become Christ-like in our responses, in our sensitivity to our wives' spirits. In loving them as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it, we become the spiritual leaders that they will respond to with love and loyalty. --Ken Nair
God is not interested in our good works or our rules. There is nothing we can do, nothing we can offer Him as a Holy God that He can accept - except our faith in Jesus Christ... Has someone told us that if we want to mature in Christ we need to read our Bibles, fast, pray, win souls, memorize Scripture, attend church faithfully, and tithe? This, too, is legalism. To be sure, all of these things have their place in a Christian's daily walk with the Lord. But when someone tries to give us a list of rules or guidelines in terms of how many hours we should spend in Bible study and prayer, how many verses of Scripture we should memorize, or how many souls we should win for Christ, beware! If we fail to measure up - and most of us will - we will feel guilty. If we fail more often than we succeed, we will give up in despair. It's God's grace and the Holy Spirit in us that will bring us to maturity in Christ, not human effort or faithful adherence to a set of procedures... Love is a gift, not a reward for service! --Jack Winter
It is a maxim that will endure: To truly know the living God, this begets humility. To acquire learning, information, speculation, theory and theology and even Scripture, this begets pride. You do not say someone is holy because he puts forth great ideas concerning the knowledge of God and the attributes of God. Look for those who proclaim the love of God in great personal loss and self denial. You will find such wisdom far more among the simple and the humble than it is ever to be found among those who know so much about the things of God but so little of the Lord Himself. -- Michael Molinos, The Spiritual Guide
Renewing the mind is a little like refinishing furniture. It is a two-stage process. It involves taking off the old and replacing it with the new. The old is the lies you have learned to tell or were taught by those around you; it is the attitudes and ideas that have become a part of your thinking but do not reflect reality. The new is the truth. To renew your mind is to involve yourself in the process of allowing God to bring to the surface the lies you have mistakenly accepted and replace them with truth. To the degree that you do this, your behavior will be transformed.--Charles Stanley
The greatest thing is to be found at one's post as a child of God, living each day as though it were our last, but planning as though our world might last a hundred years. --C. S. Lewis
The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden. --Gilbert Keith G. K. Chesterton
I choose goodness...I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.--Max Lucado
True faith does not contradict its words by its conduct.--Anonymous
The Christian faith is meant to be lived moment by moment. It isn't some broad, general outline--it's a long walk with a real Person. Details count: passing thoughts, small sacrifices, a few encouraging words, little acts of kindness, brief victories over nagging sins. --Joni Eareckson Tada
God's Warrior
Religion and the Gospel Religion is the story of what a sinful man tries to do for a holy God;
The Gospel is the story of what a holy God has done for sinful men.
Roy Gustafson
Trouble always comes whenever we begin to take credit for any of the gifts of the Spirit, be they gifts of prayer, tongues, prophecy, art, science....Modern medicine suffers, despite all its advances, because it has almost completely forgotten that healing is a gift as well as a science.
Madeleine L'Engle
It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. Agnes Repplier
Seek to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you. James Freeman Clarke
I think I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others. Booker T. Washington
There is a spiritual law of choosing, believing, abiding, and holding steady in our walk with God, which is essential to the working of the Holy Ghost either in our sanctification or healing. Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
The knowledge of Christ's love for us should cause us to love Him in such a way that it is demonstrated in our attitude, conduct, and commitment to serve God. Spiritual maturity is marked by spiritual knowledge being put into action. Edward Bedore
We seldom realize fully that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks. We act as if we were simply dropped down in creation and have to decide to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do. Henri J. M. Nouwen
God's Warrior
Of God and Men
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our strength, before going out to face the world again.
"The thoughtful soul to solitude retires," said the poet of other and quieter times; but where is the solitude to which we can retire today? "Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still," is a wise and healing counsel; but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all. What was intended to be a blessing has become a positive curse. No spot is now safe from the world's intrusion. The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today. What the world will do about it is their problem. Apparently the masses want it the way it is, and the majority of Christians are so completely conformed to this present age that they, too, want things the way they are. They may be annoyed a bit by the clamor and by the goldfish-bowl existence they live, but apparently they are not annoyed enough to do anything about it.
God's Warrior
Humility
Acts 20:16 For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.
Acts 20:17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
Acts 20:18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
Acts 20:19 Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
Acts 20:20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,
Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
