Meditations of the day

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A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff on a rope.

A curious young boy was watching nearby, and the scientists told him they would pay him well if he would agree to be lowered over the cliff to retrieve the flower below.

The boy took one long look down the steep, dizzy depths and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” A short time later he returned, followed by a gray-haired man. Approaching the botanist, the boy said, “I’ll go over that cliff and get that flower for you if this man holds the rope. He’s my dad.”

 

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"The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian." ~Brennan Manning

 

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"The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. You did not receive the spirit of religious duty, leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the Spirit of full acceptance, enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, Beloved Father!" ~TPT (Saul of Tarsus)

 

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"Grace is the empowering presence and power of God which enables us to be who He created us to be; and to do what He has called us to do. It has nothing to do with his mercy (unmerited favor) or that of a penal substitution theory. Rather, it is that which enables us to overcome, any and all obstacles that might be hindering our spiritual growth and maturity. Unmerited favor, would be that of having or showing mercy and forgiveness to an enemy through that of love. Especially, one who spitefully persecutes you, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'"

"True love will triumph in the end—which may or may not be a lie, but if it is a lie; it's the most beautiful lie we have." -John Green

 

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"Union with Christ in His resurrection was not an after-thought on the part of God. It was not some sort of plan b because the devil had spoiled Plan A." ~John Gavazzoni

 

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“Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans." ~MSG

"The Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. We don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words. God, the searcher of the heart, knows fully our longings, yet he also understands the desires of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny." ~TPT

 

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"Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference." ~Max Lucado

 

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"Often we don't see the majesty of God's design because we're caught up in the mediocrity of our own. ~Craig D. Lounsbrough

"If you have reached limits in your understanding of the exceeding love, grace and glory of God, be patient. Our limits are met with His exceedingly above." ~D.E. Johnson

Once I finally understand the immensity of my own impoverishment, I am finally in a position to see the enormity of God's majesty. ~Craig D. Lounsbrough

 

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"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards?" ~Hudson Taylor

 

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“For the little Lamb who bleeds on the throne is the One who breaks down the doors of hell and conquers everything. Behold, He declares, I make all things new.” ~ Peter Hiett

“Jesus said, Whatever you [all] ask in my name, I'll do it for you. In my name--and who is He? He's the Plot--the Word of the Author, who is the narrator.”

 

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"We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above. To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death." ~ A. B. Simpson

"The way back into the Tree of Life must be through the flaming sword of the Lord. The natural man can only return with the loss of all he is." ~D. E. Johnson

 

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“God does not look to find those who are the elites and those who are the most skilled. Rather He looks for the weak and insignificant who trust in Him. God uses broken pots and vessels, He uses imperfect people who trust in a perfect God. Thus all men will know that it is God who has manifested His power and glory through a brother or sister. It is realized then that it was not the work of men but the work of God.” ~Greg Gordon

 

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"I don't want a God that I understand. I have a God whom I can trust where I can't understand. He keeps much in the background so that we walk by faith and not by sight. So I won't understand every last thing. If you would understand God perfectly, there would be no place for faith, and He wouldn't be God. ~John Wright Follette

Read more: Thoughts to ponder today - Christianity -  - Page 54 - City-Data Forum

 

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"There is no way back into the Tree of Life for the natural man but by way of the flaming swords of the Lord swirling in every direction. The way is guarded; the only way to partake is by entering thru the flaming swords." ~D. E. Johnson

 

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"What does it avail you to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by faith, but also know by reason: what does it avail you to know Him - if you think little of Him? ~Thomas More

“During the dark night there is no choice but to surrender control, give in to unknowing, and stop and listen to whatever signals of wisdom might come along. It’s a time of enforced retreat and perhaps unwilling withdrawal. The dark night is more than a learning experience; it’s a profound initiation into a realm that nothing in the culture, so preoccupied with external concerns and material success, prepares you for.” ~ Thomas More

 

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There could not have been a broader, more beautiful statement. Why? In Greek the poor in spirit, means 'bankruptcy' (ptōchos). Blessed—or most fortunate; or, to be envied is better—is a person who has been reduced to bankruptcy, without any potential of his own, for in his bankruptcy, all heaven is his! Why is there not more heaven in some people? The rich young ruler in Matthew 19, turned away sorrowful, because he had great possessions. Anyone who has great possessions is not going to get too far with the Lord. Most fortunate, to be envied, is a person who is reduced to bankruptcy in any self-resources. 'In me dwelleth no good thing.' This is basic, because then it is possible for all heaven to be yours. Then Jesus goes on with the rest of the Beatitudes, because they are divinely arranged—in sequence. One makes it possible for the second, and we can’t get to the third until we have had the first and second. The point is; their blessedness all runs into a series sequence.” ~ John Wright Follette

 

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"To participate in His symphony requires the tuning of our beings to His frequency." ~D. E. Johnson

"In the day of great darkness and the Lamp of God well nigh gone out, the priest of God must not be in his usual place."

 

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“Doctor Gordon of Boston used to say that as you passed along Washington street you might see stores with the card in the window, ‘To rent, with or without power,’ and any one could rent the store, and by paying something extra could have power furnished from the engine in the rear. Doctor Gordon thought it would be a good thing to ask men and women when they joined the church if they wanted to be a member on the 'with power' or the 'without power' basis, and if the latter, to tell them there were no vacancies for that kind in the church, it already had too many members without power.” ~ D.L. Moody

 

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“God will fight your battles if you just keep still. He is able to carry you through. Trust Him. Keep standing, keep believing and keep hoping.” ~ Germany Kent

"O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His loving kindness is everlasting."