Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Any of us in the public eye must remember: Never, ever believe your own press, and pray to develop a hypersensitive gag reflex regarding your own importance.
I ask women to check the feelings they have about themselves before they do something. If you're doing it out of a sense of desperation and need, don't do it.
A bruised heart that chooses to beat with a passion for God amid pulsing pain and confusion may just be the most expensive offering placed on the divine altar.
The question is whether or not our insecurities are substantial enough to hurt, limit, or even distract us from profound effectiveness or fulfillment of purpose.
I believe that children are, by nature, very forgiving. I don't think children expect their parents to be perfect. I think they demand that their parents be real.
God uses change to change us. He doesn’t use it to destroy us or to distract us, but to coax us to the next level of character, experience, compassion and destiny!
God's idea of guarding his heart is to guard himself against diminishing love. He guards his love. Now if that doesn't become revolutionary I am not saying it right.
We know we're coming full circle with God when we stand at a very similar crossroad where we made such a mess of life before, but this time we take a different road.
Spiritual maturity does not mean that we will never make wrong plans. In fact, spiritual maturity often means having the courage to admit we've made the wrong plans.
Let's all wise up. Some of us aren't fighting the fire; we're playing with fire. Flirting with the devil. Stop it! Stop it now before all hell literally breaks loose.
Sometimes you have to hold tight to what God has already said because you can get so clouded over emotionally that you can no longer rely on what feels right or wrong.
I try as hard as I know how to keep my reader relating on a broad level so I don't lead her someplace where she thinks that's the only thing that could cause insecurity.
We're stronger and braver TOGETHER. Do not let this world and this narcissistic culture make competitors out of the very people who are meant to be your comrades in arms.
What I thought as a young adult is you act like you have it together whether or not you do because that is what church people do. That is not what God has called us to do.
Whether we get to avoid pain and suffering or we must persevere in the midst of it, our deliverance comes when we're dragged from the enemy of our souls to the heart of God.
People don't need Christians to act like we always have it together. People need us to be real! What kind of healing would come if we all just got real before God and others?
Satan never wastes a fiery dart by aiming at a spot covered by armor. The bull's eye is located dead center in our inconsistency. That's where the enemy plans to bring us down.
As God took me through the journey that became the Bible study Breaking Free, He taught me to look for a common denominator among the things that triggered my destructive habits.
As God took me through the journey that became the Bible study 'Breaking Free', He taught me to look for a common denominator among the things that triggered my destructive habits.
A crushing hurt comes to our heart and the sympathizing, scarred hand of Christ presses the wound; and just for a moment,the pain seems to intensify,...bu t finally the bleeding stops.
We will never be more ourselves, with the fullness of our personality and the uniqueness of our gifting, than when we just wholly give ourselves over to our very faithful, faithful God.
Insecurity is miserable. That's the bottom line. We don't need it. We don't want it. And we really can live without it. So what would happen if we quite being accomplices in our own misery?
I don't know a single person who truly seems to bear the mark of God's presence and power in his or her life who hasn't been asked by God to be obedient in a way that was dramatically painful.
You have not quite lived in this ridiculously silly celebrity culture until you've been told one day how loved you are and the next day how hated you are - and sometimes by the same individual.
I have picked up on the terminology of Brother Lawrence, who called praying unceasingly practicing God's presence. In fact, practicing God's presence has been my number one goal for the last year
My very addictive personality and all sorts of strongholds are a thing of the past for me. Yet at the root of every single one of those issues was insecurity, something I had battled since childhood.
We long to find someone who has been where we've been, who shares our fragile places, who sees our sunsets with the same shades of blue. Soul mates. They somehow validate the depth of our experiences.
As an 18-year-old, I really sensed the call of God. What was interesting about that time was, I come from a very conservative part of the body of Christ, so there was really nothing for a woman to do.
People need to know there is life after salvation! Salvation is not only about eternity. Salvation is the open door to an abundant earthly life in which we enjoy the love and direction of an active God!
A head full of biblical knowledge without a heart passionately in love with Christ is terribly dangerous - a stronghold waiting to happen. The head is full, but the heart and soul are still unsatisfied.
God is not harsh; He is holy. He is not selfish; He is sovereign. He is not unfeeling; He is all-knowing. Like David, we need to come to know Him, and respect Him; and, like David, we will love Him more.
We must be careful to avoid spiritual elitism. Everything we are and anything we possess as believers in Christ is a gift of grace. Pure hearts before God must be cleansed from any hint of spiritual pride.
God's desire is not for us to turn our churches and Christian gatherings into hideouts from the world. Rather, they're meant to be places where we become equipped and fortified to minister out in the world.
Sometimes God allows us to explore the 'whys' of His instructions. Other times He wants us to obey 'because He said so.' Has God asked you to obey in a specific matter that still awaits your obedient response?
Peace is one of the most obvious earmarks of the authority of Christ. A sense of peace will virtually always accompany His will and direction, even when the direction might not have been our personal preference.
May God remind us daily-no matter what kind of obstacles we face-that we are loved and empowered by the One who brought the universe into existence with the mere sound of His voice. Nothing is impossible for Him.
When you accept the fact that God is determined about you and you add to it your determination about Him, I am telling you there'll be no stopping you from fulfilling the absolutely God-ordained destiny He has for you.
Dirt is dirt, and we've all got it no matter where we come from. I'm not sure Christ sees one kind of dirt as dirtier than another. One thing is for sure: His blood is able to bleach any stain left by any kind of dirt.
I hope we have a whole lot of healthy men out there impacting their wives and daughters with a sense of value and dignity. They can have a huge impact. It takes a secure man to breed that sense of security in his family.
I don't know how to explain it. A lot of Christians actually like other Christians in Houston. A lot of Christians even like non-Christians in Houston. And, on frequent occasions, a fair amount of non-Christians like us.
Setbacks, on the other hand, just make us feel weak and stupid: I should have conquered this by now. I happened on a question not long ago that oerfectly expresses this mentality: How many times must I prove myself an idiot?
When we end up in a situation where we have been rejected, there is an acceptance in Christ of a new place He is going to take us. It is like nothing we have ever experienced. You are accepted in Christ, never rejected by Him.
For the most part I write very stream of consciousness. I basically need to be recording an entire writing session because it's almost like I black out and just start singing whatever is on my mind and forget it as soon as I stop.
God surpasses our dreams when we reach past our personal plans and agenda to grab the hand of Christ and walk the path he chose for us. He is obligated to keep us dissatisfied until we come to him and his plan for complete satisfaction.
The history of New Orleans was always a fascination to me - such a blend of light and darkness and plague and pleasure and hedonism and fear and death. It's just a very, very intriguing city. I have this strange love relationship with it.
What does the enemy have to gain by convincing you to never deal with your past because your mind will never make it all the way through? It is a lie from the pit of hell. Today, claim your healing in Christ. It is your right as His child.
Satan knows that the nature of humankind is to act out of how we feel rather than what we know. One of our most important defenses against satanic influence will be learning how to behave out of what we know is truth rather than what we feel.
The upside of a downward spiral into despair and defeat in young adulthood is that pretty early on, I was forced to face not only the foolish things I had done but also the stark realization that there was likely no end to what I was capable of doing.
I've seen a lot of miracles, and I have experienced a lot of things with Jesus, but nothing I have ever experienced in my corporate community life with other believers can compare with just me and Him in my kitchen early in the morning before the sun comes up.
God alone created marriage. Adam slept through the entire ceremony. Eve came in late. It seems to me men are still sleeping through marriage, and women are still coming to their senses a little too late. God alone performed that ceremony, and He alone can hold it together.