Category Archives: Quotes

Thursday Thirteen #8 ~ Friends

Thankful for my Friends!

 

Thirteen Quotes About Friends/Friendship

1. Ah, how good it feels!  The hand of an old friend.  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2. It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. The best rule of friendship is to keep your heart a little softer than your head.  ~Author Unknown

4. A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.  ~Author Unknown

5. I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing.  ~Katherine Mansfield

6. Friendship is a sheltering tree.  ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

7. If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.  ~George MacDonald

8. Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.  ~Plautus

9. A friend loves at all times… ~ Proverbs 17:17 (ESV Bible)

10. A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked.  ~Author Unknown

11. Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer.  ~Author Unknown

12. You can always tell a real friend:  when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.  ~Laurence J. Peter

13. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13 (ESV Bible)

To see more Thursday Thirteen click here.

Thankful Thursday~ Spiritual Blessings in Christ

This is an amazing passage of how much we are blessed in Christ Jesus. What amazing blessings to be thankful for. Hopefully as the years go on I’ll understand it more and more and be more thankful.

Ephesians 1: 3-10 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of or Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

For more Thankful Thursday click here.

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Oct. 30

“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection.  And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” ~ A.W. Towzer ~

I really don’t have anything profound to share as I consider this quote. It was suggested to me that the very shortest route to spiritual perfection for a believer saved by grace would be death, but I digress….

A suggestion that I do have that is helping me in a profound way this year is my Bible reading strategy. I’ve read the Bible through a couple of times and this year it was suggested to me to take a different approach to my Bible reading. This year I started with the shortest books of the Bible progressing up to the longer books and I read each book 20 times before I move on. First I just read it straight through. Then further into my 20 times I begin to dissect and break down each paragraph or chapter to get a deeper understanding of what is being revealed. I have found that with this approach I can remember themes in a book better. It helps me get the big picture. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us into all truth. For me spiritual growth has not been short or quick. It has taken years of plugging along for me to get to where I am today, which is no where near perfection. I thank God that He is the one that brings me along by His grace to spiritual growth in Him. I want to be ready and willing to receive His grace and his teaching and respond in obedience and perseverance. This reading the Bible approach I’ve started in 2007 will probably not be completed till I die 🙂

Be encouraged to keep moving forward in your walk with the Lord. Ask Him to teach you and lead you in your Bible reading and studying. Each day is a new day with the Lord. Open his word and enjoy it and Him.

To see more In Other Words click here.

 

Thankful Thursday ~ Psalm 19: 7-11

I am so thankful for God’s word and the power it has in a believer’s life…

Psalm 19: 7-11 (ESV)

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the  commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”

I am also so thankful that the winds in Southern California have died way down and the firemen are able to get a better handle on controlling the remaining fires out here. Still praying for the thousands of displaced people and the heartache that losing everything brings, especially losing the place where you laid your head each night!

For more Thankful Thursday Posts head over to Crystal’s who is graciously hosting today…

Fall Book Reviews ~ Sayers and Piper

 

So I’m plugging away with our Fall Reading Challenge and have finished The Documents in the Case by Dorothy Sayers and Pierced by the Word by John Piper.

Documents in the Case is not one of the Peter Wimsey mysteries. It is also different in that the story is told through series of letters between the characters in the book. It took me a while to connect with this way of developing the characters and mystery story line. I did finally connect and again enjoyed Sayers’ expertise in character development and detail. Some of the detail was way over my head. She definitely writes an intellectual mystery that taxes my wee brain a lot! 

One of the quotes from this book that really affected me is this one ~

“He admires, but he won’t clap, which must be very discouraging”

Encouragement is a very important thing to me and this quote is so telling about the lack of verbal encouragement that can be so crushing in relationship. Is there someone you admire and you do not clap for? Consider verbalizing your admiration, encourage them. Be an encourager!

Pierced by the Word, I’m sorry to say that this particular Piper devotional did not live up to it’s title. I think whoever chose the title for this particular compilation of devotions was stretching it! I love Piper and I have several of his books that I’d read over again, but this isn’t one of them. Although several of the devotions had truth to share they fell short of being piercing for me. Yikes I feel like a traitor but there you have it…

Faithfulness and Holiness ~ Quote

I’m plugging away and still am behind others who are reading J.C. Ryle on Holiness but I am blessed in my slowness…

Here’s the latest quote I’d like to share that I found to be a rich encouragement. It’s from Chapter 4 ~ The Fight,

“A special faith in our Lord Jesus Christ’s person, work, and office, is the life, heart, and mainspring of the Christian soldier’s character.

He sees by faith an unseen Saviour, who loved him, gave Himself for him, paid his debts for him, bore his sins, carried his transgressions, rose again for him, and appears in heaven for him as his Advocate at the right hand of God. He sees Jesus, and clings to Him. Seeing this Saviour and trusting in Him, he feels peace and hope, and willingly does battle against the foes of his soul.

He sees his many sins – his weak heart, a tempting world, a busy devil; and if he looked only at them he might well despair. But he sees also a mighty Saviour, an interceding Saviour, a sympathizing Saviour – His blood, His righteousness, His everlasting priesthood – and he believes that all this is his own. He sees Jesus, and casts his whole weight on Him. Seeing Him he cheerfully fights on, with a full confidence that he will prove “more than conqueror through Him that loved him” (Rom. 8:37).

ht: Faithfulness and Holiness (The Witness of J.C. Ryle) ~ Ryle with an appreciation by J.I. Packer

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John 14:6 ~ Psalm 19: 7-11 ~ The Power of God’s Word

John 14:6 (ESV) , Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Psalm 19: 7-11 (ESV),

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

The Word of God brings us back to who we are supposed to be.

It restores our soul. It makes us wise. It brings joy to our heart and it enlightens our eyes. Those are just a few of the amazing benefits of spending time in and meditating on God’s word.

If you don’t have a regular Bible reading choice for today may I suggest you read Psalm 19 and meditate on it throughout this week. You will be blessed…

Ht: Steve Larson E.V.Free Conejo Valley

Thankful Thursday ~

 

 

Psalm 79:13, “But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Psalm 145:10, “All your works shall give thanks to you O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!”

I Chronicles 16:8, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!”

I give thanks today to my LORD for saving me and for his work of sanctification in me and my family all these years. Our God is good and He has been so good to me. Thank you LORD!

To read more Thankful Thursday Posts to to Sting My Heart…

 

I John ~ Walking in the Light

I John 1: 5-10 ~

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

This morning at 6:30 A.M. the power in our neighborhood went out. Our one bedroom condo was very dark. We only have 2 sets of windows in the whole condo. I had to find my little purse flashlight to find the power bill to phone the power company, etc. etc. Then I rounded up the candles and lit them. I did not enjoy being in darkness. I wanted my light back.

My Bible reading these days is I John. While waiting for the power to come back on I used my trusty little flashlight to read Ist John. It was pretty classic reading about light and darkness sitting in the dark. It is amazing to try to comprehend that there is not a stitch of darkness in God. No shifting shadows. He is LIGHT.  I’ll be chewing on this truth for a while. Until I comprehend it all one thing I know. I do not like being stuck in darkness. I’d rather be in the light.

In Other Words Tuesday

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in HIS wonderful face,
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, by the light of His glory and grace.”

~ Helen Limmel ~ 

 In considering this quote from Helen Limmel I thought of one of the first people who laid eyes on Jesus and truly understood who he was looking at.

Luke 2: 25-35 ~ “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

What an amazing experience this must have been for Simeon. How wonderful for him that the Holy Spirit clearly taught him who this was and what an amazing privilege to be the priest that would bless the Messiah. I want to be like Simeon waiting on the Lord, looking to Him, living in His light and prepared for whatever the Lord wills. With the Holy Spirit’s help we can turn our eyes upon Jesus and understand more fully why we so desperately need a Savior and why His sacrifice was the only way for us to be saved. We see more clearly our total depravity and His perfect sacrifice for our redemption. When we understand this we look fully into His face.

We have a new host for Tuesdays In Other Words today so click on over to Lori’s at All You Have To Give to read more.