April 1, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he'll do whatever needs to be done:
He'll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.
Psalm 37:5-6, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
It’s a universal law: Keep your life for yourself, and it will be sterile. Give it up wholly to the Lord, and it will bear fruit.
Dennis F. Kinlaw
A prayer to strengthen your day
Lord, today brings
Paths to discover
Possibilities to choose
People to encounter
Peace to possess
Promises to fulfill
Perplexities to ponder
Power to strengthen
Pointers to guide
Pardon to accept
Praises to sing
and a Presence to proclaim.
David Adam
April 4, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
I give you all the credit, God—
you got me out of that mess,
you didn't let my foes gloat.
God, my God, I yelled for help
and you put me together.
God, you pulled me out of the grave,
gave me another chance at life
when I was down-and-out.
Psalm 30:1-3, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The man of faith is not a robot, computer-programmed to go through religious motions. He is characterized as having an “open ear”—as a sensitive creature who listens and responds to the word of God.
Eugene Peterson
A prayer to strengthen your day
Love Ever Burning
O love ever burning and never extinguished charity
My God set me on fire.
Saint Augustine
April 5, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word —
All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God!
Thank him to his face!
He gets angry once in a while, but across
a lifetime there is only love.
The nights of crying your eyes out
give way to days of laughter.
Psalm 30:4-5, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Exactly what is worship? I like King David’s definition. “Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 34:3 NASB). Worship is the act of magnifying God. Enlarging our vision of him.
Max Lucado
A prayer to strengthen your day
O Father of mercies, grant that I may look on the defects of my neighbor as if they were my own, that I may conceal and be grieved for them; and that making Thy love to us, O blessed Jesus, the pattern of my love to them, I may above all things endeavor to promote their eternal welfare.
Teach me to have compassion for the weakness and frailties of my brethren; to put the best construction on all their actions; to interpret all doubtful things to their advantage, and cheerfully to bear with their real infirmities.
John Wesley
April 6, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Love God, all you saints;
God takes care of all who stay close to him,
But he pays back in full
those arrogant enough to go it alone.
Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up.
Expect God to get here soon.
Psalm 31:23-24, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The sanctified man honestly desires to do the whole will of God. We are always safe when we test the reality of our sanctification against this desire, and we are always in danger if we test it against any other.
A. F. Harper
A prayer to strengthen your day
Good Jesus, the water of your teaching flows in silence. Your gospel is not poured into our ears by an eloquent tongue, but is breathed into our hearts by your sweet spirit. Your voice never strains nor shouts. You do not force us to hear you. You ask only that we open our hearts to you, and in tranquility your love enters our souls.
Aelred of Rievaulx
April 7, 2005 Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word —
What a stack of blessing you have piled up
for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
to escape an unkind world.
You hide them safely away
As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces,
you silence the poisonous gossip.
Psalm 31:19-20, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first and we lose both first and second things.
C. S. Lewis
A prayer to strengthen your day
All, absolutely all,
by your grace
speaks to me of You.
. . .
Every step I take
reminds me
that, wherever I am going,
I am always on the march to eternity.
Dom Helder Camara
April 8, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
we'll be on high ground, untouched.
God's my island hideaway,
keeps danger far from the shore,
throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.
Psalm 32:6-7, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The best evidence of being truly filled with the Spirit is that one so filled “continues daily.” The Glory shows up in the Grind! As important as the Grandeur of Getting Started is the Grace of Going On.
Vance Havner
A prayer to strengthen your day
My bare feet walk the earth reverently
for everything keeps crying,
Take off your shoes
The ground you stand on is holy
The ground of your being is holy.
Macrina Wiederkehr
April 11, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Ephesians 3:7-8, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The whole treasury of God will be given to the soul who is able to receive it without growing proud because of it. God blesses us all up to the full measure and extremity of what is safe for Him to do.
C. H. Spurgeon
A prayer to strengthen your day
O God, wake us up to Jesus
Give us His passion for prayer
and His passion for people
May our needs drive us to Thee
and the needs of others drive us to them. Amen.
E. Stanley Jones
April 12, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.
1 Timothy 1:12, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him.
Oswald Chambers
A prayer to strengthen your day
Thank you, Father, that when You call us, You also show us where You want us to serve You, fitting us into the whole, that Your name may be glorified.
Corrie ten Boom
April 13, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Less is more and more is less. One righteous will outclass fifty wicked, for the wicked are moral weaklings but the righteous are GOD-strong.
Psalm 37:16-17, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Expedients are for the hour, but principles are for the ages. Just because the rains descend and the winds blow, we cannot afford to build on shifting sands.
Henry Ward Beecher
A prayer to strengthen your day
Help us realize, our Father, that we conquer—not in any brilliant fashion, but rather, we conquer by continuing.
Charles Spurgeon
April 14, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;
the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.
The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;
he will bless him in the land,
and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.
Psalm 41:1,2, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The glory of the gospel is that when the Church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
A prayer to strengthen your day
Holy Father, empower me for ministry
to be authentic in every act,
holy in every intention,
pure in every relationship,
genuine in every word,
and selfless in every expression of service. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
April 15, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others.
Phillipians 2:3-4, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life or death to you.
C. S. Lewis
A prayer to strengthen your day
Lord, give me this seeing faith; then my work will never be monotonous. I will ever find joy in humoring the fancies and gratifying the wishes of all poor sufferers.
Mother Teresa
April 18, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 6:34, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
A prayer to strengthen your day
Oh God, save me from a life of barrenness . . . and give that vital contact of soul with Thy divine life that fruit may be produced and Life-abundant living may be known again as the final proof for Christ’s message and work.
Jim Eliott
April 19, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Turn your back on evil,
work for the good and don’t quit.
God loves this kind of thing,
never turns away from his friends.
Psalm 37:27-28, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Jesus did not come to give men power over sin; He came to cleanse them from it. He never meant the heart to be a dungeon where the devil should be kept in chains; He came to make it a temple filled with the presence and glory of God.
Samuel Chadwick
A prayer to strengthen your day
Let God Use You Without Consulting You
You, Lord, only You, all for You;
Make use of me.
Mother Teresa
April 20, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
No indulgence or passion destroys the spiritual nature as much as respectable selfishness.
George Macdonald
A prayer to strengthen your day
Help us always remember the church is Your family;
And so help us within the church never to do anything to grieve Your fatherly heart,
And never to do anything to turn to bitterness the brotherly love,
which ought to be the very air and atmosphere of your church. Amen.
William Barclay
April 21, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Keep your eye on the healthy soul,
scrutinize the straight life;
There’s a future
in strenuous wholeness.
But the willful will soon be discarded;
insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
Psalm 37:37-38, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The way to understand the Scriptures and all theology is to be holy.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
A prayer to strengthen your day
Creator and Father of all, give me a greater love for those You have called me to serve. Teach me patience toward the willful, kindness toward the crude, understanding toward the doubting, consistency toward the suspicious, and agape gratitude for the majority who love You and Your kingdom. Help me to love others, even the difficult ones, with the wholehearted measure of love You have shown me. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
April 22, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status.
Romans 15:1, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
God wills to do something quite definite and particular through us, here and now, something which no other person could do at any other time.
Emil Bruner
A prayer to strengthen your day
Today, O Lord—
let me put right before interest;
let me put others before self;
let me put things of the spirit before the things of the body;
let me put the attainment of noble ends above the enjoyment of present pleasures;
let me put principle above reputation;
let me put Thee before all else.
John Baillie
April 25, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The lengthening years deepen my conviction that, when all is said and done, there is something beautiful about Christian holiness. It is the beauty of God. It is the loveliness of Christ.
Paul S. Rees
A prayer to strengthen your day
O Christ, put your hand on me today and send me to do the impossible—impossible, except as you work through me. Amen.
E. Stanley Jones
April 26, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
1 John 4:21, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Prayer often avails where everything else fails. How utterly all of Monica’s efforts and entreaties failed with her son. But her prayers prevailed with God, and the desolate youth became St. Augustine, the man of God.
R. A. Torrey
A prayer to strengthen your day
Lord, we thank you that we do not need to do this in our own strength, but that You will give us Your strength and make us victorious.
Corrie Ten Boom
April 27, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner...
Be encouraged from the Word
Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:14ff, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
A pure heart! What a really splendid thing! Motives laid open to the cleansing of God. The false ego consumed in the perpetual fires of the Holy Ghost and the real self offered up in a living flame of uttermost devotion to Christ.
Paul S. Rees