November 1, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Galatians 4:7, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Ask God to search you, then, and do not be afraid to have it done. Look on all the trials of life as coming from your heavenly Father, in order that if you are really self-deceived you may know it, and if you are not, that you may grow up into the likeness of the Son of God.
Charles G. Finney
A prayer to strengthen your day
May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to.
C. S. Lewis
November 2, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:12, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
God loves a cheerful preacher.
Kennon L. Callahan
A prayer to strengthen your day
O Lord, give me a backbone as big as a sawlog,
And ribs like the sleepers under the church floor.
Put iron shoes on me and galvanized breeches,
And give me a rhinoceros hide for a skin;
And hang a wagon load of determination up in the gable end of my soul.
And help me to sign the contract to fight the devil as long as I have got a fist, and bite him as long as I’ve got a tooth, and then gum him till I die.
All this I ask, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Bud Robinson
November 3, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1b, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The church is under divine orders and protection and can never fail so long as she fulfills her commission and does His will. . . . What is His will for us all and for the church? It is to cooperate with Him in His purposes and plans to save the world. His objective must be ours. His purposes must be ours. His passion must be ours.
General Superintendents’ Quadrennial Address to the 10th General Assembly
A prayer to strengthen your day
God of the Ages,
Put the eternal in our steps and the applause of heaven in our hearts. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
November 4, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Thank God because he’s good, because his love never quits.
Psalm 118:1, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Let people hold to their lifework through mood and melancholy. Let them hold to it through headache and through heartache. For whoever watches the wind will never plant, and whoever looks at the clouds will never reap.
George H. Morrison
A prayer to strengthen your day
Do you want my voice, Lord,
to spend the day speaking
to all who need Your words of love?
Lord, today I give You my voice.
Do You want my heart, Lord,
to spend the day loving
everyone without exception?
Lord, today I give You my heart.
Mother Teresa
November 7, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
God often arranges matters so that we are treated with neglect—perhaps, sinfully so—by those around us. God does not prevent this but allows it to be done. Did it make you angry and show an unholy temper, or otherwise? . . . Remember that it is written, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9).
Charles G. Finney
A prayer to strengthen your day
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim thru this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty; Hold me with Thy pow’rful hand.
William Williams
November 8, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
Isaiah 43:2, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Expect trials, fierce ones. They are normal for the Christian, normal and essential. Only fake remedies and scamped workmanship are put on the market without testing. Quack medicines and jerry-built houses do not invite the strain of trial; but God will not turn out a product that has not been tried and proved genuine.
Bertha Munro
A prayer to strengthen your day
Lord God almighty, we have come to know you through that dear child of yours, Jesus Christ, and he has led us to you. I bless you because you have thought me worthy of this day and hour, worthy to be numbered among the martyrs and then to drink out of the cup that Jesus has drunk from; so with him you have counted me worthy to rise and live forever.
May I be admitted to your presence today, a satisfactory and welcome sacrifice. You have made my life a preparation for this. You showed me that this was my destiny, and now, true to your word, you have brought it about. For this and all your blessings I praise you and give you glory.
Polycarp of Smyrna
November 9, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
1 Peter 1:3-4a, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The Church of Jesus Christ should know periodic spring times. Dry times will come. Winter may send the chilling frost. But the God of eternal spring will send the renewing showers of grace to the soul so that the grass turns green, the birds sing, the flowers bloom, and the trees and fields bear abundant harvest.
John E. Riley
A prayer to strengthen your day
Author of time and eternity, teach me the purpose and meaning of my life. Help me to cherish moments and minutes and months and years as gracious opportunities for service. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
November 10, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.
Isaiah 42:6a, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.
C. S. Lewis
A prayer to strengthen your day
O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guide while life shall last, And our eternal home.
Isaac Watts
November 11, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him.
Psalm 103:13, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
How can you better express your gratitude to God than by strengthening your weak brothers and sisters when you have been strengthened yourself? If God has restored our souls and made us strong again, then we ought to renew our zeal for the salvation of others. We ought to have a special eye to backsliders like us.
C. H. Spurgeon
A prayer to strengthen your day
Grant, O Lord, that I may live in Your fear, die in Your favor, rest in Your peace, rise in Your power, reign in Your glory.
Archbishop Laud
November 14, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:8-9, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Sanctification does not provide character in a nice, neat bundle at an altar, but it clears the ground for character building and remains as a vital relationship to God so long as the recipient continues to work the ground.
Mildred Bangs Wynkoop
A prayer to strengthen your day
Give me a waking spirit, and a diligent soul, that I may seek to know thy will, and when I know it truly, may perform it faithfully, to the honour and glory of thy ever blessed name.
John Cosin
November 15, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
2 Thessalonians 1:11, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Tell me about the godliness of your shop, your counter, and your kitchen. Let me see how grace enables you to be patient in the cold or joyful in hunger or industrious in labor. Grace is no common thing, yet it shines best in common things. To preach a sermon or sing a hymn is a paltry thing compared with the power to suffer cold and hunger and nakedness for Christ’s sake.
C. H. Spurgeon
A prayer to strengthen your day
Most high, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart. And give me, Lord, a correct faith, a sure hope, a perfect love, that I may carry out your holy and true commands.
Francis of Assisi
November 16, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Galatians 5:13, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Without holiness and the presence of Him who dwells in holy hearts, the church is soon a conquered church driveling for show; a beggar holding out its dirty hand for the world’s pittance, or a ballet girl dancing and singing for the world’s amusement and pay . . . God’s holy people are neither players for the world’s amusements, nor caterers to the world’s tastes.
P. F. Bresee
A prayer to strengthen your day
Builder and Sustainer of the Church,
Empower us for the work You have for us.
Open our wills to understand Your purposes for us.
Show us how to more fully love our fellow team members. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
November 17, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
God, the one and only— I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I need comes from him, so why not?
Psalm 62:1, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The Holy Spirit came to make Christians adequate to meet the demands of their generation. The history of the victorious Church is in fact the biography of Spirit-filled persons. Where there has been failure, it has been because persons have not opened their hearts to the incoming of the Holy Spirit.
G. B. Williamson
A prayer to strengthen your day
Sovereign Lord,
Let me leave behind me all fretfulness,
all unworthy desires,
all thoughts of malice towards my fellow men,
all hesitancy in surrendering my will to Thine.
John Baillie
November 18, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1 John 5:14, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Prayer! Here is the problem. There is little faith because there is little prayer. Prayer and faith are like Siamese twins joined at the heart—separate them and both die. When we don’t pray, we can’t say, “Rise up and walk.” We can only say, “Sit there and die.” Or, “Move over, I’ll flop down and die with you.”
William E. McCumber
A prayer to strengthen your day
Resurrection God—let me see the incredible wonder of the resurrection of your Son today. Let resurrection power permeate my prayers, my thoughts, my attitudes, and my ministry this day. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
November 21, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
A growing, intimate, loving, personal acquaintance with God himself, that is the foundation of growth in grace. Emotions, ecstasies, raptures, elations—these are thrilling but passing. But to have the wonder and reality of God grow on one day by day, that is spiritual life and power.
Roy E. Swim
A prayer to strengthen your day
Father, it is a humbling thing to be died for. On this day let me remember that Jesus Christ, your Son did exactly that for me. And he went to his death knowing full well how often I would forget his love. Let no pride keep me from kneeling at the foot of that Cross. In the name of Jesus my Savior I pray. Amen.
Peter Marshall
November 22, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Everyone sees it. God’s work is the talk of the town.
Be glad, good people! Fly to God!
Good-hearted people, make praise your habit.
Psalm 64:9-10, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The deepest ministries find their symbols in “cups of cold water,” which it is in the power of everybody to give. The great benefactors are the great lovers, and their coin is not that of material money, but the wealth of the heart.
John Henry Jowett
A prayer to strengthen your day
Lord of the Church, empower us to
see past myths that blind us,
overlook differences that divide us,
suspect bad ideas that sandpaper us,
seek the righteousness You promised us,
so that we may lovingly win those who have lost their way. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
November 23, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Galatians 3:14, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
When holiness is a personal heart experience, the entire thought and words and life become permeated and saturated, so that holiness no longer is merely a luxurious privilege, or perchance a side issue, or an addendum to the book; no, holiness now fills the horizon of the thought life.
C. W. Ruth
A prayer to strengthen your day
Lord, let my life be orderly, regular, temperate; let no pride or self-seeking, no covetousness or revenge, no little ends and low imaginations pollute my spirit and unhallow my words and actions.
Jeremy Taylor
November 24, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
1 John 5:5, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Just as God has commanded us to pray always, to pray everywhere, and to pray in everything, so He will answer always, everywhere, and in everything.
E. M. Bounds
A prayer to strengthen your day
I asked for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I had asked for,
but everything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered;
I am, among all men, most richly blessed
Prayer of an unknown Confederate soldier
November 25, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
The poor in spirit see and are glad—Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!
For God listens to the poor, He doesn’t walk out on the wretched.
Psalm 69:32-33, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The great 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
A prayer to strengthen your day
Arm me with jealous care, As in thy sight to live;
And O, thy servant, Lord, prepare A strict account to give.
Charles Wesley
November 28, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:7, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
When Jesus calls, he calls us one by one. Comparisons are idle, speculations about others a waste of time and envy as silly as it is evil. If ever we are tempted to look around, compare notes, and use the progress of others to judge the success of our own calling, we will hear what Peter heard: “What is that to you? Follow me!”
Os Guinness
A prayer to strengthen your day
O God, Let me not be frozen,
Either by the past or the present.
Grant me, O patient Father, Thy sense of the future
Without which all life would sicken and die.
Howard Thurman
November 29, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
God makes it possible that all the Christian graces may grow and develop unhindered in the sanctified soul. A fertile vineyard kept perfectly clean from all hindering growths, well cultivated with plenty of moisture and sunshine will produce the greatest possible amount of fruit. Just so with the vineyard of the soul . . .
Theodore Ludwig
A prayer to strengthen your day
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.
Melt us, mould us, fill us, use us.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.
Michael Iverson
November 30, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle: I’m set for life.
Psalm 62:2, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The Lord is really greatly pleased when His people really trust Him and grieved when they don’t. . . . He is grieved by our caution, our calculating reluctance and tardiness of trust, because a lack of trust is a vote of no confidence in our Heavenly Father. God gets great joy in them that trust Him (Romans 4:19-25).
T. Crichton Mitchell
A prayer to strengthen your day
Gentle Shepherd, come and lead us,
for we need your help to find our way.
Gentle Shepherd, come and feed us
For we need your strength from day to day.
Gloria Gaither