SEPTEMBER 2005
September 1, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
With your very own hands you formed me;
now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.
When they see me waiting, expecting your Word,
those who fear you will take heart and be glad.
I can see now, God, that your decisions are right;
your testing has taught me what’s true and right.
Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight!
just the way you promised.
Psalm 19:73-76, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time.
Oswald Chambers
A prayer to strengthen your day
Master Gardner of my soul and ministry,
Open my eyes to opportunities in my assignment.
Open my affections to the unique beauty and possibilities in this place.
And strengthen my skills to be Your junior gardener to plant, water, cultivate, weed, prune, and harvest in this place.
Neil B. Wiseman
September 2, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
I’m too young to be important,
but I don’t forget what you tell me.
Your righteousness is eternally right,
your revelation is the only truth.
Even though troubles came down on me hard,
your commands always gave me delight.
The way you tell me to live is always right;
help me understand it so I can live to the fullest.
Psalm 119:141, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Self-centeredness produces a self you cannot live with.
E. Stanley Jones
A prayer to strengthen your day
Today, O Lord—
let me put right before interest;
let me put others before self;
let me put the 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
September 5, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word —
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:3-8, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Better and sweeter than health, or friends, or money, or fame, or ease, or prosperity, is the adorable will of our God. It gilds the darkest hours with a divine halo, and sheds brightest sunshine on the gloomiest paths.
Hannah Whitall Smith
A prayer to strengthen your day
Lord, I need You to help me see satisfactions in service, enjoy partnership with You, and delight in studying, seeking and speaking for You. Please keep me from the frustrating prison of merely doing my duty. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
September 6, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:10ff, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
“I want my message to be intelligible to the ordinary man. I’m feeding sheep, not ministering to a few intellectual giraffes.”
Vance Havner
A prayer to strengthen your day
Thank You, Lord, that we never need go in our own strength. Thank You that You yourself provide all we lack. Only, help us to be faithful.
Corrie ten Boom
September 7, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13ff, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
“There are plenty to follow our Lord half-way, but not the other half. They will give up possessions, friends, and honors, but it touches them too closely to disown themselves.” it is just this astonishing life which is willing to follow Him the other half, sincerely to disown itself, this life which intends complete obedience, without any reservations, that I would propose to you in all humility, in all boldness, in all seriousness.
Thomas R. Kelly
A prayer to strengthen your day
O Father, I know I cannot love others unless my love to Thee is supreme and unalloyed. So breathe Thy love into my heart till it glows with passion for Thee. Then, and then only, will it burn with a passion for others. Amen.
E. Stanley Jones
September 8, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
1 Thessalonians 5:4, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
No man is likely to accomplish more than he hopes – at any rate a hopeless man is a defeated man. The heroes of God have been filled with a quenchless hope. Neither prison cells, nor burning furnaces, nor cruel racks, “nor any other creature” could weaken the hope that was anchored within the soul.
Phineas Bresee
A prayer to strengthen your day
Give me today a heart like His—a brave heart, a true heart, a tender heart, a heart with great room in it, a heart fixed on Thyself; for His name’s sake. Amen.
John Baillie
September 9, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 1:15, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Progress does not mean that things are always getting better and better, always moving upward and higher. Progress is a matter of living life one day at a time, one step at a time. Progress is learning the art of relaxing, having fun, enjoying life, and living in the grace of God.
Kennon Callahan
A prayer to strengthen your day
Strengthening Lord, teach me the value of waiting for the answer. Help me possess a steely strength when I am under divine orders. Help me to run and not be weary. To walk and not faint. Help me as I pray to remember that prayer is the time You give correction, change and assignment. Amen.
Neil B. Wiseman
September 12, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
God’s there, listening for all who pray,
for all who pray and mean it.
He does what’s best for those who fear him—
hears them call out, and saves them.
God sticks by all who love him,
but it’s all over for those who don’t.
My mouth is filled with God’s praise.
Let everything living bless him,
bless his holy name from now to eternity!
Psalm 145:18, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
If you want to be of use to God, get rightly related to Jesus Christ and He will make you of use unconsciously every minute you live.
Oswald Chambers
A prayer to strengthen your day
Master of my soul, I want my life to be organized around Jesus. Teach me, more and more, how to center my life on You. Give me Your direction, Your priority, Your affirmation, and Your correction.
Neil B. Wiseman
September 13, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
He’s God, our God,
in charge of the whole earth.
And he remembers, remembers his Covenant—
for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.
Psalm 105:7-8, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
It is what comes out of the preacher’s aloneness that counts.
Robert K. Hudnut
A prayer to strengthen your day
Bless every humble soul who, in these days of stress and strain, preaches sermons without words. In the name of Him who called us to be the servants of all. Amen.
Peter Marshall
September 14, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.
1 Peter 5:7, Phillips
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Our task is not to find praise but to be praiseworthy.”
J. B. Chapman
A prayer to strengthen your day
O God, my Father, I thank Thee that Thou art the source and the fountain of all my desire for maturity. I have felt Thy love and I cannot stand now to be unloving. I have tasted Thy goodness and I cannot be less than good. Amen.
E. Stanley Jones
September 15, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
God, it seems you’ve been our home forever;
long before the mountains were born,
Long before you brought earth itself to birth,
from “once upon a time” to “kingdom come”—you are God.
Psalm 90:1-2, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Cleanser. He is the Purifier, the Healer. He is the Sight-giver and the Life-giver. He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
A. W. Tozer
A prayer to strengthen your day
Grant me diligence in watching over that sacred well. And let me not forget that even living water can be stagnated by indifference or tainted by the impurities I tolerate in my life.
Ken Gire
September 16, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Train me, God, to walk straight;
then I’ll follow your true path.
Put me together, one heart and mind;
then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear.
From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord;
I’ve never kept secret what you’re up to.
You’ve always been great toward me—what love!
You snatched me from the brink of disaster!
Psalm 86:11-13, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
We are to ask for the old paths. Anything new in religion is false, and yet everything in salvation is marvelously new to him who finds it.
Phineas Bresee
A prayer to strengthen your day
Comes as power—to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme and keep me Thine;
Come as teacher—leading me into all truth, filling me with all understanding;
Come as love—that I may adore the Father and love Him as my all;
Come as light—illuminating the Scripture, molding me in its laws;
Come as sanctifier—body, soul, and spirit wholly Thine;
Come as helper—with strength to bless and keep, directing my every step;
Come as beautifier—bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of chaos.
Magnify to me Thy glory by being magnified in me, and make me redolent of Thy fragrance.
A Puritan Prayer
September 19, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Blessed be God, my mountain,
who trains me to fight fair and well.
He’s the bedrock on which I stand,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight,
The high crag where I run for dear life,
while he lays my enemies low.
Psalm 144:1-2, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
For every prayer there is a vision. Do not run away before yours comes.
Bertha Munro
A prayer to strengthen your day
Help us, O God, to be fellow workers with God, and to love and serve Him, not moderately, but tremendously. Amen.
Halford E. Luccock
September 20, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough.
There are no boundaries to his greatness.
Generation after generation stands in awe of your work;
each one tells stories of your mighty acts.
Psalm 145:3-4, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Most of us make the mistake of trying to change our circumstances instead of changing ourselves.
Vance Havner
A prayer to strengthen your day
Almighty God, may the transforming power of Your gospel be at work in my life today and always. Amen.
Rueben P. Job
September 21, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:15, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness.
C. S. Lewis
A prayer to strengthen your day
O Father, we have seen in Thy Son everything we have wanted to know about Thee and Thy purposes. Now we are satisfied. We have seen. And yet forever unsatisfied. For we can never be fully satisfied till we wake in His likeness. Amen.
E. Stanley Jones
September 22, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.
Psalm 139:23-24, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
Our human relationships are the actual conditions in which the ideal life of God is to exhibited.
Oswald Chambers
A prayer to strengthen your day
It’s too heavy, Lord,
I can’t carry this weight any longer . . .
but you have invited me
to empty the baggage of hurtful and painful memories.
Michel Quoist
September 23, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word
I waited and waited and waited for God.
At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn’t slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to God.
Psalm 40:1-3, TM
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims
The Psalmists are not interested in human potential; they are passionate about God—the obedience shaping, will-transforming, sin revoking, praise-releasing God.
Eugene H. Peterson
A prayer to strengthen your day
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart.
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move.
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.
Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The baptism of the heav’n descended Dove—
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.
George Croly
September 26, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word:
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Acts2:38-39, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims:
We are not commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification—we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see John 12:32). It is an injustice to say that Jesus Christ labored in redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God.
Oswald Chambers
A prayer to strengthen your day:
Come, Almighty to deliver, Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never, Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing, Glory in Thy perfect love.
Charles Wesley
September 27, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word:
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:3-7, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims:
Praying makes the preacher a heart preacher. Prayer puts the preacher’s heart into the preacher’s sermon; prayer puts the preacher’s sermon into the preacher’s heart.
E. M. Bounds
A prayer to strengthen your day:
Narrow is the mansion of my soul; enlarge Thou it, that Thou mayest enter in. It is ruinous; repair Thou it. It has that within which must offend Thine eyes; I confess and know it. But who shall cleanse it? Or to whom should I cry, save Thee? Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare Thy servant from the power of the enemy.
St. Augustine
September 28, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word:
I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Philemon 1:4-6, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims:
. . . all consists in one hearty renunciation of everything which we are sensible does not lead to GOD; that we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and in simplicity.
Brother Lawrence
A prayer to strengthen your day:
Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford, teach me Thy way!
Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heav’nly light, teach me Thy way!
Benjamin Ramsey
September 29, 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:
Often recall the proverb: “The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing” (Ecclesiastes1:8). Try, moreover, to turn your heart from the love of things visible and bring yourself to things invisible. For they who follow their own evil passions stain their consciences and lose the grace of God.
Thomas à Kempis
A prayer to strengthen your day:
Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone.
Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being.
Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king.
Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth.
Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.
Puritan Prayer
September 30, 2005
Good morning, ministry partner . . .
Be encouraged from the Word:
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
Philippians 3:7-8, NIV
Wisdom from fellow pilgrims:
Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence.
Charles Spurgeon
A prayer to strengthen your day:
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Fanny Crosby
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