September 1, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

What can I give back to God

for the blessings he’s poured out on me?

I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!

Psalm 116:12-13a, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims 

We are not only to renounce evil, but to manifest the truth. We tell people the world is vain; let our lives manifest that it is so.

Hudson Taylor

A prayer to strengthen your day 

Teach me to do Thy will,

that I may inwardly love Thee

                        before all things,

with a clean mind and clean body.

Alfred the Great

September 4, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:15, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

God’s promises are true, forever settled in heaven. Jesus is true. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but never His words. Paul knew whom he trusted. There is no chance about it, but absolute certainty. We are risking nothing when we trust Him.

Vance Havner

A prayer to strengthen your day

Father God, form the likeness of your Son in me by transforming

            my fears to courage,

            my struggles to conquests,

            my frustrations to faith,

            my losses to hope,

            my suffering to health. Amen.

Neil B. Wiseman

September 5, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

1 Thessalonians 5:8, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Holy has the same root as wholly, it means complete. A man is not complete in spiritual stature if all his mind, heart, soul, and strength are not given to God.

R. J. Stewart

A prayer to strengthen your day

My Father, keep me in the spirit of thanksgiving. May there be a new song in my mouth every morning.

J. H. Jowett

September 6, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:21, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger people. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.

Phillips Brooks

A prayer to strengthen your day

Here am I. Send me.

Isaiah 6:8b

September 7, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Ephesians 3:12, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

My soul was always so full of aspirations, that a God was a necessity to me. I was like a bird with an instinct of migration upon me, and a country to migrate to was as essential as it is to the bird.

Hannah Whitall Smith

A prayer to strengthen your day

Those who are far from you will perish;

            you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God.

            I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;

            I will tell of all your deeds.

Psalm 71:27-28, NIV

September 8, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Ephesians 1:17, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

All my roots are in Thee; all my fruits are from Thee.

E. Stanley Jones

A prayer to strengthen your day

O Spirit of the Living God, who has filled this place in times past, fill it now again that the people who come here may be strengthened and renewed to do your will.

Theodore Parker Ferris

September 11, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims 

Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.

Oswald Chambers

A prayer to strengthen your day 

Give me a lively, zealous, active and cheerful spirit that I may vigorously perform whatever thou commandest and be ever ardent to obey in all things thy holy love.

John Wesley

September 12, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:22, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims 

Patience is the fair handmaid and daughter of faith; we cheerfully wait when we are certain that we shall not wait in vain. It is our duty and our privilege to wait upon the Lord in service, in worship, in expectancy, in trust all the days of our life. Our faith will be tried faith, and if it be of the true kind, it will bear continued trial without yielding. We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously he once waited for us.

C. H. Spurgeon

A prayer to strengthen your day 

Holy Spirit of God, please show me:

            how to work relaxed,

                        how to make each task an offering of faith,

                                    how to view interruptions as doors to service,

                                                How to see each person as my teacher in things eternal.

In the name of him who always worked unhurried. Amen.

Richard J. Foster

September 13, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven . . .

Colossians 1:3-5a, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims 

God’s Word is a record of prayer—of praying men and their achievements, of the Divine warrant of prayer and of the encouragement given to those who pray.

E. M. Bounds

A prayer to strengthen your day 

Jesus, Saviour, pilot me

Over life’s tempestuous sea.

Unknown waves before me roll,

Hiding rocks and treach’rous shoal.

Chart and compass come from thee;

Jesus, Saviour, pilot me.

Edward Hopper

September 14, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

God takes the side of the helpless;

when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

Psalm 116:6, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims 

God Almighty has sent us into the world with very few wants. Meat and drink and clothing are the only things necessary in life. And as these are our only present needs, the present world is well furnished to supply these needs . . . One would reasonably suppose that men should pass their lives in reasonable contentedness and thankfulness to God. At least they should be free from violent disquiets and vexations.

William Law

A prayer to strengthen your day 

Cause me, O Lord my God,

More and more to comprehend and acknowledge

            What I owe you,

            What I owe others,

            What I owe myself.

Eric Milner-White

September 15, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;

God, don’t let me down!

I’ll run the course you lay out for me

if you’ll just show me how.

Psalm 119:31-32, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims 

I told you, in my last, that He sometimes permits bodily diseases to cure the distempers of the soul. Have courage then: ask of GOD, not deliverance from your pains, but strength to bear resolutely.

Brother Lawrence

A prayer to strengthen your day 

O Father, make me an extension of Your Incarnation in every situation in which I find myself this day. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Selwyn Hughes

September 18, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Colossians 1:10-12, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Living the spiritual life means living life as one unified reality.

Henri J. M. Nouwen

A prayer to strengthen your day

Lord, thank you that you do not give us a spirit of fear but of power, of love, and a sound mind.

Corrie ten Boom

September 19, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

He won’t let you stumble,

your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.

Psalm 121:3, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

It might be well for us Christians to listen less to the news commentators and more to the voice of the Spirit.

A. W. Tozer

A prayer to strengthen your day

O God, wake me up to Jesus. Give me His passion for prayer and His passion for people.

Selwyn Hughes

September 20, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.

1 Corinthians 1:5-6, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

What counts is not my ability, but my usability.

E. Stanley Jones

A prayer to strengthen your day

O Merciful Father, Have I today done anything to fulfill the purpose for which Thou didst cause me to be born? Have I accepted such opportunities of service as Thou in Thy wisdom hast set before my feet?

John Baillie

September 21, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,

rescues the wretched who’ve been thrown out with the trash,

Seats them among the honored guests,

a place of honor among the brightest and best.

Psalm 113:7-8, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Think of the time we waste nursing our moods. We enjoy them too much and too long.

Lloyd John Ogilvie

A prayer to strengthen your day

Cure us, O thou great Physician of souls, of all our sinful distempers,

Cure us of this intermitting piety, and fix it into an even and a constant holiness.

John Wesley

September 22, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

To [the saints] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

The Christian life is an adventure. Jesus doesn’t ask us to join a new organization; he calls us to a life of commitment.

Douglas Connelly

A prayer to strengthen your day

Help us this day and every day,

To live more nearly as we pray.

John Keble

September 25, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

God guards you from every evil,

he guards your very life.

He guards you when you leave and when you return,

he guards you now, he guards you always.

Psalm 121:7-8, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages

C. H. Spurgeon

A prayer to strengthen your day

With your very own hands you formed me;

now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.

Psalm 119:73, TM

September 26, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Give me a bent for your words of wisdom,

and not for piling up loot.

Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,

invigorate me on the pilgrim way.

Psalm 119:36-37, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

The very fruit of the gospel is aspiration. It is to the heart what spring is to the earth, making every root, and bud, and bough desire to be more.

Henry Ward Beecher

A prayer to strengthen your day

Dear God, I have no idea. I’m glad you do. Amen.

Jon Whitney

September 27, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!

God, I’ll never comprehend them!

I couldn’t even begin to count them—

any more than I could count the sand of the sea.

Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!

And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!

Psalm 139:17-19, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Let all our employment be to know GOD: the more one knows Him, the more one desires to know Him.

Brother Lawrence

A prayer to strengthen your day

Father, help me not to keep any aspect of my life away from Your redeeming grace. Amen.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

September 28, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

All you who fear God, how blessed you are!

how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!

Psalm 128:1, TM

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

Young Martin Luther’s teacher told him: “Leave the Bible alone. It creates unrest.”

Halford E. Luccock

A prayer to strengthen your day

Gardener of my soul

I need you to

            break up clods of failure,

            stir in rich compost of vision,

            plant gospel seed that transforms,

            cultivate, water, and tend my faith

            until it produces lasting fruit. Amen.

Neil B. Wiseman

September 29, 2006

Good morning, ministry partner . . .

Be encouraged from the Word

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, NIV

Wisdom from fellow pilgrims

“Let me understand that I may believe,” say you.

And I say, “Believe that you may understand.”

St. Augustine

A prayer to strengthen your day

I long to fill all my time for Thee, whether at home or in the way; to place all my concerns in Thy hands; to be entirely at Thy disposal, having no will or interest of my own. Help me to live to Thee forever, to make Thee my last and only end.

A Puritan Prayer

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