How gracious God is; how gentle with His earth-bound children! Despite my reluctance to follow, little by little He led me deeper into His truth. How could I know that in committing myself to God’s sovereignty I was embracing the richest love, the purest joys, the truest source of fulfillment the human heart can know?
— Margaret Clarkson, So You’re Single, p. 35
In the environment of the courtroom, with man-made laws laying wait to render a decree of dissolution of your marriage, keep foremost in your mind, precious one, that the Lord God Himself was witness to the covenant made at your marriage. You might feel frightened and all alone, but you won’t be. Just be strong and of good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid, for the Lord Your God, He is the one who goes with you. Regardless of the outcome, know for certain that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
— Testimonial in Your Father Knows Best, compiled by Bob and Charlyne Steinkamp
What does faith see? For that, we must return, I think, to the moment when we saw by faith for the very first time. In that moment, we saw differently than we had ever seen before. We had x-ray vision then. We were able to see through the things of this world and recognize in them God’s invisible qualities — love, order, patience, enthusiasm — revealed in the world he created for our benefit. Faith, after all, merely confirms what creation shows us in that first lightning bolt of believing. We looked at apples, grass, shade and saw provision. We looked at algebra and saw order. We looked at our pain and struggles, even our terror, and recognized God’s patience and his amazing gift of free will.
— Patty Kirk, Confessions of an Amateur Believer, p. 55
Our life unfolds as if God were showing us a slide show, and each slide is a little test. God says, “Can you forgive this?“ If the answer is no, God simply moves the slide back for us to view again later.
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 18
If there is anything that I hope you have learned from me is that God does speak to His children personally.
— Charlyne Steinkamp, Charlyne Cares, December 11, 2007
The heart expands not by taking more in, but by giving more away.
We can be generous people because we have been given generous gifts.
We’re greedy because we think there’s a limited supply.
There is an unlimited supply of the things our hearts really long for.
Live with expanding hearts.
— Pastor Ed Allen, December 2, 2007
God speaks to us in a thousand voices, each with the same clear message: “I love you. Please trust me on this one.”
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 7
Why are we so safe in the things we pray? Who are we trying to keep from looking foolish? Us or Him?
— Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day, p. 347
The one major thing God told me from the very beginning, when I had no clue where I was or where I was going, was obedience in the face of reason. I was to keep a short account with God, cleanse myself daily of anger, bitterness and resentment, and forgive even when I didn’t feel like it. Willingness was, and is, always the key.
— Testimonial in Your Father Knows Best:Â True Reports from Court of God Moving When People are Praying, compiled by Bob and Charlyne Steinkamp
The key thing to know about Martin Luther, I think, is that every event of his life — like every event in yours and mine — was part of the vining growth plan of ups and downs God had devised for him. God frightened him, pushed him, wound him round the Word. As with Noah and Hezekiah and Jonah and others, many of the downturns of Luther’s life happened toward the end, when you’d think he’d be past all that badness, past his humanness, a completely godly man, producing the fullest and most mellow fruit. But it’s God’s plan, not ours, after all, and we are not his equal. As Job points out, “Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!” — no one except God, of course, who can do the impossible and did it with me and goes around doing it all the time.
— Patty Kirk, Confessions of an Amateur Believer, p. 42-43