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  A COLLECTION OF GOOD QUOTES I am a collector. I have artifacts from all over the world where I have travelled to 65 countries, but especially from Africa where we lived for 13 years. When I took the Clifton Strengths Finder survey of my signature strengths it identified me as one called ‘input’. In the book “Living Your Strengths” by Winseman, Clifton and Liesveld the input strength was identified in the following way. “You are inquisitive, you collect things, you might collect information—words, facts, books, quotations, ideas, or you might collect tangible objects. Whatever you collect you collect it because it interests you. Yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh and perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable. Input talents are valuable because they keep your mind active and lead you to become knowledgeable.”
John 21:25, “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” II Timothy 4:13, “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the book, and above all the parchments.” Proverbs 2:1-5, “My child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commands within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding; if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” One of my favorite collections is quotations from books I’ve read or people I’ve heard speak. I’d like to share some of these quotes with you. Several of the one-liners I’ve collected did not identify the author. If you’ve said one of the one liners or know who did, please let me know.
“You would think that with the beauty of heaven and the awfulness of hell that we Nazarenes would do something to win someone to Jesus.” Dr. V. H. Lewis “It is awesome to realize that at the end of our lives we will be the sum total of our responses to God’s answers to our prayers. For God has chosen to be limited in His next action by our response to His previous answer. The final outcome of our lives is decided by a life-long series of responses of God’s answers to our prayers. The way we respond to God and then He in turn to us actually determines the directions our lives will take.” Evelyn Christianson “The will of God concerns the present more than the future. The only time we really have to know and do God’s will is the present moment. It is the daily choices we make to honor and serve God in the manner of our conduct at home or at work and our use of time and talent and our willingness to do mundane tasks in our commitment to live sacrificially that determines whether we are doing the will of God.” Gerald Lidster “We all want to live a GOOD legacy; one that will long outlast us and trickle down to many future generations. Did you know that the word GOOD comes from the same root word as GOD? If a man wants to be really GOOD, he must be GODLY! They’re connected.” Arnie Leidy The one statement Jesus made more than any other was this: “Don’t be afraid.” Max Lucado “Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can. With all the zeal you can, and as long as ever you can.” John Wesley “Mission isn’t something that is done by someone else but is the responsibility of every believer in Jesus Christ, and missional churches spend time and resources equipping people to be missionaries.” Dennis Bickers, International Ministry in a Not-So-Mega Church I called my friend Bob Killen and asked if I could quote an excerpt from an article he recently wrote regarding revival. Revival is a word that I am finding little used in our ‘church vocabulary’ anymore. We used to use it with regularity but in recent years it has been removed from our use and I am afraid it has been all but forgotten by many in the church. One definition of ‘revival’ is a bringing or coming back to life or consciousness; a stirring up of religious faith of those who have been indifferent. It comes from the word ‘revive’ which means to come back to life; live again after dying; to come back to health and vigor.” “The church is in desperate need of real revival, to be revived. We need a renewal of spiritual vitality and obedience to God. Charles Finney said, “a revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.” If we are to be obedient we must know God and know His word. This requires that we develop an intimate relationship with God. We cannot develop this kind of relationship without a vital, personal devotional life that includes prayer and the reading of God’s word.” Jim Cymbala wrote in his book, Fresh Wind Fresh Fire, “the first step in any spiritual awakening is demolition. We cannot make headway in seeking God without first tearing down the accumulated ‘junk’ in our souls. Rationalizing has to cease. We have to start seeing the sinful debris we had not noticed before, which is what holds back the blessing of God. Anytime people get hungry to truly know the Lord, the Holy Spirit quickly puts a shovel and broom into their hands. Husbands and wives begin to deal with long-buried issues hurting their marriage. Adults take a closer look at their choices of TV programs and videos they watch, etc. Church members begin to see the damage wreaked by their gossip, their racial attitudes, their criticism. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit and quenches His power amongst us. It is not government oppression or lack of funds that destroys churches, it is gossip and slander that grieves the Holy Spirit. Let’s get serious about pleasing God. II Chronicles 16:9 says: ‘The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.’ Whatever He asks takes precedence over every other loyalty. Whatever God approves of comes first. Whatever grieves Him has to go.” Let’s say no to what grieves the Lord and yes to what pleases Him. Dr. J. Fred Huff
For More Information Contact: Dr. J. Fred Huff Send Mail to Dr. J. Fred Huff
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