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  • Quote

    Author
    Alexander Pope
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Philippians 2:3, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 6:3, James 3:17, 1 Corinthians 4:5, Matthew 7:1-2
    ’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own.

  • illustration

    Doubt is in Everyone

    Author
    John Ortberg
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:24-25, Hebrews 11:1, John 20:27
    Writer Michael Novak says that doubt is not so much a dividing line that separates people into different camps, as it is a razor’s edge that runs through every soul. Many believers tend to think doubt...

  • Quote

    Author
    Krister Stendahl
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 26:12, Matthew 23:12, Luke 18:9-14, 1 Corinthians 8:2-3
    Our vision is more obstructed by what we think we know than by our lack of knowledge.

  • illustration

    Doubt over Faith?

    Author
    Lesslie Newbigin
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Mark 9:24, Romans 10:17, John 20:27, 1 John 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Proverbs 3:5-6
    Have you ever noticed that the phrases in our culture favor doubt over faith? The famed missionary and theologian Lesslie Newbigin pointed this out when we speak of “Honest doubts” and “blind faith”. ...

  • Quote

    Author
    Alexis de Tocqueville
    Keywords
    Scripture
    1 Corinthians 2:9, Job 23:10, Romans 11:33, Psalm 37:5, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 55:8-9, Proverbs 3:5-9
    I am ignorant of His designs, but I will not cease to believe in them because I cannot penetrate them. And I will prefer to doubt my own lights rather than His justice.

  • Quote

    Author
    Bernard of Clairvaux
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Ephesians 3:20, Job 42:2-3, John 20:29, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Romans 11:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6
    I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind.

  • Quote

    Author
    David Livingstone
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Acts 20:35, Proverbs 3:9, 2 Corinthians 9:7-8, Mark 10:21, Luke 12:33-34, Philippians 3:7-8, Matthew 13:44-46
    I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of God. If anything will advance the interests of the kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving o...

  • Quote

    Author
    Randy Alcorn
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Galatians 2:11-14, Jonah 3:4, Proverbs 3:3-4, Colossians 4:6, Micah 6:8, Ephesians 4:15, John 1:14
    Truth-oriented Christians love studying Scripture and theology. But sometimes they’re quick to judge and slow to forgive. They’re strong on truth, weak on grace. Grace-oriented Christians love forgive...

  • illustration

    Control Issues

    Author
    M. Robert Mulholland Jr.
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 29:11, John 15:1-27, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 2:20, Matthew 6:25-34
    In their excellent book Invitation to a Journey , M. Robert Mulholland and Ruth Haley Barton describe the foundation of life as being spiritual in nature. This means we are constantly be “formed” s...

  • Quote

    Author
    Vaclav Havel
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Romans 8:28, Hebrews 11:1, Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 55:8-9, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
    Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

  • Quote

    Author
    Lauren F. Winner
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Corinthians 12:9, James 1:5-6, Hebrews 11:1, Ephesians 4:11-13, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
    Maybe God has given some people belief like a pier, to stand on (and God has given those people’s steadiness to the church, to me, as a reminder, as an aid), and maybe God has given others something e...

  • illustration

    Not Heeding the Call

    Author
    Jeff Volkmer
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Micah 6:8, Hebrews 13:16, Galatians 6:9-10, Proverbs 3:27, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:14-17
    Just the other day, I was out on a bike ride for some exercise. Because I work for a high-end cycling company, I had the opportunity to test ride one the bikes we make – a bike that comes with a price...

  • illustration

    Goodwill or God’s Will?

    Author
    Henri J. M. Nouwen
    Keywords
    Scripture
    1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Isaiah 6:8, Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 2:10, Proverbs 3:5-6, Jeremiah 29:11
    A lesson often learned the hard way in each of our spiritual journeys is mistaking goodwill for vocation. Sometimes we feel deeply about an experience we have, whether it be on a mission trip or even ...

  • Quote

    Author
    Mark Batterson
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Isaiah 55:8-9, Proverbs 3:5-6
    If you let your circumstances define the way you see God, you are a prisoner of perspective. Or worse, a prisoner of your past mistakes! But if you let God define the way you see your circumstances, y...

  • liturgy

    Adapted from Proverbs 3:13-18

    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 3:13-18
    Leader: Happy are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. People: For her good profit is better than getting silver, and her return is better than fine gold. Leader: She is more preci...

  • illustration

    How we Deal with the Desert

    Author
    Bianca Juarez Olthoff
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Hosea 2:14, Isaiah 43:19, Psalm 63:1, Matthew 4:1, Deuteronomy 8:2
    We all go through desert seasons and have the opportunity to determine how we will respond. The cyclical frustrations I faced in regard to my desire for control, fear, and the longing to feel chosen w...

  • illustration

    A Firm Conviction

    Author
    Ben Patterson
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Isaiah 40:28-31, Ephesians 3:20-21, Psalm 147:5, James 1:5, Proverbs 3:5-6
    The foundation of faith is a firm conviction regarding three things about God—his perfect love, wisdom and power. Like a three-legged stool, no combination of two will do. There must be all three for ...

  • illustration

    God's Will Through Circumstance: He Opens and Closes Doors

    Author
    David Peterson
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 30:21, Genesis 24:27, Isaiah 48:17
    Not long ago, I had a young couple come to me and say, “Pastor, we’re looking at buying a house. We’ve looked at this one house, and we really like it, but we want to make sure it’s God’s will. Would ...

  • illustration

    Americans Approach to Giving

    Author
    Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Acts 20:35, Luke 6:38, Proverbs 3:9-10, Malachi 3:10, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
    In their book Passing the Plate (Oxford, 2008), Christian Smith and Michael Emerson introduce the phrase “discretionary obligation” as a way to understand the typical American Christian’s approach to ...

  • illustration

    Good vs. Bad Discipline

    Author
    James K. A. Smith
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Hebrews 12:5-11, Proverbs 3:11-12, Psalm 94:12, 1 Timothy 4:7-8, Philippians 3:12-14, Matthew 23:23-24, James 1:22-25, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
    While formally or structurally speaking, there are mechanisms of discipline operative in both the convent and the prison, in both the factory and the monastery, more specifically, these disciplines an...

  • illustration

    Following Jesus Requires Real Commitment

    Author
    Bradley Long
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 3:5-8, Matthew 22:37, Romans 12:1-2, Luke 14:26-27, Deuteronomy 6:5, Luke 16:13, Mark 12:30, John 14:15, Matthew 16:24-26, Luke 9:59-62, Matthew 6:24, Hebrews 11:13-16, Hebrews 10:38-39, Matthew 6:33-34, Matthew 10:37-39
    What are you willing to do for love? An instructor for the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course shared with a class the major hang-up he had to get over before asking his wife to ma...

  • illustration

    The Blue Pill or the Red Pill

    Author
    Mark Batterson
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Philippians 3:14, John 20:29, James 1:5-6, Romans 10:17, Matthew 17:20, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6
    There is an iconic scene in the cult classic The Matrix that makes for a great metaphor. Morpheus gives Neo a choice between two pills: You can take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake up in y...

  • illustration

    Settling Accounts

    Author
    William E. Brown
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 6:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:25-26, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Galatians 6:9
    The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed b...

  • illustration

    A Map & Our Beliefs

    Author
    Gregory Koukl
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 3:5-6, Micah 6:8, Matthew 7:13-14, James 1:5, Romans 12:2, Jeremiah 6:16, Psalm 119:105
    A few years ago I was with my family in Washington, D.C., a wildly complex city laid out like a square wheel with broken spokes making an angular maze that is a nightmare to navigate. However, my fami...

  • illustration

    If You Want to Fill your Sunday School Class

    Author
    Dallas Willard
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Proverbs 3:5-6, Exodus 3:1-12, 1 Kings 19:9-13, Romans 12:1-2, Acts 16:6-10, Psalm 25:4-5
    Within the Christian community this leads to a prominence of teaching on the will of God and how to know it. Russ Johnston draws upon his own wide experience to remark how this continues to be one of ...

  • Quote

    Author
    John Ortberg
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Matthew 14:31, John 20:29, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6, Mark 9:24, James 1:5-6
    We live in an age when belief comes hard because we’re much more afraid of being gullible (believing something that’s not true) than we are of being skeptical (not believing something that is true). W...

  • liturgy

    Lord of glory and honor – You are

    Author
    Richard Herman
    Keywords
    Scripture
    1 John 1:9, Proverbs 3:5, Matthew 6:21, Colossians 1:20, Revelation 19:16
    Lord of glory and honor – You are worthy of our worship and allegiance. You are Faithful and True. With authentic justice You judge the world, and each of us in it. You’re the Word of God – made fles...

  • illustration

    Holding on to Everything

    Author
    W. Tamra Chandler
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Psalm 55:22, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 43:18-19, Ephesians 4:31-32, 1 Peter 5:7
    Poet Donald Hall told the story of a hermit in New Hampshire, a man who passed away leaving behind sheds full of hoarded stuff. In one of the sheds was a box labeled, “string too short to be saved.” ...

  • illustration

    The Rope

    Author
    C. S. Lewis
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Mark 9:14-24, Psalm 56:3-4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Hebrews 11:null, Philippians 1:21, Psalm 20:7, James 1:2-4
    You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using i...

  • Quote

    Author
    Dallas Willard
    Keywords
    Scripture
    Titus 2:10, Matthew 5:16, Proverbs 3:3-4, 1 Peter 3:4, Galatians 5:22-23
    [Beauty] “is goodness made manifest to the senses.
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