8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
“If you compromise the message of Jesus, the world will love you. But if you proclaim Jesus and His Gospel without compromise, the world will hate you. Proclaim it anyway, just as the witnesses in Revelation 11 proclaimed the Gospel. For when we do, we share the saving grace and love of Christ. It is a message everyone needs to hear. It is a message the Holy Spirit will guide us in sharing, and one He will quicken hearts to receive.” Michael Youssef
“Every sermon, every Bible lesson, every word of testimony, and every verse of Scripture is a warning, calling us to repentance and revival. Our God is a consuming fire, and a day of judgment is coming. We must not neglect the warning, and today’s church must not forget that our message includes the ministry of warning.” Robert J. Morgan
“You have a message, and you are constantly delivering it. You may not even know what it is. It may be a message of redemption or of guilt, of confidence or of insecurity, of faith or of doubt. But one way or another, your life is an embodied message of whatever you believe to be true. That’s frightening, isn’t it? We can handle the thought of delivering a message when God tells us to, the thought that we are always implicitly living a message means we may have preached against the gospel many, many times. Every time we sowed seeds of discord, every time we got comfortable with sin, every time we said something that minimized God’s goodness or exaggerated our own, we gave a false message. We might think we’ve never presumed to speak for God, but as creatures made in His image, we have. We may have spoken truth, or we may have spoken lies, but we have spoken. Wearing the name of ‘Christian,’ we have made some kind of impression – either positive or negative, or a combination of both – on this world.” Chris Tiegreen
“What impression do you want to leave with others if the only thing they have to go on is your countenance, attitude or expression? Sadly, for some of us the message would be ‘unhappy home,’ ‘mad at the world,’ or ‘depressed and downtrodden.’ As believers in Christ, we must not live there. Rather, our lives should reflect whose we are. The Scriptures teach us in Psalm 68:3, ‘...may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.’ If you're a child of the King, then take on an attitude of royalty. Reveal God's presence in your life. Hold your head high, greet others with genuine hospitality and be careful to show loving-kindness to all people. By doing these things, you will become a bold witness for Christ without ever having to open your mouth.” Renee Nail
“Carrying God's gracious offer involves human beings whom God has brought to Himself and then uses as His heralds. They share God's message of salvation because He will save everyone who calls on His name.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
“‘The best memories are still to come.’ I doubt anyone who came to Ray’s funeral will forget those words. Every so often you get to see with your own eyes the fruit of a life lived with sacrificial faithfulness. All the life that comes from an actual, old-fashioned dying-to-self. It’s staggering. It pulls me back to reality. No matter how glamorized the choices and desires of one’s individual Self and the temptation to organize your life around getting what you think you want, that’s not how God set up the universe. It’s just as Jesus said. The grain of wheat that falls into the ground like a dead dream becomes a field of such bounty it stretches into the horizon. You can hardly get a seat at the funeral. So in those moments that no one would notice but you, when you have to die in some small way to what you’d really rather do in order to care for your children, or your aging mother, or when you go out of your way to strengthen someone else’s hand in God, and you think none of it matters much and you will never turn out to be anybody special, and the ‘sacrifice’ of something you cherish appears a bit dumb by current standards, remember my friend, Ray. As will I.” Paula Rinehart
“The whole message of the Gospel is this: Become like Jesus. We have his self-portrait. When we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow Jesus and become like him.” Henri Nouwen
“You don’t get to keep. You get to witness.” Ann Voskamp
“But when I think of him (Billy Graham) I also think of his message because he was immersed in it. Saturated in it. He was his message...a simple man who had responded to God’s love by placing his faith in Jesus, receiving the assurance that his sins were forgiven, that he would not perish, but would have everlasting life. Simple faith. Faith that now matters more than anything else. For years, over his head as he preached was the banner that quoted the words of Jesus: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Jesus completed that sentence by saying that “No one comes to the Father but by Me.” Based on what Jesus said, Daddy is safely with the Father. In heaven. Daddy not only claimed Jesus as the only Way to God, he lived by the Truth publicly on platforms and privately behind closed doors and is now enjoying real Life. I have often stated that I was raised by a single parent because ministry took my father away from our family – for weeks and months at a time. Daddy estimated that he was gone from home approximately 60 percent of his children’s growing-up years. Now, he has left again. This time, he will not be coming back. At least, not until Jesus does, too. While he may be physically absent and his voice silent, I am confident that his message will continue to reverberate throughout the generations to come. My prayer on this day of his move to Our Father’s House is that his death will be a rallying cry. That tens of thousands of pastors, teachers, evangelists, and ordinary men and women will rise up to take his place. That they will take up his message like a baton being passed in a relay race and faithfully pass it on to those with whom they come in contact. Because Daddy’s message is God’s message. And it’s a message of genuine hope for the future, of love for the present, of forgiveness for the past. It’s a message, when received, that brings a fresh beginning, unshakable joy, unexplainable peace, eternal significance, meaning and purpose in life, and opens Heaven’s door.” Ann Graham Lotz
“Be One.... who has a model life; a mentor with a message; an approved workman who correctly handles God's Word (2 Timothy 2:15); who does his best (2 Timothy 2:15, 4:9,21); who guards the Gospel (2 Timothy Chapter 1); who suffers for the Gospel (2 Timothy Chapter 2); who continues in the Gospel (2 Timothy Chapter 3); who preaches the Gospel (2 Timothy Chapter 4); who pours out his life as a drink offering (2 Timothy 4:6); who fights the good fight of faith (2 Timothy 4:7); who has a fixed focus, firm stand, and a faithful finish (2 Timothy 4:7).” Donna Evans