"In other words Jesus went into the desert to confront His enemy and throw down the gauntlet. He would prove Himself to be the legitimate shepherd of Israel by overcoming the temptations that had undone all of Israel's previous kings, including His mighty ancestor, King David."

"God gave laws to His people to bless them, not to burden them. Every rule either elevates the quality of human life or restores one's relationship with God after a breach. He makes no extraneous demands and He is never capricious."

"When I have a wrong attitude, I look at life humanly. When I have a right attitude, I look at life divinely."

"A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living."

"Good intentions and earnest effort are not enough. Only Jesus can make an otherwise futile life productive."

"The size of a challenge should never be measured by what we have to offer. It will never be enough. Furthermore, provision is God's responsibility, not ours. We are merely called to commit what we have - even if it's no more than a sack lunch."

"Give us an intense distaste for things that displease You and a renewed pleasure in things that bring You honor and magnify Your truth."

"We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever time He chooses to make it available. But this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally. It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith."

"[Jesus] plan called for action, and how He expressed it predicted its success. He didn't say 'you *might* be my witnesses, ' or 'you *could* be my witnesses, ' or even 'you *should* be my witnesses.' He said 'you *will* be my witnesses."

"It's not enough merely to believe there is a God. You must believe in the God who is there."

"When you suffer and lose, that does not mean you are being disobedient to God. In fact, it might mean you're right in the center of His will. The path of obedience is often marked by times of suffering and loss."

"Isn't God the one who urges us to 'Make a joyful noise unto the Lord'? Why do we always think that means singing? Seems to me the most obvious joyful sound on earth is laughter... I've seen folks quote verses like 'Rejoice in the Lord always' while their faces look like they just buried a rich uncle who willed everything to his pregnant guinea pig. Something is missing."

"Joy is a deeply felt contentment that transcends difficult circumstances and derives maximum enjoyment from every good experience."

"We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude."

"Which should be an excellent reminder that when God tells you to do something, you'd better do it; He always has a reason."

"It takes faith to find personal significance in your relationship with God rather than how much money you earn, how beautiful you look, how many toys you own, how many trophies you collect, or how much territory you conquer and control."

"While God is not the author of evil and He never prompts or condones sin, nothing occurs without His sovereign oversight. Others may choose to do evil deeds and God's people may suffer in the short term, but He will transform the evil intentions of evil people into opportunities for the enrichment of those in His care."

"Choose to view life through God's eyes. This will not be easy because it doesn't come naturally to us. We cannot do this on our own. We have to allow God to elevate our vantage point. Start by reading His Word, the Bible...Pray and ask God to transform your thinking. Let Him do what you cannot. Ask Him to give you an eternal, divine perspective."

"It's the most exciting thing to watch God work when I've asked him about something, to listen to him and watch him work. It's like this friendship, and it just grows and grows and grows and grows."

"Jesus never commanded believers to produce fruit. Fruit is the *purpose* of the branch, but it is not the *responsibility* of the branch. The branch cannot produce anything on it's own. However, if it remains attached to the vine, it will receive life - sustaining sap, nourishment, strength, everything it needs."

"If you life is an example of glorifying God, others won't see your good works and glorify YOU, because they'll know what you are doing is for God's glory."

"Fortunately, God made all varieties of people with a wide variety of interests and abilities. He has called people of every race and color who have been hurt by life in every manner imaginable. Even the scars of past abuse and injury can be the means of bringing healing to another. What wonderful opportunities to make disciples!"

"To be 'in Christ' is to place one's trust in Him for salvation from sin. To be 'in Christ' is to trust His goodness, not our own; to trust that His sacrificial death on the cross paid the complete debt of death we owe for our sin; to trust that His resurrection gives us eternal life instead of relying upon our own ability to please God. To be 'in Christ' is to claim, by faith, the free gift of salvation. To be 'in Christ' is to enjoy a completely restored relationship with our Father in heaven by virtue of His Son's righteous standing."

"When you trust the Lord God to give you the next step, when you wait in humility upon Him, *He* will open the doors or close them, and you'll get to rest and relax until He says, 'Go."

"The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail."

"Jesus didn't come to earth to establish a new religion. He came to restore a broken relationship. He came to make the primary, primary again. The secondary activity of obedience to the law of God was always intended to serve the primary activity: to love God and enjoy Him forever. When that is primary, the secondary becomes a labor of love, a joyful, and 'easy' burden to bear. (Matthew 11:28 - 30"

"The abundance Jesus offers is a spiritual abundance that transcends circumstances, like income, health, living conditions, and even death. The abundant life is eternal."

"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude."

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."

"Consistent, Timely encouragement has the staggering magnetic power to draw an immortal soul to the God of Hope. The one whose name is Wonderful Counselor."

"If your motive is in any way to promote greatness for yourself, you're in the wrong calling."

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it."

"Someone has said, Education is going from an unconscious to conscious awareness of one's ignorance...No one has a corner on wisdom. All the name - dropping in the world does not heighten the significance of our character. If anything, it reduces it. Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable."

"The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day."

"The world has changed and it's going to keep changing, but God never changes; so we are safe when we cling to Him."

"In the wilderness, God's covenant people struggled with a choice between feeding their bellies and nourishing their souls. God provided manna - a breadlike food that fell to the ground during the night - to sustain the wandering Israelites and to teach them how to value His Word more than physical fulfillment."

"I cannot at the same time accept the glory and give God the glory... Glorifying God means being occupied with and committed to His ways rather than preoccupied with and determined my own way. It is being so thrilled with Him, so devoted to Him, so committed to Him that we cannot get enough of Him!"

"Life...as God intended it enables us to live above the drag of fear, superstition, shame, pessimism, guilt, anxiety, worry, and all the negativity that keeps people from seizing each day as a gift from Him."

"Whatever we do, we must not treat the Great Commission like it's the Great Suggestion."

"God never calls His people to accomplish anything without promising to supply their every need."

"When the Lord makes it clear you're to follow Him in this new direction, focus fully on Him and refuse to be distracted by comparisons with others."

"While I wholeheartedly believe in choosing to approach every challenge with a great attitude, I don't mean that we should abandon authenticity and live in fantasyland."

"When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic."

"In order to cease our striving, we must transfer our trust away from our own abilities, our own accomplishments, our own strength, and place it on His provision."

"Like sin itself, Satan appeals to the senses. He originated and perfected the art of disguising evil as good."

"To require God to prove that He is able and willing to fulfill His promises would be proof positive that one does not trust Him."

"Israel's first king, Saul, looked like he was born for the role. He was tall, handsome, intelligent, and sensitive to God's leading. But he eventually lost most of his attractive qualities, the most important being obedience."

"Boldness in the course of a noble fight is worth the risk...If you stand on truth, you'll only regret your timidity later, but you'll never regret being bold."

"God doesn't mock us. He never gives us a goal that we cannot accomplish in His strength. I want to assure you, you can glorify God, you MUST glorify God. But you have to determine deep within your heart that you're going to do it His way."

"A teardrop on earth summons the King of heaven."