One
of these sayings reminds me of two of my nieces. Years ago their mom
told them, "Grandma is coming to visit in two weeks!" One of the young
nieces asked, "Is it the 'Bless your Little Heart' grandma or the 'Hum,
hum, hum' grandma?"
Also, after John and I visited our daughter's
home one week several years ago, I mentioned to her how I noticed our
granddaughter (5 at the time) was saying, "Oh my goodness" a lot, and I
thought it was so cute. Joy said, "Well, you know, Mom, she just started
saying that since you're here!"
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life" (I Thes. 4:11) "The quiet
life shares the good news loudest, perhaps because only the quiet life
is first able to hear the good news...All the energies of the flesh, all
the vanity of a world that has rejected heaven, seem bent on making
noise. Bent on leading us away from the quiet life that sings so
beautifully of the world that is to come." --Christie Purifoy, Roots and
Sky
Make no mistake about it, "He's got the whole world in His hands."
From the greatest to the least, nothing is beyond the scope of His
sovereign power and providential care. He makes the rain fall, the sun
shine, the stars twinkle--in this and all other galaxies. He raises up
people and kingdoms and He brings down both. He numbers the hairs on our
heads and determines the days of our lives. In doing so, He weaves
everything together into His design. Ultimately, the tapestry of His
handiwork will be something to behold! --Chuck Swindoll
"Blessed is he who trusts the LORD." Proverbs 16:20
"Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord; Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word. Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own; Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.
Once 'twas painful trying, Now 'tis perfect trust; Once a half salvation, Now the uttermost. Once 'twas ceaseless holding, Now He holds me fast; Once 'twas constant drifting, Now my anchor's cast.
Once 'twas busy planning, Now 'tis trustful prayer; Once 'twas anxious caring, Now He has the care. Once 'twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says; Once 'twas constant asking, Now 'tis ceaseless praise.
Once it was my working, His it hence shall be; Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me. Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One; Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.
Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He's mine; Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine. Once for death I waited, Now His coming hail; And my hopes are anchored, Safe within the veil."
“Some people get easily turned aside from the grandeur of their
life-work by pursuing their own grievances and enemies, until their life
gets turned into one little petty whirl of warfare. It is like a nest
of hornets. You may disperse the hornets, but you will probably get
terribly stung, and get nothing for your pains, for even their honey is
not worth a search.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson,
Days of Heaven Upon Earth
“I once saw a picture of the Constitution of the United States,
very skillfully engraved in copper plate, so that when you looked at it
closely it was nothing more than a piece of writing, but when you looked
at it at a distance, it was the face of George Washington. The face
shone out in the shading of the letters at a little distance, and I saw
the person, not the words, nor the ideas; and I thought, “‘That is the
way to look at the Scriptures and understand the thoughts of God, to see
in them the face of love, shining through and through; not ideas, nor
doctrines, but Jesus Himself as the Life and Source and sustaining
Presence of all our life.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson
“The ruin of the human race came by discrediting and doubting
God’s word to our first parents. “Hath God said?” was the fountain of
all sin. “God hath said” is the foundation, therefore, of our
restoration.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson,
The A.B. Simpson Collection: 32 Classic Works
“The devil’s first trick is to get us to say, “I have not sinned.”
And then his last blow is to make us think, “My sin is too great to be
forgiven.” But humble faith accepts God’s judgment upon itself, and
escapes judgment.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson,
The A.B. Simpson Collection: 32 Classic Works
“Someone has beautifully analyzed the fruit of the Spirit in Gal.
5: 22, and shown that all the graces there mentioned are but various
forms of love itself. The apostle is not speaking of different fruits,
but of one fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, and the various words that
follow are but phrases and descriptions of the one fruit, which is love
itself. Joy, which is first mentioned, is love on wings; peace, which
follows, is love folding its wings, and nestling under the wings of God;
longsuffering is love enduring; gentleness is love in society; goodness
is love in activity, faith is love confiding; meekness is love
stooping; temperance is true self-love, and the proper regard for our
own real interests, which is as much the duty of love, as regard for the
interests of others.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson,
The A.B. Simpson Collection: 32 Classic Works
“Most persons after a step of faith are looking for sunny skies
and unruffled seas, and when they meet a storm and tempest they are
filled with astonishment and perplexity.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson,
Days of Heaven Upon Earth
“God’s jewels are often sent us in rough packages and by dark
liveried servants, but within we find the very treasures of the King’s
palace and the Bridegroom’s Love.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson,
Days of Heaven Upon Earth
“The greatest need of our age and of every age, the greatest need
of every human heart, is to know the resources and sufficiency of God.”
―
Albert Benjamin Simpson
Christianity Today called Elisabeth Elliot "one of the most influential Christian women of the 20th century," and I couldn't agree more. She was a woman who helped shape my teen years and is a woman I still look up to for inspiration and guidance through her many books. If this is the first time you're hearing about her, I suggest reading "Through the Gates of Splendor." It's the true story of how her husband and four other men were tragically killed on a missionary trip to Ecuador. It's through this loss that Elisabeth shares some of her deepest words on pain, suffering, and hope.
She died this morning (June 15, 2015), and I can only imagine the party happening in Heaven. Here are just a few quotes from this great woman.
“The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.”
“I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done.”
“Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now.”
“Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your saviour, your guide? If He is, you don't need to search any further for security.”
“One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”
“Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.”
“But the question to precede all others, which finally determines the course of our lives is, 'What do I really want?' Was it to love what God commands, in the words of the collect, and to desire what He promises? Did I want what I wanted, or did I want what He wanted, no matter what it might cost?”
“God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.”
"Don't dig up in doubt what you have planted in faith."
"The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances."
“When ours are interrupted, his are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable).”
BONUS: "Leave it all in the hands that were wounded for you."
This is the best way I've ever heard as a way to handle compliments! I love this!
Corrie ten Boom said, "I take every compliment as a flower and say thank
you, and each evening I put them in a bunch and lay them at Jesus'
feet, where the praise belongs."
Thinking of his mother, Billy Sunday, the famous preacher said:
"Being a king, emperor, or president is mighty small potatoes compared to being a mother. Commanding an army is a little more than sweeping a street compared with training a boy or a girl. The mother of Moses did more for the world than all the kings that Egypt ever had. Oh, you wait until you reach the mountains of eternity, then read the mothers' names in God's Hall of Fame. I tell you women: Fooling away your time, hugging and kissing a poodle dog, drinking a cocktail, and playing cards is mighty small business compared to molding the life of a child."
God
bottles your tears! He has a bottle for every tear that you cried, and
he writes in his diary for you every day. That means you are pretty
special to Him! Psalm 56:8
For
Do-It-Yourself Repair and Maintenance --- "One only needs two tools in
life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." --G.M.
Weilacher
Thanks
to Larry, the widower of a former Heart to Heart subscriber, Michelle,
who recently shared the following quote with me. He had written to have his dear
wife's e-mail address removed from the Heart to Heart e-mailing list,
because she had passed away after losing a battle with cancer.
Larry
said, "It was Michelle's wish that God be glorified by her life and
death. God has been so good to us! The cancer hit Michelle pretty hard
back in 2010. I wanted you all to know that she was an amazing woman.
It was the hardest thing that I ever did but I felt compelled to stand
up at her funeral, and read portions from Proverbs 31. Our children and
I applauded her and it turned into a standing ovation! You can read
more about my virtuous wife at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michellelanham/journal "
Larry
said how he remembers Michelle telling him about some things that she
had read in the Heart to Heart newsletters. She leaves behind her
husband, Larry, and two precious young daughters. Please lift them up
to the Lord in prayer. Thank you!
Thanks to Leslie Lobdell in Arkansas for providing this great quote!
"Your
children have a front-row seat for watching how you treat others,
invest your time, and handle hardship. They won't listen to you preach
something you don't practice. Living a genuine faith in front of your
children is key to their spiritual attitude toward God." ~ Elizabeth
George
