brianrushing.com

…Reading all the healing stories together, I now detect in the Gospels a kind of “ladder of faith.” At the top of the ladder stand those people who impressed Jesus with bold, unshakable faith: a centurion, an impertinent blind beggar, a persistent Canaanite woman. These stories of gristly faith threaten me, because seldom do I have such faith. I am easily discouraged by the silence of God. When my prayers are not answered, I am tempted to give up and not ask again. For this reason, I look down the ladder to find people of lesser faith, and it heartens me to learn that Jesus seemed willing to work with whatever tiny glimmer of faith came to light. I cling to the tender accounts of how Jesus treated the disciples who forsook and then doubted him. The same Jesus who praised the bold faith of those high up the ladder also gently quickened the flagging faith of his disciples. And I take special comfort in the confession of the father of a demon-possessed boy who said to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” Even that wavering man got his request granted.
–Philip Yancey

I am glad to be on the ladder, and my hope is that I am continuously striving to move higher up, even if it is ever so slowly! I am so glad He is so patient with me.

When man lives apart from God, chaos is the norm. When man lives with God, as revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the hungers of the mind and heart find their fulfillment.
–Ravi Zacharias

I hope you find yourself fulfilled by life with Christ today!

John wrote that “God is love” in order to make an ethical point, “Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). Could an observer learn from the quality and degree of love that I show to others — my wife? my husband? my family? my neighbors? people at church? people at work? — anything at all about the greatness of God’s love to me?
–J. I. Packer

God’s love to me should impact how I treat everyone else.
How well have you treated your spouse this past week?
Your kids?
Your co-workers, employees, and boss?

They should all be able to see and experience Jesus’ love flowing through me.

Ironically, if the United States is truly sliding down a slippery moral slope, that may better allow the church —as it did in Rome and also in China— to set up “a new sign…which is full of promise.” I would prefer, I must admit, to live in a country where the majority of people follow the Ten Commandments, act with civility toward each other, and bow their heads once a day for a bland, nonpartisan prayer. I feel a certain nostalgia for the social climate of the 1950s in which I grew up. But if that environment does not return, I will not lose any sleep. As America slides, I will work and pray for the kingdom of God to advance. If the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church, the contemporary political scene hardly offers much threat.
–Philip Yancey

A great reminder to us regarding the state of our nation.

The Bible promises that the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church, and so no matter the state of this nation, we know that God will walk with us as we keep working for and praying for His Kingdom to advance. Let us remember where our hope lies – not in governments, not in the strength of people – but in the power of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ! Do not lose hope, keeping working for His Kingdom!

Ministry is messy because life is messy, and nobody is excluded from the mess. If it is not okay not to be okay in a church, then what are we doing? Where is the gospel? The hope we have in Christ is that it is okay not to be okay, but He is leading us to greater levels of health and maturity.
–Matt Chandler

Amen.
It should be okay to be a mess and come into church, where we can find the One who offers healing and cleansing. Jesus is the only One who can completely clean up our messes!

(this goes right along with what I wrote about yesterday from the quote by Becky Pippert and also from a few days ago from the quote by Stetzer and Rainer!)