“Whatever we have done in the past, be it good or evil, great or small, is irrelevant to our stance before God today. It is only NOW that we are in the presence of God.”

Christianity doesn’t deny the reality of suffering and evil Our hope is not based on the idea that we are going to be free of pain and suffering. Rather, it is based on the conviction that we will triumph over suffering.

The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. He took his woes to God. ‘They won’t let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner.’ ‘What are you complaining about?’ said God. ‘They won’t let Me in either.

God is loving us – you and me – this moment, just as we are and not as we should be.

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.

You will trust God to the degree you know you are loved by Him.

To lend each other a hand when we’re falling, perhaps that’s the only work that matters in the end.

Letting ourselves be loved by God is more important than loving God.

To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of grace.

I have been seized by the power of a great affection.

The Good News of the gospel of grace cries out: We are all, equally, privileged but unentitled beggars at the door of God’s mercy!

We even refuse to be our true self with God- and then wonder why we lack intimacy with him.

The gospel declares that no matter how dutiful or prayerful we are, we can’t save ourselves. What Jesus did was sufficient.

Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.

There is an essential connection between experiencing God, loving God, and trusting God. You will trust God only as much as you love him. And you will love him to the extent you have touched him, rather that he has touched you.

Jesus reveals a God who does not demand but who gives; who does not oppress but who raises up; who does not wound but who heals; who does not condemn but forgives.

Remind yourself every day how worthy you are of your own love.

In life the only thing that you can expect is the unexpected; the only surprise is a day that has none.

I did not run away, I walked away by daylight….

These days my bones are shifting, trembled things. I am more earthquake than anything.

You may go days without thinking of God, but there’s never a moment when He’s not thinking of you.

Engage with the Bible. Meditate on it day and night. Think and rethink about God’s Word. Let it be your guide. Make it your go-to book for questions. Let it be the ultimate authority in your life.

A gospel that doesn’t deal with the issues of the day is not the gospel at all.

You know, honey, husbands come and go but I’m still Cher at the end of the day.