“It’s not enough merely to believe there is a God. You must believe in the God who is there.”

Focusing intently on Christ naturally results in a lifestyle of increasingly greater selflessness. And it has another benefit. Gazing on Christ gives us greater ability to look past life’s trials and remain calm in the midst of what others would call chaos.

Hope is like an anchor. Our hope in Christ stabilizes us in the storms of life, but unlike an anchor, it does not hold us back.

I’m here today to warn you: I want you to watch out for the adversary. Guard yourself from any spirit of entitlement. Restrain any and all subtle temptation to gain attention or to find ways to promote yourself.

God will never adjust His agenda to fit ours. He will not speed up His pace to catch up with ours; we need to slow our pace in order to recover our walk with Him. God will not scream and shout over the noisy clamor; He expects us to seek quietness, where His still small voice can be heard again.

When you accept the fact that sometimes seasons are dry and times are hard and that God is in control of both, you will discover a sense of divine refuge, because the hope then is in God and not in yourself.

All he asks is that we trust Him, that we stand before Him in integrity and faith. God is just waiting for us to trust Him.

I’m here today to warn you: I want you to watch out for the adversary. Guard yourself from any spirit of entitlement. Restrain any and all subtle temptation to gain attention or to find ways to promote yourself.

Jesus kept it simple. The lesson wasn’t complicated. ‘I speak; you believe My word; your son will be fine.’ We complicate what God has made simple by seeing the world through human eyes. We want to see in order to believe and presume that our limitations are His.

Envy is one of the great enemies of active spirituality. It keeps us from loving our neighbours, from functioning with others in community, and from affirming people’s unique worth. It also steals contentment from the heart. Is there anything or anyone you are envious of?

We can’t solve modern problems by going back in time. Retreating to the safety of the familiar is an understandable response, but God has called us to a life of faith. And faith requires us to face the unknown while trusting Him completely.

God is a specialist at making something useful and beautiful out of something broken and confused.

No pressure is greater than God’s power.

If you never get criticized, chances are you aren’t getting anything done.

We shouldn’t deny the pain of what happens in our lives. We should just refuse to focus only on the valleys.

One of the worst things you can give to your people is someone you’re not.

A teardrop on earth summons the King of heaven.

I believe that I will be loved again, in the right way. I know I’m worth it.

You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. That’s what makes you a winner.

That which you most need to find will be found where you least wish to look.

I’ve always believed in the power of makeup to elevate self-love.

Wherefore all these things are but the names which mortals have given, believing them to be true.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

Believe nothing of me except that I felt your beauty more closely than my own.

Fight and push harder for what you believe in, you’d be surprised, you are much stronger than you think.