December 1, 2004
Friendship with Jesus is costly. Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone. It is always accompanied by great sacrifices for Christ's sake.
Richard Wurmbrand
Biography and Ministry
December 2, 2004
God wants us to speak to men so that they will feel it, so that they will never forget it. God means every Christian to be effective, to make a difference in the actual records and results of Christian work. God put each of us here to be a power. There is not one of us but is an essential wheel of the machinery and can accomplish all that God calls us to.
A. B. Simpson
Biography and Bibliography
December 3, 2004
With the help of grace, the habit of saying kind words is very quickly formed, and when once formed, it is not speedily lost. Sharpness, bitterness, sarcasm, acute observation, divination of motives, - all these things disappear when a man is earnestly conforming himself to the image of Christ Jesus. The very attempt to be like our dearest Lord is already a well-spring of sweetness within us, flowing with an easy grace over all who come within our reach.
Frederick W. Faber
Biography
December 4, 2004
Thanks be to Thee my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits which Thou hast given me;
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,
May I know Thee more clearly;
Love Thee more dearly;
And follow Thee more nearly. Amen.
Richard of Chichester
Biography
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The Christmas Candle Please support this ministry site. |
December 5, 2004
The old man does believe what the child believed; but how different it is, though still the same. It is the field that once held the seed, now waving and rustling under the autumn wind with the harvest that it holds, yet all the time it has kept the corn. The joy of his life has richened his belief. His sorrow has deepened it. His doubts have sobered it. His enthusiasms have fired it. His labour has purified it.
Phillips Brooks
Biography
December 6, 2004
We yield to discouragement it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future.
Anonymous
December 7, 2004
The Psychologist: "He takes the saints to pieces And labels all their parts, He tabulates the secrets Of loyal, loving hearts. His reasoning is perfect, His proofs are plain as paint. He has but one small weakness, He cannot make a saint.
G. Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy
Biography
December 8, 2004
Take Christ out of Christmas, and December becomes the bleakest and most colorless month of the year.
A. F. Wells
December 9, 2004
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.
Mother Teresa
Informational Website
December 10, 2004
The prayers of holy men appease God's wrath, drive away temptations, resist and overcome the devil, procure the ministry and service of angels, rescind the decrees of God. Prayer cures sickness and obtains pardon; it arrests the sun in its course and stays the wheels of the chariot of the moon; it rules over all gods and opens and shuts the storehouses of rain; it unlocks the cabinet of the womb and quenches the violence of fire; it stops the mouths of lions and reconciles our suffering and weak faculties with the violence of torment and violence of persecution; it pleases God and supplies all our need.
Jeremy Taylor
Biography
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The Case for Christmas By Lee Strobel You never know who may start asking life-changing questions this Christmas. Here's a great way to share the gospel---and the true reason for the season! The Case for Christ author and journalist Strobel investigates the facts behind Luke 2:8--18 and asks: Was it all a hoax---or truly the pivotal event of human history? 112 pages, softcover from Zondervan. |
December 11, 2004
The life of faith, and the instinct of faith are one and the same. It is an enjoyment of the goods of God, and a confidence founded on the expectation of His protection, making everything pleasant and received with a good grace. It is indifference to, and at the same time a preparation for every place, state, or person. Faith is never unhappy even when the senses are most desolate. This lively faith is always in God, always in His action above contrary appearances by which the senses are darkened. The senses, in terror, suddenly cry to the soul, "Unhappy one! You have now no resource, you are lost," and instantly faith with a stronger voice answers: "Keep firm, go on, and fear nothing."
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
Online Works
December 12, 2004
The men that will change the colleges and seminaries here represented are the men that will spend the most time alone with God. It takes time for the fires to burn. It takes time for God to draw near and for us to know that He is there. It takes time to assimilate His truth. You ask me, How much time? I do not know. I know it means time enough to forget time.
John R. Mott
Biography
December 13, 2004
Character is the product of daily, hourly actions, and words and thoughts; daily forgivenesses, unselfishness, kindnesses, sympathies, charities, sacrifices for the good of others, struggles against temptation, submissiveness under trial. Oh, it is these, like the blending colors in a picture of the blending notes of music which constitute the man.
J. R. Macduff
December 14, 2004
Such phrases as "I forgive you," "I release you from retribution for your deeds," are very powerful. They are words of your power. A tremendously powerful image is that you are anointed as a peacemaker. You have the power to bring peace into your world. That is enormous power. No longer the victim, you have reclaimed your agency (and sometimes the life of the offender).
Anonymous
December 15, 2004
The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.
Thomas Watson
Online Works and Biography
December 16 - 17, 2004
If New Testament Christianity is to reappear today with its power and joy and courage, men must recapture the basic conviction that this is a Visited planet. It is not enough to express formal belief in the "Incarnation" or in the "Divinity of Christ"; the staggering truth must be accepted afresh -- that in this vast, mysterious universe, of which we are an almost infinitesimal part, the great Mystery, Whom we call God, has visited our planet in Person. It is from this conviction that there springs unconquerable certainty and unquenchable faith and hope. It is not enough to believe theoretically that was both God and Man; not enough to admire, respect, and even worship Him; it is not even enough to try to follow Him. The reason for the insufficiency of these things is that the modern intelligent mind, which has had its horizons widened in dozens of different ways, has got to be shocked afresh by the audacious central Fact -- that, as a sober matter of history, God became one of us.
J.B. Phillips
Website
December 18, 2004
I lay my head upon Thy infinite heart,
I hide beneath the shelter of Thy wing;
Pursued and tempted, helpless, I must cling
To Thee, my Father; bid me not depart,
For sin and death pursue,
And Life is where Thou art!
Anonymous
December 19, 2004
George Macdonald said, 'If you knew what God knows about death you would clap your listless hands', but instead I find old people in North America just buying this whole youth obsession. I think growing older is a wonderful privilege. I want to learn to glorify God in every stage of my life.
Elisabeth Elliot
Gateway to Joy
December 20, 2004
More light than we can learn,
More wealth than we can treasure,
More love than we can earn,
More peace than we can measure,
Because one Child is born.
Christopher Fry
December 21, 2004
I study my Bible as I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest might fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf.
Martin Luther
Biography and Information
December 22, 2004
The best gifts to give:
To your friend, loyalty;
To your enemy, forgiveness;
To your boss, service;
To a child, a good example;
To your parents, gratitude and devotion;
To your mate, love and faithfulness;
To all men and women, charity.
Oren Arnold
December 23, 2004
God might want you to extend his love by offering to baby-sit for the single parent down the street. He might want you to prepare a hearty meal for that lonely old man who lost his wife -- and to sit and visit with him while he eats. Who knows, he might even want you to reach out and touch the life of a total stranger in some way you can't imagine right now. Are you willing to set aside your own comfort to touch someone else with God's love?
Amy Nappa
December 24, 2004
A scientist said, making a plea for exchange scholarships between nations, "The very best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person." That was what happened at Christmas. The idea of divine love was wrapped up in a Person.
Halford E. Luccock
December 25, 2004
The Lord of Christmas tide entered into our life by lowly doors. And still He seeks the lowly doors: the door of the workshop, the door of the chamber, and all the unobtrusive doors of human friendship and regard.
Dr. John Henry J. H. Jowett
Biography
December 26, 2004
If a man had but little provision laid up for a journey or a voyage, and at the same time knew that if his provision should fail, he must perish by the way, he would be the more choice of it. - How much more would many men prize their time, if they knew that they had but a few months, or a few days, more to live! And certainly a wise man will prize his time the more, as he knows not but that it will be so as to himself.
Jonathan Edwards
The Works of Jonathan Edwards
December 27, 2004
You aren't loved because you're valuable. You're valuable because God loves you.
Anonymous
December 28, 2004
Never... think we have a due knowledge of ourselves till we have been exposed to various kinds of temptations, and tried on every side. Integrity on one side of our character is no voucher for integrity on another. We cannot tell how we should act if brought under temptations different from those we have hitherto experienced. This thought should keep us humble. We are sinners, but we do not know how great. He alone knows who died for our sins.
John Henry Newman
Biography
December 29, 2004
Cast not away your confidence because God defers his performances. That which does not come in your time, will be hastened in his time, which is always the more convenient season. God will work when he pleases, how he pleases, and by what means he pleases. He is not bound to keep our time, but he will perform his word, honor our faith, and reward them that diligently seek him.
Matthew Henry
Biography
December 30, 2004
If my prayer is centered in myself, if it seeks only an enrichment of my own self, my prayer itself draws my attention and longing away from God and toward myself. I am left rich and alone and nothing can assuage my hunger. The most dangerous spiritual violence is that which carries our will away with a false enthusiasm which seems to come from God but which is in reality inspired by passion.
Thomas Merton
Website.
More Thomas Merton Materials
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Simplify Your Holidays: A Christmas Planner to Use Year After Year By Marcia Ramsland / Thomas Nelson rganization and simplification expert Marcia Ramsland tackles the holidays with an eight-week plan designed to make Christmas a season of celebration, not stress. Most people begin to prepare for Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving is over, which can create great stress since Thanksgiving happens at a different time every year. However, Halloween is consistently eight weeks before Christmas, so beginning then ensures enough time to prepare and plan for both Christmas and Thanksgiving and to make this a season of joy for yourself and your family. This planner addresses all the details of the busy holiday season, including buying, wrapping, and sending presents, sending Christmas cards, home decorations, and cooking and baking. What sets this planner apart is a day-by-day plan that breaks every task into manageable pieces and a daily devotional journal that keeps the reader focused on the reason for all the activity, encouraging a spirit of praise, not panic. |
December 31, 2004
If you're running a 26-mile marathon, remember that every mile is run one step at a time. If you are writing a book, do it one page at a time. If you're trying to master a new language, try it one word at a time. There are 365 days in the average year. Divide any project by 365 and you'll find that no job is all that intimidating.
Charles (Chuck) Swindoll
Insight For Living
November 2004 /January 1, 2005 /
