Category: Odds & Ends

“If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in. If the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.” – Charles Finney

“It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy.” – Francis Bacon

“We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.” —C. S. Lewis

Dr. Jim Denison

I’ve noticed that the more essential my blessings, the more I tend to take them for granted. As the novelist Cynthia Ozick noted, “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

For instance, without gravity, life on this planet would be impossible. Without a sun in the sky, we would soon freeze. Without air to breathe, we would quickly die. Each is a gift we cannot create but only receive. But when last were you grateful for any of them?

It can be the same with the blessings of God we’ve named today. Physical life, eternal life, and the joy of sharing eternal life with the world—each is our Father’s unmerited favor to us. Don’t let their familiarity dull their significance. Or the grace by which they are yours.

Tim Keller was right:
“It’s one thing to be grateful. It’s another to give thanks. Gratitude is what you feel. Thanksgiving is what you do.”

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy

1 Thessalonians 5:18  “No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” – TLB

“Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.” — Cicero

“We think of the Christian life as a ‘changed life,’ but it is not that. What God offers us is an ‘exchanged life,’ a ‘substituted life,’ and Christ is our Substitute within.” – Watchman Nee

“Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.” – Warren Buffett

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” – C S Lewis

“Nothing in or of this world measures up to the simple pleasure of experiencing the presence of God.” — A. W. Tozer

“The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness. God’s one aim is the production of saints.” —Oswald Chambers

“God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to him.” – Andrew Murray