The Wake-Up Call

How can we be prepared? There is only one way. Receive the gift of eternal salvation in Jesus Christ.

Jesus doesn't hate hypocrites, but he hates hypocrisy.

The main thing is the love of God.

The Word of God is the winnowing fork of Jesus.

Abundance saves people. Scarcity kills people.

Sometimes it takes decades of trying to measure up only to finally realize Jesus measured down.

True humility is becoming so enraptured with Jesus you've taken on his likeness.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus unveils and reveals to us what we are meant to become—ordinary human beings invested and infused with the transcendent presence of God.

Who do you say I am?

Crush the dividing walls in us between us and them. Lead us into your eternal we.

The master class is not how to walk on water—it's how faith overcomes fear.

The rule of the kingdom is not efficiency. It is extravagance—sowing seeds everywhere all the time.

The minute you seek to become a master of the text is the minute you miss the point of the text. The goal is to be mastered by the text.

This is a beautiful and brilliant description of what the Gospels are all about—Jesus going over the goodness and glory of God line by line with us.

Freely you have recieved; freely give.

Jesus doesn't call us to pray for the sheep. He calls us to pray for the workers.

The goal of the Bible, the written Word of God, is not to give us information but revelation.

The wise person and the foolish person have two major differences. One builds their house on the rock and the other on the sand.

He invites us to have only one priority and to seek it in every iota of life—the kingdom of God.

The gospel is not self-improvement. It is transformation, which is transcendent formation.

To follow Jesus is to be baptized in his baptism and to live on every word that comes from the mouth of God—starting with the bread of our belovedness.

Jesus is not living his life for his Father's approval. He's living his life from his Father's approval.

We . . . have come to worship him.

Jesus was born into his broken family so he could bring redemption into our broken family.

As we read the New Testament more, we gradually come to recognize that we are all the “enemies” of God apart from the reconciling work of the gospel.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

As we encourage one another, we learn to speak to one another in the voice of God in the humble authority of Jesus in the loving power of the Holy Spirit.

As we fix our eyes on him, he transfuses his life into our life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hardships are a sign Jesus is about to promote you to the next level of entrustment in the kingdom of God.

The joy of the Lord is the revolutionary presence of Jesus Christ himself—in us—transcending our mortal bodies with his eternal life, presence, encouragement, perseverance, love, power, and all the possibilities this means.

When the Sovereign Lord is our strength, we are able to go from strength to strength, indeed even glory to glory, despite the most difficult trials and tribulations along the way—even because of them.

We should never forget in the days of darkness what we have learned in the days of light.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Attention shifts our souls from mere thoughts about God to dwelling in the presence of God.

Joy is that bonfire of brokenness revealing the blessed beauty of the one on fire but not consumed—Jesus—who became like us so we could become like him.

The telltale sign that perseverance is finishing its work is joy.

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

We will only understand our lives, however, in reverse. We live by looking forward. We learn by looking back.

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. (Ps. 62:1)

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Pure joy is joy untethered from even the slightest shred of happiness.

When we encourage each other in this sense, we—in the most real and tangible way—become the bearers or agents of God to one another.

To the man or woman reading this thinking all is lost—be assured, perseverance is finishing its work in you.

Perseverance does not come from us. It comes from God.

Don’t be afraid. Do not be discouraged. No matter how bad or hard it is, Jesus has you, and you have him—and he has this!

Even in the midst of his anguish, David understands and foresees that God is his fortress and final hope.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

To encourage someone in the midst of a trial is to greet them with the embrace of Jesus, welcome them into the house of love, and sit with them until they are ready to walk again.

There comes a point in this journey, if we can stay awake with Jesus and deepen our awareness of his presence, our attention to his words, our attunement to his voice, and our attachment to his heart, that we will find him abiding in us all the time and we in him.

Courage is not the absence of fear, discouragement, or despair. Courage is the presence of Jesus.