The “L” of Life
“‘Your kingdom come, your will be done.’ Eugene Peterson says these two phrases juxtaposed are an example of two important kinds of prayers: morning prayers and evening prayers. It’s a concept he borrows from the Jewish tradition (seen, for instance, throughout the Psalms). Morning prayer is active, petitionary prayer, where you pray boldly against things in the world that are not right: ‘God, change this! Bring your kingdom into this mess.’ Evening prayer, on the other hand, is where you submit yourself to the will of God and rest in his choices for your life, trusting he has given you what is best like he promised and that he’ll take care of all things. Both morning and evening prayers are essential components of a healthy prayer life.”
“Many Christians have the mistaken notion that eternal life begins when they die. But that is not biblically accurate. Eternal life begins when we are born again into the Kingdom of God.” David Jeremiah
“Live in the kingdom of God in such a way that it provokes questions for which the gospel is the answer.” Lesslie Newbigin
Stop Weighing the Thumb“A butcher was once asked what difference it made to him when Christ entered his life. He replied, ‘I stopped weighing my thumb.’ He then told how, before becoming a Christian, he put meat on the scales in such a way that his thumb trailed down, approximately the weight of an ounce. He had included that thumb in the weight of beef, pork, lard, and every other item of his merchandise. But after Christ came into his heart, he stood away from the scales and gave a full sixteen ounces of meat. And when he served customers whom he had formerly cheated, he added an ounce to make up for past peculations. The Kingdom of God produces complete integrity in a believer.” Barnhouse
“Jesus made clear that the Kingdom of God is organic and not organizational. It grows like a seed and it works like leaven: secretly, invisibly, surprisingly, and irresistibly.” Os Guinness
Stop Weighing the Thumb
Ask this question… “Is what I am going to say or do going to advance God's kingdom and glory?”“A bishop of a century ago pronounced from his pulpit and in the periodical he edited, that heavier-than-air flight was both impossible and contrary to the will of God. Oh, the irony that Bishop Wright had two sons, Orville and Wilbur! Wright was wrong. Sure of himself, but wrong.” Andrew Robert P. Dugan, Jr., Winning the New Civil War
Stop Weighing the Thumb
Ask this question… “Is what I am going to say or do going to advance God's kingdom and glory?”
God’s Will is NOT chance, luck, or “it just happened”1 Thessalonians 5:15-18
“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Romans 12:1-2
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
“I am Your servant to do Your Will, and that Will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame, and I choose it above all things on Earth or in Heaven.” A.W. Tozer
Stop Weighing the Thumb
Ask this question… “Is what I am going to say or do going to advance God's kingdom and glory?”
God’s Will is NOT chance, luck, or “it just happened.” “We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.” Proverbs 16:33 NLT
