Charity

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you." -Matthew 6:1-2

Narnia

"She felt sure that it was a call, and that anyone who heard that call would want to obey it and (what’s more) would be able to obey it, however many worlds and ages lay between." -The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

"Creatures, I give you yourselves…I give you forever the land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself. The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also. Treat them gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts. For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. Do not so." -Aslan, The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

"…that is why all the rest are now a horror to [the Witch]. That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after." -Aslan, The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Aslan: Son of Adam, are you ready to undo the wrong that you have done to my sweet country of Narnia on the very day of its birth?

Digory: Well, I don't see what I can do. You see, the Queen ran away and—

Aslan: I asked, are you ready?

-The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Thrill

"People get from books and plays and the cinema, that if you have married the right person you may expect to go on “being in love” forever. As a result, when they find that they are not, they think this proves they have made a mistake, and are entitled to change. Not realizing that when they have changed, the glamour will presently go out of the new love just as it went out of the old one. In this department of life as in any other, thrills come in the beginning and do not last. The thrill you feel on first seeing some delightful place dies away when you really go to live there. Does this mean it would be better not to live in that beautiful place? By no means. If you go through with it, the dying away of the first thrill will be compensated for a quieter more lasting kind of interest. What is more, it is just the people who are ready to submit to the loss of the thrill and settle down under the sober interests, who are the most likely to meet new thrills in some quite different direction

This I think, is one little part of what Christ meant by saying that a thing will not really live unless it first dies..It is simply no good trying to keep any thrill: that is the very worst thing you can do. Let the thrill go—let it die away—go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follows—and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time. But if you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be bored, a disillusioned person for the rest of your life. It is because so few people understand this that you find many middle-aged men and women maundering about their lost youth, at the very age when new horizons ought to be appearing and new doors opening all around them." -C.S. Lewis

"There’s gotta be more to life

Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me." -Stacie Orrico

The Devil

"Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God." -2 Corinthians 4:4

"The devil will bring distractions to stop you from pursuing God the way you're supposed to. It is up to you to shun him and his works, fix your eyes on your Saviour and chase after Him with everything you have." -Anonymous

The Cellphone vs. The Scriptures

"I wonder what would happen if we treated our scriptures like we treat our cell phones? What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we spent an hour or more using it every day?

What if we used it to receive messages?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to other kids as gifts?

What if we used it as we traveled? What if we used it in case of an emergency?

This is something to make you go….”Hmmm..Dude.. where is my scriptures?”

Unlike our cell phones:

One Plan does fit all.

Unlimited usage. No roaming charges.

You always have reception.

You can use it in the mountains and in a tunnel.

It’s free with no hidden costs,

AND you don’t ever have to worry your scriptures being disconnected because CHRIST has already paid the bill!"

-via Matthew Furtado

Balance

Find the balance between letting go for the good, and fighting for the good.

Change

"Sometimes God doesn’t change your situation because He is trying to change your heart." -Anonymous

Student

Dear Student,

I see that you’re tired. I tell you, drop your books and rest for a while. Why worry too much about the fight? Smile. Be confident. All you have to do is to prepare well and be in school. Then against the hundred questions that tried to destroy you, there I’ll stand and rescue you. Passing the course requires not only Me nor only you, but rather Me and you. Just do your best and I’ll take care of the rest.

Your Teacher,
Jesus.

-Anonymous

Righteousness

"We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you're on the right path, but its another to think that yours is the only path." -Paulo Coelbo (via Erin Tangco)

"We can only know God well when we know our own sin. And those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified Him but have glorified themselves." -Blaise Pascal

Beauty

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." -Proverbs 31:30

"Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the eternal. Think of what it’s like to behold a gorgeous sunset, or the ocean at dawn. Remember the ending of a great story. We yearn to linger, to experience it in all our days. Sometimes the beauty is so deep it pierces us with longing. For what? For life as it was meant to be. Beauty reminds us of an Eden we have never known, but somehow our hearts were created for. Beauty speaks of heaven to come when all shall be beautiful. It haunts us with eternity. Beauty says, there is a glory calling you. And if there is glory, there is a source of glory. What great goodness could have possibly created all of this? What generosity gave us to this behold? Beauty draws us to God." -via Lorryzel Badajos

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." -1 Peter 3:4

Choice

"Think about it. There are many things in life we can’t choose. We can’t, for example, choose the weather. We can’t control the economy. We can’t choose whether or not we are born with a big nose or blue eyes or a lot of hair … but we CAN choose where we spend eternity.

The big choice, God leaves to us." -Max Lucado

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you." -John 15:16

"When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you." -Anonymous

"Sex, drugs, liquor, food, etc. Just because you get to choose your master doesn't mean you aren't a slave." -Lecrae