Love one another.

"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. ¹³Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.

²¹Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²²and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. ²³And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. ²⁴Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us." -1 John 3:11-24

Sun and moons.

"The light we might show forth is like the light of the moon, which has no light of its own, but merely reflects the light of the sun. The moon should not then boast as if it was the creator of the light which comes forth from it. Much less should we, who many times show darkness in place of the light we should be reflecting from the Lord." -Pride vs. Humility by Michael Fackerell

Hands

"A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it’s in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.
A baseball in Roger Clemens’ hands is worth $475 million.
It depends on whose hands it’s in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Andre Agassi’s hands is worth millions.
It depends whose hands it’s in.

A rod in my hands will keep away an angry dog.
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it’s in.

A slingshot in my hands is a kid’s toy.
A slingshot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it’s in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in Jesus’ hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it’s in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will
Produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it’s in.

As you see now, it depends whose hands it’s in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because…
It depends whose hands it’s in.

This message is now in YOUR hands.
What will YOU do with it?
It depends whose hands it’s in."

-via christiangirlnz.tumblr.com

Gentlemen

“Nice guys finish last because they make sure their woman comes first.” -dee-kidd

"Looks at a woman and doesn’t have the desire to have sex with her. But looks at a woman and has the desire to care for her. He doesn’t look if she has big boobs or a nice ass. But at the fact she is beautiful in the inside. He doesn’t pressure to do what he wants. But listens, because, he’s a Gentleman." -Anonymous

"A true gentleman will not be attracted to the behaviour of a lady who does not allow him to behave as he ought. It is only when a woman carefully keeps a guarded heart and sets her sight on Christ alone that her conduct will compel a gentleman to rise to the challenge of winning her heart and proving himself to be a man of God and a man of honour." -Anonymous

Human

"God wisely designed the human body so that we can neither pat our own backs nor kick ourselves too easily." -Monica Ponce

"At his best, man is the noblest of animals; separated from law & justice he is the worst." -Aristotle

"What is man in nature? A nothing compared to the infinite, a whole compared to the nothing, a middle point between all and nothing, infinitely remote from an understanding of the extremes … equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed…

Let us then realize our limitations. We are something and we are not everything. Such being as we have conceals from us the knowledge of first principles, which arise from nothingness, and the smallness of our being hides infinity from our sight.

Our intelligence occupies the same rank in the order of intellect as our body in the whole range of nature.

Limited in every respect, we find this intermediate state between two extremes reflected in all our faculties. Our senses can perceive nothing extreme; too much noise deafens us, too much light dazzles; when we are too far or too close we cannot see properly; an argument is obscured by being too long or too short; too much truth bewilders us." -Blaise Pascal

Common Humanity

Love is that "common humanity" factor.

"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves." -Blaise Pascall

Emotions

"Feelings were never meant to be owned. For example, you may be happy now because someone did something for you that made your day, but you won’t own that happy feeling forever just because someone did that for you today. It isn’t because you were not satisfied, but you didn’t learn then. If I had to put it, I’d say feelings are more like experiences. To truly understand a feeling, you have to learn from it, grow with it. Perhaps learning why or what really made you happy today may let you cherish and keep the happiness with you longer. Was it because of the effort? Or simply because it was someone ‘special’? Either way, if all you did was just try to own that happiness, you will never find it back. But if you’d try to learn from it, every time you look back at that person; you smile, because you are reminded of everything they did for you.

Maybe feelings are the true lessons in life." -via Erin Tangco

"If I only do what I feel like doing I’m not a believer, I’m a feeler." -Bill Johnson

"The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God." -Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life)

"Don’t make permanent decisions on temporary emotions." -Anonymous


God has called me not to feel Him, but to have faith in Him.

Strength

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." -Anonymous

"My heart and my strength many times they fail but there is one truth that always will prevail: God Is The Strength Of My Heart." -Don Moen

Sin

"Use sin as it will use you; spare it not, for it will not spare you; it is your murderer, and the murderer of the world: use it, therefore, as a murderer should be used. Kill it before it kills you." -Richard Baxter

"But a little sin is like being a little pregnant: It will eventually show itself." -Rick Warren

"Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?" ' ¹¹ Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'

¹² "Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.' ¹³ If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. ¹⁴ And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right- ¹⁵ if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.

¹⁷ "Yet your countrymen say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But it is their way that is not just. ¹⁸ If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. ¹⁹ And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so. ²⁰ Yet, O house of Israel, you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But I will judge each of you according to his own ways." -Ezekiel 33:10-20

"And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life." -Romans 2:16

"The enemy isn’t really as concerned about our sin as he is our response to it. His intent is that through our collapse, we will simply give up. So he seeks to discourage us to the point at which we lose all hope and even the desire to try anymore." -K. P. Yohannan

"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
² But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear." -Isaiah 59:1-2

"You can’t fight sin with religion. You need Jesus." -Mars Hill Church

"How should we handle moments of faith-failure, when we’ve damaged the kingdom of God in the eyes of our friends and family or dishonored God in our actions?

We can learn from King David after his humiliation in the Bathsheba scandal. Though the terrible consequences of that sin could not be avoided, he found his way back to a relationship with God that made it possible for him to continue to serve Him. We too can find our way back.

David’s pattern in 2 Samuel 12 serves us well: We need to declare our error candidly (v.13) and seek God’s forgiveness. Then we can ask God that others be spared the consequences of our actions (v.16). Finally, we need to recognize that sometimes the consequences simply cannot be avoided and must be endured. While we always mourn those consequences, we can’t allow them to so consume us that we cease to be servants of God (vv.20-23).

Satan not only delights in the moment of our failure but also in the spiritual inactivity that sometimes snares us in our remorse. When we’ve blown our witness, we are and should be humbled. But we should not multiply the damage by retreating into silence and obscurity as ambassadors of Christ. We can move past failure.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9" -Randy Kilgore

I'm tired... tired of sacrificing God's love and peace for a few moments of acceptance from someone who I'm not even too sure will stay in my life.

Talents

“Every one to whom much is given, much will be required.” -via Erin Tangco

"Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful." -John Wooden