Daily Bread

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 7th

"Be imitators."

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If we are to sincerely flatter God by being like him, imitation may be the most costly form of flattery as well. You see, love for God is never something that occurs just in our minds or our hearts. Love is something we do for another... it is action. John said in 1 John 4 that we must love in both our deeds and our words. Love means to give ourselves up... what we want, our rights, our desires... to honor God and serve others. This is a kind of love that can change the world, or a marriage, or a family.

Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Imitation is the sincerest flattery.

Mohandas Gandhi

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 8th

"Keep your chin up!"

In the daily battles we find ourselves engaged in, it is vital that we remember we have an ally who is greater than anyone who might oppose us or wish to make us unhappy. Jesus Christ became victor over everything this world could throw at Him; even death itself. If we will give Him control of our hearts, He will be true to us and grant us victory in the struggles we face.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

Psalm 3:6

If you're never tested, you'll never define your character.

Henry Rollins

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 9th

"Making a difference."

We are all capable of great things in time of distress. The Lord gives to His children the ability to serve one another, even so much as to save another life. It is important that we continually pray for God to guide our actions and show us ways to serve. When we open ourselves to the will of God, we will be surprised at the wonderful things we can do.

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4:1

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.

Dr. Seuss

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 10th

"A buck a gallon?"

Would you wait in line for 1 dollar a gallon gasoline? Many drivers in Massachusetts did. More than 200 cars lined up along Route 12 a couple of hours before one gas station opened. The owner had advertised his gasoline at a price that was almost an outright gift. He said he was trying to give his customers a break.

In 1 Peter 4, the apostle wrote about another kind of gift that shows the generosity of the giver. It is the "manifold grace of God" ( v.10 ). Grace is undeserved favor, the free kindness that comes from the Lord.Accepting and using this gift has some far-reaching effects. It brings blessing to us and to others. But above all, it honors the name and kindness of the Giver. Peter urged his readers to use and express God's grace by being watchful in their prayers, showing love, being hospitable, and ministering through the spoken word ( vv.7-11 ).

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

1 Peter 4:10

The only limit to God's grace is the limit we put on it.

Unknown

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 11th

"Morning person?"

God gives us special times in order that we might find joy and that we might find Him. He has created a glorious world, and He has freely given it to us.

The early quiet of the day is a beautiful time to encounter the Lord. Give Him your early hours, and He will give you all the blessings you can hold.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psalm 5:3

Every morning is the dawn of anew.

Unknown

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 12th

"Courage."

God has a way of working that tends to fall outside the norm, and he needs people who trust him enough to go the distance, no matter how bizarre the game plan. Courage is important to God because courage is a natural byproduct of trust. And the greater we trust, the braver we become. As long as God leads the battle, we can march in confidence, knowing that we've already won. God gave Jericho to Israel on the seventh day, just as he said he would. So, what wall does he have you marching around?

Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

It is curious... Curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.

Mark Twain

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 13th

"The price has been paid."

The ransom is provided. God's judgment was averted, not because of anything we did to appease him, but by his own sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. If God has gone to such great lengths to reconcile us to himself and adopt us into his family, how can we refuse? We must not! Father God, we offer you our hearts!

God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:19-20

Jesus paid the price, you get to keep the change.

WAH

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 14th

"Wait with confidence."

Abraham Lincoln once said, "I would be the greatest fool on earth if I did not realize that I could never satisfy the demands of the high office without the help of One who is greater and stronger than I am."

David realized this truth too. Although he was a powerful king, he daily acknowledged his dependence on someone far greater and stronger than he was. Not only did David begin each day depending on the Lord, but he waited expectantly throughout the day to see how God would work on his behalf. When you live each day looking upward, God often sends delightful surprises.

O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning.… Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Psalm 5:1-3

When we don't pray, we quit the fight.
Prayer keeps the Christian's armor bright.
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

William Cowper

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 15th

"Don't hesitate to show yourselves."

There are an awful lot of people in this world who will not understand our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They will ridicule us, persecute us, and turn us aside. That does not justify us hiding our faith. We are to shine as a light in this world. If we are proud of our faith, we will find that God will give us special strength to stand up in the face of ridicule. As Scripture says, if we will be proud of the Father, He will be proud of us. If we are ashamed of Him, however, then Christ will also be ashamed of us.

O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.

Psalm 7:1

Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8:31-32

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

Martin Luther King

Truth fears no trial.

Proverb

Heaven

[RalphyS]

I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
Stephen Roberts

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 16th

"God's measure."

How often do we see the evil around us and pray for God's justice? We wonder, Why does God allow this evil to go on! This kind of thinking leads to two of the most common double standards: (1) judging others more harshly than we judge ourselves, and (2) believing God should judge others but remain lenient with us.

The Lord despises double standards because they elevate one person at the expense of others. These man-made standards also lack the mercy of God.

In our cry for fairness, we should not forget the frightening consequences of justice. As sinners, God could justly destroy each of us today for missing the mark of perfection. When we remember that God's patience and mercy block his judgment towards us, we will more likely show others patience and mercy.

The Lord despises double standards of every kind.

Proverbs 20:10

Never pay back evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, "I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it," says the Lord.

Romans 12:17-19

Don't say, "I will get even for this wrong." Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.

Proverbs 20:22

While justice provides law and order, mercy provides hope and forgiveness—God's formula for restoration.

Ron Beers

Heaven

[HeavenBesideYou]

January 17th

"Stars"

They've always been a source of constant hope for God's people. "Your descendants will be like the stars," God told Abraham. "When I see the stars, what is man that you are mindful of him?" the Psalms ask. The Wisemen from the East followed a star to Jesus. Luke reminds us that Jesus was a bright star come to us from heaven to shine God's light to those in darkness. And now, we're stars. God's points of light in the dark sky of the universe.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

Philippians 2:14-16

Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.

Judy Garland

If you're going through hell, keep going.

Winston Churchill

Heaven

[RalphyS]

Quote: (Originally Posted by HeavenBesideYou)

It is curious... Curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.
Mark Twain

To trust the God of the Bible is to trust an irascible, vindictive, fierce and ever fickle and changeful master.
Mark Twain, a Biography

The gods offer no rewards for intellect. There was never one yet that showed any interest in it...
Mark Twain's Notebook

Satan hasn't a single salaried helper; the Opposition employ a million.
Mark Twain

Between believing a thing and thinking you know is only a small step and quickly taken.
Mark Twain, "3,000 Years Among the Microbes"

When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.
Mark Twain's Notebook

The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born.
Mark Twain, a Biography

Faith is believing what you know ain't so.
Mark Twain, Following the Equator, Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar

Jesus died to save men--a small thing for an immortal to do, & didn't save many, anyway; but if he had been damned for the race that would have been act of a size proper to a god, & would have saved the whole race. However, why should anybody want to save the human race, or damn it either? Does God want its society? Does Satan?
Mark Twain, Notebook #42

So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code.
Mark Twain, a Biography

Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven....The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.
Mark Twain, "The Lowest Animal"

The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also. I would not interfere with any one's religion, either to strengthen it or to weaken it. I am not able to believe one's religion can affect his hereafter one way or the other, no matter what that religion may be. But it may easily be a great comfort to him in this life--hence it is a valuable possession to him.
Mark Twain, a Biography

In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.
Autobiography of Mark Twain

I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
Mark Twain in Eruption

[SecretWeapon]

Quote:

Quote: (Originally Posted by HeavenBesideYou) It is curious... Curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.
Mark Twain
To trust the God of the Bible is to trust an irascible, vindictive, fierce and ever fickle and changeful master.
Mark Twain, a Biography

The gods offer no rewards for intellect. There was never one yet that showed any interest in it...
Mark Twain's Notebook

Satan hasn't a single salaried helper; the Opposition employ a million.
Mark Twain

Between believing a thing and thinking you know is only a small step and quickly taken.
Mark Twain, "3,000 Years Among the Microbes"

When one reads Bibles, one is less surprised at what the Deity knows than at what He doesn't know.
Mark Twain's Notebook

The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born.
Mark Twain, a Biography

Faith is believing what you know ain't so.
Mark Twain, Following the Equator, Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar

Jesus died to save men--a small thing for an immortal to do, & didn't save many, anyway; but if he had been damned for the race that would have been act of a size proper to a god, & would have saved the whole race. However, why should anybody want to save the human race, or damn it either? Does God want its society? Does Satan?
Mark Twain, Notebook #42

So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code.
Mark Twain, a Biography

Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven....The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.
Mark Twain, "The Lowest Animal"

The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also. I would not interfere with any one's religion, either to strengthen it or to weaken it. I am not able to believe one's religion can affect his hereafter one way or the other, no matter what that religion may be. But it may easily be a great comfort to him in this life--hence it is a valuable possession to him.
Mark Twain, a Biography

In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.
Autobiography of Mark Twain

I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
Mark Twain in Eruption

Do you really have nothing better to do than to spoil people's daily bread?
I mean , come on , is this thread really hurting you ?

[RalphyS]

???

Why? What?

Am I not allowed to put quotes in here that I like?

I wasn't hurt, are you?