Be Encouraged!

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

From Jerry Bridges in "The Discipline of Grace":

"When we pray to God for His blessing, He does not examine our performance to see if we are worthy. Rather, He looks to see if we are trusting in the merit of His Son as our only hope for securing His blessing."

 

"When you set yourself to seriously pursue holiness, you will begin to realize what an awful sinner you are. And if you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself everyday, you will soon become discouraged and will slack off in your pursuit of holiness."

When it comes to the gospel imperatives, what we are basically being told is, "Live out in your lives the reality of the gospel. Take advantage of and put to use all the provisions of grace God has given you in Christ."

"The gospel of God in Christ is that God did something about man’s predicament. It matters not what your circumstances, or how far you have run away from God—He has done something about it and there is a remedy for your sinful ill and a relief for your most desperate fears. God is love and God loves you."

- Donald Grey Barnhouse

By Donald Grey Barnhouse, "Man's Ruin", pages 44-48

One of the greatest proofs of the Virgin Birth is in the fact that there are two genealogies of Jesus, one each in Matthew and Luke. It may interest you to know how I once set forth this proof before a class in university. When I returned to America in 1925 after seven years of travel and study in Europe, I became an assistant in the history department of the University of Pennsylvania; and, in my second year there, worked with Dr. Walter Hyde, head of the department of ancient history.

A Quote from "The Man God Uses" by Pastor Chuck Smith.

"The work of the Spirit is done, not according to my will, but according to His will. So the man God uses is a man of prayer, who walks according to God's will, and who has the faith of God to do the work of God." ~ Pastor Chuck Smith

(This excerpt is taken from an article by Pastor Chuck Smith in Calvary Chapel magazine, Summer 2009 Edition)