I know of nothing more valuable, when it comes to the all-important virtue of authenticity, than simply being who you are.

It’s the nature of the beast within us to keep going back to the familiar rather than to strap on faith and face the future.

God will never adjust His agenda to fit ours.

I let people see the cracks in my life. We can’t be phony. We’ve got to keep it real.

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it, friends make life a lot more fun.

A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.

Jesus kept it simple. The lesson wasn’t complicated. ‘I speak; you believe My word; your son will be fine.’ We complicate what God has made simple by seeing the world through human eyes. We want to see in order to believe and presume that our limitations are His.

Faith does not change my circumstances; faith changes me. Faith may not bring in the tuition check when I need it, but faith will give me what it takes to hang on.

It will never be enough. Furthermore, provision is God’s responsibility, not ours. We are merely called to commit what we have – even if it’s no more than a sack lunch.

Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitudes toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.

You won’t find God at the Seminary and you won’t find wisdom in the halls of intellectualism.

With vision there is no room to be frightened. No reason for intimidation. It’s time to march forward! Let’s be confident and positive!

Hope is like an anchor. Our hope in Christ stabilizes us in the storms of life, but unlike an anchor, it does not hold us back.

No, the thing that makes for greatness is determination, persisting in the right direction over the long haul, following your dream, staying at the task.

Courage is not limited to the battlefield or the Indianapolis 500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like remaining faithful when nobody’s looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you’re misunderstood.

Patience is a bitter plant that produces sweet fruit.

Focusing intently on Christ naturally results in a lifestyle of increasingly greater selflessness. And it has another benefit. Gazing on Christ gives us greater ability to look past life’s trials and remain calm in the midst of what others would call chaos.

Faith does not change my circumstances; faith changes me. Faith may not bring in the tuition check when I need it, but faith will give me what it takes to hang on.

The size of a challenge should never be measured by what we have to offer. It will never be enough. Furthermore, provision is God’s responsibility, not ours. We are merely called to commit what we have – even if it’s no more than a sack lunch.

I’m here today to warn you: I want you to watch out for the adversary. Guard yourself from any spirit of entitlement. Restrain any and all subtle temptation to gain attention or to find ways to promote yourself.

People who soar, are those who refuse to sit back and wish things would change

We continually encounter hardships. People disappoint us. We disappoint ourselves. But God is constant and compassionate. We are not alone. He cares. Against all reason, the transcendent God loves us so much that He has committed Himself to us.

When we have God in clear focus, His powerful presence eclipses our fear.

We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hopes. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.

God never asked us to meet life’s pressures and demands on our own terms or by relying upon our own strength. Nor did He demands that we win His favor by assembling an impressive portfolio of good deeds. Instead, He invites us to enter His rest.

Authentic men aren’t afraid to show affection, release their feelings, hug their children, cry when they’re sad, admit it when they’re wrong, and ask for help when they need it.

Walk by faith! Stop the plague of worry. Relax! Learn to say, “Lord, this is Your battle.”

Battles are won in the trenches, in the grit and grime of courageous determination; they are won day by day in the arena of life.

Vision is the ability to see God’s presence, to perceive God’s power, to focus on God’s plan in spite of the obstacles.

Fortunately, God made all varieties of people with a wide variety of interests and abilities. He has called people of every race and color who have been hurt by life in every manner imaginable. Even the scars of past abuse and injury can be the means of bringing healing to another. What wonderful opportunities to make disciples!

When you accept the fact that sometimes seasons are dry and times are hard and that God is in control of both, you will discover a sense of divine refuge, because the hope then is in God and not in yourself.

Appreciate the members of your family for who they are, even though their outlook or style may be miles different from yours. Rabbits don’t fly. Eagles don’t swim. Ducks look funny trying to climb. Squirrels don’t have feathers. Stop comparing. There’s plenty of room in the forest.

Make a plan now to keep a daily appointment with God.

Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice.

Encouragement is awesome. Think about it. It has the capacity to lift a man’s or a woman’s shoulders. To breathe fresh air into the fading embers of a smoldering dream. To actually change the course of another human being’s day, week, or life.

People who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life’s circumstances to push them down and hold them under.

Your call will become clear as as your mind is transformed by the reading of Scripture and the internal work of God’s Spirit. The Lord never hides His will from us. In time, as you obey the call first to follow, your destiny will unfold before you. The difficulty will lie in keeping other concerns from diverting your attention.

The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.

Times may be hard and people may be demanding, but never forget that life is special. Every single day is a special day. God is at work in you!

Worry is assuming responsibilities that you cannot handle.

At midnight it will end, quietly, suddenly, totally. Forever. But the hours between now and then are opportunities with eternal possibilities.

No ulterior motives. No hidden meanings. An absence of hypocrisy, duplicity, political games, and verbal superficiality. As honesty and real integrity characterize our lives, there will be no need to manipulate others.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

This will not be easy because it doesn’t come naturally to us. We cannot do this on our own. We have to allow God to elevate our vantage point. Start by reading His Word, the Bible…Pray and ask God to transform your thinking. Let Him do what you cannot. Ask Him to give you an eternal, divine perspective.

Life is 10% of what happens to you, and 90% of how you react to it.

I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position.

Don’t get older; get better: Live realistically. Give generously. Adapt willingly. Trust fearlessly. Rejoice daily.

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.