Intercer Adventist News

Closer To Heaven
You are here: Home / Archives for graphics

Believing in Advance

By

 “If I spend enough time with God, I will inevitably begin to look at the world with a point of view that more resembles God’s own. What is faith, after all, but believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” 

–Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

I need to come into God’s presence daily. Doing so will ensure that I gain a perspective of myself and the world from his vantage point. When I fail to do this, I quickly assume that I am at liberty to live as I please. Apart from God I buy into the ideology of the west that promotes self fulfillment over sacrifice and service. 

Apart from God I self implode and ignore the needs of those around me. The same was true in Paul’s day, which prompted him to say, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”1

Paul follows this with an appeal for Christ’s followers to exercise their spiritual gifts for the sake of the Christian community, as well as the individual serving.

“Lord, give me courage to practice what I intuitively believe, even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment.”

1 Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Believing in Advance

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

What’s the Rush?

By

“The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity. We have a tendency it seems to over complicate our lives and forget what’s important and what’s not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We tend to focus on activities instead of results. And as the pace of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget that we have the power to control our lives regardless of what’s going on outside.”

–Robert Stuberg

Oh, to be simply quiet, wise, delightful and content. How can I recapture that state of mind? Today’s world races at break-neck speed in every direction. How can I resist chasing the crowds who run with the wind? Maybe the grass really is greener “over there.” What will I miss by forcing myself to be simple and quiet? Will I ever be able to catch up?

Perhaps the better question is, what will I miss by failing to heed simplicity’s call? Always running ahead of my heart, weakens my sense of purpose and meaning. Lord, Help me to slow down and rediscover the joy of soulful communion.  
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: What’s the Rush?

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Winning and Losing

By

“The most important tactic in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.”

–Syndey J. Harris

When debating with someone over an issue, it is tempting to think that our goal is to win the argument. But really it should be to win the confidence and respect of the person we are talking with. If we don’t accomplish this, we run the risk of being right but losing a friend.

I recently heard a radio talk show host say that conservatives should not try to work with liberals but should just flat out beat them. In his view, our government doesn’t need two sides of the isle.” We should only elect people who agree on every major issue–and of course, they must be conservative.

This kind of thinking is both unrealistic and unAmerican! The democratic process can only continue if we are willing to allow everyone a seat at the table, while showing respect and compassion for the other, regardless of the issue. The moment we demonize our opponent we lose the magic of what has made the United States the great nation that it is.
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2009. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Winning and Losing

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Emotionally Charged

By

“We are not just rationale people who respond emotionally once in a while. We are emotional people who respond rationally once in a while.”

–Clarence Schilt, Oregon pastor

We are more emotional than we are rationale. Some are more analytical than others, but in the end everything that happens to us impacts us on an emotional level. As I think back over my life, the experiences I most vividly remember are those that touched my emotions. The rationale decisions I made years ago don’t stand out in my mind. That doesn’t mean they weren’t significant, but they were on a level that didn’t seem as personal.

About eighteen years ago I reached a place in my pastoral work where I felt the need to be stretched. I needed to be challenged in new ways. Some would call it a mid-life crisis! After twelve turbulent, at times tearful, months of trying to figure out what to do, Linda and I finally decided that I would take a leave of absence and head to graduate school. Out of that emotional time we made some rationale decisions that altered the course of our lives. Looking back now I can say it was an exciting time.

It’s OK to be emotional. We are wired that way. Ask God to help you better understand and celebrate the emotional aspects of your life today.

Thumbnail photo by Bas van der Pluym
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2009. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Emotionally Charged

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

About Intercer

Intercer is a website with biblical materials in Romanian, English, Hungarian and other languages. We want to bring the light from God's Word to peoples homes. Intercer provides quality Christian resources...[Read More]

Lucian Web Service


Intercer is proudly sponsored by Lucian Web Service - Professional Web Services, Wordpress Websites, Marketing and Affiliate Info. Lucian worked as a subcontractor with Simpleupdates, being one of the programmers for the Adventist Church Connect software. He also presented ACC/ASC workshops... [read more]

Archives

Categories