Andy's Inspiration Box

Upon Thy Word I stand, That cannot die; Christ seals or in my hand, He cannot lie! Thy Word that faileth never, Abideth ever. - Springs in the Valley (April 29)

Ephesians 3:20-21 New King James Version (NKJV) 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

"Each one must personally accept, adopt, and endorse the promise promise of God by his own individual faith, our he will derive no benefit from it." - Springs in the Valley (April 29)

Hebrews 13:12-16 New King James Version (NKJV) 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Mark 9:17-23 New International Version (NIV) 17  A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.   18  Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19  “You unbelieving generation,”  Jesus replied,  “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20  So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21  Jesus asked the boy’s father,  “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered.   22  “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23  “‘If you can’?”  said Jesus.  “E...

"God will answer when you pray; Yea, though mountains block thy way, At His word, a way will be E'en through mountains, made for thee. God who still divides the sea, Willingly will work for thee; God, before whom mountains fall, Promises to hear thy call." - M. E. B (Springs, April 27)

"God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty." - Peter Marshall

"Will is the whole man active. I cannot give up my will; I must exercise it. I must will to obey. When God gives a command or a vision of truth, it is never a question of what He will do, but what we will do. To be successful in God's work is to fall in line with His will and to do it His way. All that is pleasing to Him is a success. " -  Henrietta C Mears

"The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray. It is not the only thing; but it is the chief thing. The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer, nor those who say they believe in prayer, nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean these people who take time and pray. They have not time. It must be taken from something else. This something else is important, very important, and pressing, but still less important and less pressing than prayer. There are people that put prayer first, and group the other items in life's schedule around and after prayer." - Dr S. D. Gordon

"Only supreme and absolute abandonment to the will of God will give perfect rest of soul." - Springs in the Valley (April 26)

1 Peter 1:18-19 New International Version (NIV) 18  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed  from the empty way of life  handed down to you from your ancestors,   19  but with the precious blood  of Christ, a lamb  without blemish or defect.

Psalm 46:4-10 New King James Version (NKJV) 4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. 6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Hebrews 10:35-39 New King James Version (NKJV) 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

John 6:27 New King James Version (NKJV) 27  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." - Helen Keller

The very gift of faith is a hint to you that you will want it; that at certain points and places you especially require it; and that, at all points and in every place you will really need out it. Faith must begin to use its resources! - Springs in the Valley (April 23)

“My father always told us that if we will let God, He can use even our disappointements, even our annoyances to bring us a blessing. There's a practical way to start the process too: by thanking Him for whatever happens, no matter how disagreeable it seems.” ― Catherine Marshall, Christy

John 6:35-40 NKJV And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never  thirst.   But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet  do not believe.   All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and  the one who comes to Me I will  by no means cast out.   For I have come down from heaven,  not to do My own will,  but the will of Him who sent Me.   This is the will of the Father who sent Me,  that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.   And this is the will of Him who sent Me,  that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Hebrews 8:6 Good News Translation (GNT) 6  But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.

“Evil is real - and powerful. It has to be fought, not explained away, not fled. And God is against evil all the way. So each of us has to decide where WE stand, how we're going to live OUR lives. We can try to persuade ourselves that evil doesn't exist; live for ourselves and wink at evil. We can say that it isn't so bad after all, maybe even try to call it fun by clothing it in silks and velvets. We can compromise with it, keep quiet about it and say it's none of our business. Or we can work on God's side, listen for His orders on strategy against the evil, no matter how horrible it is, and know that He can transform it.” - Catherine Marshall

Hebrews 13:5-6 Good News Translation (GNT) 5  Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.”  6  Let us be bold, then, and say, “The Lord is my helper,      I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”

"Not till His hour strikes is our day done; as long as we live we serve the King!" - Springs in the Valley, April 20.

Jeremiah 31:31-37 NIV "The days are coming," declares the Lord , "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord . "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the Lord . "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord ,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord . "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." This is what the Lord  says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars...

“Seldom can the heart be lonely, If it seek a lonelier still; Self-forgetting, seeking only Emptier cups of love to fill.” ― Frances Ridley Havergal

"Whatever blessing is in our cup it is sure to run over . With Him the calf is always the fatted calf ; the robe is always the best robe ; the joy is unspeakable joy ; the peace passeth understanding ; the grace is so abundant that the recipient has all-sufficiency for all things, and abounds to every good work ." - Springs in the Valley (April 18)

Mark 14:35-36 New King James Version (NKJV) 35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

Isaiah 43:1-7 New Century Version (NCV) God Is Always with His People 43 Now this is what the Lord says. He created you, people of Jacob; he formed you, people of Israel. He says, “Don’t be afraid, because I have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. 3 This is because I, the Lord, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt to pay for you, and I gave Cush and Seba to make you mine. 4 Because you are precious to me, because I give you honor and love you, I will give other people in your place; I will give other nations to save your life. 5 Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will tell the north: Give my people to me. I wil...

"The God of Israel, the Savior, is sometimes a God that hideth Himself, but never a God that absenteth Himself; sometimes in the dark, but never at a distance." - Matthew Henry (Springs in the Valley)

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Joshua 4:19-24 The Message (MSG) 19-22  The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They set up camp at The Gilgal (The Circle) to the east of Jericho. Joshua erected a monument at The Gilgal, using the twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan. And then he told the People of Israel, “In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What are these stones doing here?’ tell your children this: ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23-24  “Yes,  God , your God, dried up the Jordan’s waters for you until you had crossed, just as  God , your God, did at the Red Sea, which had dried up before us until we had crossed. This was so that everybody on earth would recognize how strong  God ’s rescuing hand is and so that you would hold  God  in solemn reverence always.”

Mark 4:26-28 New International Version (NIV) 26  He also said,  “This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.   27  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.   28  All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

"No church or movement can survive unless it is ready to be crucified." - Bishop of Winchestor

Acts 4:32-35 New King James Version (NKJV) Sharing in All Things 32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

Psalm 33:6-15 New International Version (NIV) 6  By the word  of the  Lord  the heavens were made,      their starry host  by the breath of his mouth. 7  He gathers the waters  of the sea into jars [ a ] ;      he puts the deep into storehouses. 8  Let all the earth fear the  Lord ;      let all the people of the world  revere him. 9  For he spoke, and it came to be;      he commanded,  and it stood firm. 10  The  Lord  foils  the plans  of the nations;      he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11  But the plans of the  Lord  stand firm  forever,      the purposes  of his heart through all generations. 12  Blessed is the nation whose God is the  Lord ,      the people he chose  for his inheritance. 13 ...

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

1 Peter 1:8-9 GNT You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express,  because you are receiving the salvation of your souls, which is the purpose of your faith in him.

Psalm 103:15-18 Good News Translation (GNT) 15  As for us, our life is like grass. We grow and flourish like a wild flower; 16       then the wind blows on it, and it is gone—      no one sees it again. 17  But for those who honor the  Lord , his love lasts forever,      and his goodness endures for all generations 18  of those who are true to his covenant      and who faithfully obey his commands.

"Only those who see the invisible can attempt the impossible." - D. Eastman

"We must be broken in ourselves before we can give back the lovely hue of His light, and the lamp of the Temple can burn in us and never go out." - Ellice Hopkins

"From thy brier, dear heart, shall blow a rose for others." - Springs in the Valley Isaiah 55:13

If these little sparks of holy fire thus heaped up together do not give life to your prepared and already enkindled spirit, yet they will sometimes help to entertain a thought, to actuate a passion, to employ and hallow a fancy. - Jeremy Taylor

"Do not confine yourself to mean and petty degrees of the Spirit..."Be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18) There is no surfeit here, nor need there be any restriction." - John Macbeth

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 New International Version (NIV) 26  Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise  by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.   27  But God chose  the foolish  things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.   28  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not —to nullify the things that are,   29  so that no one may boast before him.   30  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,  who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,  holiness  and redemption.   31  Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” [ a ]

“To be one of God's lilies means an interior abandonment of the rarest kind. It means that we are to be infinitely passive, and yet infinitely active also; passive as regards self and its workings, active as regards attention and response to God. It is very hard to explain this so as to be understood, but it means that we must lay down all the activity of the creature, as such, and must let only the activities of God work in us, and through us, and by us. Self must step aside, to let God work.” ― Hannah Whitall Smith

"In all places whithersoever we go, the Angel of the covenant has been our forerunner. Each burden we have to carry has once been laiden on the shoulders of Immanuel." - Springs in the Valley (April 8)

"If I cannot hear "The sound of rain' long before the rain falls, and then go out to some hilltop of the Spirit, as near to my God as I can and have faith to wait there with my face between my knees, though six times or sixty times I am told "There is nothing', till at last there arises a little cloud out of the sea, then I know nothing of Calvary love." - Amy Carmichael

Romans 8:35-39 New King James Version (NKJV) 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"It is not enough to pray for answers if we are too stubborn to listen to what the Lord is telling us." - Allison Bottke, 'Take My Heart, Oh God' April 6.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 New International Version (NIV) 14  For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.   15  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves  but for him who died for them  and was raised again.

I dare not be defeated Since Christ, my conquering King, Has called me to the battle Which He did surely win. Come, Lord, and give me courage, Thy conquering Spirit give, Make me an overcomer, In power within me live. I dare not be defeated, Just as the set of sun, When Jesus waits to whisper, "Well done, beloved, well done!" Come, Lord, bend from the Glory, On me Thy Spirit cast, Make me an overcomer, A victor to the last. - The Verses of a Pilgrim (Springs in the Valley)

"To pray in Jesus' name means to pray in his spirit, in his compassion, in his love, in his outrage, in his concern. In other words, it means to pray a prayer that Jesus himself might pray." - Kenneth L. Wilson

2 Corinthians 6:4-6 New Living Translation (NLT) 4  In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.   5  We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.   6  We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, [ a ]  and by our sincere love.

"The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, buy unoffered prayer." - F.B. Meyer "The reason why we obtain no more in prayer is because we expect no more. God usually answers us according to our own hearts." - Richard Alleine

Matthew 5:13-14 Good News Translation (GNT) Salt and Light 13  “You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it. 14  “You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.

Psalm 96:8-13 New King James Version (NKJV) 8 Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. 9 Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” 11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. 13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

Psalm 1 New King James Version (NKJV) 1  Blessed  is  the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,      Nor stands in the path of sinners,      Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2  But his delight  is  in the law of the  Lord ,      And in His law he meditates day and night. 3  He shall be like a tree      Planted by the rivers of water,      That brings forth its fruit in its season,      Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4  The ungodly  are  not so, But  are  like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6  For the  Lord  knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

"Nothing else is needed to quiet all your fears, but just this, that GOD IS.” ― Hannah Whitall Smith

"It is the consciousness of the threefold joy of the Lord, His joy in ransoming us, His joy in dwelling within us as our Saviour and Power for fruitbearing and His joy in possessing us, as His Bride and His delight; it is the consciousness of this joy which is our real strength. Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change." - Hudson Taylor

Psalm 112:1-7 New International Version (NIV) 1 Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. 2 Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. 4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. 6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. 7 They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.