Andy's Inspiration Box

Psalm 102:25-28 New International Version (NIV) 25  In the beginning  you laid the foundations of the earth,      and the heavens  are the work of your hands. 26  They will perish,  but you remain;      they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them      and they will be discarded. 27  But you remain the same,      and your years will never end. 28  The children of your servants will live in your presence;      their descendants  will be established before you.”

"The Lord provides deep roots where there are to be wide-spreading branches" - Springs in the Valley (January 31)

Isaiah 40:30-31 New International Version (NIV) 30  Even youths grow tired and weary,      and young men  stumble and fall; 31  but those who hope  in the Lord      will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;      they will run and not grow weary,      they will walk and not be faint.

Psalm 33:13-15 New Living Translation (NLT) 13  The   Lord   looks down from heaven      and sees the whole human race. 14  From his throne he observes      all who live on the earth. 15  He made their hearts,      so he understands everything they do.

"We are safer with Him in the dark than without Him in the sunshine." - Springs in the Valley, Jan 29

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The Message (MSG) 9-10  “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,      a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I,   God , search the heart      and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human.      I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are,      not as they pretend to be.” There are two opposite and equal errors we fall into when we consider the state of the human heart. One is to see it as utterly corrupt and incapable of any good. A dark and gloomy picture of wickedness. We thus have a bleak view of ourselves and others. A bleak view of life. The other opposite error is to see it as inherently good, just messed up a bit by social conditioning and our environment. Nothing much wrong with it that a bit of education and self-discipline couldn’t cure. So a rosy and optimistic view results. The Bible knocks any such view on the head. As this te...

Psalm 103:1-8 New International Version (NIV) Psalm 103 Of David. 1  Praise the  Lord ,  my soul;      all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2  Praise the  Lord ,  my soul,      and forget not  all his benefits- 3  who forgives all your sins      and heals  all your diseases, 4  who redeems your life  from the pit      and crowns you with love and compassion, 5  who satisfies  your desires with good things      so that your youth is renewed  like the eagle’s. 6  The  Lord  works righteousness      and justice for all the oppressed. 7  He made known  his ways  to Moses,      his deeds  to the people of Israel: 8  The  Lord  is compassionate and gracious,      slow to anger, abounding in love.

"Pleasure and Christian joy cannot be equated. Pleasure depends on circumstances. Christian joy is completely independent of circumstances. The joy of God is constant. It rises to rise again. Pleasures are superficial and temporary. Joy is deep. It wells up from inner contentment. The smile is not merely on the lips and in the eyes but in the heart. It may flame into rapture or glow in peace. Joy, that is godly joy, is not something a pilgrim is required to have, but is rather a consequence of having been set free from the bondage of sin and knowing, like the prodigal, that one's feet are on the road that leads to the Father's house." - Selwyn Hughes

Romans 15:13 New International Version (NIV) 13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace  as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  " Stess brings no joy. Isn't joy worth the effort of trust? " - Ann Voskamp

"You must not expect anything from others. It's you, of yourself, of whom you must ask a lot. Only from oneself has one the right to ask everything and anything. This way it's up to you - your own choices - what you get from others remains a present, a gift." - Albert Schweitzer

Isaiah 30:23 The Message (MSG) 23-26  God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills. Better yet, on the Day  God  heals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.

"When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." -  Paulo Coelho

"To listen is to continually give up all expectation and to give our attention, completely and freshly, to what is before us, not really knowing what we will hear or what that will mean. In the practice of our days, to listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear." - Mark Nepo

Romans 1:19-23 The Message (MSG) ...But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.

Matthew 28:19-20 ESV Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

"Spiritual maturity comes from living by what I know about G od, not by what I feel about Him or about myself and my circumstances." - Selwyn Hughes

1 Corinthians 2:6-7 New King James Version (NKJV) Spiritual Wisdom  ...we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory...

Psalm 125:1-2 GNT Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which can never be shaken, never be moved. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, now and forever.

"The life that counts blessings discovers its yielding more than it seems."  - Ann Voskamp

Leviticus 7:11-13 New Century Version (NCV) The Fellowship Offering 11  “‘These are the teachings about the fellowship offering a person may offer to the  Lord :  12  If he brings the fellowship offering to show his thanks, he should also bring loaves of bread made without yeast that are mixed with oil, wafers made without yeast that have oil poured over them, and loaves of fine flour that are mixed with oil.  13  He must also offer loaves of bread made with yeast along with his fellowship offering, which he gives to show thanks.

1 John 4:13-15 GNT We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit. And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we live in union with God and God lives in union with us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 New Century Version (NCV) 5  Trust the  Lord  with all your heart,      and don’t depend on your own understanding. 6  Remember the  Lord  in all you do,      and he will give you success.

Romans 10:11-17 GNT The scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.” This includes everyone, because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to him. As the scripture says, “Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved.” But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed? And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, “How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!” But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, “Lord, who believed our message?” So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.

"We must desire and believe. We must ask and expect that God will do unlooked-for things! We must set our faith on a God of Whom men do not know what He hath prepared for them that wait for Him. The Wonder-doing God... must be the God of our confidence."  - Andrew Murray

Psalm 124:2-8 Good News Translation (GNT) 2  “If the  Lord  had not been on our side      when our enemies attacked us, 3  then they would have swallowed us alive      in their furious anger against us; 4  then the flood would have carried us away,      the water would have covered us, 5       the raging torrent would have drowned us.” 6  Let us thank the  Lord ,      who has not let our enemies destroy us. 7  We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap;      the trap is broken, and we are free! 8  Our help comes from the  Lord ,      who made heaven and earth.

" Sometimes it is only when we focus on the past that hope can be found for the present." -Selwyn Hughes

Deuteronomy 11:8-12 New Century Version (NCV) 8  So obey all the commands I am giving you today so that you will be strong and can go in and take the land you are going to take as your own.  9  Then you will live a long time in the land that the  Lord  promised to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a fertile land.  10  The land you are going to take is not like Egypt, where you were. There you had to plant your seed and water it, like a vegetable garden, by using your feet.  11  But the land that you will soon cross the Jordan River to take is a land of hills and valleys, a land that drinks rain from heaven. 12  It is a land the  Lord  your God cares for. His eyes are on it continually, and he watches it from the beginning of the year to the end.

Galatians 6:7-8 New Century Version (NCV) Life Is like Planting a Field 7  Do not be fooled: You cannot cheat God. People harvest only what they plant.  8  If they plant to satisfy their sinful selves, their sinful selves will bring them ruin. But if they plant to please the Spirit, they will receive eternal life from the Spirit.

"Let us be silent unto Him, and believe that, even now, messengers are hastening along the road with the summons, or direction, or help which we need." - Springs in the Valley (January 18)

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." -  Audrey Hepburn Matthew 28:20 ". ..and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Psalm 123:1-2 Good News Translation (GNT) A Prayer for Mercy 123  Lord , I look up to you,      up to heaven, where you rule. 2  As a servant depends on his master,      as a maid depends on her mistress, so we will keep looking to you, O   Lord   our God,      until you have mercy on us.

Psalm 27:4-5 New King James Version (NKJV) 4  One  thing  I have desired of the  Lord , That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the  Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the  Lord , And to inquire in His temple. 5  For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

"My old professor, Lord Kelvin, once said in class a very striking thing. He said there came a point in all his great discoveries when he had to take a leap into the dark. And nobody who is afraid of such a leap from the solid ground of what is demonstrated, will know the exhilaration of believing! To commit ourselves to Christ is just the biggest venture in the world! The wonderful thing is that when, with a certain daring, we take Lord Kelvin's "leap into the dark" we discover it is not dark at all, but life abundant, and liberty and peace." - George H. Morrison

 “Hiding or denying your real feelings is usually not helpful in terms of strengthening the bonds in relationships, or feeling the unity that we need with people in our lives. I think it’s the same with God… When we don’t acknowledge our difficulties believing, we lose some of that intimacy that we need to overcome doubt.” - Audrey Assad

Psalm 122:6-9 Good News Translation (GNT) 6  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:      “May those who love you prosper. 7       May there be peace inside your walls      and safety in your palaces.” 8  For the sake of my relatives and friends      I say to Jerusalem, “Peace be with you!” 9  For the sake of the house of the   Lord   our God      I pray for your prosperity.

“For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist.” - St. Augustine 

Abraham began by letting go, and going out, and all the wait was just giving up; first his home, his father and his past; next his inheritance to Lot, his selfish nephew; and finally the very child of promise on the altar of Moriah; but he became the father of the faithful, whose inheritance was as the sands of the sea and the stars of the heavens. - Springs in the Valley (January 12)

Galatians 6:6-10 New King James Version (NKJV) Be Generous and Do Good 6  Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. 7  Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  8  For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.  9  And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.  10  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

"When we enter into the presence of the Lord by His grace and love, His unity becomes our unity. Things that were once loose and sloppy become strong and firm." - Selwyn Hughes

John 14:26 New King James Version (NKJV) 26  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

"No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it, by vigorously willing to have it. Peace is a margin of power around our daily need. Peace is a consciousness of springs too deep for earthly droughts to dry up."  - Harry Emerson Fosdick

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  -  Matthew 6:19-21  (NKJV)

“God doesn’t tell you to do hard things so He can stand back and laugh and watch you struggle. He tells you to do things the things that He knows are gonna work out to your good in the end.” - Joyce Meyer

Romans 12:1-5 English Standard Version (ESV) A Living Sacrifice 12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[d] Gifts of Grace 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,[e] and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Matthew 17:15-20 New King James Version (NKJV) 15  “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  16  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17  Then Jesus answered and said,  “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”   18  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20  So Jesus said to them,  “Because of your unbelief;   for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Psalm 147:11 New Living Translation (NLT) 11  No, the  Lord ’s delight is in those who fear him,      those who put their hope in his unfailing love.

"Rarest gems bear hardest grinding - God's own workmanship are we." - Springs in the Valley (January 8)

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." -  Henry David Thoreau

"A friend said, 'If God tells me to reckon, He pledges Himself to make the reckoning good.' As we go on reckoning, we will go on realizing. No man makes a mistake who does what the Lord bids him to do." - Thomas Cook

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  ― Winston Churchill

Mark 11:22 Amplified Bible (AMP) 22  And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly].

Isaiah 4:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT) 5  Then the  Lord  will provide shade for Mount Zion      and all who assemble there. He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day      and smoke and flaming fire at night,      covering the glorious land. 6  It will be a shelter from daytime heat      and a hiding place from storms and rain.

No, O people, the  Lord  has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  -  Micah 6:8   NLT

"The more keenly we allow ourselves to feel the disappointment that the world ultimately brings the more motivated we will be to join the journey of Christian disciples." - Selwyn Hughes

Matthew 6:34 New King James Version (NKJV) 34  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day  is  its own trouble.

"Tomorrow is God's secret - but today is yours to live." - Spring in the Valley (January 3rd)

"It is often in the darkest  skies that we see the  brightest stars." -  Richard Evans

Isaiah 45:5-7 English Standard Version (ESV) 5  I am the   Lord , and there is no other,      besides me there is no God;      I equip you, though you do not know me, 6  that people may know, from the rising of the sun      and from the west, that there is none besides me;      I am the   Lord , and there is no other. 7  I form light and create darkness,      I make well-being and   create calamity,      I am the   Lord , who does all these things.

2 Corinthians 5:16-18 Contemporary English Version (CEV) 16  We are careful not to judge people by what they seem to be, though we once judged Christ in that way.  17  Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. 18  God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.

2 Corinthians 9:8-11 English Standard Version (ESV) 8  And  God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency [ a ]  in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.   9  As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;      his righteousness endures forever.” 10  He who supplies  seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and  increase the harvest of your righteousness.   11  You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which  through us will produce thanksgiving to God.