Andy's Inspiration Box

"...you cannot find in any place in Scripture where a man was ever sent by God to do a work in which he ever failed." - D.L. Moody

"Faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God." - A. W. Tozer

2 Timothy 2:20-21 English Standard Version (ESV) 20  Now in   a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay,   some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.   21  Therefore,   if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, [ a ]   he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house,   ready for every good work.

Genesis 21:19 New King James Version (NKJV) 19  Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.

"It's safe to trust God's methods, and go by His clock." - S.D. Gordon

"Sometimes trusting God amounts to making peace with something that won't fix. Sometimes you let it go. Sometimes you hold it broken."  - Beth Moore

"Lord God, Your Son took the ringing of the hammer and the pounding of the nails to buy my salvation. Right now I offer You up my open hands. Drive out the nails of habitual grumbling with the nails of habitual gratitude. I long to be fixed to You." - Ann Voskamp

Psalm 133 Good News Translation (GNT) In Praise of Living in Peace [ a ] 133  How wonderful it is, how pleasant,      for God's people to live together in harmony! 2  It is like the precious anointing oil      running down from Aaron's head and beard,      down to the collar of his robes. 3  It is like the dew on Mount Hermon,      falling on the hills of Zion. That is where the   Lord   has promised his blessing—      life that never ends.

"There is a simplicity about God in working out His plans, yet a resourcefulness equal to any difficulty, an unswerving faithfulness to His trusting child, and an unforgetting steadiness in holding to His purpose." - Springs in the Valley (February 24)

1 Peter 2:9-10 New King James Version (NKJV) 9  But you  are  a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  10  who once were not a people but  are  now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Psalm 57:1-3 New Living Translation (NLT) Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!      I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings      until the danger passes by. 2  I cry out to God Most High,      to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. 3  He will send help from heaven to rescue me,      disgracing those who hound me.  Interlude My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.

"This boundless desire had not its original from man itself; nothing would render itself restless; something above the bounds of this world implanted those desires after a higher good, and made him restless in everything else. And since the soul can only rest is something infinite, there is something infinite for it to rest in." - Stephen Charnock

"We are urgent about the body; He is about the soul. We call for present comforts; He considers our everlasting rest. And therefore when He sends not the very things we ask, He hears us by sending greater than we can ask or think." -  Richard Cecil

Matthew 7:7 New Living Translation (NLT) 7  “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Psalm 132:13-18 Good News Translation (GNT) 13  The   Lord   has chosen Zion;      he wants to make it his home: 14  “This is where I will live forever;      this is where I want to rule. 15  I will richly provide Zion with all she needs;      I will satisfy her poor with food. 16  I will bless her priests in all they do,      and her people will sing and shout for joy. 17  Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king;      here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king. 18  I will cover his enemies with shame,      but his kingdom will prosper and flourish.”

1 Timothy 2:1 New Living Translation (NLT) Instructions about Worship I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.

Is your place a small place? Tend it with care! He set you there. Is your place a large place? Guard it with care! He set you there. Whate'er your place, it is Not yours alone, but His. He set you there. - John Oxenham

"We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts." -  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now." -  A.W. Tozer

Luke 6:38 New King James Version (NKJV) 38  Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

"If any of you, beloved, seem to be in a knot of difficulty of which you cannot get the thread, look to Him who is perfect wisdom, and let the tangle go out of your hands into His; turn the matter over to Him . What is impossible with you is perfectly possible with Him who is Almighty!" - Springs in the Valley (February 18)

Daniel 6:10 New Living Translation (NLT) 10  But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.

Exodus 33:14 King James Version (KJV) 14  And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Growing in Faith 3  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 5  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,   6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,   7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 5:7 New Living Translation (NLT) 7  Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

James 1:23-25 GNT If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are. They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like. But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do.

Colossians 3:1-2 New International Version (NIV) Living as Those Made Alive in Christ 3  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,  set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.   2  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

"You are being set free to enjoy God for who He is, not for what He does. He is helping us to grow as we learn to stand, walk and run free; to be at peace in His presence not only as infants but also as mature adults." - Selwyn Hughs

You cannot be a joy to Him, if thus with frown and fret You turn at each new call of His, to find new lessons set. The old familiar tasks were dear, and ordered by His hand; But come and tread another way: It is as He has planned. - Edith Hickman Divall

Philippians 4:11-13 New International Version (NIV) 11  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content  whatever the circumstances. 12  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,  whether living in plenty or in want.   13  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Psalm 131 Good News Translation (GNT) A Prayer of Humble Trust [ a ] 131  Lord , I have given up my pride      and turned away from my arrogance. I am not concerned with great matters      or with subjects too difficult for me. 2  Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms,      so my heart is quiet within me. 3  Israel, trust in the   Lord      now and forever!

Psalm 37:7-9 New International Version (NIV) 7  Be still  before the  Lord      and wait patiently  for him; do not fret  when people succeed in their ways,      when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8  Refrain from anger  and turn from wrath;      do not fret —it leads only to evil. 9  For those who are evil will be destroyed,      but those who hope  in the Lord  will inherit the land.

Psalm 130:5-6 Good News Translation (GNT) 5  I wait eagerly for the   Lord 's help,      and in his word I trust. 6  I wait for the Lord      more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn—      than sentries wait for the dawn.

Psalm 19:8 New International Version (NIV) 8  The precepts of the  Lord  are right,      giving joy  to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant,      giving light to the eyes.

"Some see waiting as nothing more than resignation. They say; "I'm resigned to the will and purposes of God." Resigned? The will of God is not something we are resigned to. It is something we can rejoice in, which fills our hearts with confidence, hope and expectation. And why? Because His will is always our highest good." - Selwyn Hughes

Hebrews 6:7-10 New International Version (NIV) 7  Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.   8  But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed.  In the end it will be burned. 9  Even though we speak like this, dear friends,  we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.   10  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Deuteronomy 33:12 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 12 The beloved of the   Lord   rests in safety— the High God [ a ]   surrounds him all day long—      the beloved [ b ]   rests between his shoulders.

Ephesians 5:8-10 New International Version (NIV) 8  For you were once  darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light   9  (for the fruit  of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)   10  and find out what pleases the Lord.

"Stop determining your worth and value by what other people say. Be determined by what the Word of God says." - Joyce Meyer

1 Peter 5:5-7 GNT In the same way you younger people must submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, then, under God's mighty hand, so that he will lift you up in his own good time. Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you.

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." -  Mother Teresa

James 1:2-4 English Standard Version (ESV) 2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

2 Peter 3:8-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 8  But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.   9  The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, [ a ]   not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Isaiah 65:24 New International Version (NIV) 24  Before they call  I will answer;      while they are still speaking, I will hear.

2 Samuel 7:28 Sovereign  Lord , you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.

"When all things can be accomplished by prayer, why not yield to the test? Why not pray on? And through?" - Springs in the Valley (February 6)

Philippians 1:9-11 New Living Translation (NLT) 9  I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.   10  For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.   11  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ [ a ] —for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Proverbs 16:3 New International Version (NIV) 3  Commit to the  Lord  whatever you do,      and he will establish your plans.

"The character of our work is shaped not by accomplishments or possessions but in the birth of relationships. We invest our energy in people. Among those around us we develop sons and daughters, brothers and sisters even as our Lord did with us." - Eugene Peterson

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 New King James Version (NKJV) Comfort in Suffering 3  Blessed  be  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Psalm 103:1-5 New King James Version (NKJV) Praise for the  Lord ’s Mercies A Psalm  of David. 103  Bless the  Lord , O my soul; And all that is within me,  bless  His holy name! 2  Bless the  Lord , O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3  Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4  Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5  Who satisfies your mouth with good  things, So that  your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Matthew 6:34 MSG Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Psalm 73:26 Living Bible (TLB) 26  My health fails; my spirits droop, yet God remains! He is the strength of my heart; he is mine forever!

" You are good, You are good  When there's nothing good in me  You are love, You are love  On display for all to see  You are light, You are light  When the darkness closes in  You are hope, You are hope  You have covered all my sin." - Forever Reign, Hillsong