Andy's Inspiration Box

"God calls every believer to embrace Kingdom greatness. As I continue to immerse myself in Jesus’ words and character, I realize that salvation is only the spark to the flame of our intimate and eternal relationship with God. Yes, Jesus saved us from sin, but more importantly, He saved us to serve — not exclusively within the comfort and confines of church community, but also to authentically represent and reflect Him within our broader communities of hurting and forgotten people." - Allan Mitchell

"Instead of waiting for good enough things to happen to us, we could be the good thing to happen to someone else who’s waiting." - Ann Voskamp  #TheBrokenWay

"Self control helps the Christian to offer to God a responsive personality that is not cloyed by comfort or impassive from indulgence but sensitive to guidance and ready to live according to His perfect will." - Selwyn Hughes

James 3:7-12 Good News Translation (GNT) 7 We humans are able to tame and have tamed all other creatures—wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 8 But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. 9 We use it to give thanks to our Lord and Father and also to curse other people, who are created in the likeness of God. 10 Words of thanksgiving and cursing pour out from the same mouth. My friends, this should not happen! 11 No spring of water pours out sweet water and bitter water from the same opening. 12 A fig tree, my friends, cannot bear olives; a grapevine cannot bear figs, nor can a salty spring produce sweet water.

"The opinions that we have don’t make a difference like the love that we give." - Ann Voskamp

Luke 18:1-8 New Living Translation (NLT) Parable of the Persistent Widow 18  One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.   2  “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said,   “who neither feared God nor cared about people.   3  A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’   4  The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people,   5  but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” 6  Then the Lord said,   “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.   7  Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?   8  I tell you, he will gra...

"When man will listen, God speaks. When God speaks, men are changed. When men are changed, nations are changed." - Springs in the Valley (October 27)

"I have learned that to be called of God simply means to see a need and feel a desire to respond. It’s that simple." - Gail Rodgers

"Never be too busy to invest in young people. You're more likely to change the world by blessing the young than by finishing your to do list. - "Richard Blackaby"

Micah 6:3-5 Good News Translation (GNT) 3 The Lord says, “My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me. 4 I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you.”

"Pray to God that we do not let the possibilities of tomorrow rob us of the certainties of today." - David Reay

Galatians 6:2 New International Version (NIV) 2  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Your biggest area of insecurity can become the vessel with which God accomplishes His purposes. | @ChrystalHurst

Acts 1:8 English Standard Version (ESV) 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Philippians 2:5-11 English Standard Version (ESV) 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

"Greener grass is not what we really need. When Israel got what they wished for, they forgot all about God in their prosperity. When life gets easier, we tend to take His kindness for granted and fail to live with an attitude of thanksgiving. God’s generous gifts then become idols that stifle our spiritual growth." - M. Jantzen

"Ultimately, life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived, and lived out in the light of a God whose first and last word to us is love." - David Reay

Psalm 37:4 New International Version (NIV) 4  Take delight  in the  Lord ,      and he will give you the desires of your heart.

"Behold. Take Him in with a reverent awe and wonder. You will notice that when you begin to look there is still very much an intention and purposefulness in the act of looking. It takes a bending of the will to look. Many other things flash and beg and lure. But the key to moving from one degree of glory to another — ever shifting into the likeness of Christ — is in the looking, in reverent, awe-filled focus upon He who is glorious." - Eric Reynolds

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians  4:16  (NIV)

As much as we may enjoy carrying out a calling for our own personal benefit, God intends for our acts of service to benefit our brothers and sisters in Christ. As 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.” - Veda Hall

Only in close relationship with Christ do we see the truest versions of ourselves. He delights in revealing to us our unique talents and burdens. Our calling—what we’re made for—is found where these collide. Calling is where your talents and burdens collide. - Rebekah Lyons

Psalm 138:8 English Standard Version (ESV) 8  The   Lord   will   fulfill his purpose for me;      your steadfast love, O   Lord , endures forever.      Do not forsake   the work of your hands.

Psalm 19:14 New International Version (NIV) 14  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart      be pleasing  in your sight,      Lord , my Rock  and my Redeemer.

Ephesians 2:8 English Standard Version (ESV) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Luke 16:10 English Standard Version (ESV) 10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Psalm 31:19 New International Version (NIV) 19 How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.

Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version (NIV) 11  For I know the plans  I have for you,” declares the  Lord , “plans to prosper  you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Isaiah 43:6-7 New International Version (NIV) 6  I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’      and to the south,   ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar      and my daughters   from the ends of the earth— 7  everyone who is called by my name,      whom I created   for my glory,      whom I formed and made.”

What will you "put your hand to" today? Whatever that may be, ask the Lord to help you find His joy there. | @LynnCowell

"Every day we write a new page of our life story. Our story’s length is in God’s hands, but in ours is the capacity to shape what is written on each page." - Dr Guy Saffold

"Everything we are up against, every detail in our lives, is not only on His radar. It’s also in His hands." - Liz Curtis Higgs

"God calls us to be holy, because He is holy, so that our lives will draw others to Him. This high calling lifts our eyes to Jesus, the One who saves us freely and the One who makes us holy with our cooperation." - Suzanne Benner

But You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. | Psalm 3:3

"He has equipped us with everything we need to carry out our function in the body of Christ. Our calling may not look like the calling of others. And it may not be our “ideal” assignment. But our part is necessary in bringing the Good News to those who are in need of the same grace that we have received." - Mary Pinckney

"Our society values beauty, wealth, fame, stuff. The visible, the temporal. Our God values the hearts of His people. The unseen, the eternal." - Liz Curtis Higgs

Revelation 3:20 English Standard Version (ESV) 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Proverbs 10:8 New International Version (NIV) 8 The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

Psalm 63:1-8 A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. 1  You, God, are my God,      earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you,      my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land      where there is no water. 2  I have seen you in the sanctuary      and beheld your power and your glory. 3  Because your love is better than life,      my lips will glorify you. 4  I will praise you as long as I live,      and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5  I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;      with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 6  On my bed I remember you;      I think of you through the watches of the night. 7  Because you are my help,      I sing in the shadow of your wings. 8  I cling to you;      your right...

"Goodness consists not just in the outward things we do but in the inward thing we are." - Edwin Chaplin

Philippians 4:6 English Standard Version (ESV) 6 D o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 English Standard Version (ESV) 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Jeremiah 17:14 New International Version (NIV) 14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

"I will not trust in riches but in him who richly provides." - Andy Stanley

Psalm 41:2-3 New International Version (NIV) 2 The Lord protects and preserves them— they are counted among the blessed in the land— he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. 3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.

Psalm 103:2-5 New Living Translation (NLT) 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!