Top 355 Quotes & Sayings by Charles R. Swindoll - Page 4

Adversity is a good test of our resiliency, our ability to cope, to stand back up, to recover from misfortune. Adversity is a painful pedagogue.

More often than not, when something looks like it's the absolute end, it is really the beginning.

Jesus kept it simple. The lesson wasn't complicated. 'I speak; you believe My word; your son will be fine.' We complicate what God has made simple by seeing the world through human eyes. We want to see in order to believe and presume that our limitations are His.

If you allow it, [suffering] can be the means by which God brings you His greatest blessings.

God has somehow placed into Christian's insides a special something, that extra inner reservoir of power that is more than a match for the stuff life throws at us.

If I had my life to live over, I'd have spent more hours in worship.

Nothing is so common as unsuccessful men with talent. They lack only determination.

It's the nature of the beast within us to keep going back to the familiar rather than to strap on faith and face the future.

When Christ becomes our central focus, contentment replaces our anxiety as well as our fears and insecurities.

The habit of always putting off an experience until you can afford it, or until the time is right, or until you know how to do it is one of the greatest burglars of joy. Be deliberate, but once you've made up your mind -jump in.

And when God steps in, His working is like the difference between a skyscraper and a star.

Choose to view life through God's eyes.

Grace releases and affirms. It doesn't smother. Grace values the dignity of individuals. It doesn't destroy. Grace supports and encourages. It isn't jealous or suspicious.

It takes faith to find personal significance in your relationship with God rather than how much money you earn, how beautiful you look, how many toys you own, how many trophies you collect, or how much territory you conquer and control.

The longer I live the more I believe that the greatest enemy of a victorious Christian life is passivity.

When the Lord makes it clear you're to follow Him in this new direction, focus fully on Him and refuse to be distracted by comparisons with others.

I know of no realm of life that can provide more companionship in a lonely world or greater feelings of security and purpose in chaotic times than the close ties of a family.

We are often so caught up in our activities that we tend to worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship.

"Do not lean on your own understanding." That means don't bring in the crutches and lean on them, those crutches that you have designed and made to handle such situations. Stay away from them. Don't lean on them; lean on God.

Life...as God intended it enables us to live above the drag of fear, superstition, shame, pessimism, guilt, anxiety, worry, and all the negativity that keeps people from seizing each day as a gift from Him.

A story without context is like a diamond without a mounting. The stone may be beautiful lying loose on a table, but when it is carefully mounted in the right setting it can dazzle you with its brilliance and sparkling beauty.

Sometimes we are to guard our heart...protect it from invasion and keep things safe and secure. Sometimes we should give our heart... let certain qualities out and release them to others

Man is the only animal that when you pat him on the head, his head swells up.

It is in lonely solitude that God delivers His best thoughts, and the mind needs to be still and quiet to receive them.

The lens of fear magnifies the size of uncertainty.

The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don't worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry...He's risen!

The beautiful thing about this adventure called faith is that we can count on Him never to lead us astray.

Let your life yield a sweet, winsome melody that this old world needs so desperately. Yes you can if you will.

Of all the things God created, I am often most grateful He created laughter.

No one is immune to temptation. Not even a hero. Not even a nobody. Not even people like you and me. Lust is never very far away. And just when you least expect it, there it is again.

Deep, contended joy comes from a place of complete security and confidence [in God] - even in the midst of trial.

God never calls His people to accomplish anything without promising to supply their every need.

Home is the bottom line of life, the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered out the single most influential force in our earthly existence. No price tag can adequately reflect its value.

God is a specialist when the anguish is deep. His ability to heal the soul is profound...but only to those who rely on His wounded Son will experience relief.

There can be no more reliable authority on earth than God's Word, the Bible. This timeless, trustworthy source of truth holds the key that unlocks life's mysteries. It alone provides us with the shelter we need in times of storm.

Thanksgiving is a time of quiet reflection; an annual reminder that God has, again, been ever so faithful. The solid and simple things of life are brought into clear focus.

Don't be afraid of outgiving God. It is impossible to do that.

You won't find God at the Seminary and you won't find wisdom in the halls of intellectualism.

God alone is perfectly and consistently just. We forget; God remembers. We see an action; God sees a motive. This qualifies Him as the best recordkeeper and judge.

Just as bank tellers need a thorough knowledge of legitimate currency in order to spot counterfeit bills, so Christians need a thorough knowledge of the Bible in order to spot bogus religious teachings. How grounded are you in the Scriptures? How deep are your theological roots? How capable are you of detecting false teachings?

The Lord delights to surprise us with His goodness, if only we will unlock the door of obedience with the key of faith - which He has given - and then push it open and walk through.

You can choose to be a drag and a burden, or an inspiration and encouragement.

The Promised Land was a tangible representation of God's ultimate desire for His people, but they failed to comprehend His gift for at least three reasons: It was unconditionally promised, it was outrageously generous, and it was absolutely free. None of those make sense in the world as we know it.

Vision encompasses vast vistas outside the realm of the predictable, the safe, the expected.

If you only knew what God had to take me through to get me to the place where he could use me to be a blessing to other people, I doubt whether you would be willing to pay the price.

A "godly" person is one who ceases to be self-centered in order to become God-centered.

Someone has said,"Education is going from an unconscious to conscious awareness of one's ignorance."..No one has a corner on wisdom. All the name-dropping in the world does not heighten the significance of our character. If anything, it reduces it. Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable.

To be "in Christ" is to place one's trust in Him for salvation from sin. To be "in Christ" is to trust His goodness, not our own; to trust that His sacrificial death on the cross paid the complete debt of death we owe for our sin; to trust that His resurrection gives us eternal life instead of relying upon our own ability to please God. To be "in Christ" is to claim, by faith, the free gift of salvation. To be "in Christ" is to enjoy a completely restored relationship with our Father in heaven by virtue of His Son's righteous standing.

If we want the advantages of love, then we must be willing to take the risks of love. And that requires vulnerability. Of course, we can refuse this path and trod another one devoid of openness. But the toll on such a road is extremely high.

Focus on your marriage. Because that's the nucleus of the home, whatever you do to restore its health and strength will naturally restore what's broken among the other relationships. If you have no children yet, this will make a comfortable nest for them to begin life well. If you have children, the changes you make in your marriage will affect the rest of the household more quickly and dramatically than you think.

Servants must be big people. Big enough to go on, remembering the right and forgetting the wrong.

We want the safety of yesterday even though we know it's not where God would have us.

Christlikeness is a journey, not a destination. The joy is in the journey.

Please, put aside all excuses and ask yourself, "What should I be doing?" Yes, you alone can make a difference. The question is, will you?

It's easy to get attached to idols, good things inappropriately adored. But when you have Jesus in the centre of a room, everything else only junks up the decor.

Stand still... and refuse to retreat. Look at it as God looks at it and draw upon His power to hold up under the blast.

You will find a common dichotomy in life. Those who don't have vision or determination, and refuse to dream the impossible, are always in the majority.

Jesus has prepared the way and has made following our destiny possible, whereas we are helpless by ourselves. We can find and fulfill our purpose by responding to the clear, simple call of Jesus Christ: "Follow Me." He is the doorway to fulfilling our destiny, where our divine design and God-ordained purpose live in perfect harmony.

Confidence brings joy when we let God be God.

Things will happen that seem to be totally contradictory, but these are God's arrangements. It was a wonderful day when I finally realized I don't have to explained or defend the will of God. My job is simply to obey it.