Inspirational Quotes for the Day

Inspirational Quotes for the Day:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (from Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love)

John Eldredge writes about his response to this quote in Waking the Dead (p. 87)

When I first read this quote, I thought, No, that’s not true. We don’t fear our glory. We fear we are not glorious at all. We fear that at bottom, we are going to be revealed as . . . disappointments. But as I thought about it more, I realized we do fear our glory. We fear even heading this direction because, for one thing, it seems prideful. Now pride is a bad thing, to be sure, but it’s not prideful to embrace the truth that you bear the image of God. Paul says it brings glory to God. We walk in humility because we know it is a glory bestowed. It reflects something of the Lord’s glory.

I agree with Eldredge. Although not "powerful beyond measure" (as Williamson states) we human beings, created a little below the angels, are indeed glorious (small g) beings. And that is something for which we can glorify the Father, who is all Glorious (big g).

By the way, Waking the Dead is a good book. I also enjoyed Eldredge's two books on masculinity, Wild at Heart and The Way of the Wild Heart. You can discover more of his writings at Ransomed Heart.

Here's a Quote from John Newton...

... to William Wilberforce in 1796 upon the defeat of his proposal to end the slave trade in the English colonies. Not knowing it would be another 11 years of sustained effort before success, Wilberforce was expressing to his old friend Newton (pictured here) his willingness to consider retirement from public life. Here is Newton's reply, which convinced Wilberforce to stay the course.

Daniel, likewise, was a public man, and in critical circumstances; but he trusted in the Lord; was faithful in his department, and therefore though he had enemies, they could not prevail against him.

Indeed the great point for our comfort in life is to have a well-grounded persuasion that we are where, all things considered, we ought to be. Then it is no great matter whether we are in public or in private life, in a city or a village, in a palace or a cottage. The promise, "My grace is sufficient for thee," is necessary to support us in the smoothest scenes, and is equally able to support us in the most difficult. . . .

[Christ] is always near. He knows our wants, our dangers, our feelings, our fears. By looking to him we are enlightened and made strong out of weakness. With his wisdom for our guide, his power for our protection, his fullness for our supply, and proposing his glory as our chief end, and placing our happiness in his favour, in communion with him, and communications from Him, we shall be able to "withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand."

Source of Quote: William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity by Kevin Belmonte (Zondervan, 2007, pages 137,138)

John Newton is the author of the hymn Amazing Grace, which also serves as the title to the wonderful film that captures the life of William Wilberforce (see pdf study guide).

Reminder from Oswald Chambers

With all this interest in The Secret and Rhonda Byrne's heresy that we are gods, a timely reminder from a classic Christian author is in order:

"The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, 'I am my own god.' This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis - my claim to my right to myself." ~ Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest (Entry for October 5 - written between 1911 & 1915!)

Self-realization is not a new thing, nor necessarily a bad thing. But Chambers took note of it's dangers nearly 100 years ago. Without God, the self becomes the arbiter of good and evil. This was the sin of the garden. And the same devil tempts us today with the same proposition: "You shall be like God." This is a fundamental flaw in the teaching of the Secret and those who advocate it's doctrines.

And note that we are not talking about whether the teachers of the Secret are moral or immoral. I am sure that many who profess to follow universal principles like the Law of Attraction are quite nice and giving people. That is not the issue. The issue is idolatry. Ultimately, the Secret is about claiming my right to myself.

If ever we travel within to find ourselves, rest assured, it will be a very short trip.

Thought Renewal Quotes

Summarizing some recent posts with a few key quotes on the various topics I've covered so far in Thought Renewal.

• Success has to do with living a life of abundance that comes from the hand of God.


• Communication requires distributing the right words to the right destination at the right time, which also requires receiving the right information from the other person.


• What excuses are we willing to eliminate from our lives right now so that we can live the life of abundance that God intends for us? Go to the ant for some life lessons.


• Your luck increases in direct proportion to the extent that you live your life on purpose in a cause that is bigger than yourself.


• Harnessing our mental faculties for creating positive environs for ourselves and other people is a laudable and attainable goal. In fact, it is a biblical mandate.


• We haven't been taught that it is a virtue to create wealth for the benefit of our family and others. So we have to teach ourselves the validity of this belief.


• We do not have the ability within ourselves to break free from our prison that separates us from our Creator. But wait, there is good news...


• The Law of Attraction seems to me to be a restating of the biblical principle, "You reap what you sow."


• Did you know that each one of our beliefs is a choice? Sadly, we've chosen to accept most of our beliefs "without argument."


• Jesus has a clear goal in mind for each of our lives and has a plan that, if followed, will take us to our destination with banners waving.


• While we shouldn't ignore our 5 natural senses, I believe there are supernatural senses which give us a heavenly perspective that our physical nature will miss.


• It is not our humanity that gets us into trouble. It is the inhuman sin nature that infests and corrupts God's good earth that is the problem.


• Are we going to persist in fear and give in to our anxieties or are we going to do everything we can to "flunk out of the school of worry" and live the life of abundance that God has in store for us?

Today's Affirmations

Daily Affirmations, Part 1
Today's Truths are from the Scriptures

• The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 31.8)
• Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1.9)
• Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5.7)
• The Lord knows how to rescue godly men and women from trials. (2 Peter 2.9)
• There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8.1)
• If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8.31)
• Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. (1 John 4.4)
• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4.13)
• And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4.19)
• Put [your] hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6.17)
• For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4.4-5)
• Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1.17)
• Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4.16)

Self-Esteem Equation

You've heard of the formula E=MC2.

But have you heard of E=MC3 ~ the Self-Esteem Equation? If you have, it probably wasn't in science class. I explain it like this.

Of course, I didn't discover this truth, but I did assign different values to the famous formula in order to remind us of our true identity. Plus I added a C!

When we struggle with self-doubts, low self-worth, or negative self-image, remember the Self-Esteem Equation.

E=MC3

• E stands for ego, self-estimate, or self-esteem.
• M stands for the truth that you matter to God.
• C stands for the fact that you are created in God's image and that he is calling you into relationship with him and wants to adopt you as his child.

So the formula is stated like this:
"My self-estimate, my self-esteem is based on the fact that I matter to God because I am created in his image, he's called me, and wants to adopt me as his child."

Take this formula before breakfast and throughout the day as needed. And twice at bed time.

On the Role of Virtuous Art

"Our aim is to prevent our Guards being reared among images of vice - as it were in a pasturage of poisonous herbs where, cropping and grazing in abundance every day, they little by little and all unawares build up one huge accumulation of evil in their soul. Rather, we must seek out craftsmen with a talent for capturing what is lovely and graceful, so that our young, dwelling as it were in a salubrious region, will receive benefit from everything about them. Like a breeze bringing health from wholesome places, the impact of works of beauty on eye or ear will imperceptibly from childhood on, guide them to likeness, to friendship, to concord with the beauty of reason."

~ Socrates, as told by Plato in his Republic