CHARACTER
COSTS
BREAD
12 In
fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12 (NIV)
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed
are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.” Matthew
5:10-12 (NIV)
7 But we
have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not
destroyed. 10 We
always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus
may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to
death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in
us, but life is at work in you. 2 Corinthians
4:7-12 (NIV)
32 And
what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered
justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the
flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to
strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their
dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so
that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging,
while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were
sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in
sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of
them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the
ground. 39 These
were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been
promised. 40 God
had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be
made perfect. Hebrews 11:32-40 (NIV)
27 Whatever
happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then,
whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know
that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the
gospel 28 without
being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them
that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you
on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through
the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. Philippians 1:27-30 (NIV)
3 We
know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, “I know him,”
but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word,
God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him
must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6
(NIV)
BUTTER
“Why was Job born? He was born for the same
reason Adam was created. He was born for the same reason the earth was created.
He was born, in part, for the same reason Christ was born and suffered and was
crucified. We all exist to glorify God. On the Day of Judgement, when the
mangled, burned, corrupted, and crucified limbs of God’s faithful are
resurrected and made new, and when voices that died crying in pain are restored
singing in praise, even Satan himself will bow in submission to the Lord who
deserves all praise. This life is no
simple matter of little lives living private dramas. We are, since Eden’s loss,
united in celestial warfare with eternal consequences. We were born to stand;
we are armed to fight. The good news is
just that, through faith in Christ, we were born to win.” Frances Poston Bennett
“We can be reasonably happy here on earth,
but that's not the goal of life. The
goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.” Rick
Warren
“Every
time we resist the slightest temptation, we honor God. Every time we overcome even the smallest
problem by trusting and obeying our Lord Jesus, God is glorified in our
lives. Whenever we choose character over
convenience, faithfulness over ease, or honesty over deceit, we bring honor to
the Lord Himself.” Robert
J. Morgan
“Character
in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.” Oswald
Chambers
“The Beatitudes are conditional promises of blessing. Letting
Jesus work His character in us is the condition; blessedness is the promise.
Pray for yourself, that you will enjoy the blessing of being the person God
wants you to be, as God molds you in the character of His beloved and well-pleasing
Son.” Sylvia Gunter
“Seek, O believer, that
every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a
writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no ‘baseless
fabric of a vision,’ but may it be built of material able to endure that awful
fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May
your convictions be deep, your love real, your desire earnest. May your whole
life be so firm and strong, that all the blasts of hell and the storms of earth
shall never be able to remove you.” Charles
Spurgeon
“A
noted scientist observing that ‘early voyagers fancied that the coral-building
animals instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford
themselves protection in the inner parts,’ has disproved this fancy by showing
that the insect builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and
in a highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been commonly thought that
protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest
and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the
making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and
vigorous vitality. Hardship makes
character.” Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
“In these days of easy-going Christianity, is it not well to remind ourselves that it really does cost to be a man or woman whom God can use? One cannot obtain a Christlike character for nothing; one cannot do a Christlike work save at great price. ‘Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized?’” Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor
“Steel
is iron plus fire. Soil is rock, plus
heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax
plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds,
and the shuttle that weaves. Human
character must have a plus attached to it.
The world does not forget great character. But great characters are not made of
luxuries, they are made by suffering….Someday, God is going to reveal the fact
to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been
the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and molding them
into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder.” Cortland Myers
HEART
SAVOR
- · As a believer in Jesus, I am called to walk as He did. That will cost yet the reward far exceeds the cost.
- · My life is to bring God glory. I am not my own, I was bought by an enormously high price, I am to honor God with my body.
- · I am to expect trials in my earthly sojourn and not be surprised by them. As muscles strengthen with tension so character is built through trials – we do not learn it in ease.
