Matthew Barnett Quotes

Inward living produces outward devastation. Outward serving produces inner joy.

If you live your life with palms up, you’ll be happy only at Christmastime and your birthday, but if you live your life with palms down, you’ll be happy 365 days a year.

JESUS IN THE FOUR COLORS OF THE TABERNACLE What were the colors that God chose for the Tabernacle in Exodus 25-40? There were FOUR! 1. PURPLE looks forward to Matthew, because Purple is the color of royalty, and Matthew presents Jesus as God coming as the perfect King of the Jews. 2. SCARLET looks forward to Mark, because Scarlet is the color of blood which is the color of sacrifice which is the ultimate expression of servant hood and Mark presents Jesus as God coming as the perfect sacrificial servant; 3. WHITE looks forward to Luke, because White is the color of perfection, and Luke presents Jesus as God coming in the form of the Perfect man Christ Jesus; 4. BLUE looks forward to John, because Blue is the color of Heaven, and John presents Jesus as God the Son come down to Earth!

One of the best days of my life was when I drove my little Nissan Sentra from my sheltered life in Phoenix, Arizona, as a megachurch pastor’s son to the heart of downtown Los Angeles to help my father with his first church in the City of Angels. I was only twenty, but I was the acting pastor! Totally out of my element. I was unprepared, unqualified, and really unsure. Why did I say this was the best day? Because it was the day I truly needed God. The day I realized I couldn’t figure life out on my own.

I feel my job is to throw buckets of grace on people every day, because it’s the only way people can make it!

God wants us to look into the mirror of His Word so that we can know exactly who we are. The Word of God shows us not only who we are, but what we can become. What happens when we look at our lives and measure them up to His Word? We realize we fall short. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The reflection of the Word of God shows us the blemishes, the hypocrisy, the million ways we seem to miss the target.

You are unique! Don’t live in self-doubt. Realize that whatever you see as a flaw or a lack is an opportunity for God to use that beautiful place of vulnerability for His glory. We are all out of our element in some way. We are all in need of God’s grace and His miracles.

For every act of disobedience that sends us down a miserable path, another act of surrender can send us down a great one.

There is nothing more beautiful than fighting selfishness with love.

God can use our pain, because in our pain we learn how to rely on the “power of His might” (Eph. 6:10 NKJV).