Sustain Bible Quotes

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Faith is born and sustained by the Word of God, and out of faith grows the flower of joy.
John Piper (Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist)
A sign hangs on the wall in a New Monastic Christian community house: “Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes.” I was, and remain, a Christian who longs for revolution, for things to be made new and whole in beautiful and big ways. But what I am slowly seeing is that you can’t get to the revolution without learning to do the dishes. The kind of spiritual life and disciplines needed to sustain the Christian life are quiet, repetitive, and ordinary. I often want to skip the boring, daily stuff to get to the thrill of an edgy faith. But it’s in the dailiness of the Christian faith—the making the bed, the doing the dishes, the praying for our enemies, the reading the Bible, the quiet, the small—that God’s transformation takes root and grows.
Tish Harrison Warren (Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life)
In an age of fear, moderation is hard to find and harder to sustain. Who wants to listen to a nuanced argument, when what we want is someone to relieve us from the burden of thought and convince us that we were right all along? So people mock. They blame. They caricature. They demonise. In an age of anxiety, few can hear the still small voice that the Bible tells us is the voice of God.
Jonathan Sacks (The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning)
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.
Anonymous (The Holy Bible: King James Version)
Sometimes the very things that we’re expending our lives to sustain are the very things that are killing our ability to live. And against our blind and frequently raging protests, these are the very things that God let’s die so that we can live.
Craig D. Lounsbrough
The kind of spiritual life and disciplines needed to sustain the Christian life are quiet, repetitive, and ordinary. I often want to skip the boring, daily stuff to get to the thrill of an edgy faith. But it’s in the dailiness of the Christian faith—the making the bed, the doing the dishes, the praying for our enemies, the reading the Bible, the quiet, the small—that God’s transformation takes root and grows.
Tish Harrison Warren (Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life)
Call it the Human Mission-to be all and do all God sent us here to do. And notice-the mission to be fruitful and conquer and hold sway is given both to Adam and to Eve. 'And God said to them...' Eve is standing right there when God gives the world over to us. She has a vital role to play; she is a partner in this great adventure. All that human beings were intended to do here on earth-all the creativity and exploration, all the battle and rescue and nurture-we were intended to do together. In fact, not only is Eve needed, but she is desperately needed. When God creates Eve, he calls her an ezer kenegdo. 'It is not good for the man to be alone, I shall make him [an ezer kenegdo]' (Gen. 2:18 Alter). Hebrew scholar Robert Alter, who has spent years translating the book of Genesis, says that this phrase is 'notoriously difficult to translate.' The various attempts we have in English are "helper" or "companion" or the notorious "help meet." Why are these translations so incredibly wimpy, boring, flat...disappointing? What is a help meet, anyway? What little girl dances through the house singing "One day I shall be a help meet?" Companion? A dog can be a companion. Helper? Sounds like Hamburger Helper. Alter is getting close when he translates it "sustainer beside him" The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the entire Old Testament. And in every other instance the person being described is God himself, when you need him to come through for you desperately.
Stasi Eldredge (Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul)
Thread of Selfishness in Web of Life.—Deuteronomy contains much instruction regarding what the law is to us, and the relation we shall sustain to God as we reverence and obey
Ellen Gould White (S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 1 (Ellen G. White Comments Only))
So the popular notion that “God will never give us more than we can handle” is in reality a blatant falsehood—a lie. He will give us more than we can handle, and this for the express purpose of bringing us to the end of ourselves so that we realize our very life, breath, and sustaining power comes only from God all the time. Jesus clearly said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Eric J. Bargerhuff (The Most Misused Verses in the Bible: Surprising Ways God's Word Is Misunderstood)
We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more; more bible studies, more sermons, more programs, classes, training, conferences, information, more feasting for us. At some point, the church stopped living the bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and whitewashing the fast parts. We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully discarding the costly discipleship required after consuming. The feast is supposed to sustain the fast, but we go back for seconds and thirds and fourths, stuffed to the brim and fat with inactivity.
Jen Hatmaker (7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess)
Maybe it is not a coincidence that, even in heaven, under the perspective of the Bible, there is a hierarchy. After all, what better way to impose the “benefits” of accepting the power of a hierarchy in the human mind?
Miguel Reynolds Brandao (The Sustainable Organisation - a paradigm for a fairer society: Think about sustainability in an age of technological progress and rising inequality)
But the truth is, I can't sip from an hour-long church service on Sunday morning or dash off a hasty prayer or gulp down a daily Bible verse and expect them to sustain me any more than I can expect a glass of water to last for a week.
Lynn Austin (Pilgrimage: My Journey to a Deeper Faith in the Land Where Jesus Walked)
The ethical issues that confront Christians who try to discern the will of God in Scripture are, as I shall try to show in this book, far more nuanced than a simple conservative/liberal polarity would suggest. One reason that the church has become so bitterly divided over moral issues is that the community of faith has uncritically accepted the categories of popular U.S. discourse about these topics, without subjecting them to sustained critical scrutiny in light of a close reading of the Bible.
Richard B. Hays (The Moral Vision of the New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics)
your burden on the LORD,         and he will sustain you;
Anonymous (Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV))
PSA3.5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.
Anonymous (KING JAMES BIBLE - VerseSearch - Red Letter Edition)
I  x lay down and slept;         I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
Anonymous (Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV))
Cast your burden on the LORD,         and he will sustain you;      j he will never permit         the righteous to be moved.
Anonymous (Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV))
This is how God has designed the Scriptures to work for human transformation and for the glory of God: the Scriptures reveal God’s glory. This glory, God willing, is seen by those who read the Bible. This seeing gives rise, by God’s grace, to savoring God above all things—treasuring him, hoping in him, feeling him as our greatest reward, tasting him as our all-satisfying good. And this savoring transforms our lives—freeing us from the slavery of selfishness and overflowing in love to others. This joy-sustained, God-exalting transformation of love is then seen by others, who, by God’s grace, glorify God because of it.
John Piper (Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture)
What we call “the laws of nature” merely reflect the normal way in which God sustains or governs the natural world. Perhaps the most wicked concept that has captured the minds of modern people is the belief that the universe operates by chance. That is the nadir of foolishness. Elsewhere, I have written more extensively on the scientific impossibility of assigning power to chance, because chance is simply a word that describes mathematical possibilities.* Chance is not a thing. It has no power. It cannot do anything, and therefore it cannot influence anything, yet some have taken the word chance, which has no power, and diabolically used it as a replacement for the concept of God. But the truth, as the Bible makes clear, is that nothing happens by chance and that all things are under the sovereign government of God, which is exceedingly comforting to the Christian who understands it.
R.C. Sproul (Everyone's a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology)
Saturday, May 22d.---It is now Saturday night, and I must prepare for the holy Sabbath. My Bible and Confession of Faith are my traveling companions, and precious friends have they been to me. I bless God for that glorious summary of Christian doctrine contained in our noble standards. It has cheered my soul in many a dark hour, and sustained me in many a desponding moment. I love to read it, and ponder carefully each proof text as I pass along.
James Henley Thornwell (The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell, D.D., LL.D; Ex-President of the South Carolina College, Late Professor of Theology in the Theological)
Bing Crosby and those fellows promised to love deeper than the ocean and higher than the stars for eternity. But who can sustain that kind of emotion for a month, or a year--much less forever? The song ends, the feeling fades, and they’re onto the next pretty girl.
Sam Torode (The Dirty Parts of the Bible)
Henry Wallace: “The idea of freedom . . . is derived from the Bible with its extraordinary emphasis on the dignity of the individual. Democracy is the only true political expression of Christianity.”39 And Christianity is the only genuine source and sustainer of democracy
Alan Jacobs (The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis)
All three persons of the Trinity are present and active at creation: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. The Father gives the creation commands, the Son does the manual labor of creation (John 1:3), and the Spirit hovers over creation, sustaining and approving of it.
Tara-Leigh Cobble (The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible)
But you, O LORD, are  r a shield  s about me,         my glory, and  t the lifter of my head. 4    I  u cried aloud to the LORD,         and he  v answered me from his  w holy hill. Selah     5 I  x lay down and slept;         I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. 6    I  y will not be afraid of
Anonymous (Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV))
I lay down and slept;         I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.     6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people         who have set themselves against me all around.     7 Arise, O LORD!         Save me, O my God!     For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;         you break the teeth of the wicked.
Anonymous (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (without Cross-References))
Another meaning of 'Word' in Lutheran theology says it is only through the Word that Christians are kept and sustained in their faith. That is why Christians must not neglect the Word of God. They need to read it regularly in devotions at home, hear it preached in church, and study it with fellow Christians in Bible classes or similar settings.
Alvin J. Schmidt (Hallmarks of Lutheran Identity)
One caution: our souls will never grow in God if we read the Bible solely to get ammunition to defend ourselves or to defeat others. No. We read the Bible to be fed. We read it to be converted, to be strengthened, to be taught, to be rebuked, to be counseled, to be comforted. As we sit under the Bible for sustained periods, we will be formed by the experience.
Richard J. Foster (Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christ)
Of course the theologians fought the facts found by the geologists, the scientists, and sought to sustain the sacred Scriptures. They mistook the bones of the mastodon for those of human beings, and by them proudly proved that "there were giants in those days." They accounted for the fossils by saying that God had made them to try our faith, or that the Devil had imitated the works of the Creator. They answered the geologists by saying that the "days" in Genesis were long periods of time, and that after all the flood might have been local. They told the astronomers that the sun and moon were not actually, but only apparently, stopped. And that the appearance was produced by the reflection and refraction of light. They excused the slavery and polygamy, the robbery and murder upheld in the Old Testament by saying that the people were so degraded that Jehovah was compelled to pander to their ignorance and prejudice. In every way the clergy sought to evade the facts, to dodge the truth, to preserve the creed. At first they flatly denied the facts -- then they belittled them -- then they harmonized them -- then they denied that they had denied them. Then they changed the meaning of the "inspired" book to fit the facts. At first they said that if the facts, as claimed, were true, the Bible was false and Christianity itself a superstition. Afterward they said the facts, as claimed, were true and that they established beyond all doubt the inspiration of the Bible and the divine origin of orthodox religion. Anything they could not dodge, they swallowed and anything they could not swallow, they dodged. I gave up the Old Testament on account of its mistakes, its absurdities, its ignorance and its cruelty. I gave up the New because it vouched for the truth of the Old. I gave it up on account of its miracles, its contradictions, because Christ and his disciples believe in the existence of devils -- talked and made bargains with them. expelled them from people and animals. This, of itself, is enough. We know, if we know anything, that devils do not exist -- that Christ never cast them out, and that if he pretended to, he was either ignorant, dishonest or insane.
Robert G. Ingersoll
A group ritual is certainly much more of a reinforcement of faith, and an instillation of power, than is a private ceremony. The massing together of persons who are dedicated to a common philosophy is bound to insure a renewal of confidence in the power of magic. The pageantry of religion is what has sustained it. When religion is consistently becomes a solitary situation it reaches into that realm of self-denial which runs concurrent with anti-social behavior.
Anton Szandor LaVey (The Satanic Bible)
In other words, the Bible isn't there simply to be an accurate reference point for people who want to look things up and be sure they've got them right. It is there to equip God's people to carry forward his purposes of new covenant and new creation. It is there to enable people to work for justice, to sustain their spirituality as they do so, to create and enhance relationships at every level, and to produce that new creation which will have about it something of the beauty of God himself.
N.T. Wright (Simply Christian)
The work of God requires stamina. Nehemiah sustained his stamina even through staggering difficulties. He persisted through both ridicule and discouragement, and he remained faithful when tempted to compromise. This tenacity is required of leaders who will make a difference. Will you crumble under the pressures, or will you face the trials with God’s strength? Many today question the possibility of revival. These naysayers see only the decaying moral condition of society and the disappointing lukewarm condition of churches. Revival, however, is not dependent on or the result of a flourishing spiritual condition. Some of the greatest revivals in Scripture came during the darkest times. Let us not look at the rubbish, but at Christ, the Rock, who can rebuild our country through revival. Let us be leaders God can use to bring revival. Nehemiah was not a man to sit idly by when there was tremendous need. Neither was he a man to attempt meeting such need in his own strength. God used Nehemiah to bring revival because Nehemiah began with supplication for God’s forgiveness and power. The task of rebuilding the walls could never have been completed by one man alone; it needed a leader who understood the power of synergy. Nehemiah’s willingness to be personally involved in the work, as well as his ability to convey the need to others, resulted in a task force that completed this enormous building project in a mere fifty-two days—to the glory of God. Like any godly leader, Nehemiah did not go unchallenged. Yet, he sustained his stamina in the face of every opposition. Nehemiah’s life proves that revival is possible, even when it appears the most unlikely. God sends revival through leaders willing to make a difference.
Paul Chappell (Leaders Who Make a Difference: Leadership Lessons from Three Great Bible Leaders)
Animals at the high end of heartbeat longevity, such as mice, cats, dogs, horses, elephants, and whales, have the capacity for as many as a billion heartbeats within their life spans. Human hearts, on the other hand, can sustain nearly three billion beats in a lifetime. This significant difference in humans’ capacity for longevity demands explanation. The human body’s characteristics allowing for such extended activity on all levels (physical, mental, and spiritual) suggests uniqueness of design and purpose. It argues for a qualitative rather than mere quantitative difference between humans and the rest of Earth’s creatures.
Hugh Ross (Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job (Reasons to Believe): How the Oldest Book in the Bible Answers Today's Scientific Questions)
Prayer “in the Spirit,” INTERCESSION. Any prayer that is directed, energized, and sustained by the Holy Spirit is a prayer that is prayed in the Spirit. It falls into the same category as being in the Spirit, speaking by or in the Spirit, and singing in the Spirit. Praying in the Spirit: 1) will be according to God’s will (1 John 5:14, 15); 2) will glorify the Father through the Son (John 14:13); 3) is based upon God’s character, ways, and Word (15:7); 4) comes from a clean heart (James 5:16); 5) is prayed in full assurance of faith (1:6); and 6) is asked in Jesus’ name (John 14:14). Such prayer will always find God’s answers.
Jack W. Hayford (New Spirit-Filled Life Bible: Kingdom Equipping Through the Power of the Word, New King James Version)
I was reading the book of Leviticus and learned that one of its major themes is the importance of sustainably caring for the earth. That’s in the Bible? I then went back to the poem that begins the Bible in the book of Genesis. Yes. It’s there as well. This sacred responsibility to care for the earth. In the Bible, having a healthy and sustainable relationship with the earth is not a cause or political agenda, it’s an obvious and unavoidable fact about human life. Any healthy spiritual vision for life begins with the awareness that everything is connected to everything else, and that begins with us having a healthy connection with the earth.
Rob Bell (Everything Is Spiritual: Finding Your Way in a Turbulent World)
The book of Job offers some remarkable insights into the ways these higher animals relate to humans and shows that God endowed soulish animals with unique capacities to serve and please humanity, each creature in its own special way. Job even provides a top ten list of animals that have played essential roles both in the launch of civilization and in sustaining human well-being today. The ancient observer describes how the different kinds of soulish animals offer valuable instruction and assistance to humanity. In chapters 8–11, I describe some of the amazing attributes soulish creatures manifested long before humans even existed, which readied them to meet humanity’s needs from the very first moment people appeared on Earth.
Hugh Ross (Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job (Reasons to Believe): How the Oldest Book in the Bible Answers Today's Scientific Questions)
the challenges of our day-to-day existence are sustained reminders that our life of faith simply must have its center somewhere other than in our ability to hold it together in our minds. Life is a pounding surf that wears away our rock-solid certainty. The surf always wins. Slowly but surely. Eventually. It may be best to ride the waves rather than resist them. What are your one or two biggest obstacles to staying Christian? What are those roadblocks you keep running into? What are those issues that won’t go away and make you wonder why you keep on believing at all? These are questions I asked on a survey I gave on my blog in the summer of 2013. Nothing fancy. I just asked some questions and waited to see what would happen. In the days to come, I was overwhelmed with comments and e-mails from readers, many anonymous, with bracingly honest answers often expressed through the tears of relentless and unnerving personal suffering. I didn’t do a statistical analysis (who has the time, plus I don’t know how), but the responses fell into five categories.         1.        The Bible portrays God as violent, reactive, vengeful, bloodthirsty, immoral, mean, and petty.         2.        The Bible and science collide on too many things to think that the Bible has anything to say to us today about the big questions of life.         3.        In the face of injustice and heinous suffering in the world, God seems disinterested or perhaps unable to do anything about it.         4.        In our ever-shrinking world, it is very difficult to hold on to any notion that Christianity is the only path to God.         5.        Christians treat each other so badly and in such harmful ways that it calls into question the validity of Christianity—or even whether God exists. These five categories struck me as exactly right—at least, they match up with my experience. And I’d bet good money they resonate with a lot of us. All five categories have one big thing in common: “Faith in God no longer makes sense to me.” Understanding, correct thinking, knowing what you believe—these were once true of their faith, but no longer are. Because life happened. A faith that promises to provide firm answers and relieve our doubt is a faith that will not hold up to the challenges and tragedies of life. Only deep trust can hold up.
Peter Enns (The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs)
Interviewer: What helps to sustain you while you're climbing? Is there a particular Bible verse, or, song or song verse? Poem maybe? Mekael: That's a good question. Thoughts of my three sons, are my constant companions. Thoughts of them, help to keep me focused. As for other sources of inspiration....I'm a music lover. I think all Mountaineers and Poets are music lovers, so, when I'm climbing, I'm either in a Tupac zone, or I may be in a Linkin Park or Creed zone. Interviewer: Any song or verse in particular? Mekael: When during a climb, everything has aligned, Creed's 'Higher' pops into my head. I dig the part in the chorus when they sing..... 'Up high I feel like I'm, alive for the, very first time Set up high, I'm strong enough To take these dreams And make them mine
Mekael Shane
Man Made God: A Collection of Essays (Walker, Barbara G.;Murdock, D.M.;Acharya S;D.M. Murdock) - Your Highlight on page 229 | Location 5078-5084 | Added on Friday, March 20, 2015 12:14:38 PM Published in the 1890s, suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Christian Church and Women said: The Church has done more to degrade women than all other adverse influences put together... Out of the doctrine of original sin grew the crimes and miseries of asceticism, celibacy, and witchcraft, woman becoming the helpless victim of all the delusions generated in the brain of man... The clergy everywhere sustained witchcraft as a Bible doctrine... So long as the pulpits teach woman’s inferiority and subjection, she can never command honor and respect... There is nothing more pathetic in all history than the hopeless resignation of woman to the outrages she has been taught to believe are ordained of God.
Anonymous
CORINTHIANS 1 Paul,  acalled  bby the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those  csanctified in Christ Jesus,  dcalled to be saints together with all those who in every place  ecall upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving 4I  fgive thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in every way  gyou were enriched in him in all  hspeech and all knowledge— 6even as  ithe testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you  jwait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 kwho will sustain you to the end,  lguiltless  min the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 nGod is faithful, by whom you were called into the  ofellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Anonymous (Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV))
A Prayer for Grace and Illumination Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervor. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I am in darkness. Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will. Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You. Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much, and always be in Your company. Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You. Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I wish it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love. Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes, death, judgment, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile! Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart. Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love. Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but, the gift of Your Presence, oh yes, I ask this of You! Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for. Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen. —Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Patrick Madrid (A Year with the Bible: Scriptural Wisdom for Daily Living)
Hebrews 1 Jesus Christ Is God’s Son Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.
Anonymous (Holy Bible Text Edition NLT: New Living Translation)
love Jesus, and all he has is yours. Knit yourself to him by love and faith.
Sally Welch (New Daylight May–August 2018: Sustaining your daily journey with the Bible)
No words can express what is needful in our dying hour. But there are words to sustain us in that moment, and in every moment from this hour until that. They are the words of truth, the words of life, the never-failing, never-falling, Christ-exalting, Spirit-inspired, God-breathed words of Holy Scripture.
Kevin DeYoung (Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me)
Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous man falter.
Anonymous (Psalms (Bible #19), ESV)
We think of ourselves as fun-loving, and of God as a humorless killjoy. But we’ve got it backward. It’s not God who’s boring; it’s us. Did we invent wit, humor, and laughter? No. God did. We’ll never begin to exhaust God’s sense of humor and his love for adventure. The real question is this: How could God not be bored with us? Most of us can envision ourselves being happy for a few days or a week, if that. But a year of complete and sustained happiness? Impossible, we think, because we’ve never experienced it. We think of life under the Curse as normal because that’s all we’ve ever known. A hundred or a million years of happiness is inconceivable to us. Just as creatures who live in a flat land can’t conceive of three-dimensional space, we can’t conceive of unending happiness. Because that level of happiness is not possible here on the fallen Earth, we assume it won’t be possible on the New Earth. But we’re wrong. To properly envision Heaven, we must remove from our eyes the distorted lenses of death and the Curse.
Randy Alcorn (Heaven: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything the Bible Says About Our Eternal Home)
THE BIBLE TELLS US, “Go and make disciples … baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Sometimes we get this confused with, “Go and make workers … browbeating them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Patrick Morley (No Man Left Behind: How to Build and Sustain a Thriving Disciple-Making Ministry for Every Man in Your Church)
The Bible says that He will give us more life abundantly, but He demands strict obedience to His Will. There is no way of prolonging the life of human beings or any other life unless it begins with restrictions of the foods which sustain life, the right kinds of food and the proper time when it should be taken into our bodies. Jehovah
Elijah Muhammad (How To Eat To Live - Book 1)
Most evangelicals also acknowledge that in the Scriptures God stands revealed plainly as the author of nature, as the sustainer of human institutions (family, work, and government), and as the source of harmony, creativity, and beauty. Yet it has been precisely these Bible-believers par excellence who have neglected sober analysis of nature, human society, and the arts. The
Mark A. Noll (The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind)
There is no halftruth in the Hebrew emet. We cannot take one moment, one feeling, or one perspective and call that the truth. For this reason, we do not select one verse from the Bible and use it in a polarizing way to make judgments, calling that verse the “truth.” To discern the truth we need to read the whole Bible from beginning to end. The Chinese word for truthful or genuine, (zhén), includes two ideograms, (shí) and (mù). is the number ten while represents the eye. The bottom part is the symbol for a table. The number ten symbolizes completeness or wholeness. Discerning the truth requires that we look at an issue or event in a wholistic way, perhaps through ten different eyes, or ten different perspectives on the table. The
Eric H.F. Law (Holy Currencies: Six Blessings for Sustainable Missional Ministries)
Frederick Catherwood rightly says "The teaching ofthe bible would appear to be that it is not the amount of a man's wealth which matters. What matters is the method by which he acquires it, how he uses it, and his attitude of mind toward it.
Barry Asmus (The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution)
The most important aspect of the role of cities is to be found in their relationship to the temples and the gods. The patron deity of a city was typically considered the one who founded, built, and sustained the city. So the prominence and prosperity of the city and its god were inextricably intertwined. “Each Mesopotamian city was the home of a god or goddess, and each prominent god or goddess was the patron deity of a city.”[9] In Mesopotamia the gods were attached to cities, and temples were only in cities.[10] Worship as we know it therefore took place in cities. The archaeological record shows no evidence of sanctuaries in the mountains or plains, and no rivers or trees with cultic significance.[11] Likewise in Egypt there was an integral relationship between cities and gods. “The sum of landowning temples and deities embodied the state. . . . Just as the totality of deities embodied the political concept of ‘Egypt,’ the individual landowning local deity embodied the concept of ‘city.’ An Egyptian city was always the city of a deity.”[12]
John H. Walton (Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible)
Carbon dating revealed that these seeds were two thousand years old! Dr. Sarah Sallon, the director of the Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah University Hospital, and Dr. Elaine Solowey, who runs the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura, got permission to try to germinate a few of them. One of the seeds grew—a male whom she called Methuselah after the character in the Bible, Noah’s grandfather, who was said to have lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years old.
Jane Goodall (The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times)
Wisdom is not primarily knowing the truth, although it certainly includes that; it is skill in living. For, what good is a truth if we don’t know how to live it? What good is an intention if we can’t sustain it?
Anonymous (The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language)
my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. PSA3:05 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me. PSA3:06 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
Anonymous (King James Bible Touch)
Many first world countries have 0% duties and tax to encourage imports. This applies especially to “green products” that are very sustainable and help reduce energy or waste. A good example is an LED bulb with 0% tax and duties.
Manuel Becvar (The Import Bible 2023 Edition: The complete beginners guide to successful importing from China)
The term "holy spirit" appears three times in the Hebrew Bible: Psalm 51 refers to "Your holy spirit" (ruach kodshecha)[3] and Isaiah refers twice to "His holy spirit" (ruach kodsho).[4] Psalm 51 contains a triple parallelism between different types of "spirit": Fashion a pure heart for me, O God; create in me a steadfast spirit (רוּחַ נָכֹון‎). Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit (רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ‎) away from me. Let me again rejoice in Your help; let a vigorous spirit (רוּחַ נְדִיבָה‎) sustain me.[5] "Spirit of God" Variations of a similar term, "spirit of God", also appear in various places in the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew noun ruacḥ (רוח‎) can refer to "breath", "wind", or some invisible moving force ("spirit"). The following are some examples of the word ruacḥ (in reference to God's "spirit") in the Hebrew scriptures:[6] Genesis 1:2 "a wind from God sweeping over the water" [7] 1 Samuel 16:13 "and the spirit of the LORD gripped David from that day on." Psalm 143:10 "Let Your gracious spirit lead me on level ground." Isaiah 42:1 "Behold My servant, I will support him, My chosen one, whom My soul desires; I have placed My spirit upon him, he shall promulgate justice to the nations." Isaiah 44:3 "So will I pour My spirit on your offspring, My blessing upon your posterity." Joel 2:28 "I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy.
Bible
That glorious right hand that molded the world can renew my mind; the unwearied hand that bears the earth’s huge pillars can sustain my spirit; the loving hand that encloses all the saints can cherish me; and the mighty hand that breaks in pieces the enemy can subdue my sins
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Morning and Evening: A New Edition of the Classic Devotional Based on The Holy Bible, English Standard Version)
Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the LORD delivers them in times of trouble. 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. The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness. I said, “Have mercy on me, LORD; heal me, for I have sinned against you.” My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die and his name perish?” When one of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it around. All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, “A vile disease has afflicted him; he will never get up from the place where he lies.” Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned4 against me. But may you have mercy on me, LORD; raise me up, that I may repay them. I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever. Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
F. LaGard Smith (The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®))
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”6 But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.
F. LaGard Smith (The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®))
Manavad Gita, Sonnet (Song of Human) Cosmos is my koran, Brahmand is my bible. No writ is whole enough, to contain mind indivisible. All say their scripture is god-given*, it takes holiness to find humans holy. To surpass the superstition of *bhagavad, is the beginning of civilized sanctity. My holiness is in my hands, no fantasy is my authority. I'm not against faith of fiction, but it's time for human based divinity. If you need myths to sustain your holiness, it's a lot of things, but it ain't holy. Holiness of humans cares for the humans, this is my song offering to humanity.
Abhijit Naskar (Brit Actually: Nursery Rhymes of Reparations (Sonnet Sultan))
Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.
The Bible (Psalm 147:5-6)
I lie down and sleep;           I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
Anonymous (NRSV, The Daily Bible: Read, Meditate, and Pray Through the Entire Bible in 365 Days)
Cast Your Cares On The Lord And He will Sustain You ~Psalm 55:22
The Catholic Bible
Coconut Oil is one of the most exciting natural male enhancement products available today. Coconut Oil will help you achieve amazing heights of arousal and performance. It is very safe. You can use it every day, if necessary. Coconut oil will never fail to deliver the perfect testosterone boost. Coconut Oil will give you a sustained erection. It will enhance your libido and enrich your sex life.
Speedy Publishing (Coconut Oil Bible: (Boxed Set))
The Framework of Life Deuteronomy 6:2 “Thus for the sake of Christ and his coming, natural life must be lived within the framework of certain definite rights and certain definite duties.” —ETHICS The Christian’s concern should never only be for the church and for God’s future kingdom, but also for natural life and the world. Our concerns should include good government, equal opportunity, justice, values that ennoble the human person, as well as concerns for our environment and the world’s resources. These concerns are not secular. Rather they are deeply spiritual, for without a sustainable world and cultural values based on freedom and justice, the message of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ would fall into a vacuum. Thought The God of the Bible is Creator as well as Redeemer. He is concerned about this life as much as He is concerned about eternal life.
Charles R. Ringma (Seize the Day -- with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A 365 Day Devotional (Designed for Influence))
God’s writing is in our hands. Scripture tells the story of this God who writes into the margins. As we turn the pages, God’s hope is that we will map out our lives from the force and direction of these words. This script will save the world, redeem nations, overturn kingdoms, sustain breath, and draw out life even from death. The nouns and verbs, the adjectives and adverbs, the pronouns and participles, punctuation and paragraphs will take shape in our lives as we make the connections. The problem is we miss them.
Lisa Nichols Hickman (Writing in the Margins: Connecting with God on the Pages of Your Bible)
In the end, when the Chicago inerrantists call out “naturalism, evolutionism, scientism, secular humanism, and relativism” - the “usual suspects” of crimes against inerrancy - they are throwing up a whale of a red herring (not to mix marine metaphors). In reality, none of these presuppositions are necessary in order to conclude that the Bible contradicts itself. For instance, a Muslim is not any of these things; the Muslim believes in supernatural revelation, miracles, creation, absolute truth - all the essentials. But the Muslim can still detect errors in the Bible. Moreover, so can the Christian. I speak here from experience. I was an inerrantist, until I wasn’t. I never doubted the supernatural; I never doubted the possibility of special revelation; I never doubted that some things are just objectively true. In fact, it was precisely because of my faith in the Bible that I came to recognize that it was not inerrant. I believed that because it was inerrant, it could certainly survive a little critical scrutiny. Based on that assumption, I proceeded to scrutinize the text, and found that given consistent principles of exegesis, the construct of inerrancy could not be sustained. I neither wanted nor expected to discover what I discovered, but my faith in the Bible’s inerrancy contained within it, as they say, the seeds of its own destruction.
Thom Stark (The Human Faces of God: What Scripture Reveals When It Gets God Wrong (and Why Inerrancy Tries To Hide It))
The ancient church teaches us that the church sustains three relationships to culture all at once: It is part of it; it is an antithesis to it; it is called to transform it. These relationships are always held in tension with culture.
Paul Basden (Exploring the Worship Spectrum: 6 Views (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology Book 3))
But loving the Bible and sustaining a lifelong relationship with it does not entail checking one’s brain at the door. It does not require agreement with, or acquiescence to, everything it has to say. In fact, many thoughtful people who honor the Bible nonetheless relate to Robert Carroll’s frank observation: reading an ancient document like the Bible cannot help but raise profound problems for them. And
Frances Taylor Gench (Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts: Reflections on Paul, Women, and the Authority of Scripture)
God was under no obligation to create and, when his creatures rebelled, he was under no obligation to continue to sustain them. His creatures continue to rebel against him; his preservation of them is surely due only to his grace.
Glenn R. Kreider (God with Us: Exploring God's Personal Interactions with His People throughout the Bible)
But does contemptus mean 'contempt,' dear? Of course not. That would imply arrogance, superiority, pride. So much that we call worldly is actually just flawed or being seen through a cracked lens. Imperfect or imperfectly understood. Who are we to judge as contemptible a thing or person whose existence God sustains? Everything, however imperfect, has its purpose. No, Tony dear, contemptus mundi means 'detachment from the world,' seeing the world sub specie aeternitatis. Enduring or celebrating it, but never forgetting—even when it seems perfect and forever—that as the Bible says: 'all this shall pass like grass before the wind.
Tony Hendra (Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul)
1 We abelieve in bGod, the Eternal Father, and in His cSon, Jesus Christ, and in the dHoly Ghost. 2 We believe that men will be apunished for their bown sins, and not for cAdam’s transgression. 3 We believe that through the aAtonement of Christ, all bmankind may be csaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. 4 We believe that the first principles and aordinances of the Gospel are: first, bFaith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, cRepentance; third, dBaptism by eimmersion for the fremission of sins; fourth, Laying on of ghands for the hgift of the Holy Ghost. 5 We believe that a man must be acalled of God, by bprophecy, and by the laying on of chands by those who are in dauthority, to epreach the Gospel and administer in the fordinances thereof. 6 We believe in the same aorganization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, bprophets, cpastors, dteachers, eevangelists, and so forth. 7 We believe in the agift of btongues, cprophecy, drevelation, evisions, fhealing, ginterpretation of tongues, and so forth. 8 We believe the aBible to be the bword of God as far as it is translated ccorrectly; we also believe the dBook of Mormon to be the word of God. 9 We believe all that God has arevealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet breveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 10 We believe in the literal agathering of Israel and in the restoration of the bTen Tribes; that cZion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will dreign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be erenewed and receive its fparadisiacal gglory. 11 We claim the aprivilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the bdictates of our own cconscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them dworship how, where, or what they may. 12 We believe in being asubject to bkings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in cobeying, honoring, and sustaining the dlaw. 13 aWe believe in being bhonest, true, cchaste, dbenevolent, virtuous, and in doing egood to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we fhope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to gendure all things. If there is anything hvirtuous, ilovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. Joseph Smith.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Book of Mormon | Doctrine and Covenants | Pearl of Great Price)
There is the prophetic ministry of promise born of the will of the Father and there is the prophetic ministry born of flesh and the will of man. Though both are conceived through a genuine desire to fulfil God's plan and promise, the one birthed by flesh must be maintained by flesh while the one birthed by the Spirit will be sustained by the Spirit. Flesh reproduces flesh and therefore speaks directly to the desires of man. Spirit reproduces spirit and therefore speaks forth the desire of God.
John Bevere (Thus Saith the Lord: How to know when God is speaking to you through another (Inner Strength))
Job is a formidable work of Hebrew literature. With the only exception of Isaiah, no work in the Bible is written at such a sustained level of powerful eloquence.
Paul Johnson (History of the Jews)
The challenge here is that we have been trained to read even the Bible as a catalog of heroes to emulate. Moses is the great model of leadership, Joshua is the ideal warrior, and we should “dare to be a Daniel,” as the old hymn exhorts. This is a little odd, when you actually read the narratives and discover that Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, and all the rest were ordinary sinners like the rest of us who had received an extraordinary calling. They fell short of that calling, but God was faithful. And they too needed a Savior — and this is the central plot unfolding in Scripture. In our ambition, we trip over the central character and the central meaning of the whole story.
Michael Scott Horton (Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World)
Too often we believe like theists (a personal God) and act like deists (a distant, impersonal, noninteractive, uninvolved god). We say we believe in God, trust in God, and are sustained by God; but in our actions we do everything for ourselves, trusting in ourselves and anxious about the providence of God,
Scot McKnight (Sermon on the Mount (The Story of God Bible Commentary Book 21))
We learn to be kind to ourselves. For me, by serving God, I serve the real me on the inside where Jesus lives in my heart. It is the healthy, courageous, growing part of my soul that gets ministered to by the Lord. I don’t need outside sources.” Alisa beamed. “I don’t beat myself up when I make mistakes now. My hope is in the Lord.” Annabelle pondered that for a moment. “How can you sustain that level of thinking?” “I have a devotional life. When I am alone, I pray and read my Bible. And then I feel God close to me.” Annabelle closed her eyes. “Alone? You do that alone?” “Yes, but I know I am not really alone. Jesus lives in my heart. The Bible says that I live and move in Him. I often tell myself that I am not really alone. God is with me. It works.” Alisa paused. “I know who I am in Christ.
Summer Lee (Standing Strong: A Christian Novel)
everything that the Bible identifies as sin and our nature recognizes as such is something essentially good gone wrong. More precisely, it is something God has made that we have corrupted. Augustine defined the essence of sin as being curved in on ourselves
Michael Scott Horton (Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World)
In the interview, Roger reflected how the German philosopher Nietzsche said a man can undergo torture if he knows the why of his life. But I, here at Dachau, learned something far greater. I learned to know the Who of my life. He was enough to sustain me then, and is enough to sustain me still
Ken Dignan (Making Sense of a Suffering World: The Bible and a Life Story Reveal Answers to Why God Allows Suffering)
There will be a new time, a fresh start. 6Hope of all hopes, dream of our dreams, a child is born, sweet-breathed; a son is given to us: a living gift. And even now, with tiny features and dewy hair, He is great. The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders. His name? His name we’ll know in many ways— He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing, Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace. 7His leadership will bring such prosperity as you’ve never seen before— sustainable peace for all time.
Anonymous (The Voice Bible: Step Into the Story of Scripture)
The Bible contains significant teachings that encourage the creation of goods and services. One example is the description of an “excellent wife” in Proverbs 31:10–31: “She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant” (v. 24). She makes valuable products and so increases the GDP of Israel. This woman is productive, for “she seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands” (v. 13). She produces agricultural products from the earth, because “with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard” (v. 16). She sells products in the marketplace, because “she perceives that her merchandise is profitable” (v. 18). (The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates this as, “She sees that her profits are good”; this is also a legitimate translation because the Hebrew term sakar can refer to profit or gain from merchandise.)
Wayne Grudem (The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution)
MORE FROM GOD’S WORD “I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NCV People may make plans in their minds, but the Lord decides what they will do. Proverbs 16:9 NCV There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord. Proverbs 21:30 NIV Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Psalm 127:1 NLT The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalm 32:8 NLT The Lord is the strength of my life. Psalm 27:1 KJV However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. 1 Corinthians 7:17 HCSB SHADES OF GRACE We’re not only saved by grace, but the Bible says we’re sustained by grace. Bill Hybels
Freeman Smith (Fifty Shades of Grace: Devotions Celebrating God's Unlimited Gift)
Meanwhile, it needs to be recognized, and talked about more frankly, that for philosophy the elephant in the kitchen is organized religion. More precisely, the understanding of human condition often foretold by the blending of science and religion is inhibited by the intervention of supernatural creation stories, each defining a separate tribe. It is one thing to hold and share the elevated spiritual values of theological religion, with a belief in the divine and trust in the existence of an afterlife. It is another thing entirely to adopt a particular supernatural creation story. Faith in a creation story gives comforting membership in a tribe. But it bears stressing that not all creation stories can be true, no two can be true, and most assuredly, all are false. Each is sustained by blind tribalistic faith alone. The study of religion is an essential part of the humanities. It should nonetheless be studied as an element of human nature, and the evolution thereof, and not, in the manner of Christian bible colleges and Islamic madaris, a manual for the promotion of a faith defined by a particular creation story.
Edward O. Wilson (The Origins of Creativity)
Another one of these Christs was Apollonius. This remarkable man was born a few years before the commencement of the Christian era, and during his career, sustained the role of a philosopher, religious teacher and reformer, and a worker of miracles. He is said to have lived to be a hundred years old. From the history of his life, written by the learned sophist and scholar, Philostratus, we glean the following: Before his birth a god appeared to his mother and informed her that he himself should be born of her.
Thomas William Doane (Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations ... Considering also their Origin and Meaning)
Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
Anonymous (NKJV, Know The Word Study Bible, Red Letter: Gain a greater understanding of the Bible book by book, verse by verse, or topic by topic)
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
F. LaGard Smith (The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®))
give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in every way  gyou were enriched in him in all  hspeech and all knowledge— 6even as  ithe testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you  jwait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 kwho will sustain you to the end,  lguiltless  min the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 nGod is faithful, by whom you were called into the  ofellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Anonymous (Holy Bible: English Standard Version (ESV))
New Monastic Christian community house: “Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes.” I was, and remain, a Christian who longs for revolution, for things to be made new and whole in beautiful and big ways. But what I am slowly seeing is that you can’t get to the revolution without learning to do the dishes. The kind of spiritual life and disciplines needed to sustain the Christian life are quiet, repetitive, and ordinary. I often want to skip the boring, daily stuff to get to the thrill of an edgy faith. But it’s in the dailiness of the Christian faith—the making the bed, the doing the dishes, the praying for our enemies, the reading the Bible, the quiet, the small—that God’s transformation takes root and grows.
Tish Harrison Warren (Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life)
Your basal metabolic rate (BMR), or resting metabolic rate, makes up 60 to 75 percent of your total daily calories burned, making it your biggest category of “calories out.”40 This is how many calories you’re burning while doing and eating nothing. Your body burns these calories to sustain life, such as by breathing, pumping blood, and creating new cells.
Matt Gallant (The Ultimate Nutrition Bible: Easily Create the Perfect Diet that Fits Your Lifestyle, Goals, and Genetics)
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. 1LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”b 3But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. 4I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. 5I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 6I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. 7Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
Anonymous (Holy Bible: NIV, New International Version)
I had always heard that the nineteenth-century “Indian Renaissance” began with Raja Ram Mohan Roy. I was amazed to discover that it actually began with the arrival of the Bible. We were always told that India’s freedom was a result of Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle; it was a surprise to learn that, in reality, India’s freedom was a fruit of the Bible. Before the Bible, our people did not even have the modern notions of nation or freedom. Hindu generals sustained the Mogul rule in India. But that was just the beginning.
Vishal Mangalwadi (The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization)
Vegetables. Fruits. Nuts. Seeds. Meats. Eggs. Fish. That’s it. For millions of years our ancestors survived purely from these 7 things. Typically, the women gathered the nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables while men hunted for meat. Together these food sources provided the necessary components of a complete diet that sustained healthy living. Climate, geography, and luck mainly determined how balanced these sources were. But remember, regardless of how much of each food they ate, these were the only foods available to our ancestors, so naturally our bodies have adapted to their consumption. It wasn’t until about ten thousand years ago, a blip in our time on Earth, with the cultivation of plants and domestication of animals, that large quantities of breads, potatoes, rice, pasta, and dairy became available. These relatively new sources of calories were the main reason our complex societies were able to develop, and our overabundance is to a large degree due to them. However, for millions of years our bodies evolved on diets without any of these. The relatively miniscule time span since the domestication of plants and animals has not prepared us to live healthy lives with diets consisting of too many breads, pastas, rice, and potatoes. Yes, life expectancy has greatly increased in this time span, but this can be attributed not to new foods, but rather to man’s no longer having to live life on-the-go while dealing with hunger, thirst, illness, injuries, extreme cold, and fighting dangerous animals with primitive tools. So think of these new calories as little more than fillers. If you find yourself overwhelmed by nutritional definitions and rules, just ask yourself this: For millions of years before the domestication of plants and animals, what did we eat?
Mark Lauren (You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises)
Think about this for a moment – God who created all things and sustains all things, knows perfectly well about your circumstances and storms which you may find yourself in right at this moment in time. He has not forgotten you or about you. He knows your name. He created your eyes and your personality. He knows you far better than you know yourself. Please take your Bible and read again, if you have not lately, Psalm 139. This is perhaps one of my favorite Psalms. If ever you doubted that God made you for a reason and a purpose, just read this Psalm. It showcases His love, His sovereignty, His providence in our lives
Paddick Van Zyl
God's active delight in creation only heightens human agency in behalf of creation, for it all comes down to this: to feed the flame of biophilia, both God's and ours, we must preserve and sustain creation's biodiversity. If Leviathan falls, then so do we all.
William P. Brown (The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder)
We say we believe in God, trust in God, and are sustained by God; but in our actions we do everything for ourselves, trusting in ourselves and anxious about the providence of God, which unravels our theism.
Scot McKnight (Sermon on the Mount (The Story of God Bible Commentary Book 21))
Religion commandeered both sides of the slavery issue. Lincoln made this point in his Second Inaugural: “Both [sides] read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other.”8 The bloodshed might have been stemmed were it not for the unmovable certainty religion breeds in the faithful. We might say today that abolitionists motivated by religion were correct to be certain on such an obvious issue, but their brethren south of the Mason-Dixon Line were just as certain, and they had the stronger side of the biblical argument. As William Lloyd Garrison, a leading abolitionist, put it, “In this country, the Bible has been used to support slavery and capital punishment; while in the old countries, it has been quoted to sustain all manner of tyranny and persecution. All reforms are anti-Bible.
Andrew L. Seidel (The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American)
The lamp that was burning in the temple was never allowed to go out, but it had to be replenished every day with fresh oil; in the same way, our faith can only live by being sustained with the oil of grace, and we can only obtain this from God Himself.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Morning and Evening: A New Edition of the Classic Devotional Based on The Holy Bible, English Standard Version)
Moreover, if the Christian God is the one who suffers, then who is the one who created and sustains this world? Isn’t it the same God? By saying that God suffers with his creation, we seem to have sacrificed the view that God is sovereign over his creation. In other words, once again, God is not really GOD. And we are still left with the problem of suffering: why is it here?
Bart D. Ehrman (God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question—Why We Suffer)
Reading the Bible as the church’s book means that passages cannot be abstracted away, because the church is a community made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ; sustained by the Holy Spirit; oriented toward seeking the flourishing of God’s creation while awaiting final restoration. Theologian John Webster identifies “the isolation of the text both from its place in God’s revelatory activity and from its reception in the community” as one of the central disorders of the theology of the Bible.
Kaitlyn Schiess (The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here)
Matter is neither created nor destroyed. It simply appears in or form or in a sort of self-sustaining soup or what the Indian philosophy call the Dance of Lila. Lila can be loosely translated as "divine play". The concept of Lila is a way of describing all reality, as the outcome of creative play by the Divine Absolute. It is all how one thinks about it.
Rico Roho (Aquarius Rising: Christianity and Judaism Explained Using the Science of the Stars)