Bob Denton

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"We are sadly apt to forget that there is a close connection between sin and sorrow, holiness and happiness, sanctification and consolation. God has so wisely ordered it, that our well-being and our well-doing are linked together."
J.C. Ryle

1 Samuel 15:22
What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"More than anything else could ever do, the gospel enables me to embrace my tribulations and thereby position myself to gain full benefit from them."
Milton Vincent

James 1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say, 'Thank you?'”
William Ward

Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Putting sin to death is a long and violent struggle against a deadly enemy that is absolutely devoted to our destruction. We should not expect that putting sin to death will be easy, and we should not expect that sin will go quietly."
Tim Challies

Romans 8:12-13
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if, through the power of the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above"
Robert Robinson

1 Corinthians 10:12-13
If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

“All sins are attempts to fill voids.”
Simone Weil
P
salm 63:1
O God, you are my God. I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You. My whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"It is God's faithful love we must look to, not ourselves. It is neither our own faithfulness nor our own miserable failures that have the final word. All things are designed to drive us towards Christ."
Rebecca Faires

Psalm 33:18, 22
The Lord keeps His eye on those who fear Him, those who depend on His faithful love. May Your faithful love rest on us, Lord, for we put our hope in You.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Nothing on a Christmas tree actually grows there. It has artificial adornments, and someone hung them there. However, the fruit on a real tree grows because it is a reflection of what the tree is on the inside. How do you know you are staring at an apple tree? It grows apples. No one has to hang them there. They simply grow on a healthy tree."
Scott Slayton

Galatians 5:22-24
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Reputation is the shadow. Character is the tree."
Abraham Lincoln

Galatians 5:22-23
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Avoid a sugar-coated gospel. Seek the gospel that rips up, wounds, and even kills, for that’s the gospel that makes alive again."
Charles Spurgeon

1 Corinthians 1:18-19
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

“They that know God will be humble. They that know themselves cannot be proud.”
John Flavel

1 Peter 5:5-6
And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"No matter how many steps you have taken away from God, it’s only one step back."
Wayne Mack

Luke 15:20-24 (The Prodigal Son)
So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son."

“But his father said to the servants, "Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found." So the party began.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"God has never once hired someone with a clean record. Moses killed a man. David wrecked a marriage. Peter folded under pressure. Paul spent years hunting down the people he'd later call family. The Bible isn't a gallery of the qualified. It's a record of what grace does with the unqualified. So why do we keep acting as if our worst chapter disqualifies us?"
Derek Hughes

1 Cor 1:26-29
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"The temptation to drift away is real for all of us, all of the time."
Melanie Rainer

Hebrews 2:1
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"So much of the Christian life boils down to hanging in there. To pressing on. To not throwing in the towel. To keeping on. To persevering. To enduring. To being steadfast. To not giving up. To not quitting on Jesus. And all the while finding him to be your all, by God's grace."
Isaac Adams

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Never give up in the desert. You don’t know how wide it is, and you may be almost across."
Donald Whitney

Galatians 6:9
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Seeking direction from God goes against the modern mind's reliance on self. Our culture teaches us to take charge of our lives and call our own shots."
Jim Cymbala

Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"God saves us just as we are, but He is not content for us to remain just as we are. Be strengthened by the truth that you are partnering with the Holy Spirit as you seek spiritual growth. God is at work in you, and you will be changed.”
Alistair Begg

Galatians 5:22-23
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"The Lord slept in that storm not because He didn't care but because He was in control. The gospel is a lullaby to the anxious soul."
Jared Wilson

Mark 4:37-38
But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with His head on a cushion. The disciples woke Him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t You care that we’re going to drown?”

[Bob Denton @bobdenton1954]

Good morning!

"Godliness is not your personality. Godliness should be measured not so much by what comes easiest to us but by the progress we’re making in areas where we are the weakest."
David Murray

Judges 6:13-16
Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?"

Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

The Lord said to him, “I will be with you.