John Ortberg Quotes - Page 4

We tend to be preoccupied by our problems when we have a heightened sense of vulnerability and a diminished sense of power. Today, see each problem as an invitation to prayer.

The church is in the hope business.

God is still in the business of coming down to earth: to this cubicle, this email, this room, this house, this job, this hospital room, this car, this bed, this vacation. Any place can become Bethel, the house of God. Cleveland, maybe. Or the chair you're sitting in as you read these words.

Too often we argue about Christianity instead of marveling at Jesus.

The good news as Jesus preached it is not just about the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven when you die. It is about the glorious redemption of human life-your life.

God wishes to be seen, wishes to be sought, wishes to be expected, and wishes to be trusted.

Waiting on the Lord is a confident, disciplined, expectant, active, sometimes painful clinging to God.

God sees with utter clarity who we are. He is undeceived as to our warts and wickedness. But when God looks at us that is not all He sees. He also sees who we are intended to be, who we will one day become.

I need to learn. Joy is at the heart of God's plan for human beings. The reason for this is worth pondering awhile: Joy is at the heart of God himself. We will never understand the significance of joy in human life until we understand its importance to God. I suspect that most of us seriously underestimate God's capacity for joy.

True love is willing to warn, reprove, confront or admonish when necessary.

People who are servants-humbly, honestly, and joyfully-keep getting revealed as the biggest winners. People who recognize and embrace their smallness keep getting bigger and bigger in God's eyes. It's the oddest scoring system.

True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.

If we are serious about loving God, we must begin with people, all people. And especially we must learn to love those that the world generally discards.

The main measure of your devotion to God is not your devotional life. It is simply your life.

Greatness is never achieved through indecision.

Jesus ... associated with the outcasts; he spoke with them, touched them, ate with them, loved them.

When I repent, here is where it starts. I try to name my sin as honestly and as specifically as possible. Here is what repenting is not. It is not excusing my sin, minimizing my sin, it's not rationalizing my sin ... Repentance is getting painfully honest with God.

The ministry of bearing with one another is learning to hear God speak through difficult people.

The entire life of Jesus isn't the story of somebody climbing up a ladder; it's a picture of someone coming down-a series of demotions. The problem with spending our lives climbing up the ladder is that we will go right past Jesus, for He's coming down.

It only makes sense to ask God for guidance in the context of a life committed to "seeking first the kingdom."

To love someone is to desire and work toward their becoming the best version of themselves. The one person in all the universe who can do this perfectly for you is God.

The Holy Spirit will lead you to be with people as Jesus would be with them if He were in your place.

Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart.

A boss who interrupts an employee a lot is called an extrovert, whereas an employee who interrupts a boss too often is called an ex-employee.

At the deepest level, pride is the choice to exclude both God and other people from their rightful place in our hearts. Jesus said the essence of the spiritual life is to love God and to love people. Pride destroys our capacity to love.