You cannot be the person God meant you to be, and you cannot live the life He meant you to live, unless you live from the heart.
From Ephesians 3:19-20: “To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.”
John Eldredge (born 1960) is an American author, counselor, and lecturer on Christianity. More details are available on his website: wildatheart.org.
From Genesis 1:1-5: “When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
From 1 John 4:9-12: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.”
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “Many voices compete for our attention, but abundant life comes when we listen to our Good Shepherd.”
From John 10:3-5: “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Now the true soldiers of Christ must always be prepared to do battle for the truth, and must never, so far as lies with them, allow false convictions to creep in.
From Ephesians 6:13-15: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness and lace up your sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace.”
Origen of Alexandria (c. 185 – c. 253) was also known as Origen Adamantius. He was a Christian scholar and theologian who spent the first half of his life in Alexandria (Egypt).
From Deuteronomy 30:11, 14: “Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.”
From Deuteronomy 30:19-20: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and holding fast to Him, for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
From 1 John 4:8-9: “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “The body of Christ–also know as the Church–is made up of all who believe in Jesus.”
From Ephesians 4:15-16: “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”
From 1 Corinthians 6:11: “And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
From 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
From 1 Peter 2:2-3: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
From 1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people,but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy.”