Inspirational Quotes by Gary Thomas

“Honoring the Lord means, by faith, pressing into all that He is with great confidence. With that assurance, we can ask any question, turn over every rock, and expose every mess without fear.”

“The barriers and differences my husband and I experience are not simply problems I need to accept. They each represent an invitation for us to love each other. In stretching to love each other, we catch a glimpse of how passionate and steadfast Jesus’s love is.”

“Kelly Kapic has argued powerfully for the possibility that Jesus’ final blessing was that of the high priest giving Aaron’s benediction to the people after atonement for sin had been made. The branding blessing from Numbers 6 takes on even more significance if we consider it coming from mouth of the incarnate Lord himself. Kapic’s conclusion thrills me every time I read it: Whereas Aaron could lift his arms and pray for God’s face to shine on the people, in seeing Jesus ascending into the heavens these believers saw the actual face of God shining. While they had heard of God’s graciousness, now they had seen him who is Gracious. While they had held out for God’s lifted countenance, they now saw it actualized. While they had longed for the peace promised in the benediction, they now knew him who was Peace. The great High Priest came and not only pronounced the benediction, but he became the benediction. Here the medium is the Mediator, and thus he is not to be looked beyond, but rather looked to. Those who saw the ascension witnessed the personification of Aaron’s benediction in Jesus Christ![6]”

“Christians should be the greatest psychologists on the planet. Our study of psychology and every other endeavor must be rooted in Scripture, led by the Spirit, and surrendered to God’s authority. We should wholeheartedly commit ourselves to understanding and integrating as much as we can about how God created humanity, how the Fall has resulted in brokenness, and how God brings healing to broken minds, souls, and relationships.”

“The night before his crucifixion, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32). We get shredded. We get eaten up. We get disgraced. We get left. We think we are going to die. But then something amazing happens. We cry out to Jesus and then realize he has already been praying for us! His faithfulness upholds us.”

“Jesus goes while blessing, and he remains in that gesture of blessing. His hands remained stretched out over this world. The blessing hands of Christ are like a roof that protects us. . . . In faith we know that Jesus holds his hands stretched out in blessing over us. That is the lasting motive of Christian joy.[3] The blessing hands of Christ are over us. Whenever we look up at the sky, we can imagine the ascending Christ with his arms outstretched. Wherever we go, we go under the sky above us, so wherever we go, we go under the blessing protection and the blessing mission of the Lord Jesus. As Benedict wrote elsewhere of the disciples, “They knew that they were forever blessed and stood under blessing hands wherever they went.”[4] The implications for daily life are stirring. How hard are circumstances pressing you? Can you yet look up and see sky? That sky represents the blessing hands of Jesus keeping you even through these days. Have your powers been curtailed by illness or age? Can you at least still imagine sky? Let it remind you of the one who claims you and loves you. He went up to heaven still in the body. He is still wedded to our humanity. He has promised that he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:21)—we too will live in rippling, embodied resurrection life. How hopeless does the future of the world seem? How far does the arm of evil reach? Look at the sky and remember Jesus’ blessing hands. Evil cannot ever go where Christ is and pull him down into our mire. Nor can it ever prevent his return to set all things right. He is still over us like the sky, his blessing hands like a great shell of protection all of our days on this earth.”

“For God created the marriage relationship to point to a greater reality. From the moment marriage was instituted, God aimed to give the world an illustration of the Gospel.”

“This is the spiritual truth contained in the phrase from the Apostles’ Creed: “He descended into hell.” He has come to get us out of prison and out of the tombs. There is no place he would not go to retrieve us. David prayed, “If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there” (Psalm 139:8). Indeed, even when we are hell-bent on running from God and create all manner of hell for ourselves and our loved ones, Jesus goes to the depths with us. He can get us out and bring us home. Even when others open up a can of living hell all over us, when they release the hounds of their madness into our lives, when they empty their evil onto us, Jesus is not daunted nor defeated. He has been to hell and he reigns even there.”

“Why is God’s Word so powerful and essential for our healing and redemption? Because it contains timeless truth inspired by God Himself.”

“How often I take for granted the astounding news that God loves me with a callous, “Yeah, yeah, he loves me, now what about God giving me what I want for myself right now?” I can fly right over the stunning surprise of this news. God created me and God loves me. Personally, individually, deeply, eternally, passionately.”

“For Christians, morality isn’t simply based on not hurting someone else, but our reverence for the Creator’s design and intentions.”

“I refuse the rat race because God has called me to the sacred race.”

“Obeying Him when it doesn’t suit us is downright hard. But every hard thing God asks us to do is always accompanied by His promise to transform us as we go.”

“Listen carefully, never assume that just because a smaller problem hasn’t exploded into a bigger problem before, it’s never going to. Wrong. That’s exactly what the enemy wants us to think. Don’t ever forget what a schemer he is.”

“When you see your spouse, you see through their imperfections and remember the person you married. You can see them the way God sees them—lovable, valuable, and worth pursuing despite their imperfections.”

“Thank God for any slap on the wrist, any sense of warning. It means you have a future. God always shows a way forward when we are open to His will. Wisdom is knowing the next step forward; God will show you the next thing to do.”

“Time may be our scarcest and most precious resource. And we will begin to use it well only when we realize we do not have an infinite supply to use.1 Kevin DeYoung”

“When we love others in a way that goes beyond our own natural instincts, we tend to the deepest desire of God’s heart for the world—that the world may know His love. And as we deeply love others, something in our own soul gets healed along the way.”

“When we understand that we were created for His divine purpose, our eyes become more focused on what matters. We become enveloped in His relentless love for us, and we get passionate about where He is taking us. We expect to encounter a few bumps along the way, but we finally believe that bumps, bruises, and deep valleys are not defining factors for us. Yes, they mark our journey and shape us into kingdom people, but they do not have the power to diminish our value.”

“This is a tremendously spiritually therapeutic process, an emptying of myself so I can grow more in my love for others.”