Nancy Guthrie > Quotes

“Trusting God when the miracle does not come, when the urgent prayer gets no answer, when there is only darkness—this is the kind of faith God values perhaps most of all. This is the kind of faith that can be developed and displayed only in the midst of difficult circumstances. This is the kind of faith that cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.”
― Nancy Guthrie

“But because I believe God’s plans for me are better than what I could plan for myself, rather than run away from the path he has set before me, I want to run toward it. I don’t want to try to change God’s mind—his thoughts are perfect. I want to think his thoughts. I don’t want to change God’s timing—his timing is perfect. I want the grace to accept his timing. I don’t want to change God’s plan—his plan is perfect. I want to embrace his plan and see how he is glorified through it. I want to submit.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Holding On to Hope: A Pathway through Suffering to the Heart of God

“The Spirit at work in us is replacing our desire to dress in a way that impresses or seduces with a desire to dress as Paul instructed women in his letter to Timothy, “in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” (1 Tim. 2:9). Rather than making a fashion statement with our clothes that will cause heads to turn in our direction, we want to make a fashion statement with our character that will cause heads to turn in Christ’s direction.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Even Better than Eden: Nine Ways the Bible's Story Changes Everything about Your Story

“Waiting patiently for God to fulfill his promises is what it means to have faith. Putting faith in God’s promises is not something a person does only one time on the day he or she becomes a Christian. The essence of being a Christian is placing all our hope in God, knowing we can trust him to fulfill all his promises—even the ones that haven’t been fulfilled yet. We are willing to wait, trusting that “God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true” (Psalm 18:30).”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“Sometimes we wonder why we aren’t happy, why we make sinful choices, why we feel distant from God. Often it’s because we have small thoughts about God and magnified thoughts of ourselves, our wants, our rights, our accomplishments.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“On this side of eternity, Christmas is still a promise. Yes, the Savior has come, and with him peace on earth, but the story is not finished. Yes, there is peace in our hearts, but we long for peace in our world. Every Christmas is still a “turning of the page” until Jesus returns. Every December 25 marks another year that draws us closer to the fulfillment of the ages, that draws us closer to . . . home. When we realize that Jesus is the answer to our deepest longing, even Christmas longings, each Advent brings us closer to his glorious return to earth. When we see him as he is, King of kings and Lord of lords, that will be “Christmas” indeed! Talk about giving Christmas gifts! Just think of this abundance . . . You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (1 Cor. 1:7) And carols? You’re about to hear singing like you’ve never heard before. Listen . . . Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” (Rev. 19:6, nasb) Christmas choirs? Never was there a choir like the one about to be assembled . . . They held harps given them by God and sang . . . the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.” (Rev. 15:2–3) True, Main Street in your town may be beautifully decorated for the season, but picture this . . . The twelve gates [of the city] were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. (Rev. 21:21) Oh, and yes, we love the glow of candles on a cold winter’s night and the twinkling of Christmas lights in the dark, but can you imagine this? There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 22:5) Heaven is about to happen. The celebration is about to burst on the scene. We stand tiptoe at the edge of eternity, ready to step into the new heaven and the new earth. And I can hardly wait.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas

“Many people think a Christian is someone who believes in God and tries to be good, or someone who lives by the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount (as if anyone could!). But what we and our children must understand is that a Christian is a person who recognizes that he or she is a sinner deserving nothing less than the terrifying judgment of God and who takes refuge only in the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.”
― Nancy Guthrie, The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids

“We find hope in the ancestry of Jesus that no matter what we’ve done or where we come from, we too can be included in Jesus’ family. Jesus does not look for people who are perfect and have never failed or made mistakes to be in his family. Instead, he is drawn toward people who recognize their failures and see their need for him.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“How do we know that our suffering is not punishment for our sin? Because someone has already been punished for our sin. Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him.” There is punishment for sin, but that punishment has been laid on Jesus. And when we accept the gift of his sacrifice for our sin, we no longer have to fear being punished for our sin even though we may still experience some of sin’s natural consequences. So would you stop fighting against him and resenting him, and start submitting to him so he can show you his love by disciplining you where you really need it? God disciplines us through hardship—so we have to endure it. Our suffering is not punishment sent from God, but as we trust God in the midst of it, he can use it as a tool for discipline. Hardship will either distract our focus from Christ or intensify our focus on him. If we give in to grumbling and complaining about the hardships and difficulties in our lives, we will miss out on what there is to learn from them. But if we allow our difficulties to intensify our focus on Jesus and intensify our determination to persevere, God’s discipline will have its desired effect, and God’s purposes in the hardship will be fulfilled.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Hoping for Something Better: Refusing to Settle for Life as Usual

“God knew when the time was just right to send Jesus, the Messiah, into the world. He knew when the exact religious, cultural, and political conditions were in place. Paul wrote, “When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4, emphasis added). You see, God is not making up plans as he goes. All the grand events of God’s plan for our redemption have been scheduled in advance, from Creation to the enslavement and exodus of God’s people from Egypt; to David’s taking the throne in Israel; to the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus; to the day when Jesus will return. Paul said that God “has set a day for judging the world” (Acts 17:31). The course and timing of history is not a mystery to God. Time is in his hands, and he will bring about his plans and purposes in our world and in our lives right on time.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“Isn’t it interesting how in Christmas cards and on public displays we often see the words, “Peace on earth, good will toward men”? But how seldom we see the prior words, “Glory to God in the highest”! But there is no peace, there is no good will, unless there is glory to God in the highest first. We forget to put God’s glory first. Fortunately, he does not. God will be glorified.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas

“But here’s what grieving people wish others would understand: grief is incredibly, relentlessly lonely. It really makes a huge difference to be reminded that we are not forgotten, that our loss is on the radar of people around us.”
― Nancy Guthrie, What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps

“Though it is hard to wait on God, and though it sometimes seems to us that God is slow, God’s timing is always perfect. He is never late. He always acts at just the right time.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“The whole of Christ’s life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one”
― Nancy Guthrie, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas

“God chooses to use simple, ordinary things and people so that he is the one who gets all the glory.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“Who has asked you what you want for Christmas this year? Since we are asked this question from an early age, it is easy for Christmas to become all about getting rather than giving. Wouldn’t a better question to ask each other be, “What are you giving for Christmas?”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“What began in a cradle made of wood culminated on a cross made of wood.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“THE LORD REVEALED to the prophet Habakkuk that he was about to do a purifying work among his people by raising up the Babylonians to take them into captivity.”
― Nancy Guthrie, The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids

“Peace is a gift of God, but we prepare ourselves to receive this gift as we pray about everything, cultivate gratitude, and refuse to surrender to worry. You can emerge from your days of sorrow with a heart that has been softened to the Spirit of God—what a beautiful and profitable experience that will be! Or you can allow your heart to be hardened by bitterness and resentment toward God, and rejection of his peace and grace—what a dark place that will take you to . . . a place far away from the loving embrace of God. “They are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him” (Ephesians 4:18). Heart Mender, take this broken heart of mine and make it soft and sensitive to your Spirit. I want to stay close to you and soft toward you.”
― Nancy Guthrie, The One Year Book of Hope

“No sofoques esos deseos de ser amado de esa manera; dirige tus deseos al único que puede amarte de esta manera para siempre.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Mejor que el Edén: Nueve formas en las que la historia bíblica cambia todo sobre tu propia historia

“In the earthly ministry of Jesus we see him doing what the first Adam should have done. Adam was supposed to exercise dominion. Jesus exercised dominion over demons, over nature, over sickness, and even over death. By taking upon himself a human nature, and living in that human nature in true righteousness and holiness, Jesus demonstrated for us what it means to be truly and fully human.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Even Better than Eden: Nine Ways the Bible's Story Changes Everything about Your Story

“By putting our focus on giving to others and meeting their very real needs, we can battle the greed in our hearts. Christmas is a season not of getting, but of giving, because at Christmas we are celebrating that God is the most generous and outrageous Giver in the universe. After all, he gave us his Son. Proverbs says, “Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!” (Proverbs 21:26). To pour ourselves into becoming outrageous givers is to pursue becoming more like God. God turns greedy, grasping, fearful hoarders into generous, honest, cheerful givers.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room: Daily Family Devotions for Advent

“Repentance is not modifying a few convictions here and there, but realizing that your whole interpretation of reality—God, yourself, your relation to God and the world—is misguided. It is not finding your way back to the “straight-and-narrow,” after wandering off the beaten path a bit, but acknowledging before God that you are not—and never have been—even in the vicinity. You saw yourself at the center of the universe, but now you realize that you exist for God’s pleasure and glory, and that changes how you look at everything. The right to determine for yourself what you believe and how you will live is surrendered.3”
― Nancy Guthrie, Saints and Scoundrels in the Story of Jesus

“Para mí sería una experiencia muy aguda y penosa pensar que tengo una aflicción que Dios nunca me envió, que la amarga copa nunca fue llenada por su mano, que mis pruebas nunca fueron medidas por él, ni enviadas a mí según su disposición de peso y cantidad... Aquel que no cometió errores al poner en equilibrio las nubes y extender los cielos, no comete errores en la medida de los ingredientes que constituyen la medicina del alma.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Escuchando a Jesús en medio de tu dolor

“For some of us, the idea that we will not be married to the person we have loved dearly in this life sounds as if it just can’t be right. But evidently marriage as we know it is uniquely for this age. That doesn’t, however, mean that there won’t be rich relationship in the age to come. In fact, our relationships with those we have loved will be deepened, as sin will no longer infect or inhibit our connections to one another. John Piper writes, “There will be no marriage there. But what marriage meant will be there. And the pleasure of marriage, ten-to-the-millionth power, will be there.”9 Heaven will be rich in relationship—with each other and with the One we love the most—our glorious Bridegroom. In one sense, we’ll all be married—and to the same Groom! The shadow of temporary human marriage will have given way to the substance—the eternal marriage between Christ and his bride. And this will be the happiest marriage of all time.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Even Better than Eden: Nine Ways the Bible's Story Changes Everything about Your Story

“Jesus doesn't just look at us; he looks into us. And if we are willing to hold his gaze, he will burn away what is meaningless and frivolous and contaminating.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation

“Lord, sometimes the possibility of coming catastrophe can make our family terribly afraid. We’re tempted to ask you only to protect us from difficulty, but what we really want is to be a family who lives by faith in the midst of the worst of circumstances”
― Nancy Guthrie, The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids

“Give me the grace to lead the way in having an ambition to serve others out of love for you.”
― Nancy Guthrie, The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids

“Taking hold of the glory of the future transforms your sense of shame now. A settled sense of the security of the future soothes your fear of death now. A growing sense of identity as a citizen of heaven changes how you see yourself now. Truly taking in the love relationship we’re going to enjoy forever warms our hearts toward Christ now.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Even Better than Eden: Nine Ways the Bible's Story Changes Everything about Your Story

“If we are concerned with what’s practical, the day will come when we will look back and it will be clear to us that there was nothing more practical than prayer, nothing more practical than perseverance, and nothing more practical than praising the triune God even when evil was pressing in on us. We’ll discover that worship was the “ultimate subversive activity” in a world of idolatry and materialism.1 Enduring in our allegiance to King Jesus even when it costs us, and living as if we do not expect this world to applaud us, approve of us, or satisfy us, is subversive. It’s shocking. And at the same time, it is the ordinary Christian life. It is what is expected of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven living in the kingdom of the world.”
― Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation