Biblical Message Quotes

“The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly why God wasn’t satisfied with the fruits and veggies Cain offered up. Maybe he kept the juiciest peaches and sweetest mangoes for himself and offered God nothing but brussels sprouts and spinach.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“As it turns out, Lot’s wife couldn’t sever her ties with Sodom, and God knew that she had left at least a part of her heart in that wicked place. She wasn’t able to move on. In other words, she “looked back.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“Satan to Jesus: Well, I see someone has a bad case of the hangries. You might want to consider using your godly powers to turn these desert rocks into loaves of bread. Maybe if you engage in some serious carb-loading, you’ll regain what little sense of humor you had before you started this ridiculous hunger strike.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“It all comes down to a choice. Either choose a life separate from God, which comes with the worry that things can fall apart at any moment, or follow the Lord and enjoy extraordinary confidence in knowing you can achieve greatness and will have the happiest of endings.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“God must have known that, in the end, Adam and Eve would eat the apple and have to leave the Garden. But he had bigger plans for them and for the rest of humanity that requires a short stint here in our imperfect world. That is the only way for us to experience all of the joys, the sorrows, the failures, and the triumphs that come with being fully human.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“Peter’s Diary Entry: But my eyes were opened when I saw a mother who loved her child so much that she would grovel at the feet of a man she had never met [who] … compared her to a common dog. She was willing to do all that just to save her little girl. In her selfless humility, in her willingness to swallow every ounce of pride for the sake of love, I saw a strength and power like I had never seen before. Light poured from her as she looked up at Jesus while slumping on the ground, and her face shone like the sun …”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“God didn’t send his one and only son to earth just to make sure we brush our teeth, say our prayers, and help little old ladies across the street. Jesus came here for a purpose much greater than that. He came to change our hearts and minds, and his message was revolutionary.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“Skin boils! Boils cause serious pain and physical suffering, and you also have to consider the ugliness factor. Even the most powerful zit cream on earth would be no match for the Lord Almighty’s epidermal masterpieces. So this one wins for my pick of the nastiest of the first nine plagues -- a dubious honor indeed.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“I’m not sure what made me think God would choose to reveal himself to little ol’ me. I think I believed that if I pleaded often and hard enough, he would see how sincere I was and grant my request, kind of like Linus and the Great Pumpkin. My sincerity would win him over so he would choose my pumpkin patch -- or, in this case, my bedroom -- to make a brief personal appearance. Unfortunately, that never happened.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“Joseph couldn’t contain his emotion any longer. He ordered all of the Egyptians out of the room so that he could be alone with his brothers. He then burst into tears and exclaimed: “I am your brother, Joseph!”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“In some ways, we all are a bit like Pharaoh. When we’re riding high and on top of the world, we’re convinced that our good fortune is the result of our birthright or our ingenuity, or our talent, or our hard work. During those times, we refuse to acknowledge that everything good and everything worthwhile comes from the Lord. But God loves us enough to sometimes let life’s adversities smack us in the face as a wake-up call, to remind us that he is the source of our strength, our success, and our hope for the future.”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“Peter on the Transfiguration: “So, trying to be helpful, I offered to build three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. The minute those words left my mouth, I realized how stupid they were. Seriously, Peter? Build them tents? Like Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were going to spend the weekend on the mountain watching sunsets and sitting around the bonfire making s’mores? What is wrong with me?”
― Spencer C Demetros, The Bible: Enter Here: Bringing God's Word to Life for Today's Teens

“The Qur’an does not hesitate to retell biblical incidents with modifications—or to introduce entirely new vignettes around iconic biblical figures. As a book purposely not constructed around a formal narrative, the Qur’an leverages these allusions primarily to emphasize a moral value rather than re- veal an origin story. Every time the Qur’an presents a story, it always follows with terse analyses synthesizing key takeaways.”
― Mohamad Jebara, The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy

“We seek God in our vigor, but he often comes to us in suffering. We pursue God in success; we find him in defeat. We assume following him will mean gain; he is our Lord in loss. We want him in abundance; but he speaks to us in poverty. 
”
― David A. Fiensy, The Journey: Spiritual Growth in Galatians and Philippians

“I intuitively knew what Quakers have always known: that silence is God’s primary love language.”
― Amos Smith, Holistic Mysticism: The Integrated Spiritual Path of the Quakers

“I believe God has placed in the heart of every one of us the longing for heaven, which is actually a longing for him.”
― David A. Fiensy, The Journey: Spiritual Growth in Galatians and Philippians

“God is able to do the impossible, exceedingly, abundantly far above all you can ever think or imagine but HE doesn’t want to do that outside of a relationship with you. Biblical prayer is not communication without a relationship.”
― Kingsley Opuwari Manuel