This Light of Mine Quotes

“By God’s grace, may our lives present the beauty of the gospel in the compelling way that these early Christians did. May we light the darkness with the excellencies of His name. May all who come in contact with us see the power of the gospel in its full force in our attitudes and actions, as we welcome their weary souls to find their rest in Him.”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Note: whenever He says, “but I say to you,” it’s the sound of His machete cutting a whole new path.)”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“I’ve learned that when I am confronted with a decision on how to act and react, I need to pause and be sure that my responses are truly reflective of His ways and not my own. I’ve come to realize that given my fallenness, my first instincts are usually wrong. If you offend me, my first instinct is not to forgive, love, pray for you, and bless you! Which, by the way, is His will for me (Matt. 5:43–48). Pausing is important because Scripture advises us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and that His ways are not our ways (Isa. 55:8). Scripture warns us that there are ways that seem right to us but in the end they are destructive (Prov. 14:12),”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“I am a follower of Jesus!”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“I’ve learned that when I am confronted with a decision on how to act and react, I need to pause and be sure that my responses are truly reflective of His ways and not my own. I’ve come to realize that given my fallenness, my first instincts are usually wrong. If you offend me, my first instinct is not to forgive, love, pray for you, and bless you! Which, by the way, is His will for me (Matt. 5:43–48).”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“And Jesus has called us to pursue the lost with His love—not to demonize them. While clinging to the truth with confidence and courage means that we don’t endorse the wrong ways of our world, being found in the way with Jesus does require that we have a loving, Christlike attitude toward those He came to pursue and save.”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“Clearly, we need to protect our children from ungodly and unhealthy influences that would lead them to confusion, wrong feelings, and harmful choices. We will need to seek Spirit-guided discernment when our place of work requires that we use gender preference pronouns. We should engage efforts to influence our school boards to stop the aggressive promotion of gender choice to our students. And we need to politically engage the issue when there is the opportunity to enact appropriate legislation. Standing with confidence and courage in times like these is a challenge. But in the end it will validate our claim to be people of a different kingdom with a different King whose truth is eternal and whose love is unlimited.”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“All these transitional issues in the territory of what we once thought of as clear lines of demarcation have challenged the biblical reality that it was God’s intention that being man and being woman were the non-negotiable assignments. The “God created man in his own image … male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27) reference is now clouded into the promotion of choices that you get to decide. And tragically this notion is introduced into young school children’s thought patterns at an early age. While our hearts and a spirit of compassion go out to those who legitimately struggle with gender dysphoria, that is a far cry from the wide-open cultural invitation that anyone can be whoever they want to be.”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“we will reject a militant warrior attitude and take our stand with attitudes that reflect the love of Christ. While finding ways to love those who perceive us as enemies is not always easy (Matt. 5:43), it is not hard to say what is not loving in terms of attitude and action toward those who disdain us.”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“Note that the persecution of Christians came because they practiced the righteous ways of Jesus and were suffering for the sake of Christ’s name, not because they were annoying people with unattractive attitudes. ”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“if regaining our earthly kingdom distracts or diminishes our potential for success in the advance of His kingdom, we have failed in our allegiance to Christ’s call in our lives. Embracing the supremacy of our kingdom calling over all earthly concerns makes all the difference in terms of adjusting our feelings and actions in response to a culture that is so desperately out of sync with His kingdom.”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce … seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jer. 29:4–5, 7)”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World

“This is why Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, which in a sense is like the constitution of His kingdom, told His followers to turn the other cheek and to love their enemy, a standard that made for peace and not war. When we as His kingdom citizens bring the dynamics of His kingdom to bear upon the kingdoms of this fallen world, regardless of the cost, there is the potential for significant influence for good and God’s glory.”
― Joseph M. Stowell III, This Light of Mine: Living Like Jesus in a Non-Jesus World