Quotes from Henry T. Blackaby

Jesus was the Son of God. Yet He never took the initiative to dream a dream or launch a new ministry. He lived His life in absolute dependence upon His Father. If Jesus was that dependent on the Father, then you and I should realize how ludicrous it is for us to set out on our own without any direction or guidance from the Father.

So the role of the Holy Spirit is not to bring God's presence to the world, but to reveal it.

Leaders dramatically influence the culture of their organizations through their own work habits. Being a leader does not mean one has 'made it' and is now exempt from hard work. Rather, leaders should set the pace for others. Few things discourage employees and volunteers any more than lazy leaders. Leaders should not ask their people to undertake tasks they are unwilling to perform themselves.

There is a world of difference between knowing something to be true in your head and experiencing the reality in your life.

Listen carefully: Recognizing God is not the same as coming to Him. Hearing God in your heart is not the same as answering. Working for the kingdom of God does not mean living in the kingdom of God. Christianity is not believing the truths of the Bible; it's acting upon them and allowing God control of your life. You must respond to God and make the choice to interact personally with Him.

God doesn't want people to do what they think is best: he wants them to do what he knows is best, and no amount of reasoning and intellectualizing will discover that. God himself must reveal it.

When God speaks, he does not give new revelation about himself that contradicts what he has already revealed in Scripture. Rather, God speaks to give application of his Word to the specific circumstances in your life. When God speaks to you, he is not writing a new book of Scripture; rather, he is applying to your life what he has already said in his Word.

Even though Moses was an exile in the desert, he was right on God's schedule, in the fullness of God's timing, in the middle of God's will for that moment.

Baptism, worship attendance, and church involvement are all appropriate, obedient responses to a relationship with God. However, they do not create or replace the relationship.

There are far too many people who settle for practicing a sterile religion rather than enjoying a growing, vibrant, personal relationship with the living God.

Biblically, God always gives the assignment first. Then God equips the person by the Holy Spirit to accomplish what He assigns.

God always has a fresh and deeper truth He wants us to learn about Him.

Most fear is fear of the unknown. We do not know what lies ahead of us, so we become apprehensive. Our imaginations can magnify problems until they seem insurmountable. We need a sound mind to see things in proper perspective. That is why God gave us His Holy Spirit, to enable us to see things as God sees them.

Rather than focusing on what our church is doing for us, we ought to be asking what God is seeking to do in our church through us.

Moses had to re-check Gods' directions constantly. He obeyed God, spoke to Pharaoh, and everything went wrong, but Moses didn't quit. He went back to the Lord to clarify what was happening.

Some Christians go to great trouble studying Satan's ways so they can identify his deceptions, but I don't do that. I'm determined not to focus on Satan—he is defeated. Christ, who guides me and implements His will through me, is the victor. The only way Satan can affect God's work through me is when I believe Satan and doubt God. Satan will try to deceive you, but he cannot ultimately thwart God's purposes.

When our faith is based primarily on the wisdom of men and not on the power of God, we've just nullified most of what God intended for our lives. When our faith is built only on a collection of doctrines, we miss out on the Person who wants to be our life.

When God "chooses" a person for His purposes, He does so according to the person's heart! The person must have a loyal heart full of trust and faith. God must have a person who loves Him "with all [the] heart, with all [the] soul, and with all [the] strength" (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37).

We look to the Bible but not to get ideas from what people did for God. We look to see what God did in peoples' lives.

There comes a point in your life when the Lord opens your eyes to understand what the Christian life was meant to be. It isn't just going to heaven when you die; it's dying to self on earth and allowing Him to live through you.

A word from Jesus changed everything.

if you love God, you will obey Him! If you do not obey Him, you do not really love Him, regardless of what you may claim (see John 14:24).

Divine truth is not something we "discover;" it is revealed by the Holy Spirit of God. As such, no other reality in the Christian life is as important as being filled with the Spirit.

At times emerging leaders limit their future possibilities by their impatience. They look for shortcuts to success, but God is methodical. He typically lays a foundation of character before building a superstructure of leadership.