Quotes from Mark Batterson

Grace is loving people for who they are, where they are. It's loving people *before* they change, not just *after* they change. And that grace is the difference between holy and holier-than-thou. Holiness, in its purest form, is irresistible. That's why sinners couldn't be kept away from Jesus. Hypocrisy has the opposite effect. It's as repulsive to the irreligious as the Pharisees' religiosity was to Jesus.

The paradigm shift happens when we come to terms with the fact that the world doesn't revolve around us.

Consecration is going all in and all out for the All in All.

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of His grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace. Every day should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. —JERRY BRIDGES

Don't wait to worship God until you get to the Promised Land; you've got to worship along the way.

We don't get a vision from God by going to conferences. We might get some good ideas, but God-ideas are only revealed in the presence of God.

Maybe we need to quit playing defense and start playing offense. Maybe we need to quit letting our circumstances get between us and God and let God get between us and our circumstances. Maybe we need to stop talking to God about our problem and start talking to our problem about God.

You need to circle the goals God wants you to go after, the promises God wants you to claim, and the dreams God wants you to pursue. And once you spell Jericho, you need to circle it in prayer. Then you need to keep circling until the walls come tumbling down.

One reason many of us never get an answer to our prayers is that all we do is pray.

Until you hear the voice of God, you won't be able to sing His song. Why? Because you're out of tune.

We were meant for more than a safe ride when God placed us here. Any part of this life that offers more, requires more, or asks more of us than we are used to is an opportunity to grow more, dream more, and be more than we are now.

There is a pattern repeated in Scripture: crazy miracles are the offspring of crazy faith. Normal begets normal. Crazy begets crazy. If we want to see God do crazy miracles, sometimes we need to pray crazy prayers.

Don't accumulate possessions, accumulate experiences or vice versa–

Courage doesn't wait until situational factors turn in one's favor. It doesn't wait until a plan is perfectly formed. It doesn't wait until the tide of popular opinion is turned. Courage only waits for one thing: a green light from God. And when God gives the go, it's full steam ahead, no questions asked.

Do you find your identity in who you are or whose you are?

You don't need to seek opportunity. All you have to do is seek God. And if you seek God, opportunity will seek you.

Søren Kierkegaard believed that boredom is the root of all evil. I second the notion. Boredom isn't just boring; boredom is wrong. You cannot simultaneously live by faith and be bored. Faith and boredom are antithetical.

opportunities typically come disguised as impossible problems. And while most people run away from their problems, Shamgars run at them with their oxgoads.

Most of us don't get what we want because we don't know what we want. Here's our secondary problem: Most of us don't get what we want because we quit circling.

In God's kingdom, calling trumps credentials every time! God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. And the litmus test isn't experience or expertise. It's availability and teachability. If you are willing to go when God gives you a green light, He will take you to inaccessible places to do impossible things.

We're called to advance the kingdom, not hold the fort. It's the difference between why and why not. It's the difference between if only and what if.

Pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you." But there are others, such as, "Criticize by creating," "Thou shalt offend Pharisees," and "Catch people doing something right.

Following Jesus is a verb.

If the blessing stops with you, it'll eventually stop altogether! Instead of being a conduit for blessing and maintaining forward momentum, we settle for sideways energy.