Phrases and Proverbs That Help Me Follow Jesus

Having been under the fire of temptation for oh, 39 or so years now, I've learned a thing or two about fighting it. Sometimes it helps to have a quick phrase, a great one-liner, a modern-day proverb if you will at your mind's disposal.  Obviously it's best if they come straight from the Word.  Afterall, the supreme black-belt of temptation-fighting Jesus, fired the Scriptures back at Satan every time the king of evil tried to trick Him into doing something wrong.  Still, as long as the phrases are Biblically-based, they can help as well.  Here are a few that help me, followed by a collection that I have been teaching to my own son and other youth.

·         Eternal rest for the weary.

·         What would Jesus watch?

·         What would Jesus listen to?

·         What would the man I want to be for God do?

·         Can’t teach about a Jesus that I don’t serve (or obey).

·         “Make me a servant”, mentally sung to myself in a kind of mocking, opera style when I realize I’m getting upset for having to serve.  

·         Don’t love the world.

·         Abhor evil (it helps to pick a specific evil). 

·         Keep your head in the ball game. 

·         Okay. What could I do to just really hack Satan off right now?

·         There’s no treasure in heaven for storing stuff in the attic. 

·         Calmness is strength.  Getting upset is weakness (Tried to keep telling myself that the year I taught middle school.  I probably couldn't have bench-pressed two pounds based on that saying).

·         Recognize the hazard.  Understand the defense.  Act accordingly in a timely fashion.

·         I can’t become strong, but I can become wise.

·         The best time to fight temptation is when you are not being tempted.

·         Realistic expectations.

Phrases that I have been teaching my son and other youth:

1.    God made us to be like Him.

2.    The Bible is a treasure and a treasure map.

3.    Focus on Jesus. / Focus on God.

4.    Choose today the narrow way.

5.    When you wake up, get up and say, “What can I do for Jesus today?”

6.    Just like air, God is there.

7.    If things like shelves did not make themselves, it had to be that God made me.

8.    God knows anything He wants to know, any time He wants to know it.

9.    Everybody misses the target sometimes, everybody but Jesus.

10.  Because Jesus paid the price for me, in heaven with God I can be.

11.  When I’m selfish, I think only of me.  Thinking of others God wants me to be.

12.  Don’t worry about what others can do.  Just use what God has given YOU.

13.  With Jesus in me, I can handle the heat.

14.  It’s easiest to say “no” to something you’ve never tried.

15.  When we’re divided everything’s wrong, but when we’re united, then we are strong.

16.  God rewards those who truly want to find Him.

17.  Know where your path goes / Know where you are going.

18.  Know how to get to where you want to go.

19.  Learn the ways of the one who loves you, reject the ways of the one who hates you.

20.  Night or day, take time to pray.

21.  If you want to follow Jesus, don’t be afraid.  Jesus will not turn you away.

22.  When I’m mad or sad about what life brings, look at things differently or look at different things.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!