GRACE

'There is a story from the American Civil War of a Northerner who bought a young slave girl at a slave auction. As they left the auction, the man turned to the girl and said, "You're free!"

She turned to him in amazement. "You mean I'm free to do whatever I want?"

"Yes," he said.

"And to say whatever I want to say?"

"Yes, anything."

"And to be whatever I want to be?"

"Yes!"

"And even go wherever I want to go?"

"Yes!" He laughed. "You're free to go wherever you'd like!"

She looked at him intently and replied, "Then I will go with you."' 

Sally Lloyd-Jones, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing, p.118. 

FAITH

'When you were little, did someone big ever carry you? Did you rest your head on his shoulder, lean your whole weight on him?

Faith is leaning your whole weight on God. Resting your head on his shoulder.

Faith means resting - relying - not on who we are, or what we can do, or how we feel, or what we know.

Faith is resting in who God is and what he has done.

And he has done EVERYTHING.

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." (1 John 4:16).'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing, p.77.

GRACE

'For anyone who says yes to Jesus

For anyone who believes what Jesus said

For anyone who will just reach out and take it

Then God will give them this wonderful gift:

To be born into

A whole new Life

To be who they really are

Who God always made them to be -

Their own true selves -

God's dear

Child.'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.351.

JESUS

'"My body is like this bread. It will break," Jesus told them. "This cup of wine is like my blood. It will pour out."

"But this is how God will rescue the whole world. My life will break and God's broken world will mend. My heart will tear apart - and your hearts will heal. Just as the passover lamb died, so now I will die instead of you. My blood will wash away all of your sins. And you'll be clean on the inside - in your hearts."'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.292.

THE BIBLE

'Now some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It is about God and what he has done.

Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you'll sooon find out) most of the people in the Bibles aren't heroes at all. They all make some big mistakes (some on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean.

No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about how a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne - everything - to rescue the one he loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!

You see the best thing about this Story is - it's true.'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.16.

MIRACLES

'...Jesus did many other miracles like this. Things people thought couldn't happen, that weren't natural.

But it was the most natural thing in all the world. It's what God had been doing from the beginning, of course. Taking the nothing and making it everything. Taking the emptiness and filling it up. Taking the darkness and making it light.'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.249.

JESUS

'The wind and the rain recognized Jesus' voice. (They had heard it before, of course - it was the same voice that made them, in the very beginning). They listened to Jesus and they did what he said.'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.242.

JESUS

'Everything God wanted to say to the whole world - in a person.'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.169.

GOD'S LOVE

'...a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.'
Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.36.

HEAVEN

'And the King says, "Look! God and his children are together again. No more running away. Or hiding. No more crying or being lonely or afraid. No more being sick or dying. Because all those things are gone. Yes, they're gone forever. Everything sad has come untrue. And see - I have wiped every tear from every eye."'

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, p.347.