Quotes from Randy Alcorn

God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). This doesn't mean we should give only when we're feeling cheerful. The cheerfulness often comes during and after the act of obedience, not before it. So don't wait until you feel like giving—it could be a long wait! Just give and watch the joy follow.

The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator." —Louis Pasteur

We can't take material things with us when we die, but we do take our friendships to Heaven, and one day they'll be renewed.

Do we seek happiness because we're sinners or because we're human? Should faith in God be dragged forward by duty or propelled by delight? Must we choose between holiness and happiness?

When hard times come, people should lose their faith in false doctrine, not in God.

The only proper foundation for optimism is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Any other foundation is sand, not rock. It will not bear the weight of our eternity.

Now think, my brother, you will be in Heaven very soon. Since last year a great number have gone home: before next year many more will have ascended to glory. Sitting up in those celestial seats, how shall we wish that we had lived below?" —Charles Spurgeon

When God provides more money we often think, This is a blessing. Yes, but it would be just as scriptural to say, "This is a test." Abundance isn't God's provision for me to live in luxury. It's his provision for me to help others live.

Five minutes after we die, we'll know exactly how we should have lived. But God has given us His Word so that we don't have to wait to die to find out. And He's given us His Spirit to empower us to live that way now.

When we fail to acknowledge God as the Source of all good things, we fail to give Him the recognition and glory He deserves. We separate God from joy, which is like trying to separate heat from fire or wetness from rain.

Heaven, then, is not our default destination. No one goes there automatically. Unless our sin problem is dealt with, the only place we can go is Hell, our true default destination when we die.

Sin and death and suffering and war and poverty are not natural—they are the devastating results of our rebellion against God. We long for a return to Paradise—a perfect world, without the corruption of sin, where God walks with us and talks with us in the cool of the day.