Zivecu Tada Quotes

God deliberately chooses weak, suffering and unlikely candidates to get His work done, so that in the end, the glory goes to God and not to the person. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

No other religion, no other, promises new bodies, hearts, and minds. Only in the gospel of Christ do hurting people find such incredible hope. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

If churches around the world would grasp the revolutionary truth that Christ's transforming power always comes through sacrifice and weakness, it would dramatically alter the landscape of the global church. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

into art or music, how about that exhilarating moment when, during the 1982 Winter Olympics, the U.S. hockey team pulverized the Russians? Whether in front of the television, in the stands, or on the ice, we all became "one" in the euphoria of victory. My strong, he-man father once told me about a time he was standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking Yellowstone Falls - with tears in his eyes, he described how he became one with the deafening roar of the water. If you have experienced any of this, it's an inkling of the joy that will overtake us when we take just one glance at the Lord of joy. We will lose ourselves in Him. We will become one with Him. We will be "in Christ," we will have "put on Christ" at the deepest, most profound and exhilarating level. The Lord's wedding gift to us will be the joy of sharing totally in His nature without us losing our identity; no, we shall receive our identity. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Life becomes inspiring, not in spite of the problems and the hard hits, but because of them. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Like art, like music, like so many other disciplines, prayer can only be appreciated when you actually spend time in it. Spending time with the Master will elevate your thinking. The more you pray, the more will be revealed. You will appreciate not only the greatness of prayer, but the greatness of God. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

God points to the peaceful attitude of suffering people to teach others about Himself. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Cancer is such a wake-up call to remind us how high the cosmic stakes really are and how short and brief and frail life really is. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Someone once said that the challenge of living is to develop a long obedience in the same direction. When it's demanded, we can rise on occasion and be patient . . . as long as there are limits. But we balk when patience is required over a long haul. We don't much like endurance. It's painful to persevere through a marriage that's forever struggling. A church that never crest 100 members. Housekeeping routines that never vary from week-to-week. Even caring for an elderly parent or a handicapped child can feel like a long obedience in the same direction.

If only we could open our spiritual eyes to see the fields of grain we're planting, growing, and reaping along the way. That's what happens when we endure...

Right now you may be in the middle of a long stretch of the same old routine.... You don't hear any cheers or applause. The days run together―and so do the weeks. Your commitment to keep putting one foot in front of the other is starting to falter.

Take a moment and look at the fruit. Perseverance. Determination. Fortitude. Patience.

Your life is not a boring stretch of highway. It's a straight line to heaven. And just look at the fields ripening along the way. Look at the tenacity and endurance. Look at the grains of righteousness. You'll have quite a crop at harvest . . . so don't give up! ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn't surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character ... Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy-utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous ... Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

What an encouragement to realize that God has reserved you and me for a special task in His great work. In His hands we're not only useful, but priceless. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

God always seems bigger to those who need him most. And suffering is the tool he uses to help us need him more. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Oh, my goodness, when you're a mother and you just give birth to a child with spina bifida and - or Down's Syndrome or cerebral palsy, there's a bit of a shock you're going to have to go through, a bit of an adjustment curve. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God's strength in you. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Remember, Christ willed to be born poor, and He chose disciples who were living, for the most part, in poverty. Christ made Himself a servant of poor people. And He reminds us that whatever we do to help the least of the brethren--those most poor--we are personally ministering to Him. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

My life goal is to see the world's one billion people with disabilities embraced and encouraged by the church. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

I want to stay in the habit of 'glancing' at my problems and 'gazing' at my Lord. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

If you had never known physical pain in your life, how could you appreciate the nail scarred hands with which Jesus Christ will meet you? ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

My weakness, that is, my quadriplegia, is my greatest asset because it forces me into the arms of Christ every single morning when I get up. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

The more righteous God appeared, the more resentful I became. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

I have an interesting perspective on depending on others. I think it gives people a chance to serve. And I'm not so much big on independence, as I am on interdependence. I'm not talking about co-dependency, I'm talking about giving people the opportunity to practicing love with its sleeves rolled up. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

How can we bless at one moment and curse at another? ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

The weaker I am, the harder I must lean on God's grace; the harder I lean on him, the stronger I discover him to be, and the bolder my testimony to his grace. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

You better be very convinced, very sure, before you pull your plug or someone else's plug, that you know what's on the other side of the gravestone. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Nothing will convince and convict those around us like the peaceful and positive way you and I respond to our twentieth century hurts and distress. The unbelieving world-your neighbors, the guy at the gas station, the postman, the lady at the cleaners, your boss at work-is observing the way we undergo our trials. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

I guess I'm a hopeless case. No matter how much I try, his existence won't budge out of my mind. The only thing left for me to do is to focus on becoming a career woman, stay single for the rest of my life and go to my grave clutching a photo of his in my hand. ~ Kaoru Tada

Yes, I pray that my pain might be removed, that it might cease; but more so, I pray for the strength to bear it, the grace to benefit from it, and the devotion to offer it up to God as a sacrifice of praise. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

What a way to learn great theology! That's what comes to mind whenever I sing one of those old hymns. "And Can It Be" is like putting the doctrine of salvation to music. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a melodic lesson in grace. No wonder good hymns make for strong faith! ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

When asked about her involvements, Joni most often refers to her work at JAF Ministries, including Wheels for the World - a program through which used wheelchairs are collected, refurbished, and hand-delivered, along with Bibles, to needy disabled people in developing nations. Chuck Colson has stated, "My friend Joni Eareckson Tada is one of God's choice servants of today." Philip Yancey has added, "Through her public example, Joni has done more to straighten out warped views of suffering than all the theologians put together. Her life is a triumph of healing - a healing of the spirit, the most difficult kind." You can read more about this remarkable woman in the twentieth-anniversary edition of her autobiography, titled Joni, published by Zondervan. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

When we say yes to the grace of God, we are learning how to die. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

I'd rather be in this wheelchair knowing God than on my feet without him. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Heartache forces us to embrace God out of desparate, urgent need. God is never closer than when your heart is aching. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

I wished God were like He used to be, a few notches lower. I wanted Him to be lofty enough to help me but not so uncontrollable. I longed for His warm presence, times when He seemed more ... safe. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Suffering provides the gym equipment on which my faith can be exercised. ~ Joni Eareckson Tada