Ordained

Every common day, he who would be a live child of the living God has to fight the God-denying look of things, to believe that in spite of their look, they are God’s and God is in them, and working His saving will in them. George MacDonald, Castle Warlock
Free download:  http://www.archive.org/details/castlewarlock00macdgoog

In Isaiah, God addresses Cyrus King of Persia, telling him that, though he does not acknowledge God, God will use him to do His bidding.

Isaiah 44:28 (NIV)
who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd
and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’

Isaiah 45:1-4 (NIV)
“This is what the LORD says to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
to subdue nations before him
and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
so that gates will not be shut:
I will go before you
and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
I will give you hidden treasures,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
For the sake of Jacob my servant,
of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
and bestow on you a title of honor,
though you do not acknowledge me.

Humility

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=u8WmAoM8kPs&NR=1

"Humility consists of seeing things as they are."
Charles Williams, quoting from the anonymous classic, The Cloud of Unknowing
Free download: http://www.archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing010851mbp

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." Helen Keller
biography: http://www.afb.org/section.asp?SectionID=1&TopicID=129

Colossians 3: 23-24
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Portentous

“I never had been by any means a book-worm; but the very outside of a book had a charm to me. It was a kind of sacrament—an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace—as, indeed, what on God’s earth is not?"

“But there ought to be a place for any story, which, although founded in the marvelous, is true to human nature and to itself. Truth to Humanity, and harmony within itself, are almost the sole unvarying essentials of a work of art."
George MacDonald, excerpts from the introduction to The Portent
Free download:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8913
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8913/pg8913.html

Hebrews 11:1, 2 (NIV)
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.