Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. G.K. Chesterton.
Archive for the 'Quotes' Category
Psalms are a wonderful place to get your soul into a “happy state.” This summer, I have been memorizing Psalm 65. The Psalm shows us how we can experience joy when we meditate on how both the power of God and the goodness of God are seen in His creation.
George Mueller was a 19th century pastor who had a great passion for orphans. You can read more about George Mueller on the Desiring God site.
Below is one of his most famous quotes in which he describes the first priority of his daily routine.
I saw more clearly than ever, that the first and great primary business to which I ought to attend every day, was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might sere the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished . . . I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it. George Mueller of Bristol
Wendell Berry:
The difference between rights granted by a government and rights given by “our Creator” is critical, for it is the difference between rights that are absolute and rights that are contingent upon the whim of those in power.
Charles Dickens’ description of France in A Tale of Two Cities might be easily adapted to the 21st century U.S.A.
Dickens:
France, less favored on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness downhill, making paper money and spending it.
Dave Harvey:
Let’s face it: some of our worst moments are how we respond when people don’t give us what we think we deserve.
As I previously posted, there are times when we’re so right that we’re wrong.
I was recently blessed to read Dave Harvey’s Rescuing Ambition and I highly recommend it.
God of our fathers, known of old–
Lord of our far-flung battle line–
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine–
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies–
The Captains and the Kings depart–
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!
Far-called our navies melt away–
On dune and headland sinks the fire–
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe–
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law–
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget–lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard–
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.
My son, Ben, is 13 today. Here is a poem my mother read to me that I hope he will learn. As a pastor, I have thought often of the line, “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, yet make allowance for their doubting too.”
If by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!
Samuel Johnson:
It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not trust.
Alexander Pope:
Teach me to feel another’s woe, to hide the fault I see, that mercy I show to others, that mercy show to me.
Do you need to go to work unpacking forgiveness? Here for the thoughts of others about Unpacking.
If you’re depressed, sin may be part of the reason. (But, sin is not the only reason – — see also Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure
John Owen:
Sin darkens the soul. It is a cloud, a thick cloud, that spreads itself over the face of the soul, and intercepts all the beams of God’s love and favour. It takes away all sense of the privilege of our adoption; and if the soul begins to gather up thoughts of consolation, sin quickly scatters them.
So, what do you do? The title of Owen’s work helps us in the right direction. We are to mortify or put to death sin. (See What Should You Beat To Death with a Shovel in 2010).
John Owen:
But now let the heart be cleansed by mortification, and the weeds of lust constantly and daily rooted up (as they spring daily, nature being their proper soil), there will be room for grace to thrive and flourish, the graces that God gives will act their part, and be ready for every use and purpose!.
But, we need to know how to kill sin. We can’t do it in our own strength, but only by the power of the Spirit.
For more, I recommend the abridged version of John Owen’s, The Mortification of Sin.
