Category Archives: Quotes

Holiness ~ J.C. Ryle ~ 1877

Well I’m behind others who are reading Holiness by J.C. Ryle in the blog world but that way I can glean from the book and their reviews and hopefully comprehend the book better. The full text of Ryle’s original work on Holiness is included in J. I. Packer’s book Faithfulness and Holiness. Here’s a quote from the book that I wanted to share from chapter 2 on Sin…

“In the next place, a right view of sin is one of the best antidotes to the overstrained theories of Perfection, of which we hear so much in these times. I shall say but little about this, and in saying it I trust I shall not give offence. If those who press on us perfection mean nothing more than an all-round consistency, and a careful attention to all the graces which make up the Christian character, reason would that we should not only bear with them, but agree with them entirely. By all means let us aim high. But if men really mean to tell us that here in this world a believer can attain to entire freedom from sin, live for years in unbroken and uninterrupted communion with God, and feel for months together not so much as one evil thought, I must honestly say that such an opinion appears to me very unscriptural. – I go even further. I say that the opinion is very dangerous to him that holds it, and very likely to depress, discourage, and keep back inquirers after salvation. I cannot find the slightest warrant in God’s Word for expecting such perfection as this while we are in the body. …Christ alone is without sin; and that all we, the rest, though baptized and born again in Christ, offend in many things;

…we do not love God so much as we are bound to do, with all our hearts, mind, and power; we do not fear God so much as we ought to do; we do not pray to God but with many and great imperfections. We give, forgive, believe, live, and hope imperfectly; we speak, think, and do imperfectly; we fight against the devil, the world, and the flesh imperfectly. Let us, therefore, not be ashamed to confess plainly our state of imperfections.”

James 5:16 ~ “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

I John 1:8-10 ~ “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

I am imperfect and I prove it many times a day but thanks be to God that He keeps leading me forward and He continues His work of sanctification on me.

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Crown of Roses?

 Iris at Sting My Heart has chosen the following quote for “In Other Words Tuesday“.

 “They gave our Master a crown of thorns. Why do we hope for a crown of roses?”
~ Martin Luther ~

 

The New Testament does not paint a rosy picture for the Christian life on this Earth. Instead it assures us that if we follow Christ wholeheartedly we will face trials and persecutions. Because we are identified with Christ we will receive much of the same bad treatment and rejection He received.

II Timothy 3:12 ~  Indeed, all who desire to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

I Peter 4:12 ~ Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

And here’s the one that I’ve been chewing on these last few days…

James 1:2-4 ~ Count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

The trials are inevitable. How will I react?  How should I behave in the midst of these trials? Will I choose joy trusting in Almighty God and His plans and purposes? I hope so. I want to experience steadfastness. I want to rejoice and be glad when Christ’s glory is revealed. I choose to trust that God will teach me in and during my trials to react and behave in a way that let’s steadfastness have its full effect bringing me homeward towards perfection and completeness, lacking nothing. I don’t want a crown of roses now, I want a crown of life when I get to heaven so I can cast it at Jesus’ feet…

To see more thoughts on this quote click on Sting My Heart.

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Praying…

“Praying is no easy matter.  It demands a relationship in which you allow someone other than yourself to enter into the very center of your person, to see there what you would rather leave in darkness, and to touch there what you would rather leave untouched.  Why would you really want to do that?”

~ Henri Nouwen ~

 Praying might not be easy but we can be more confident in our prayers if we are praying according to God’s Word. When I let the Word of God along with the Holy Spirit reveal what He wants me to deal with in my life He equips me to follow through in obedience. If I try to go into my heart without the help of God’s truth and His instruction I might tend to dwell too much on me and not enough on God’s truth and what He can do with the sin in my heart. I’m going to share another quote about prayer in response to the quote above.

This comes from Bonhoeffer’s Life Together ~

“The Scripture meditation leads to prayer. We have already said that the most promising method of prayer is to allow oneself to be guided by the word of the Scriptures, to pray on the basis of the word of Scripture. In this way we shall not become victims of our own emptiness. Prayer means nothing else but the readiness and willingness to receive and appropriate the Word, and, what is more, to accept it in one’s personal situation, particular tasks, decisions, sins, and temptations. What can never enter the corporate prayer of the fellowship may here be silently made known to God. According to a word of Scripture we pray for the clarification of our day, for preservation from sin, for growth in sanctification, for faithfulness and strength in our work. And we may be certain that our prayer will be heard, because it is a response to God’s Word and promise. Because God’s Word has found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, all prayers that we pray conforming to this Word are certainly heard and answered in Jesus Christ.

It is one of the particular difficulties of meditation that our thoughts are likely to wander and go their own way, toward other persons or to some events in our life. Much as this may distress and shame us again and again, we must not lose heart and become anxious, or even conclude that meditation is really not something for us. When this happens it is often a help not to snatch back our thoughts convulsively, but quite calmly to incorporate into our prayer the people and the events to which our thoughts keep straying and thus in all patience return to the starting point of the meditation.”

Boenhoffer’s language might be “dated” for our ears but the truth here is so good to read. I especially appreciate this last paragraph. We can pray about what our minds wander to and then get back to the point of our prayer and the scripture we are meditating on. However hard prayer may be for us we should never abandon it.

There are more In Other Words contributors at Fruit in Season…

ht: Life Together. Copyright 1954 by Harper Collins Publishers.

Labor Day ~ Sept. 3, 2007

Happy Labor Day to You All ~

Hoping you find rest today!

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

“Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country,” said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. “All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

To read more go here.

Good News for all those who labor!

Mathew 11: 28-30 ~

” Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

ht: http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm

James 5: 14-15 ~ I’m Wondering…

I’m not called the Happy Wonderer for nothing. There are lots of things I wonder about. Right now I’m in the midst of my yearly Bible reading (reading each book of the Bible 20x ~ which will take way longer than a year) I’m in the book of James.

James 5:14-15 ~ “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

So my questions are:

Has anyone called their elders when they are sick? Did they come?

Did they annoint you with oil and pray for you?

If you haven’t done this, why not?

Is it a common practice?

What has your experience been with this instruction?

Leave a comment with anything that might help my wondering….

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Thankful Thursday ~ Psalm 100

  Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations.

I am praising and thanking God that I am experiencing His love and care by being with my children and closest friends these two weeks in Washington. I am basking in the goodness of it all! Praise God from whom all blessings flow…

To see more Thankful Thursday Posts head on over to Sting My Heart….

In Other Words Tuesday ~ “The Lord Is My Banner”

“Under the banner of God, victory is always assured; but apart from it, defeat is a certainty.  When the banner of God’s rod was not held high, Amalek prevailed.  You can’t do battle against the flesh under your own power.”

~ Kay Arthur ~author of  LORD, I Want To Know You  Above quote is in reference to Exodus 17:15: “The LORD is my banner”

So in other words…

As believers we all have our “Amaleks” that are waging war with us. Our sin nature daily wants to separate us from the God who has redeemed us. We will wage this battle until we enter into our final rest with Christ. We should not be deceived into being passive and unaware of the fact that we have to turn away, work hard, get rid of things in our lives that keep our eyes off of God. We need to claim who we are in Christ. We need to resist the enemy. We need to battle daily the thoughts and actions that would keep us from the victory that Christ has won for us. We need to see God’s banner before us and follow behind that banner and claim the victory we have been promised in Christ. “Apart from Him we can do nothing.”

So today I wake up and say Thank you God for going before me into this day and defeating the enemy before me. Help me to be obedient to you and give me your victory today in my thoughts, my actions, my hopes and my dreams. May I be aware I am in your army and that you are my King. Thank you for what you have done for me.

I John 5:4-5

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

To read more In Other Words Tuesday posts go to Joy in the Morning…

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Resentment ~ Poison ~ Quote

 The pastor at the church we attended today shared this quote that I wanted to pass along…

Resentment is the poison we swallow while hoping the other person dies…”

Something to dwell on instead,

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”  Ephesians 4: 31-32

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I Sing a Song of the Saints of God ~ L. Scott, 1929

 I Sing a Song of the Saints of God

                  I sing a song of the saints of God
Patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
For the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
And one was a shepherdess on the green,
They were all of them saints of God – and I mean,
God help me to be one too.

They love their Lord so dear, so dear,
And his love made them strong;
And they followed the right, for Jesus’ sake,
The whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
And one was slain by a fierce wild beast:
And there’s not any reason – no, not the least-
Why I shouldn’t be one too.

They live not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still,
The world is bright with joyous saints
Who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea,
for the saints of God are just folk like me,
and I mean to be one too.

L. Scott, 1929

ht: Jan Karon’s ~Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader

ht: Brian Jacques ~The Redwall Cookbook

Holiness ~ Quotes ~ R.C. Sproul and D.A. Carson

Here are a couple of quotes I wanted to share today….

“I am not obsessed with holiness because I am holy. I love the holiness of God because it is my only hope. Without his mercy and holiness there would be no restraint to my wickedness.” R.C. Sproul

This is a quote from my archives that my pastor used in a sermon a while back. I thought it a good one to share also…

From For the Love of God by D.A. Carson;

“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to scripture, faith and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slide toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

I Peter 1:13-16 ~

“Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

I Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”