Abiding

March 15, 2012

The Holy Spirit is the immediate source of all holiness. The missionary must above all things be a holy man. The ideal teacher … is a holy man. He is entirely sincere, and perfect in love. He is magnanimous, generous, benign, and full of forbearance. He is pure in heart, free from selfishness, and never swerves from the path of duty in his conduct. He is deep and active like a fountain, sending forth his virtues in due season. He is seen, and men revere him; he speaks, and men believe him; he acts, and men are gladdened by him. He possesses all heavenly virtues.  He is one with Heaven.

– Griffith John –

March 14, 2012

Self-sourcing asks, “How can I use you?” Spirit-sourcing asks, “How can I minister to you?” Self-sourcing sees inconvenience. Spirit-sourcing sees opportunities. Self-sourcing protects and guards. Spirit-sourcing flows and gives. Self sourcing is demanding; Spirit-sourcing is giving. I become the answer to the needs of your life, because He is the answer to the needs of my life.

– Stephen Manley –
from Eating at the Cross (Acts 2.42)

March 4, 2012

Jesus Christ does not want to be our helper; He wants to be our life. He does not want us to work for Him; He wants us to let Him do His work through us, using us as we use a pencil to write with – better still, using us as one of the fingers on His hand.

– Charles Trumbull –

February 29, 2012

Everything in the life or religion of man that has not the Spirit of God for its source, direction, and end is but earthly, sensual, or devilish.

– William Law –
from Power of the Spirit

February 22, 2012

It is the Holy Ghost in us that is everything, and the Father is willing to bestow Him upon the weakest if he will only ask in the spirit of implicit faith and entire self-surrender. My cry these days is for a Pentecost, first on myself and my missionary brethren, and then on the native Church, and then on the heathen at large.

– Griffith John –

February 20, 2012

True Christianity is nothing but the continual dependence upon God through Christ for all life, light, and virtue; and the false religion of satan is to seek that goodness from any other source.

– William Law –
from Power of the Spirit

February 19, 2012

The heart of man is narrow, and cannot contain both loves.  The world draws down the heart from God; and so the more the love of the world prevails the more the love of God dwindles and decays… The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.

– Matthew Henry –

February 17, 2012

By the time the average Christian gets his temperature up to normal, everybody thinks he has a FEVER!

– Watchman Nee –

February 16, 2012

Prayer is self-discipline. The effort to realize the presence and power of God stretches the sinews of the soul and hardens its muscles. To pray is to grow in grace. To tarry in the presence of the King leads to new loyalty and devotion on the part of the faithful subjects. Christian character grows in the secret-place of prayer.

– Samuel M. Zwemer –