An unmortified lust will drink up the spirit and all the vigour of the soul, and weaken it for all duties.
– John Owen –
from The Mortification of Sin, 1656
Christian Life
Save Some – Charles Spurgeon
“I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”
1 Corinthians 9:22
What was Paul’s great object in his daily life and ministry? He says it was, to save some. There are ministers of Christ present at this hour, together with City missionaries, Bible-women, Sunday-school teachers, and other workers in my Master’s vineyard, and I make bold to enquire of each one of them,—Is this your object in all your Christian service? Do you above all things aim at saving souls?
– Charles Spurgeon –
from The Soul Winner
Demonstrate Love in the Small Things – George MacDonald
The things most readily to be done – those that lie not at the doorstep but on the very table of a man’s mind – are often the most neglected and overlooked. Can a man become strong in righteousness without learning to perform ordinary acts of kindness for his neighbor? Will a man climb the last flight of the stair when he has never set foot on the lowest step? Could it be that the Lord, who demands high virtue of us, tests us first in little tasks before he entrusts to us bigger ones?
He who demonstrates love in the small things demonstrates love in all things. He who will do it only in great things, who neglects “small acts” and tasks, does not truly understand the nature of God’s love.
– George MacDonald –
from The Best of George MacDonald
Shaped By Prayer – EM Bounds
Everywhere in His Word, God’s actions and attitude are shaped by prayer. To quote all the scriptural passages that prove the immediate, direct, and personal relation of prayer to God would be to transfer whole pages of the Scripture to this study.
– EM Bounds –
The Daily Business of a Christian – Martin Luther
As a shoe maker makes a shoe, or a tailor makes a coat, so ought a Christian to pray. Prayer is the daily business of a Christian.
– Martin Luther –
Our Need for Jesus Everyday – Robert Murray McCheyne
You need the blood of Jesus as much now as at first. You never can stand before God in yourself. You must go again and again to be washed. Even on your dying bed, you must hide under Jehovah, our righteousness. You must also lean on Jesus. He alone can overcome the sin in you. Draw nearer and nearer to Him every day.
– Robert Murray McCheyne –
from The Best of Robert Murray McCheyne
Guard Against Flattery – JC Ryle
It becomes all professing Christians to be much on their guard against flattery. We mistake greatly if we suppose that persecution and hard usage are the only weapons in Satan’s armory. That crafty foe has other engines for doing us mischief, which he knows well who to work. He knows how to poison souls by the world’s seductive kindness, when he cannot frighten them by the fiery dart and the sword. Let us not be ignorant of his devices. By peace he destroys many.
– JC Ryle –
from Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, 1856
Joined to Christ by Living Faith – JC Ryle
It will not profit us to read about Christ, if we are not joined to Him by living faith. Once more then let us test our religion be this question: “What think we of Christ?”
– JC Ryle –
from Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Christianity in Practical Working Order – Oswald Chambers
How as God loved me? God has loved me to the end of all my sinfulness, the end of all my self-will, all my selfishness, all my stiffneckedness, all my pride, all my self-interest; now He says – “love one another, as I have loved you.” I am to show to my fellow-men the same love that God showed to me. That is Christianity in practical working order.
– Oswald Chambers –