Sometimes people talk about how they are “struggling with” certain things, or “working through” them, when what they really mean is that they are delaying obedience. “I have a problem with this,” they say, or, “I don’t feel comfortable with that yet,” meaning, “Who me? Disobedient?” . . . Obedience will very likely earn you nasty labels nowadays. There’s nothing new about that. Obedience has never been the route to popularity. The question is simply, who is your master?
– Elisabeth Elliot –
God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life, that I may burn for Thee.
– Jim Elliot –
All my devotion is an insult to God unless every bit of my practical life squares with Jesus Christ’s demands.
– Oswald Chambers –
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)
When He was crucified He “did that in the wild weather of His outlying provinces which He had done at home in glory and gladness.” From before the foundation of the world, He surrenders begotten Deity back to begetting Deity in obedience.
– CS Lewis –
from The Problem of Pain
Men and women who hear the Gospel regularly, I often fear much for you. I fear lest you become so familiar with the sounds of its doctrines, that insensibly you become dead to its power. I fear lest your religion should sink down into a little vague talk about your own weakness and corruption, and a few sentimental expressions about Christ, while real practical fighting on Christ’s side is altogether neglected. Oh, beware of this state of mind! Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. No victory—no crown! Fight and overcome!
– J.C. Ryle –
from The Great Battle
Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God, we do not see ourselves — blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One.
– A.W. Tozer –
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 –
Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late – and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.
– AW Tozer –