12 Quotes that Touches the Heart

Greetings All,

Today's "thoughts" are a little different than most weeks.  Today, as I was glancing through my Bible, my eye focused on some of the quotes I had written into the side columns and empty page spaces over the last 30 years or so. They are thoughts that obviously touched my heart in some way or I would not have taken the time to pen them into those spaces. Thus I offer you 12 of the many I have written there. I do not know what books some of these came from, but in the cases where I do, I give the reference.  I trust one or two may touch your heart as well.  In fact, if one happens to do so, just out of curiosity, let me know!  Enjoy.

     "God, of your goodness give me yourself, for you are enough for me. If I ask anything less, I know I shall continue to want. Only in you, I have everything." 

Lady Julian of Norwich

     "Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all." 

Isaac Watts, Celebration Hymnal

     "A loud cry in the ears of God is that burning love of the soul that cries out: "My God and my love, You are all mine, and I am all Yours." Deepen your love in me, O Lord. Let your love possess me and raise me above myself with a fervor and wonder beyond imagination.  Let me sing the song of love. Let my soul spend itself in your praise, rejoicing in your love."

Thomas A'Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

"Oh, Lord!  If I worship you from fear of hell, burn me in hell; 

and if I worship you form hope of paradise, exclude me from it.

But if I worship you for your own sake -- 

then withhold not from me your eternal beauty." 

Anonymous

     "There was once in man [before the Fall] a true happiness, of which there now remains to him only an empty trace which he vainly tries to fill with things from his environment. Yet all these efforts are inadequate, for the infinite abyss can only be filled with an infinite and immutable object, that is, by God Himself."

Blaise Pascal, Pensees

     "The saint has spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of God upon the soul. In these things the redeemed have communion with God; that is, they partake with Him and of Him." 

Jonathan Edwards,  On Knowing God

     "We must return to New Testament Christianity, not in creed only, but in complete manner of life as well.  Holiness, obedience, humility, simplicity, earnestness, self-control, modesty and cross-bearing must again be made a living part of the total Christian concept and be carried out in everyday conduct. We must cleanse the temple of hucksters and moneychangers and come fully under the authority of our risen Lord once again."

A. W. Tozer

     "Prayer for revival will prevail when it is accompanied by a radical amendment of life and not before. All night prayer meetings that are not preceded by practical repentance may actually be displeasing to God -- to obey is better than sacrifice [I Samuel 15:22]...  God is not interested in increased church attendance unless those who attend amend their ways and begin to live a holy life [Isaiah 1:10-20]."

A. W. Tozer

     "As grace is at first from God, so it is continually from Him and is maintained by Him... Men are dependent on the power of God for every exercise of grace, for carrying on that work in the heart, for subduing sin and corruption, for increasing holy principles, and enabling us to bring forth fruit in every good work."

Jonathan Edwards, from the sermon, "God Glorified in Man's Dependence." 

     "Can one be spiritually content apart from the continual experience of the divine presence? Can one be a true Pilgrim without a passionate yearning for the Divine Reality?" 

Anonymous

     "Strength and struggle go together. The supreme reward of struggle is strength. Life is a battle and the greatest joy is to overcome. The pursuit of easy things makes men weak. It is in following the path of least resistance that makes both rivers and men crooked."

Ralphe Parlette 

     "A leader is a person who, on a large scale, is able to rise above their own fears and anxieties and so succeed in changing the world. They can work for years at their purposes, but they also have to have something absolutely mold their vision. What is not before their eyes must be more real to them than what is. When people have a vision of what they want to do and are willing to accept torture, danger, difficulty, anxiety, instability, insecurity and even death, then they are leaders. And if they are successful, then that certifies it." 

Norman Mailer, TV Interview  (Mailer originally used the word "hero" in place of "leader.")

In the Service of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

Finish Strong

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thought' comes to you from a book entitled, "Finish Strong" by Dan Green.
     It is a book of true stories about people who have overcome immense obstacles, through faith, and have "finished strong."  I found this entry particularly inspiring. I offer it to you with the hope that it might inspire you in the same way.  Enjoy.

A Spirit Forged in Steel

     "On June 23, 1940, Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born prematurely, weighing only four and a half pounds. Wilma was the twentieth of Ed and Blanche Rudolph's twenty-two children. The Rudolph's were African Americans living in a time of segregation. Since the local hospital was for whites only, and since the Rudolph's had little money, Mrs. Rudolph was forced to care for Wilma herself. The early years were rough. Wilma's mother nursed her through one illness after another -- measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox, and double pneumonia.

     A few years after Wilma's birth, her parents discovered that her left leg and foot were not developing normally and, consequently, were becoming deformed. Doctors told Blanche that Wilma had polio, and that she would have to wear steel braces on her legs. Refusing to accept this diagnosis, Mrs. Rudolph set out to find a cure. She discovered that Wilma could receive treatment at Meharry Hospital in Nashville.

     The Rudolphs also relied on their faith in God, the Great Physician. When young Wilma would ask if she would ever walk, her parents pointed her to her good God: "Honey, you only have to believe. You have to trust in God because with God all things are possible" (Luke 1:37).

     For the next two years, Mrs. Rudolph drove Wilma fifty miles each way to physical therapy appointments. Eventually, the hospital staff taught Mrs. Rudolph how to do the exercises at home. Everyone in the family worked with Wilma, providing her with encouragement to be strong and get better. Thanks to the patience, support, effort, and the love she received from her family, at the age of twelve Wilma could walk normally without the assistance of crutches, braces, or corrective shoes.

     Having spent a great deal of her life limited by illnesses, Wilma felt a freedom she had never felt before. It was then that Wilma decided to become an athlete. She chose to pursue basketball first, just as her older sister had. For three years she rode the bench, not playing in a single game.  But Wilma's spirit had been forged of steel, and she continued to practice hard, refusing to give up. In her sophomore year she became the starting guard for the team and subsequently led the team to a state championship.

     But Wilma's first love was running. At the age of sixteen (barely four years free of braces) Wilma participated in track at the 1956 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay. However, it was at the state basketball tournament that she was first spotted by Ed Temple, the coach for the women's track team at Tennessee State University. Ed recruited Wilma on a track scholarship and changed the course of her athletic pursuits.

     Wilma's most famous athletic accomplishments happened during the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. The little girl who could hardly walk without the assistance of crutches or braces had completely overcome her physical limitations. At the age of 20, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics. (The 100 meter dash in 11.0 seconds, the 200 meter dash in 24.0 seconds, and the 4 x 100 Relay in 44.5 seconds.)"

     Sometimes it helps us in our own struggles to hear the stories of people who had to endure great hardships and overcome great obstacles, by faith, and with the inner strength and determination God provides. Many times we become too quickly discouraged. We give up too easily. We don't persevere and fight on until victory comes.

     A high school student in Honduras once said the following quotes inspired him. I do not know his name, but I'm sure he has pressed on! The first, by Don Juan, states: "The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while the ordinary man takes everything as either a blessing or a curse."

     The second, by Ralph Parlette, says: "Strength and struggle go together. The supreme reward of struggle is strength. Life is a battle and the greatest joy is to overcome. The pursuit of easy things make men weak. It is following the lines of least resistance that makes rivers and men crooked."

     In the Christian life it's not about pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. It's about looking in faith to 'God our Helper' (Psalm 118:7) for that which is necessary to overcome the many obstacles in life.  Sometimes He graciously does miraculous things for us.  But more often what He gives us is increased strength and resolve and determination to press on. After all, were He to do everything for us all the time, He would do us a great disservice by robbing us of the life lessons learned through perseverance, struggle and hardships overcome.

Blessings upon your day, Pastor Jeff