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
