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10 October, 2013

How Will I Know? - Oswald Chambers


Today’s devotion is a very good one. As I was reading it, something Oswald said there could be mistaken easily, so I decided to blog on the subject.

Oswald said: "We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step"

I had a hard time understanding why we do not grow into a spiritual relationship  step by step since we are called to grow spiritually. But, Holiness and a spiritual relationship with God are two doctrines that could stump us when we read such blatant statement like Oswald’s. The reason being those two doctrines cannot be concocted by us no matter how hard we work at becoming holy or to have a spiritual relationship with God. They are infused in us by God’s grace and we either have them or not.

What Oswald is saying here is that we can either be spiritual or not. The best way I can explain the difference between spiritual relationship and spiritual growth are like, a woman is either pregnant or not, but she cannot be a little bit pregnant. Now, throughout the pregnancy the baby keeps growing and even more when he or she is out of the womb.

It does not matter how long you have been a Christian, but your lack of spiritual understanding which you acquire solely through the Holy Spirit, comes from unbelief and the fact that the Holy Spirit is not finding a dwelling through you to work out this life. The Holy Spirit need complete control if He is to infuse this life in us. The more you understand spiritual things, the more the Lordship of the Spirit is accepted by you, hence why He can reveal God’s word to you.

You should read 1 John chapter 1 and 2 and ponder on the word of God there. 1John 1:6 said "If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth". John was talking to Christians, these people were not unbelievers. As Christians we like tossing those big words around like the Christians John was writing to. But you cannot say you have a relationship with God, while you are walking in spiritual darkness. So, how do you know you are walking in darkness? There are many ways I can describe it, but the very first test that we should do is to see how well we understand spiritual truths and I am not referring to your own interpretation of God’s but what you are taught by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual darkness comes from not being obedient to God’s word, and there is unbelief in your heart. It is that simple

Oswald is right, one simple detour we miss out on the whole thing especially if we never recover from our detours. But one simple move to obey, all of the sudden heaven opens up and you realize you are being taught things that you have no idea what to do with.


I am going to keep it short but I will write more about this subject later.




How Will I Know?


We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— “But if we walk in the light,” we are cleansed “from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again.
All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know the truth of God is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. You could read volumes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total, uncompromising obedience would make things as clear as sunlight. Don’t say, “I suppose I will understand these things someday!” You can understand them now. And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the “wise and prudent.” “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . .” (John 7:17)

07 October, 2013

The Righteous Holding on His Way


Just a quick word to apologize to my faithful readers. I have been sick the past few days. In fact I did not even sign up on my computer for a few days now.  I am truly sorry and I am hoping that things will get back to normal soon, by the grace of God.
Keep the faith alive, I love you

Delivered by C. H. Spurgeon


OUTLINEI. Perseverance is necessary
II. Perseverance is difficult
III. Perseverance is guaranteed
IV. Perseverance is guaranteed only to "the righteous"

"The righteous will hold to their ways."
 Job 17:9

We are thrice happy in having a goodly number of young beginners in our midst. Our springtide is cheered and beautified with many blossoms of hopeful converts. They have just begun to go on pilgrimage, and would be as happy as the birds of the air were it not that some of them are grievously afflicted with the fear that they shall not hold out to the end. This is one of their daily torments, that, after all, they shall be false to Christ; that the grace of God will fail them, or that they will fail to depend upon it; that so, having begun well, they shall by-and-by be hindered, and shall not obey the truth.

Now, perhaps a little plain conversation upon that subject may help to relieve them of their fears. Ignorance about divine truth is not bliss, and is not the friend to bliss: "that the soul be without knowledge is not good." The more we know concerning the doctrines of the gospel the better for our comfort, if by faith we are able to receive them. Many and many a doubt and fear now oppressing the people of God might be driven like chaff before the wind, if they were but better established in the truth relating to the points under their consideration. If they did but know more fully what God has revealed they would tremble less at what Satan suggests. It is, therefore, with the view of very simply talking about this matter of holding on the way of the heavenly pilgrimage, that I have taken this text this morning. May God the Holy Spirit bless it to us.

First, we intend to say, this morning, that the believer must hold on his way- it is necessary that he should do so; secondly, it exceedingly difficult for him to do so- the perseverance of the saints is surrounded with enormous perils; yet, thirdly, this perseverance is guaranteed by divine promise; but, fourthly, it is only guaranteed to certain people whose character is described in the text as being "the righteous." These only shall hold on their way.

I. First, then, IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO FINAL SALVATION, THAT WE MUST PERSEVERE. It has been said by some that he who once believes is therefore saved. I shall not deny the truth of that statement; but it is an unguarded mode of speech, and does not place the truth in the most Scriptural form. I would infinitely prefer to assert, that "He who truly believes, shall by grace continue to do so, and therefore shall be saved." For it is not true that, supposing a man did once believe, and then became altogether an unbeliever he should be saved. If that were possible, that the believer should altogether fall from the grace of God, and become in all respects changed into an unbeliever, he would be damned; for on this point the word of God is very clear and decided; read the twenty-fourth verse of the eighteenth chapter of Ezekiel: "But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned- in them shall he die."

If it were possible for one who had entered upon the way of righteousness- truly entered upon it- to turn from it, utterly and totally, the consequences must be his final destruction; for Paul tells us "It is impossible to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Hebrews 6:4-6. This is not the point we raise at all in the discussion of final perseverance. We do not admit the possibility of total apostasy in the case of the real believer in Jesus, but believe that he will hold on his way, and so be saved, but only saved by being enabled to hold on his way.We hold that in order to have ultimate salvation, it is absolutely indispensable that every one who is a believer, should continue to be a believer; that he who is made by grace to be holy, should continue to be holy; that he in whom the divine life is placed, should never lose that divine life. It is the keeping of that life which we believe ultimately ends in perfection and everlasting bliss.

1. The necessity of final perseverance is very clear, if you look at the representations of the believer in the Word of God. He is frequently compared to a traveler. But no traveler reaches his journey’s end merely by starting upon the road. If it should be a journey of seven weeks’ length, if he shall sit down after journeying six weeks, he certainly will not reach the goal of his desires. It is necessary, if I would reach a certain city, that I should go every mile of the road; for one mile would not take me there; nor if the city be a hundred miles distant, would ninety-nine miles bring me to its streets. I must journey all the length if I would reach the desired place.

Frequently, in the New Testament, the Christian is compared to a runner. He runs in a race for a great prize; but it is not by merely starting, it is not by making a great spurt, it is not by distancing your rival for a little time, and then pulling up to take breath, or sauntering to either side of the road, that you will win the race: we must never stop until we have passed the winning-post; there must be no loitering throughout the whole of the Christian career, but onward, like the Roman charioteer, with glowing wheels, we must fly more and more rapidly until we actually obtain the crown.

The Christian is sometimes, by the apostle Paul, who somewhat delights to quote from the ancient games, compared to the Grecian wrestler or boxer. But it is of little avail for the champion to give the foe one blow or one fall: he must continue in the combat until his adversary is beaten. Our spiritual foes will not be vanquished until we enter where the conquerors receive their crowns, and therefore we must continue in the fighting position. It is in vain for us to talk of what we have done or are doing just now. He that continues to the end, the same shall be saved, and none but he.

The believer is commonly compared to a warrior: he is engaged in a great battle, a holy war. Like Joshua, he has to drive out the Canaanites, that have chariots of iron, before be can fully take possession of his inheritance; but it is not the winning of one battle that makes a man a conqueror; no, though he should devastate one province of his enemy’s territories, yet, if he should be driven out by-and-by, he is beaten in the campaign, and it will yield him but small consolation to win a single battle, or even a dozen battles, if the campaign as a whole should end in his defeat. It is not commencing as though the whole world were to be cleared by one display of fire and sword, but continuing, going from strength to strength, from victory to victory, that makes the man the conqueror of his foe.

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The Christian is also culled a disciple or scholar. But who does not know that the boy by going to school for a day or two does not therefore become wise? If the lad should give himself most diligently to his grammar for six months, yet he will never become a linguist unless he shall continue perseveringly in his classic studies. The great mathematicians of our times did not acquire their science in a single year; they pressed forward with aching brow; they burned the midnight oil and tortured their brains; they were not satisfied to rest, for they could never have become masters of their art if they had lingered on the road.

The believer is also called a builder, but you know of whom it was said, "This man began to build, but was not able to finish!" The digging out of the foundation is most important, and the building up of stone upon stone is to be carried on with diligence, but though the man should half finish the walls, or even complete them, yet if he does not roof in the structure, he becomes a laughing-stock to every passer-by. A good beginning, it is said, is more than half, but a good ending is more than the whole. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. In every aspect of the Christian, continuance in faith and well-doing is essential to his salvation. Without a perpetual perseverance his profession is of no value. We will look at one more illustration, and see this most clearly.

Take that simple metaphor of wheat: of what value is the corn in the blade or even in the ear? What man can live upon the green blade or the half- formed ear? The joyous shout of the reaper is only evoked by the full corn in the ear; and you, young believer, you, growing Christian, must press forward and ripen into the perfection of your Christian manhood, for it is only then that the shout of "Hallelujah," and "Glory to God," shall be fully heard. Take the Christian in any way in which God describes him, and he is one in whose ear is whispered the words, "Forward! Onward!" He is not one who can say, "I have attained." In a certain sense it is true he is saved, but as to his ultimate salvation, his perfection before the throne can only be wrought in him by the continual, sustained, and abiding work of the Holy Spirit.

2. But the fact that final perseverance is absolutely necessary is also clear, if you for a moment take into consideration the nature of the case and suppose that the man did not persevere. Imagine a man who started with sincere simple faith in Christ, and with a new heart, and a right spirit; imagine him to have gone back to the world: can you suppose that he will enter heaven?He has deserted good for evil, he has shut his eyes to the light, and gone back to the darkness from which he professed to have escaped. He has, not ignorantly, but knowingly and deliberately, quenched within his soul the spark of heavenly flame. He knew that the road led to hell, and he turned from it, he knew that the other path led to heaven, and he ran in it.

But after a while he tired, he fainted, and he deliberately set his face hell-ward and gave up eternal life, pawning and throwing it away like Esau for a mess of pottage. Do you think it could be said otherwise of him than it was of that selfsame profane Esau, that he found no place for repentance, though he sought, sought it diligently and with tears? For this man, you see, has denied the Lord that bought him. He said he rested on Christ and depended on his precious blood; but he deliberately denies the faith, deliberately returns either to the beggarly elements of his own self- righteousness to rest under the law, or else to plunge again into open sin, and follow the devices of his flesh. What shall be said of this man, but that his last end shall be worse than the first? Enter heaven! how can it be? It is the place of the perfect, and this man, so far from being perfect, does not even press towards it. He has turned aside from perfection, he has given up everything which constituted him a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light; he has, after being illuminated, gone back to the darkness; after being quickened, has gone back to the tomb. What remains for him? Take the case into consideration, and you will see at once the impossibility of a non-persevering professor were entering into heaven.

3. Thirdly, I must strengthen that consideration by reminding you that we have very express declarations in Scripture about professors, and about believers too, if such could be, who do not persevere. Do you not recollect the Savior’s words, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God"? Luke 9:62. Do you not remember that terrible sentence about the salt, "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost it's savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned. It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out"? To the same effect is that fearful warning, "Remember Lot’s wife!" -she came out of the city of destruction, but she looked back, and became a pillar of salt as an everlasting warning to us against so much as the thought and look of apostasy.

Then comes in that warning, where we are told concerning some, that it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; and that word of Paul, "For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs fit for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessing from God: but that which bears thorns and briars is rejected, and is near unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." And that of Peter, in his second epistle, and second chapter: "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."

Supposing a man, then, to have been washed in the blood of Jesus, to be quickened of the Spirit of God- supposing him to have gone back and to have entirely and totally lost all grace, he would be the hopeless man, beyond the reach of mercy, damned while yet living, a living hell even in the midst of this world. O beloved, how necessary then is it that the Christian should persevere and hold on even to the end!

4. I would have you observe the form of many of the promises, and as we have little time this morning, I ask you to read the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation. There are some very choice promises made to the seven churches, but they are all put in this shape, "To him that overcomes will I give," and so on. Not to him that begins the fight; not to him that buckles on his harness; not to him that proclaims war; but "to him that overcomes will I give." The promises are reserved for such; and you know how, in contradistinction to such promises, it is written, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

Brethren, before I leave this subject this morning, there is something which I wish to press upon your minds: it is not very pleasant, but it is needful for us to hear it. Let me remind you of some whom you yourselves have known, who did appear to be among the most gracious and excellent of the earth, who are at this moment so far cast off as to have become entirely forgetful, even of the outward forms of religion, and have gone aside, by fearful sins, we fear, into perdition. That, mark you, has happened in some cases after many years of profession: the vessel has been wrecked at the harbor’s mouth.


The fire of religious excitement burned all day, at least, so they said (we do not search hearts), and it went out at night, just when it was most required, when the chamber, the chill, cold chamber, most needed the genial flame. Doubtless John was right when he said, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us." But what a dreadful thing, not to persevere, and yet to have had the name of a Christian! When a man goes up a ladder, if he shall fall at the first step, that is bad; but if he shall fall when he has nearly reached the top, what a falling is there! God save us from it!

If ever I prayed in my life, I think I did this morning when we were singing those words, "Let us not fall! Let us not fall!" for oh! to fall backward into perdition is the worst way of falling into hell! Christian, it is not with you that you may persevere or not- it is not an optional blessing- you must persevere, or else all you have ever known and felt will be good for nothing to you. You must hold on your way if you are ultimately to be saved

03 October, 2013

Faith – Part 8

Hebrews 6:11-12 “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.  We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”


Our faith in the crucified and ascended Christ has to be demonstrated in the way we live out our Christianity and without putting our faith into practice, well, we have NOTHING. It does not matter how good we feel about what we think we have, because if there is no faith, there is no substance, no God, no heaven and no nothing.  Yet, faith is not something that we conjure up out of the blue. It is not like living out some disjointed notion about God as we go on our merry way doing what feels right. If we take the Israelites in the wilderness for a moment we can vividly see that they never understood what faith meant and they never understood how important it was to apply it in their daily walk either. They were not in the mood to learn and they were too busy thinking about what’s in it for them. In their case, the need to possess the land of Canaan was all they could think of while they rejected the giver.

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I am not saying that about the Israelites because I want to criticize them, it is there in black and white in the Bible for us to see that at any moment in our lives we could be like one of them. In fact, I had someone else’s in mind to give you as an example for this post, until I was caught in the same dilemma up until two days ago. I was lying down in bed while in pain with a cold that does not want to let go and I got to thinking about my life. Would you believe while I was in that frame of mind, all that I could see was how lousy my life is and how God is putting me through unnecessary hoops. All of the sudden I felt like a combination of job when he was lamenting and I also was in a winning mood like the Israelites in the wilderness. I had so much pain within because I felt God could be a little bit more merciful since I passed all the numerous trials He put me through. Then all of the sudden I realized as I was in bed crying because I felt so bad for myself, that my thoughts toward God were not at all flattering.

I stopped myself right there. Yes I was still in pain and I felt the only way I could feel better about myself is if I could bash God and let Him have it. But, I also knew within me, that's going onto a slippery slope extremely dangerous and I am opening a door to Satan that I might not be able to close behind me so easily. So, I grabbed onto all the strength that I could muster to stop and think about God’s word.  Honestly, even though I stopped myself from being bashful and critical about God, but, I was not in the mood to hear those verses about how good and faithful He is. These things are knowledge that I possessed already and they are part of my very fibber that makes me who I am in Him which is a holy child of God living a life of intimacy and love with Him.

When I was living this deplorable moment, I was not LIVING in the Spirit. When we allow ourselves to live in the flesh for a moment, it can be devastating and unlike David who gave in, to the point where he murdered Uriah the Hittite in an effort to cover up his sin we have to take a page from his book and stop when we realize what we are about to do. Don’t give into it, and do not even bother to continue your train of thoughts. In David’s case the minute he kept looking at Bathsheba bathing from his balcony he opened the door for Satan to enter.

It is strange to describe myself as a loving child of God, yet having a mind capable of thinking the worse thoughts about Him. That is because in our nature, there is nothing good in us. I knew I had to leave this mindset behind me and go back to what I knew of His word found in Job chapter 38 and 39. When you look at these two chapters you can summarize it in few words, God basically said to Job those seven words “who the heck you think you are?” Remember how much He bragged about Job and what kind of man he was (Job 1: 8. If you play close attention to this verse you will also see that God directed Satan’s heart onto Job. This shows you that no matter how far we travel with God, we cannot escape Satan in tempting us to get us in the gutter with Him.

As I thought about those words God said to Job in chapters 38 & 39, I was put in my place and learned again that it is not my place to question God’s way. If He feels the needs to put ten thousand obstacles in my path and frustrate every plan that I have, while putting only 10 obstacles in any other Christian’s path instead of thousands like me, then it must be the right thing for His own purpose. Believe me when I tell you that I felt awful toward God afterwards, just for knowing that I can hurt Him in this manner.

The writer of Hebrews tells us we cannot afford to become lazy and we have to show diligence. What do you think that is? Because first of all we are on a journey and God arranged it in a way that we can only live this life of faith as long as we hang onto Him and recognize that apart from Him we can do nothing. He wants us to learn to live a life dependent completely on Him so that we can find the strength and grace needed to continue the journey. What I shared with you above, about my sin is something that could happen to anyone of us, especially when you are living a life of one distress after another and you have no idea when enough is enough for God.

I am able to continue what seems like a God forsaken life, because I learned to live and walk in the Spirit instead of walking after the flesh. I rest the whole weight of my life and situation on Him. I can do that, not because I am gullible or because of some vague idea of faith I muster on my own. I know He is real, I know His promises are true and His word calls for an obedience to trust and obey that equate to faith.  His word says that the just shall live by faith and faith is always tested by God. While there is pain in watching the residue of my life now, I know I cannot shrink back. I keep going because His word expects me to submit to His will for me through any kind of difficulties and however long He chooses the difficulties should last.

I shared my experience with you because I share the good and the bad. Secondly, God showed me something today. Times like the one I experienced two days ago, instead of dealing with my pain, I would have gone to my ungodly friend and take a break from God for a few hours, but this time I did not have the luxury. I also shared because what happened to me and the way I dealt with it to avoid backsliding even for a few days is also an example of what God calls endurance through faith exercised as I made use of my daily portion of grace in Him.

The Christian life is a life where we have to continue believing till the end. John 3:36 did not say He who BEILEVED in past tense. It is rather whoever believes and continues to believe day in day out.


John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

01 October, 2013

Quotes


A.W. Tozer “ God is a being of supreme moral excellence, possessing in infinite perfection all the qualities that constitute holy character. He deserves and invites the unreserved confidence of every moral creature, including man. Any proper relation to Him must be by confidence, that is, by faith. Where there is no faith it is impossible to please God.”

Hebrews 1:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by faith, not by sight.”

A.W. Tozer “Outside of the will of God, there's nothing I want, and in the will of God there's nothing I fear”

Charles Spurgeon “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.”
 
Charles Spurgeon “We must expect great troubles before we shall attain to much faith.”

A.W. Tozer “Faith is simply the bringing of our minds into accord with the truth. It is adjusting our expectations to the promises of God in complete assurance that the God of the whole earth cannot lie… The believing man accepts a promise of God as a fact as solid as a mountain and vastly more enduring. His faith changes nothing except his own personal relation to the word of promise. God’s Word is true whether we believe it or not. Human unbelief cannot alter the character of God.”

Charles Spurgeon “The way in which most men get their faith increased is by great trouble. We do not grow strong in faith in sunshiny days. It is in stormy weather that faith grows stronger.”

Charles Spurgon “Saving faith is an immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, resting upon Him alone, for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of God's grace.”

 A.W. Tozer "It will cost you everything to follow the Lord. And it will cost you even more to be His man for this hour."

Charles Spurgeon “Faith is not an attainment that drops like the gentle dew from heaven; it generally comes in the whirlwind and the storm. Look at the old oaks; how is it that they have become so deeply rooted in the earth? Ask the March winds, and they will tell you. It was not the April shower that did it, or the sweet May sunshine, but the rough wind shaking the tree to and fro, causing its roots to strike deeper and to take a firmer hold. And so must it be with us.”

A.W. Tozer “Hardly anything else reveals so well the fear and uncertainty among men as the length to which they will go to hide their true selves from each other and even from their own eyes.”

Charles Spurgeon  “The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.”
 
A.W. Tozer "God gets leftovers...We tend to give Him that which we don't need instead of giving Him that which we need."

Charles Spurgeon “Neglect of prayer: Live and die without prayer, and you will pray long enough when you get to hell.”

A.W. Tozer  "If we try to obey without faith, we get nowhere. If we try to have faith without obedience, it ends in nothing."

Charles Spurgeon “There is no more blessed way of living, than the life of faith based upon a covenant-keeping God - to know that we have no care, for He cares for us; that we need have no fear, except to fear Him; that we need have no troubles, because we have cast our burdens upon the Lord, and are conscience that He will sustain us.”

A.W. Tozer "What has the church gained if it is popular but there is no conviction, no repentance, no power?" 

Charles Spurgeon “Joy: The greatest joy of a Christian is to give joy to Christ.”

A.W. Tozer "The degree of blessing we enjoy will correspond directly with the completeness of God's victory over us."  

A.W. Tozer “A robust faith requires that we grasp this truth firmly, yet we know how seldom such a thought enters our minds. We habitually stand in our now and look back in faith to see our past filled with God. We look forward and see Him inhabiting our future; but our now is uninhabited except for ourselves. Thus we are guilty of a kind of temporary atheism which leave us alone in the universe, while for a time, God is not.”

Charles Spurgeon “God’s wrath: If there be a man before me who says that the wrath of God is too heavy a punishment for his little sin, I ask him, if the sin be little, why does he not give it up?”

Charles Spurgeon “Worship: All places are places of worship to a Christian. Wherever he is, he ought to be in a worshiping frame of mind”

A.W. Tozer "Many Christians are satisfied with their destination but they neglect the journey." 

A.W. Tozer “What our Lord taught was this: when we obey the words of Jesus, in faith and in love proving that we love Him, He shows Himself to us. There are two subjects acting here–we and He. When we obey His Word we prove that we love Him, and He shows Himself to us. Who is this He that I am talking about? Jesus Christ our Lord. There are, then, two divinely constituted means: faith–the right kind of faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ–and obedience to His Word. Jesus said, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1 KJV). Faith in Jesus Christ, the right kind of faith, the only kind of faith that matters, is irrevocable, total commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ Himself. You cannot go back on it, and if it is total, there is nothing that is not included. Faith in Jesus is not gulping twice and saying, “I accept Jesus.” It is getting into a state where you have totally committed yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is irrevocable commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ.”

A.W. Tozer "Come to the Word with a spirit of longing with devotion and humble expectation. Be determined to know God." 

A.W. Tozer "Prophets never retired, so I'm not retiring except to put on new tires to go a little faster and farther."

Charles Spurgeon “Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened.”

Charles Spurgeon “Holiness: If your religion does not make you holy, it will damn you. It is simply painted pageantry to go to hell in.”

A.W. Tozer 
"Unselfish love does not exploit its object and it does not ask for anything in return." 

A.W. Tozer “To many Christians Christ is little more than and idea, or at best an ideal; He is not a fact. Millions of professed believers talk as if He were real and act as if He were not. And always our actual position is to be discovered by the way we act, not by the way we talk.”

A.W. Tozer
"Christ calls us to carry the Cross; churches call us to have fun in His name."

A.W. Tozer "Let God elevate you above all external [circumstances] so that you can find His heart and worship Him."

A.W. Tozer "When we are enjoying the conscious presence of God, we are fulfilling the tenets of our salvation."

A.W. Tozer  "How utterly terrible is the current idea that Christians can serve God at their own convenience."

A.W. Tozer "True and authentic Christianity is revealed by God; not discovered or conscripted by man."

A.W. Tozer "If all your faith depends upon a pastor’s preaching, then you are a long way from being where God wants you to be."

A.W. Tozer "Too often we are Christians by assumption, manipulation or instruction, rather than Christians by regeneration."  

A.W. Tozer "The inner life must overcome the flesh or the flesh will overcome and destroy the inner life."