For fellow participants, what I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see is for people to share quotes from what they're reading. I'd love for you to share quotes occasionally with your readers and let me know about it. If you don't have a blog, you could always leave quotes in the comments here.
I would cease to preach, if I believed that God, in the matter of salvation, required anything whatever of man which he himself had not also engaged to furnish. ~ Charles Spurgeon, "Salvation is Of the Lord"
So broad are your wants, so deep are your necessities, that until you are in heaven you will always find room for prayer. Dost thou need nothing? Then I fear thou dost not know thyself. Hast thou no mercy to ask of God? Then I fear thou hast never had mercies of him, and art yet “in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of inquity.” If thou be a child of God, thy wants will be as numerous as thy moments and thou wilt need to have as many prayers as there are hours. ~ Charles Spurgeon, "Prayer The Forerunner of Mercy"
“We have long been attempting to reform the nation by moral preaching. With what effect! None. On the contrary, we have dexterously preached the people into downright infidelity. We must change our voice; we must preach Christ and him crucified; nothing but the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” ~ Bishop Lavington
Dear God, I cannot love Thee the way I want to. You are the slim crescent of a moon that I see and my self is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon . . . what I am afraid of, dear God, is that my self shadow will grow so large that it blocks the whole moon, and that I will judge myself by the shadow that is nothing. I do not know You God because I am in the way. ~ Flannery O'Connor
Look at Christ, who was captured and offered for you. He is infinitely greater than and superior to anything else in creation. How will you respond when you hear that such a priceless ransom was offered for you? Do you still want to bring God your own good works? What is that compared to Christ’s work? He shed his most precious blood for your sins. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, May 1
All Christians should know they won’t be spared from suffering. But it should be the kind of suffering that is worthy of its name. It should really hurt us and weigh us down, such as a serious threat to our possessions, bodies, or lives. We should really feel it, for it wouldn’t be suffering if it didn’t hurt. Moreover, we shouldn’t choose our own suffering, as some people do. It should be the kind of suffering the devil or the world sends our way. We would want to be spared of it, if at all possible. Then we need to hold on tight and reconcile ourselves to this suffering. I have said before, we have to suffer so that we will become more and more like Christ. It cannot be any different. Everyone will face Christ’s cross and suffering. If you know this, then the suffering is easier and more bearable for you. You can comfort yourself by saying, “Well now, if I want to be a Christian, I must wear the colors of the team. Our dear Christ doesn’t give out any other clothing for his side. I must endure this suffering.” People who insist on choosing their own cross cannot do this. They become upset and fight against it. What commendable behavior that is! Yet they criticize the way we teach about suffering as if they were the only ones who could teach how to handle it. Nevertheless, we still teach that none of us should choose our own suffering. But when the cross comes, we should patiently endure it and carry it. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, May 12
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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