Quotation Saturday

Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

FRIENDSHIP

If I take offence easily; if I am content to continue in cold unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

~ Amy Carmichael

The good man has his enemies. He would not be like his Lord if he had not. If we were without enemies we might fear that we were not the friends of God, for the friendship of the world is enmity to God.

 ~ Charles Spurgeon

Ah, I have kept Him waiting when I ought not, but He has waited even then. Always waiting – so patient with my foolishness, my weakness, my fear. Our fellowship is with God, and fellowship is friendship, and friendship means that partnership which, on His part, is the accommodating of His strength to my weakness.

~ G. Campbell Morgan

It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship.

~  Henry Ward Beecher

The true, the genuine worship is when man, through his spirit, attains to friendship and intimacy with God. True and genuine worship is not to come to a certain place; it is not to go through a certain ritual or liturgy; it is not even to bring certain gifts. True worship is when the spirit, the immortal and invisible part of man, speaks to and meets with God, who is immortal and invisible.

~ William Barclay

God has played an important part of change in me and just when I think I’m changed enough for me, He says, ‘Not me, you need more.’ And then He goes about changing me further. Praise God!

CHANGE

He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of basic Christianity will change the face of the world.

~ Benjamin Franklin

What you need to do, is to put your will over completely into the hands of your Lord, surrendering to Him the entire control of it. Say, “Yes, Lord, YES!” to everything, and trust Him to work in you to will, as to bring your whole wishes and affections into conformity with His own sweet, and lovable, and most lovely will. It is wonderful what miracles God works in wills that are utterly surrendered to Him. He turns hard things into easy, and bitter things into sweet. It is not that He puts easy things in the place of the hard, but He actually changes the hard thing into an easy one. 

~ Hannah Whitall Smith

Nothing paralyzes our lives like the attitude that things can never change. We need to remind ourselves that God can change things. Outlook determines outcome. If we see only the problems, we will be defeated; but if we see the possibilities in the problems, we can have victory. 

~ Warren Wiersbe

Many times we are content with sitting on the sidelines, always hearing about other’s lives being changed in huge ways and God being so important in their life. We go to church and hear people talk about what God has been doing in their life. We go to events and conferences that we hope will microwave our Christian maturity to well done. We read books on how other’s lives were changed. And that is good enough for us, but deep down inside, we wish we could have that happen in our own life. So we make promises to try harder. We recommit our lives to Jesus. We might begin having devotions more often. But, after a while, the desire dies off and the excitement has turned into duty and we give up. Obedience makes the difference in a life that is sold out for God. It is seeing what God does with our attitude of following what He has in the Bible that brings about change in our hearts and a Christian walk that is on fire. 

~ Zach Conrad

“In the midst of change, God calls me to change more.”

~ Joni

God never said the road to Him was a simple and easy road, just read and believe. He did make it clear that the road was a long and hard one but He’d always be there to guide you.

GODLY

“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.” 

~ A.W. Tozer

“When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less.” 

~C.S. Lewis

“I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God; first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.” 

~ Hudson Taylor

Christians are like the several flowers in a garden that have each of them the dew of Heaven, which, being shaken with the wind, they let fall at each other’s roots, whereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of each other. 

~ John Bunyan

Peace in the Lord washes over me like a fine misty waterfall. I’m surrounded, I’m  bathed, I’m cleansed.

PEACE

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. 

~ C.S. Lewis

The foundation of the Christian’s peace is everlasting; it is what no time, no change can destroy. It will remain when the body dies; it will remain when the mountains depart and the hills shall be removed, and when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. The fountain of His comfort shall never be diminished, and the stream shall never be dried. His comfort and joy is a living spring in the soul, a well of water springing up to everlasting life. 

~ Jonathan Edwards

Resign every forbidden joy; restrain every wish that is not referred to God’s will; banish all eager desires, all anxiety; desire only the will of God; seek him alone and supremely, and you will find peace. 

~ Francois Fenelon

In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms,” (Deuteronomy 33:27) full of support, provision, comfort and strength. 

~ Oswald Chambers