Quotations for November, 2023
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Feast of All Saints
We are apt to overlook the hand and heart of God in our afflictions, and to consider them as mere accidents, and unavoidable evils. This view makes them absolute and positive evils, which admit of no remedy or relief. If we view our troubles and trials aside from the divine design and agency in them, we cannot be comforted.
... Nathanael Emmons (1745-1840)
(see the book; see also Lam. 3:37-38; Ex. 19:5-6; 1 Sam. 2:6-8; Isa. 51:12-13; Jer. 23:24; Amos 4:6-10; 1 Cor. 10:26; more at Affliction, Comfort, Evil, Trial, Weakness, Will of God)
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Feast of All Souls
There is not anything I know [which] hath done more mischief to Christianity, as the disparagement of Reason, under pretence of respect and favour to Religion; since hereby the very Foundations of Christian Faith have been undermined, and the World prepared for Atheism. For if Reason must not be heard, the Being of a GOD, and the Authority of Scripture, can neither be proved nor defended; and so our Faith drops to the ground like a house that hath no foundation.
... Joseph Glanvill (1636-1680), Philosophia Pia, London: James Collins, 1671, p. 147-148 
(see the book; see also Acts 18:4; Ps. 46:1-3; 62:2; Pr. 3:5; Isa. 1:18; Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49; Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 1:25; 1 Pet. 3:15; more at Apologetics, Atheism, Faith, Reason, Religion, Scripture)
Friday, November 3, 2023
Feast of Richard Hooker, Priest, Anglican Apologist, Teacher, 1600
Commemoration of Martin of Porres, Dominican Friar, 1639
It is nature which teacheth a wise man in fear to hide himself, but grace and faith doth teach him where... Where should the frighted child hide his head, but in the bosom of his loving Father? Where a Christian, but under the shadow of the wings of Christ his Saviour.
... Richard Hooker (1554?-1600), The Works of that Learned and Judicious Divine, Mr. Richard Hooker, Oxford: University Press, 1841, p. 526
(see the book; see also Ps. 91:1-2; 46:1; 62:7-8; Pr. 14:26; 18:10; Isa. 26:20; Matt. 23:37-39; Luke 13:34-35; Heb. 6:18; more at Child, Christ, Faith, Father, Grace, Love, Nature, Savior, Wisdom)
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Devotion signifies a life given, or devoted, to God.He therefore is the devout man, who lives no longer to his own will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will of God, who considers God in everything, who serves God in everything, who makes all the parts of his common life, parts of piety, by doing everything in the name of God, and under such rules as are conformable to His glory.
... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 1-2
(see the book; see also Matt. 22:36-40; Deut. 6:5; 10:12-13; Mark 12:30; John 15:19; Rom. 12:2; 1 Thess. 5:15-23; 1 Pet. 4:1-2; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 John 2:15-17; more at Devotion, Glory, God, Life, Obedience, Service, Will of God)
Sunday, November 5, 2023
I suddenly saw that all the time it was not I who had been seeking God, but God who had been seeking me. I had made myself the centre of my own existence and had my back turned to God. All the beauty and truth which I had discovered had come to me as a reflection of his beauty, but I had kept my eyes fixed on the reflection and was always looking at myself. But God had brought me to the point at which I was compelled to turn away from the reflection, both of myself and of the world which could only mirror my own image. During that night the mirror had been broken, and I had felt abandoned because I could no longer gaze upon the image of my own reason and the finite world which it knew. God had brought me to my knees and made me acknowledge my own nothingness, and out of that knowledge I had been reborn. I was no longer the centre of my life and therefore I could see God in everything.
... Bede Griffiths (1906-1993), The Golden String [1954], Bede Griffiths, London: Fount Paperbacks, 1979, p. 97
(see the book; see also Job 42:5-6; Ps. 39:4-7; 51:17; Matt. 7:7; Acts 20:24; 1 Cor. 13:1-3; 2 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 6:3; Jas. 4:8-10; more at Beauty, Discovery, Existence, God, Knowing God, Life, Reason, Truth)
Monday, November 6, 2023
Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944
Gambling challenges that view of life which the Christian Church exists to uphold and extend. Its glorification of mere chance is a denial of the Divine order of nature. To risk money haphazard is to disregard the insistence of the Church in every age of living faith that possessions are a trust, and that men must account to God for their use. The persistent appeal to covetousness is fundamentally opposed to the unselfishness which was taught by Jesus Christ and by the New Testament as a whole. The attempt (inseparable from gambling) to make a profit out of the inevitable loss and possible suffering of others is the antithesis of that love of one’s neighbour on which our Lord insisted.
... William Temple (1881-1944), before the Royal Commission on Lotteries and Betting, 1932, Punch, v. 240, Mark Lemon, et al., Punch Publications Ltd., 1961, p. 671
(see the book; see also Luke 6:30; Ex. 20:17; Eccl. 5:10-11; Ps. 119:36; Isa. 33:15-16; Matt. 5:42; 6:19-21; 22:39; Luke 6:38; 12:15,33; 1 Tim. 6:6-10; Heb. 13:5; more at Bible, Faith, Gambling, Jesus, Love, Money, Possession, Sin, Suffer, Teach, Trust, Unselfish)
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739
As men have chosen sin, they must die in sin. God does not bring about this death. God sends no one to hell. The sinner himself brings this punishment down on himself. Let us look at the case of Judas Iscariot. When he betrayed the Lord, Pilate did not hang him, nor did the High Priest, nor did our loving Savior, nor did the Apostles. He hanged himself. He committed suicide. He died in his sin. This is the end of him who lives in sin.
... Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), The Message of Sadhu Sundar Singh, B. H. Streeter & A. J. Appasamy, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922, p. 124-125
(see the book; see also 1 Tim. 2:3-4; Ps. 55:23; Matt. 21:32; 27:5; Acts 1:18-19; Rom. 2:4; 3:19; 2 Pet. 3:9; Rev. 2:21; more at Death, God, Life, Man, Punishment, Sin)
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Feast of Saints & Martyrs of England
He who forgives not is not forgiven, and the prayer of the Pharisee is as the weary beating of the surf of hell, while the cry of a soul out of its fire sets the heart-strings of love trembling.
... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Sir Gibbie, v. I [1879], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1880, p. 60
(see the book; see also Matt. 6:12,14-15; 18:21-35; Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4; 18:10-14; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; Jas. 2:12-13; more at Fire, Forgiveness, Hell, Love, Pharisaism, Prayer, Soul)
Thursday, November 9, 2023
Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433
If thou believest that Christ was crucified for the sins of the world, thou must with Him be crucified... If thou refusest to comply with this order, thou canst not be a living member of Christ, nor be united with Him by faith.
... John Arndt (1555-1621), True Christianity, tr. A. W. Boehm, Boston: Lincoln & Edmands, 1809, II.iv.18, p. 383
(see the book; see also Gal. 5:24; Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; John 1:29; Rom. 1:16; 6:6-7; Gal. 2:20; 6:14; Eph. 2:4-5; 1 John 2:2; more at Body of Christ, Christ, Crucifixion, Faith, Redemption, Sin)
Friday, November 10, 2023
Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461
Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of his fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil. It is the Heavenly Father’s will thus to exercise them so as to put his own children to a definite test. Beginning with Christ, his first-born, he follows this plan with all his children.
... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. I [1559], tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, III.viii.1, p. 629
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 1:6-7; Ps. 26:2-3; 66:10-12; Isa. 48:10; John 1:12-13; 15:18-19; Rom. 5:3-4; 8:38-39; 2 Thess. 1:3-5; Jas. 1:2-3; Rev. 2:10; 3:10; more at Child, Christ, Evil, Father, Fellowship, God, Life, Weakness)
Saturday, November 11, 2023
Feast of Martin, Monk, Bishop of Tours, 397
Are you worried because you find it so hard to believe? No one should be surprised at the difficulty of faith, if there is some part of his life where he is consciously resisting or disobeying the commandments of Jesus. Is there some part of your life that you are refusing to surrender at his behest, some sinful passion, maybe, or some animosity, some hope, perhaps your ambition or your reason? If so, you must not be surprised that you have not received the Holy Spirit, that prayer is difficult, or that your request for faith remains unanswered. Go rather and be reconciled with your brother, renounce the sin that holds you fast—and then you will recover your faith!
... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship, Simon and Schuster, 1959, p. 66-67
(see the book; see also Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 5:23-24; 10:26-27; 11:29-30; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2-3; John 14:1; Acts 8:20-23; Rom. 1:5; 7:22-23; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10,18-19; Heb. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; more at Ambition, Belief, Disobedience, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prayer, Reason, Reconciliation, Worry)
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Since you have forsaken the world and turned wholly to God, you are symbolically dead in the eyes of men; therefore, let your heart be dead to all earthly affections and concerns, and wholly devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ. For you must be well aware that if we make an outward show of conversion to God without giving Him our hearts, it is only a shadow and pretence of virtue, and no true conversion. Any man or woman who neglects to maintain inward vigilance, and only makes an outward show of holiness in dress, speech, and behavior, is a wretched creature. For they watch the doings of other people and criticize their faults, imagining themselves to be something when in reality they are nothing. In this way they deceive themselves. Be careful to avoid this, and devote yourself inwardly to His likeness by humility, charity, and other spiritual virtues. In this way you will be truly converted to God.
... Walter Hilton (1330?-1396), The Scale of Perfection [early 15th century], ed. Serenus Cressy, Book I, I.i
(see the book; see also Rom. 7:4; Isa. 29:13; Matt. 6:2-6,16-18; Rom. 6:1-6,10-11; 8:10; Gal. 2:19; 6:3,14; Col. 3:1-3; 1 Pet. 2:24; more at Conversion, Death, Devotion, God, Heart, Holiness, Jesus, Neglect, Virtue, World)
Monday, November 13, 2023
Feast of Charles Simeon, Pastor, Teacher, 1836
Does not every man feel, that there is corruption enough within him to drive him to the commission of the greatest enormities, and eternally to destroy his soul? He can have but little knowledge of his own heart who will deny this. On the other hand, who that is holding on in the ways of righteousness, does not daily ascribe his steadfastness to the influence of that grace which he receives from God; and look daily to God for more grace, in order that he may be “kept by his power through faith unto salvation?” No man can in any measure resemble the scripture saints, unless he be of this disposition. Why then must these [doctrinal distinctions] be put in opposition to each other, so that every advocate for one of these points must of necessity controvert and explode the other? Only let any pious person... examine the language of his prayers after he has been devoutly pouring out his soul before God, and he will find his own words almost in perfect consonance with the foregoing statement.
... Charles Simeon (1759-1836), Horae Homileticae, v. I, London: Holdsworth and Ball, 1832, p. xvii
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Zech. 4:9; Matt. 12:34-35; Mark 7:21-23; Rom. 3:22-23; 7:18-20; 14:5; 1 Cor. 2:14; 4:6-7; Gal. 3:22; Eph. 2:1-3; more at Corruption, Devotion, Faith, Grace, Heart, Prayer, Righteousness, Salvation, Sin, Soul)
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Commemoration of Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796
Pride, security, and other sins that are common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than beasts of the field, and more apt to increase upon us.
... Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Concise Commentary on the Bible [1706], Deut. 7:12-26 in loc
(see the book; see also Hos. 13:6; Deut. 7:12-26; 8:10-14; 31:20; Ps. 127:1; Pr. 18:11-12; Matt. 19:23-24; Luke 6:24-25; 16:13; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Jas. 5:1-3; more at Danger, Enemy, Pride, Prosperity, Security, Sin)
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Commemoration of Oswald Chambers, spiritual writer, 1917
From its first page to its last, the Bible is informed by a vision of human nature for which neither freedom nor equality is fundamental; what is fundamental is relatedness.
... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western culture, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 118
(see the book; see also 1 Pet. 4:8; Ps. 133:1; Matt. 20:26-28; John 13:34; 15:12; Rom. 12:10; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:3; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Pet. 1:22; 5:5; 1 John 2:7-10; 4:21; more at Bible, Commitment, Equality, Freedom, Nature, Vision)
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Feast of Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church, 1093
Commemoration of Edmund Rich of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1240
There are Christians that place and desire all their happiness in another life, and there is another sort of Christians that desire happiness in this [life]. The one can defer their enjoyment of Wisdom till the World to come, and dispense with the increase and perfection of knowledge for a little time: the other are instant and impatient of delay, and would fain see that happiness here, which they shall enjoy hereafter. Not the vain happiness of this world, falsely called happiness, truly vain: but the real joy and glory of the blessed, which consisteth in the enjoyment of the whole world in communion with God; not this only, but the invisible and eternal, which they earnestly covet to enjoy immediately: for which reason they daily pray Thy kingdom come, and travail towards it by learning Wisdom as fast as they can... [God] offereth it now, now they are commanded to have their conversation in Heaven, now they may be full of joy and full of glory.
... Thomas Traherne (1637?-1674), Centuries of Meditations, edited and published by Bertram Dobell, in London, 1908, p. 245-246
(see the book; see also John 15:11; Matt. 6:10; Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:29-30; Rom. 15:14; Col. 1:27; Jas. 1:17-18; more at Communion, Glory, God, Happiness, Joy, Knowledge, Life, Perfection, Wisdom)
Friday, November 17, 2023
Feast of Hugh, Carthusian Monk, Bishop of Lincoln, 1200
Nowhere in the Bible is the world exhorted to “come to church.” But the church’s mandate is clear: she must go to the world... the work of the ministry belongs to the one in the pew, not the one in the pulpit.
... Richard C. Halverson (1916-1995), The Timelessness of Jesus Christ, Regal Books, 1982, p. 104
(see the book; see also Luke 6:36; Prov. 3:3-4; Joel 2:28-31; Matt. 24:14; 28:19-20; Rom. 12:6-8; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Col. 1:28; more at Bible, Church, Work, World)
Saturday, November 18, 2023
It was his steadfast and unalterable conviction that for a man who has wrapped his will in God’s will, put his life consciously in the stream of the divine Life, freed his soul from all personal ambitions, taken his life on trust as a divine gift—that for such a man there is an over-ruling Providence which guards and guides him in every incident of his life, from the greatest to the least. He held that all annoyances, frustrations, disappointments, mishaps, discomforts, hardships, sorrows, pains, and even final disaster itself, are simply God’s ways of teaching us lessons that we could never else learn. That circumstances do not matter, are nothing, but that the response of the spirit that meets them is everything; that there is no situation in human life, however apparently adverse, nor any human relationship, however apparently uncongenial, that cannot be made, if God be in the heart, into a thing of perfect joy; that, in order to attain this ultimate perfection, one must accept every experience and learn to love all persons... that the worth of life is not to be measured by its results in achievement or success, but solely by the motive of one’s heart and the effort of one’s will.
... George Seaver (1890-1976), The Faith of Edward Wilson, London: J. Murray, 1948, quoted in A Treasury of the Kingdom: an anthology, Emmeline Alethea Blackburn, ed., Oxford University Press, 1954, p. 183
(see the book; see also Heb. 12:5-11; Deut. 8:5; Pr. 3:11-12; Rom. 8:38-39; Heb. 5:7-10; Jas. 1:2-4,12; 1 Pet. 1:15-16; Rev. 3:19; more at Achievement, Adversity, Ambition, Conviction, Guidance, Heart, Historical, Life, Providence, Success, Trust)
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680
Commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, Philanthropist, 1231
Commemoration of Mechtild, Bèguine of Magdeburg, Mystic, Prophet, 1280
We must always be on our guard lest, under the pretext of keeping one commandment, we be found breaking another.
... St. Basil the Great (330?-379), The Ascetic Works of Saint Basil, tr. W. K. L. Clarke, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1925, p. 170
(see the book; see also Jas. 2:10; Deut. 27:26; 30:6; Ps. 37:31; Jer. 31:33; Eze. 11:19; Matt. 5:18-19; Gal. 3:10; more at Authenticity, Commandment, Lawless, Legalism)
Monday, November 20, 2023
Feast of Edmund of the East Angles, Martyr, 870
Commemoration of Priscilla Lydia Sellon, a Restorer of the Religious Life in the Church of England, 1876
Peace comes when there is no cloud between our lives and God. Peace is the consequence of forgiveness, God’s removal of that which obscures His face, and [so] breaks union with Him. The happy sequence culminating in fellowship with God is penitence, pardon, and peace—the first we offer, the second we accept, and the third we inherit.
... Charles H. Brent (1862-1929), With God in Prayer, London: Jacobs & Co., 1907, p. 53
(see the book; see also 1 John 1:9; Deut. 7:9; Ps. 51:1-2; Eze. 34:25; 37:26; 1 Cor. 1:9; Tit. 2:12-14; Heb. 13:20; 1 John 1:3,7; more at Fellowship, Forgiveness, God, Peace, Penitence)
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
There is our comfort, there is our hope—Christ, the great healer, the great physician, can deliver us, and will deliver us from the remains of our old sins, the consequences of our own follies. Not, indeed, at once, or by miracle; but by slow education in new and nobler motives, in purer and more unselfish habits. And better for us, perhaps, that He should not cure us at once, lest we should fancy that sin was a light thing, which we could throw off whenever we chose; and not what it is, an inward disease, corroding and corrupting, the wages whereof are death. Therefore it is, that because Christ loves us He hates our sins, and cannot abide or endure them, will punish them, and is merciful and loving in punishing them, as long as a tincture or remnant of sin is left in us.
... Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), All Saints’ Day, and other sermons, ed. William Harrison, London: Kegan Paul, 1878, p. 299-300
(see the book; see also Rom. 6:23; Isa. 57:15; Matt. 1:21; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31-32; 19:10; John 3:17; Acts 20:21; 1 Tim. 1:15; 2 Tim. 2:25-26; 2 Pet. 3:9; more at Christ, Comfort, Death, Deliverance, Education, Hope, Love, Mercy, Physician, Punishment, Sin, Unselfish)
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Commemoration of Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c.230
Commemoration of Clive Staples Lewis, Spiritual Writer, 1963
It will not bother me in the hour of death to reflect that I have been ‘had for a sucker’ by any number of imposters; but it would be a torment to know that one had refused even one person in need.
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Letters to an American Lady, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 108
(see the book; see also Matt. 5:40-42; 25:32-46; Luke 6:30; 14:12-14; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 2:9-10; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Heb. 13:16; 1 John 3:17; more at Death, Generosity, Need, People)
Thursday, November 23, 2023
Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100
Thanksgiving (U.S.)
The neglect of the spiritual cannot be laid directly at the door of advertising. It may be better laid at the door of the church [that] has failed to preach the God of the Bible, heaven and hell, repentance, faith, and eternal life. It can be argued that a society only gets the advertising it deserves. Yet the power to commend certain patterns of spending behaviour to millions with regularity is an open invitation to orchestrate the covetousness, envy, lust, and desire to dominate, which lie in the heart of sinful man.
... (Olaf) Raymond Johnston (1927-1985), “The Power of the Media”, in The Changing World, Bruce Kaye, ed., vol. 3 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 55
(see the book; see also Matt. 18:6; Isa. 59:7; Matt. 15:17-20; Mark 7:20-23; Luke 12:15; 1 Cor. 10:32-33; Eph. 5:3-4; Col. 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:9-10; Jas. 1:13-15; 4:1-2; more at Bible, Church, Envy, Eternal life, Faith, God, Heaven, Hell, Neglect, Preach, Repentance, Sin)
Friday, November 24, 2023
We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable. When one asks, Why should I love God? he may mean, What is lovely in God? or What shall I gain by loving God? In either case, the same sufficient cause of love exists, namely, God Himself.
... Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), On Loving God, CCEL, ch. 3, p. 3
(see the book; see also Ps. 16:2; Deut. 6:5; Ps. 115:1; Matt. 22:37; Luke 10:27; John 3:16; 14:6; 15:13; Rom. 5:10; 8:32; 1 John 4:19; 5:3-4; more at God, Love, Reason)
Saturday, November 25, 2023
Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century
The Bible tells us very clearly that to “know” God is not an affair of the mind only, but an act in which our whole being, heart, mind, and will, is vitally engaged; so that sheer intellectual speculation would enable us to form certain ideas about God but never to “know” Him. To be grasped, God’s will must be met with a readiness to obey.
... Suzanne de Diétrich (1891-1981), Discovering the Bible [1953], Coonoor, Nilgiris [India]: India Sunday School Union, 1952, p. 34
(see the book; see also Jer. 31:33-34; Ps. 22:27-31; Pr. 1:7; Isa. 11:9; Hos. 6:6; Hab. 2:14; John 17:3; Rom. 6:16-18; more at Knowing God, Obedience, Will of God)
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Commemoration of Isaac Watts, Hymnwriter, 1748
When I survey the wond’rous cross,On which the Prince of glory dy’d;My richest gain, I count but loss,And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,Save in the death of Christ, my God:All the vain things that charm me most,I sacrifice them to thy blood.
See from his head, his hands, his feet,Sorrow and love flow mingled down!Did e’er such love and sorrow meet?Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
His dying crimson, like a robe,Spreads o’er his body on the tree;Then am I dead to all the globe,And all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,That were a present far too small;Love, so amazing, so divine,Demands my soul, my life, my all.
... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, p. 478
(see the book; see also Gal. 6:14; Isa. 53:3-5; Matt. 27:28-29; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 2:2; 2 Cor. 5:14-16; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Phil. 1:21; 3:8-9; Col. 3:1-3; 1 John 2:15-17; more at Blood, Christ, Cross, Death, Glory, God, Love, Pride, Sorrow, Soul)
Monday, November 27, 2023
Our prayers are rendered ineffectual in the same degree as they take a different course than that in which the Spirit would lead us. And they become even more impotent when we come in conflict with the Spirit and grieve Him.
... O. Hallesby (1879-1961), Prayer, London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1943, reprint, Augsburg Fortress Books, 1975, 1994, p. 117
(see the book; see also 1 John 3:21-22; Ps. 143:10; Matt. 7:11; 21:22; Luke 11:13; 18:10-14; Rom. 8:26-27; Eph. 4:30; 6:18; Jas. 5:16; Jude 1:20; more at Grief, Holy Spirit, Power, Prayer)
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
The New Testament begins with the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. No part of the Bible is so important as this, and no part is so full and complete. Four distinct Gospels tell us the story of Christ’s doing and dying. Four times over we read the precious account of His works and words. How thankful we ought to be for this! To know Christ is life eternal. To believe in Christ is to have peace with God. To follow Christ is to be a true Christian. To be with Christ will be heaven itself. We can never hear too much about Jesus Christ.
... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), Expository thoughts on the Gospels, with the text complete, St. Matthew, Ipswitch: William Hunt, 1856, p. 2
(see the book; see also John 3:14-16; Mark 10:29-30; Luke 2:14; John 4:13-14; 5:24; 6:27; 17:3; Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 2:14-17; Phil. 4:7; Col. 3:15; 2 Thess. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:13; more at Belief, Bible, Christ, Death & Resurrection, Everlasting, Jesus, Life, Peace)
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Leave Him [God] out of our explanations, and the life of thought is decapitated... Without God, everything dries up.
... Martin C. D’Arcy (1888-1976), Mirage and Truth, The Centenary Press, 1935, p. 95
(see the book; see also Ps. 10:4; 14:1-3; 42:1-2; John 1:4; Rom. 1:21-23,28; Eph. 2:11-12; more at Apologetics, God, Life, Thought, Unbelief)
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Feast of Andrew the Apostle
There can be no end without means; and God furnishes no means that exempt us from the task and duty of joining our own best endeavors. The original stock, or wild olive tree, of our natural powers, was not given to us to be burnt or blighted, but to be grafted on.
... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), The Friend: a series of essays, London: Gale & Curtis, 1812, p. 373
(see the book; see also Rom. 11:17-21; Ps. 112:9; Eccl. 11:1-2,6; John 15:5; 2 Cor. 8:9; 9:8-10; Heb. 13:16; more at Duty, Endeavor, God, Nature, Purpose, Task, Weakness)
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