Salvation is from our side a choice, from the divine side it is a seizing upon, an apprehending, a conquest by the Most High God. Our “accepting” and “willing” are reactions rather than actions. The right of determination must always remain with God.
A.W. Tozer
“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose and all this gathered up in adoration the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and source of all actual sin.”
William Temple
When days of darkness come upon us, let us not count it a strange thing. Rather let us remember that lessons are learned on such days which would never have been learned in sunshine. Let us say to ourselves, “This also is for my profit, that I may be a partaker of God’s holiness…”
J.C. Ryle
God is most glorified in us when our knowledge and experience of Him ignite a forest fire of joy that consumes all competing pleasures and He alone becomes the treasure that we prize.
Sam Storms
“So long as we are occupied with any other object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart nor peace for the mind. But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand, then, no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings–whether in a hovel or prison-dungeon, or at a martyr’s stake–we shall be enabled to say, ‘The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places'” (Psalms. 16:6).
A.W. Pink
Even in the greatest afflictions, we ought to testify to God, that, in receiving them from his hand, we feel pleasure in the midst of the pain, from being afflicted by Him who loves us, and whom we love.
John Wesley
God has no pleasure in afflicting us, but He will not keep back even the most painful chastisement if He can but thereby guide His beloved child to come home and abide in the beloved Son.
Andrew Murray
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10 (ESV)
Jesus taught his disciples to pray that the kingdom of God would come to earth as it is in heaven. We know with the beginning of Jesus’ ministry God’s kingdom began to be manifest on earth (Matthew 12:28). God’s kingdom continues to be expanded today each time the work of Satan is defeated in a person’s life (Matthew 11:12). We should seek the coming of the kingdom of God in prayer not only for a future time (Revelation 11:15), but also for the expansion of God’s kingdom on earth now (Matthew 6:9-10). Continue reading
