Galatians 1:3-5 ESV
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
"The essence of prayer is simply talking to God as you would to a beloved friend—without pretense or flippancy. Yet it is in that very attitude toward prayer so many believers have trouble."
— John F. MacArthur, Jr.
"Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God"
— Martin Lloyd-Jones
"many in the Church have now turned in upon themselves and substituted for the knowledge of God a search for the knowledge of self."
— David F. Wells. No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? (p. 7). Kindle Edition.
Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.
What others most need to see is how God’s grace works in our lives, because that shows them where they can find grace for their weakness. A sinner’s greatest need is not a teacher or a role model, but a Savior. Thus, the story of how God is showing you grace shows them where they can find that fountain of grace. Discipleship is one beggar taking another beggar to the place he finds daily bread.
"The tree of faith grows only in the heart that craves the supreme gift that Christ died to give: not health, not wealth, not prestige - but God! Test yourself here. There are many professing Christians who delight in God’s gifts, but not God. Would you want to go to heaven if God were not there, only His gifts?"
— Excerpt from John Piper’s “Desiring God, Meditations of a Christian Hedonist”
"Questions are natural, and ignoring them is unnecessary and even dangerous. Addressing them, on the other hand, usually yields sizeable dividends."
"Childlike trust may not survive when the miracle does not come, when the urgent prayer gets no answer, when a dense mist obscures any sign of God’s concern. Such times call for something more, and I will us the musty word “fidelity” for that hang-on-at-any-cost faith."
— Yancey,Philip. Disappointment with God, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI 1992. (pg.230)
22nd February 2013
