This week I'm sharing quotes from Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, and Martin Luther.
He is not far from God'’s heart who hath meditations of God in his own heart. If we desire to seek after God, to know him, to understand him, and to be at peace with him, it is a sign that God has dealings with our soul, for otherwise we should still have hated his name and abhorred his character. ~ Charles Spurgeon, "Question of Fear and the Answer of Faith," 1856
He who grows not in the knowledge of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know him is "life eternal," and to advance in the knowledge of him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know more of Christ, knows nothing of him yet. Whoever hath sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, yet it is such a satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, but whetted. If you know the love of Jesus--as the hart panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant after deeper draughts of his love. If you do not desire to know him better, then you love him not, for love always cries, "Nearer, nearer." Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of him in his divine nature, in his human relationship, in his finished work, in his death, in his resurrection, in his present glorious intercession, and in his future royal advent. Abide hard by the Cross, and search the mystery of his wounds. An increase of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of his love to us is one of the best tests of growth in grace. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Morning, January 4
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. ~ C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
It [The Bible] is, if you like to put it that way, not merely a sacred book but a book so remorselessly and continuously sacred that it does not invite, it excludes or repels, the merely aesthetic approach. You can read it as literature only by a tour de force. You are cutting the wood against the grain, using the tool for a purpose it was not intended to serve. It demands incessantly to be taken on its own terms: it will not continue to give literary delight very long except to those who go to it for something quite different. ~ C.S. Lewis, Selected Literary Essays
If you are a sincere believer, you have all of God’s treasures and are God’s child. The rest of your life on earth is merely a pilgrimage. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, January 9
How should we address God? How should we honor the one we pray to? And how should we present ourselves so that he will be gracious and willing to listen to us? No name anywhere makes a more favorable impression on God than the name “Father.” Calling him Father is a friendly, affectionate, deep, and heartfelt way to address him. It wouldn’t comfort us nearly so much if we were to call him Lord, or God, or Judge. For the name Father is instinctive and naturally affectionate. That is why hearing us call him Father pleases God the most and moves him to listen to us. By doing so, we acknowledge ourselves as children of God, which again stirs God’s heart. For there is no voice more dear to a father than his own child’s voice. It also helps when we say, “in heaven.” These words express distressing need and misery because we are on earth and God is in heaven. Those who pray, “Our Father in heaven,” and do so out of the depths of their hearts, acknowledge that they have a Father and that their Father is in heaven. Moreover, they acknowledge that they are abandoned on earth and are in misery. Those who pray this way soon feel a heartfelt yearning, like a child who lives far from his father’s land in misery and distress among strangers. It’s as if they are saying, “O Father, you are in heaven. I am your poor child far from you on earth, in misery, in peril, in distress, and in need. I am surrounded by devils, great enemies, and many kinds of danger.” Those who pray in this way stand with pure, uplifted hearts toward God. They are able to pray and move God to mercy. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, January 12
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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