Christlike

Be faithful in the little practices of love which will build in you the life of holiness and make you Christlike.

      -- Mother Teresa

Waiting with Patience

How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.

The word patience comes from the Latin verb patior which means "to suffer." Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grow into strong plants. Waiting patiently always means paying attention to what is happening right before our eyes and seeing there the first rays of God's glorious coming.

--Henri Nouwen

Waiting for Christ to Come

If we do not wait patiently in expectation for God's coming in glory, we start wandering around, going from one little sensation to another. Our lives get stuffed with newspaper items, television stories, and gossip. Then our minds lose the disciline of discerning between what leads us closer to God and what doesn't, and our hearts gradually lose their spiritual sensitivity.

Without waiting for the second coming of Christ, we will stagnate quickly and become tempted to indulge in whatever gives us a moment of pleasure. When Paul asks us to wake from sleep, he says: "Let us live decently, as in the light of day; with no orgies or drunkenness, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy. Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop worrying about how your disordered natural inclinations may be fulfilled" (Romans 13:13-14). When we have the Lord to look forward to, we can already experience him in the waiting. 

--Henri Nouwen

Taking the Edge Off

Those of us who are most familiar with the Spirit's promises are in the greatest danger. ... familiarity may not breed contempt, but it takes the edge off awe ... promises that drop the jaws or widen the eyes of newcomers but provoke no more than a raised eyebrow in the old-timers who have ceased to dream.

-- Jim McGuiggan

The Hidden Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus was a hidden event. Jesus didn't rise from the grave to baffle his opponents, to make a victory statement, or to prove to those who crucified him that he was right after all. Jesus rose as a sign to those who had loved him and followed him that God's divine love is stronger than death. To the women and men who had committed themselves to him, he revealed that his mission had been fulfilled. To those who shared in his ministry, he gave the sacred task to call all people into the new life with him.

The world didn't take notice. Only those whom he called by name, with whom he broke bread, and to whom he spoke words of peace were aware of what happened. Still, it was this hidden event that freed humanity from the shackles of death.

--Henri Nouwen

Pride

Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.

-- Henry Ward Beecher

Grateful Heart

Thou who hast given so much to me, give me one more thing - a grateful heart!

      -- George Herbert

The Spirit

For the Christian, nothing less than the presence of the Spirit is enough to explain the marvelous changes worked in human lives. Call it grace; call it providence; call it the result of Bible study ... just so we understand that in and behind any or all the instruments is the presence and work of the Spirit who seeks and finds and transforms.

      -- Jim McGuiggan

Best Efforts

Make the most of the present moment. No occasion is unworthy of our best efforts. God often uses the humble occasions and little things to shape the course of a man's life.
-- James Garfield

Glorify

In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

      -- C. S. Lewis

Virtue

Understanding is knowing what to do; wisdom is knowing what todo next; virtue is actually doing it.
      -- Tristan Gulberd

Longing to Believe

I have been tortured with longing to believe ... and the yearning grows stronger the more cogent the intellectual

difficulties stand in the way.

-- Fyodor Dostoevsky

Hmmm...

What you do when you don't have to, determines what you will be when you can no longer help it.

-- Rudyard Kipling

Believe to Understand

Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.  -- St. Augustine of Hippo

Wow. I was always taught to understand first. I keep finding quotes that make me think I've got this thing all backwards.

xo

c

Obedience

A passion to obey Christ is born out of our relationship with him. The more we love him, the more we want him to be a part of our affairs.  -- Calvin Miller

Much Prayer

Where there is much prayer, there will be much of the Spirit; where there is much of the Spirit, there will be ever-increasing prayer.

-- Andrew Murray

How To Treat People

John Cowart November 2, 2011 at 12:47 pm #

Jesus never tells me what somebody else ought to do. He never said how somebody else ought to treat me; only how I should treat them.

Writers

The world does not need more Christian writers -- it needs more good writers and composers who are Christians.
      -- C. S. Lewis