Reflected glory
The other night I took our family dog for a walk. It was a full moon, so bright that we cast a shadow as we walked along. But of course the moon has no light of its own. It shone, and it lit us up so brightly, because the sun was shining on it. It merely reflected the sun’s light.
In the same way, we have no glory of our own, only such as is reflected from the light of Christ that shines upon us. That is what we live for: to bask in that radiance, to reflect it, to bring it to the world around us, not for our own sake but for the praise of his glory.
—John Guest in
Only a Prayer Away
Joy In Pain
I know not how God will dispose of me. I am always happy. All the world suffers; and I, who deserve the severest discipline, feel joys so continual and so great that I can scarce contain them.
Brother Lawrence in The Practice of the Presence of God
More Than Mechanical Idols
We need today a view beyond the gods of technology to the God of Creation.
—Philip Wiebe in The Christian Leader (April 9,1991)
Beyond Mere Words
O sirs, how plainly, how closely, how earnestly, should we deliver a message of such moment as ours, when the everlasting life or everlasting death of our fellow-men is involved in it!… There [is] nothing more unsuitable to such a business, than to be slight and dull. What! speak coldly for God, and for men’s salvation? Can we believe that our people must be converted or condemned, and yet speak in a drowsy tone? In the name of God, brethren, labour to awaken your own hearts, before you go to the pulpit, that you may be fit to awaken the hearts of sinners.… Oh, speak not one cold or careless word about so great a business as heaven or hell. Whatever you do, let the people see that you are in good earnest.… A sermon full of mere words, how neatly soever it be composed, while it wants the light of evidence, and the life of zeal, is but an image or a well-dressed carcase.
Richard Baxter in The Reformed Pastor (1656); abridged edition (1829)
The Great Outdoors
America is sick today because she has gone indoors.… It was a sad day for the race when somebody discovered ceilings. So long as men are under the blue sky with the music of the birds in their ears and the breeze blowing in their faces, there is tolerance and broad vision. But bring them indoors and they soon start talking inequality, revolution, and Bolshevism.…
The average young person can give you plenty of information on football, basketball, and boxing, but what does he know of that far more wonderful world of bird and brook and blossom? He has exchanged the lore of the hills for a load of athletic dope and he is certainly stung on the deal.
—Vance Havner in In Tune with Heaven
Purposeful Blessings
God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to make us a blessing.
—Warren Wiersbe at TEAM’s 101st annual Bible and missionary conference
Doing Nothing And Doing Everything
Many Christians feel more comfortable with the idea that apart from Christ they can do nothing, than they do with the other side of that coin: that they can do all things through Him who strengthens them. “I can do nothing” lets me off the hook; “I can do all things” makes me wonder why I’m not doing anything. It’s easier to piddle around wondering whether it’s God’s will that you rent this apartment or that one, than it is to face up to God’s ultimate will for you: that you become conformed to the image of His Son.
—John Boykin in The Gospel of Coincidence
