CHRISTIAN-LIVING
Resolved,
never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour
of my life.
Resolution Number 7.
I frequently
hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their
lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall
wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.
Resolution Number 52.
I resolve to
endeavor to my utmost to act and think as if I had already seen the happiness
of heaven and the torments of hell.
The first and
the great work of a Christian is about his heart. Do not be content with seeming to do good in “outward acts” while your heart is bad, and you are
a stranger to the greater internal heart duties. See that your chief study be about your
heart-- that there God's image may be planted; that there His interests be advanced;
that there the world and flesh are subdued; that there the love of every sin is
cast out; that there the love of holiness grows.
Resolved, to
endeavor, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and
universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy,
compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent
and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere
temper; and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to
examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5, 1723.
Resolution Number 47.
The best use
of one’s life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
Oswald Sanders
Spiritual Leadership, Moody Publishers, 1967, p. 93.
O good God,
guide me by Thy holy hand, that I may keep myself within the lists of
Christianity, being modest in apparel, moderate (in) diet, chaste and temperate
in speech, sober in fashion and my ordinary deportment, respective to my
superiors, amiable to my equals, without pride and insolency
towards these that are below me, courteous and affable and yet without vanity
and popularity towards all.
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
2000, p. 207
The fact that
God ordained our days for us should also give meaning to every day, not just
the special or exciting days of our lives. Every day is important for us
because it is a day ordained by God. If we are bored with life there is
something wrong with our concept of God and His involvement in our daily lives.
Even the most dull and tedious days of our lives are ordained by God and ought
to be used by us to glorify Him.
On Knowing Oneself, Issue 280, January 1987, p. 14, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
If our life
is not a course of humility, self-denial, renunciation of the world, poverty of
spirit, and heavenly affection, we do not live the lives of Christians.
Thank God for
the battle verses in the Bible. We go into the unknown every day of our lives,
and especially every Monday morning, for the week is sure to be a battlefield,
outwardly and inwardly in the unseen life of the spirit, which is often by far
the sternest battlefield for souls. Either way, the Lord your God goes before
you, He shall fight for you!
The whole of
the Christian life is centered on Jesus Christ. Like Paul the contemporary
Christian can say: “To me to live is Christ.” But often, in Christian
experience, we are tempted to look elsewhere for direction, example, counsel
and guidance. We lose sight of the fact that everything we need to live the
Christian life is to be found exclusively in Christ. For this reason when we
begin thinking about spiritual growth we must think first of all about Christ.
Grow in Grace, by permission of Banner of
Truth, Carlisle, PA. 1989, p. xi.
Throughout
the world, in nation after nation, men and women have died for their Christian
faith. The very least we can do is live for our faith.
Author Unknown
God forms;
Satan deforms; Holy Spirit conforms; Preaching reforms; Bible informs; Christ
transforms.
Author Unknown
If you are a
Christian, you can expect folks to criticize, but you ought to live so nobody
will believe them.
Author Unknown
The
Christian walk is not so much characterized by perfection, as it is by
direction.
Author
Unknown
[A
Christian is] seeking and doing those things that please God, in all things, at
all times, to the glory of God, in the name of Jesus, and in the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Author
Unknown
Though true
Christianity uniquely involves a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it is
also a corporate experience…Christians cannot grow spiritually as they ought to
in isolation from one another.
Encouraging One Another, Victor Books, 1985, p. 10.
Many
Christians estimate difficulties in the light of their own resources, and thus
attempt little and often fail in the little they attempt. All God’s giants have been weak men who did
great things for God because they reckoned on His power and presence with them.
Endurance in
the midst of suffering, not success, health, or wealth, is the mark of a
genuine Christian life. Furthermore, it
is faith and hope in the midst of suffering, not
miraculous deliverance from it, that display most clearly the all-sufficiency
of God to a despairing world.
The God of Promise and the Life of Faith. Crossway Books, 2001, p. 167.
The Greek
word translated "example" is tupos, which
means model, image, or pattern… When you set an example, you are giving people
a pattern to follow. Someone once said, "Your life speaks so loud I can't
hear what you say." Your lifestyle
is your most powerful message.
The Master's Plan for the Church, Moody,
1991, p. 159.
The Christian
life is not adding Jesus to one’s own way of life but renouncing that personal
way of life for His and being willing to pay whatever cost that may require.
John
MacArthur
Matthew 8-15, Moody, 1987, p. 24.
Christians
are not left in the world by accident but are placed there on divine assignment
from their Lord.
John MacArthur
Taken
from Matthew 8-15, by John MacArthur, Moody Publishers, © 1985, p. 377.
As Christians
we accept one foundational truth – God – and everything else makes sense. An atheist denies God and has to accept
incredible explanations for everything else.
It takes more faith to deny God than to believe in Him.
The Ultimate Priority, Moody Press 1983, p. 38.
It is
difficult to see how Christianity can have a positive effect on society if it
cannot transform its own homes.
It is for us, in whom the Christian Church is at this
moment partially embodied, to declare that Christianity, that the Christian
faith can do that for the world which the world needs. You say, “What can I
do?” You can furnish one Christian life. You can furnish a life so faithful to
every duty, so ready for every service, so determined not to commit every sin,
that the great Christian Church shall be the stronger for your living in it,
and the problem of the world be answered, and a certain great peace come into
this poor, perplexed phase of our humanity as it sees that new revelation of
what Christianity is.
Phillips Brooks
The theology
of the cross simplifies the spiritual life by standing as its primary reference
point. Everything in Christian
spirituality relates to it. Through the
cross we begin our spirituality and by the power and example of the cross we
live it.
Take Up Your Cross
Daily, www.BiblicalSpirituality.org
Used by Permission.
The secret of a believer’s holy walk
is his continual recurrence to the blood of the Surety, and his daily
[communion] with a crucified and risen Lord. All divine life, and all precious
fruits of it, pardon, peace, and holiness, spring from the cross. All fancied
sanctification which does not arise wholly from the blood of the cross is
nothing better than Pharisaism. If we would be holy,
we must get to the cross, and dwell there; else, notwithstanding all our labor,
diligence, fasting, praying and good works, we shall be yet void of real
sanctification, destitute of those humble, gracious tempers which accompany a
clear view of the cross.
Horatius Bonar
God’s
Way of Holiness.
The Christian
life is not about all the things we do for God- it's about being loved by Him,
loving Him in return, and walking in intimate union and communion with Him.
A Place
of Quiet Rest, Moody, 2000, p. 43.
It is hard to
imagine anyone suiting up for the (football) game without an awareness of the
sometimes bloody struggle that is about to ensue. But I have yet to see a
player remove his helmet and head for the stadium exit because he finds it all
just too rough. Yet when it comes to Christian living, the field is evacuating
quickly because the players have never read the rules nor understood the game
plan.
Alistair Begg
Made For His Pleasure, Moody Press, 1996, p. 108.
God has no
more precious gift to a church or an age than a man who lives as an embodiment
of his will, and inspires those around him with the faith of what grace can do.
Men of Integrity,
July/August 2000.
Nowhere does
the Bible call the (Christian) faith a leap - it calls it a walk. Think about it. What is a walk? It is a lot of little steps in the same
direction. It is a journey taken one
step at a time.
The Book of Ephesians, AMG Publishers, 2003, p. 117.
Every
Christian should be both conservative and radical;
conservative in preserving the faith and radical in applying it.
HIS, Oct. 1975, Christianity Today, v. 36, n. 14.
Social ethics
must never be substituted for personal ethics. Crusading can easily become a
dodge for facing up to one's lack of personal morality. By the same token, even
if I am a model of personal righteousness, that does not excuse my
participation in social evil. The man who is faithful to his wife while he
exercises bigotry toward his neighbor is no better than the adulterer who
crusades for social justice. What God requires is justice both personal and
social.
Leadership, v. 9, n. 2.
I once read
the following definition of a fanatic: "A fanatic is a person who, having
lost sight of his goal, redoubles his effort to get
there." The fanatic runs around frantically getting nowhere. He is a
basketball player without a basket, a tennis player without a net, a golfer
without a green. For a Christian to make progress in ... learning to please
God, he must have a clear idea of what his goal is. ... Jesus stated it this
way: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to you."
Pleasing God. Christianity Today, v. 34, n. 9.
We do not
segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling,
while keeping parts to ourselves. The
idea is to give all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of
God, and for the honor and glory of God.
That is what the Christian life is all about.
You are
commanded to put aside the sinful practices of your old self, to be changed by
a renewing of the mind, and to put on Christlike practices of your new
self. Memorizing God’s Word is
foundational to that process.
Self-Confrontation Manuel, Lesson 2, Page 12, Used by Permission of the Biblical Counseling Foundation.
Living God’s
way means putting away your self-centeredness and committing yourself to follow
God’s Word in spite of any feelings to the contrary.
Biblical Counseling Foundation
Self-Confrontation Manuel, Lesson 5, Page 5,
Used by Permission of the Biblical Counseling Foundation.
The greatest
proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his
reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his
belief.
Our walk
counts far more than our talk, always!
This life was
not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it.
The Christian
life is a positive allegiance to Jesus Christ.
It is becoming so occupied with Him that the values and standards of the
world around us have little influence.
Who Said That? Moody, 1994, p. 146.
A life once
spent is irrevocable. It will remain to be contemplated through eternity.…The same may be said of each day. When it is once
past, it is gone forever. All the marks which we put upon it, it will exhibit
forever.…Each day will not only be a witness of our conduct, but will affect
our everlasting destiny.…How shall we then wish to see each day marked with usefulness…!
It is too late to mend the days that are past. The future is in our power. Let
us, then, each morning, resolve to send the day into eternity in such a garb as
we shall wish it to wear forever. And at night let us reflect that one more day
is irrevocably gone, indelibly marked.
The Life of Adoniram Judson, Anson, Randolph
& Company, 1883, p. 13-15.
When people
are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other
people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and
hard on others.
Some people
object to taking vows, but in the Bible you will find many great men of God
directed by covenants, promises, vows and pledges. A carnal man refuses the discipline of such
commitments. He says, “I want to be
free. It is legalism.” There are many religious tramps in the world who will not be bound by anything. Now there are five vows I have in mind which
we do well to make and keep. 1. Deal thoroughly with sin. 2.
Never own anything- get rid of the sense of
possessing. 3. Never defend yourself. 4.
Never pass anything on about anybody else that will hurt him. 5.
Never accept any glory. Remember
that these five vows are not something you write in the back of your Bible and
forget. They have got to be written in
your own blood.
He feels
supreme love for one whom he has never seen. He talks familiarly every day to
someone he cannot see, expects to go to Heaven on the virtue of another,
empties himself in order that he might be full, admits that he is wrong so he
can be declared right, goes down in order to get up. He is strongest when he is
weakest, richest when he is poorest, and happiest when
he feels worst. He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away
so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passeth knowledge.
The godly
have some good in them, therefore the devil afflicts them; and some evil in
them, therefore God afflicts them.
God examineth with trials, the devil examineth
with temptations, the world examineth with
persecutions.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 208.
Be
dogmatically true, obstinately holy, immovably honest, desperately kind, fixed
upright.
I know of
nothing which I would choose to have as the subject of my ambition for life
than to be kept faithful to my God till death, still to be a soul winner, still
to be a true herald of the cross, and testify the name of Jesus to the last
hour. It is only such who in the
ministry shall be saved.
The key to
Christian living is a thirst and hunger for God. And one of the main reasons people do not
understand or experience the sovereignty of grace and the way it works through
the awakening of sovereign joy is that their hunger and thirst for God is too
small.
Christian
living moves from what God has freely done for us in Christ to what we should
freely do for others.
John
Piper
Exposing the Dark World of Abortion, Sermon: January
26, 1992, www.DesiringGod.org. Used by Permission.
If a man cannot be a Christian in the place
where he is, he cannot be a Christian anywhere.
There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many
have, and think they have enough – a cheap Christianity which offends nobody,
and requires no sacrifice – which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.
J.C. Ryle
Holiness,
Baker, 1979, p. 204.
If you can do
nothing but live a true Christian life – patient, gentle, kindly, pure – in
your home, in society, at your daily duty – you will perform a service of great
value, and leave many blessings in the world. Such a life is a little gospel,
telling in sermons without words – the wonderful story of the cross of Christ.
J.R.
Miller
In Green Pastures.
The Sum is:
1. Remember always the presence of God.
2. Rejoice always in the will of God.
And 3. Direct all to the glory of God.
Rules and Instructions for a Holy
Life.
No reserves.
No retreats. No regrets.
Rules for life:
1. Eagerly
start the day’s main work.
2. Do not
murmur at your busyness or the shortness of time, but buy up the time all
around.
3. Never exaggerate
duties by seeming to suffer under the load, but treat all responsibilities as
liberty and gladness.
4. Never
call attention to crowded work or trivial experiences.
5. Before
confrontation or censure, obtain from God a real love for the one at fault. Know
the facts; be generous in your judgment. Otherwise, how ineffective, how
unintelligible or perhaps provocative your well-intended censure may be.
6. Do not
believe everything you hear; do not spread gossip.
7. Do not
seek praise, gratitude, respect, or regard for past service.
8. Avoid
complaining when your advice or opinion is not consulted, or having been
consulted, set aside.
9. Never
allow yourself to be placed in favorable contrast with anyone.
10. Do not
press conversations to your own needs and concerns.
11. Seek no
favors, nor sympathies; do not ask for tenderness, but receive what comes.
12. Bear the
blame; do not share or transfer it.
13. Give
thanks when credit for your own work or ideas is given to another.
Edward Benson
Quoted in: Spiritual Leadership
by Oswald Sanders, Moody Publishers, 1967, p. 128-129.