The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.
We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life – those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength.
No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the mill of His spring-cleaning until there is only one purpose left – I am here for God to send me where He will.
Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Am I full of the little things that cheer His heart over me, or am I whimpering because things are going hardly with me? There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes.
What hinders me from hearing is that I am taken up with other things. It is not that I will not hear God, but I am not devoted in the right place. I am devoted to things, to service, to convictions, and God may say what He likes but I do not hear Him.
Books are the blessed chloroform of the mind.
It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
Never sympathize with the thing that is stabbing God all the time. God has to hurt the thing that must go.
We become side-tracked if we make physical health our aim and imagine that because we are children of God we shall always be perfectly well.
A man may betray Jesus Christ by speaking too many words, and he may betray him through keeping his mouth shut.
Drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character there is. Drudgery is work that is very far removed from anything to do with the ideal – the utterly mean grubby things; and when we come in contact with them we know instantly whether or not we are spiritually real.
The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain.
We act like pagans in a crisis – only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.
I have known him as a friend, a diligent student of the Word, and a faithful follower of Christ in his walk and his work.
The dearest friend on earth is a mere shadow compared to Jesus Christ.
We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies but its obedience.
The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him.
The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience.