Quotes to chew on

Welll I see it has been a little bit since I last posted, which is weird because it totally dosen't feel like it. Anyway. Post time!

And for today... Some sweet quotes from Oswald Chambers (I think they're all from 'Studies on the Sermon on the Mount') for you all to indulge in. Who knows, some of my thoughts may end up in here as well. I guess we'll wait and see.

"Don't bother about whether you are growing in grace or whether you are being of use to others, but believe on Jesus and out of you will flow rivers of living water."

I like this one specifically because I've had a number of prophetic words over my life about rivers flowing from me and stuff... And this is how; simply focus on Jesus.

"Refuse to be swamped by the cares of the world, cut out the non-essentials and continually revise your relationship to God and see that you are concentrated absolutely on him. The man who trusts Jesus Christ in a definate, practical way is freer than anyone else to do his work in the world. Free from fret and worry, he can go with absolute certainty into the daily life because the responsibility of his life is not on him but on God. if once we accept the revelation of Jesus Christ that God is our father and that we can never think of anything he will forget, worry becomes impossible!"

Yeah... don't worry about anything in the world. Just focus on your relationship with God and concentrate 100% on Him. Very freeing. Especially because I used to worry a lot about dumb things (and I guess still sometimes do).

"Always make allowances for people when they first enter into life; they have to enter on the fanatical line. The danger is lest they stay too long in the stage of fanaticism. When fanaticism steps over the bounds, it becomes spiritual lunacy. In the beginning of the life of grace we have to limit ourselves all round in right things as well as wrong; but if when God begins to bring us out of the light of our convictions into the light of the Lord, we prefer to remain true to our convictions, we become spiritual lunatics. Walking in the light of convictions is a necessary stage, but there is a grander, purer, sterner light to walk in, viz, the light of the Lord."

Wow, I love this one. It really shows what entering into new life is really supposed to look like. And how we as Christians who are "off the bottle (no, not alcohol, milk)" are to treat and help them. We must enter in as new Christians on the fanatical line, allowing God to completely begin to remake us. If we don't do this, nothing will change in our lives and we will likely fall away quite soon after. But we must not stay any longer than necessary at this stage, as we will get too caught up in our convictions than compared to God. There comes a time when we must walk away from our convictions as the be-all end-all and focus only on God. He will let us know exactly what to do and what not to do.

"Your father (God) is keenly and divinely interested in you, and prayer becomes the "chatter" of a child to his father"

Pretty self-explanitory. Go learn about God's father heart, it'll do you good if you havn't.

"We are inclined to take everything and everyone serious saving God; Jesus took nothing and no one seriously but his father, and teaches us to be as children before men but earnest before God."

I love this one too... (in fact I love all of these, that's why they're up here). Really puts things in perspective and stuff. Don't care what people think or say or do or how they act. Care about what God thinks and says and does and how he acts and acted. Be as uncaring about taking man seriously as children are. But be real before God.

These last four are my top favorites though.

"Innocence in a child's life is a beautiful thing, but men and women ought not to be innocent, they ought to be tested and tried and pure."

MMMM I love it. Innocence? No. Hiding from realities of life on earth does nobody any good. But being tested and tried and pure... now that's something worth going for.

"If Jesus is a teacher only, then all he can do is tantalise us by erecting a standard we cannot come anywhere near. But if by being born again from above we know him first as savior, we know that he did not come to teach us only; he came to make us what he teaches us we should be."

Yeaaaaah. Transformation and re-birth baby. Thank you Jesus for making this possible :).

"The only right a christian has is the right to give up [their] rights."

Ha. Love it. So true.

and lastly....
"We always say we do not know what Jesus Christ means when we know perfectly well he means something which is a blunt impossibility unless he can remake us and make it possible. Jesus brings us with terrific force straight up against the impossible, and until we get to the place of despair we will never receive from him the grace that enables us to do the impossible and manifest his spirit."

Wow. Powerful, puts my excuses (saying we don't know what he means) to shame, when that quote rings truer than true in my life.

Well, chew on those. Hopefully God can use them as a source of revelation in your life as he has mine. Oh, and when you get a chance go buy every book ever written by Oswald Chambers and read them all on your knees, begging God for some revelation from these amazingly anointed works.

Ciao.