Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity
without Christ || Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Take the words of Jesus and let them become the Supreme
Court of the Gospel to you || John G. Lake
Some wish to hear the word of God, others wish to receive
it || Anonymous
Understanding is the reward of obedience. Obedience is
the key to every door || George MacDonald
In the spiritual life only one thing produces genuine joy
and that is obedience || Richard Foster
The level of our obedience is most often determined by
the behavior standard of other Christians around us || Jerry Bridges
Many Christians have what we might call a "cultural
holiness". They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians
around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so
these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like
those around us. He has called us to be like himself. Holiness is nothing less
than conformity to the character of God || Jerry Bridges
Holiness has never been the driving force of the
majority. It is, however, mandatory for anyone who wants to enter the kingdom ||
Elisabeth Elliot
The reason for not going out and sinning all you like is
the same as the reason for not going out and putting your nose in a slicing
machine: its dumb, stupid, and no fun. Some individual sins may have pleasure
still attached to them because of the residual goodness of the realities they
are abusing: adultery can indeed be pleasant and tying one on can amuse. But
betrayal, jealousy, love grown cold, and the gray dawn of the morning after are
nobody's idea of a good time || Robert Farrer Capon
The dullness that overshadows a passive person is
increased by the mounting number of times one doesn’t respond to the promptings
of God || Greg Manalli
Whatsoever one would understand what he hears must hasten
to put into practice what he has heard || Gregory the Great
I know the power obedience has of making things easy
which seem impossible || Teresa of Avila
Let this be thy whole endeavor, this thy prayer, this thy
desire, that thou mayest be stripped of all selfishness, and with entire
simplicity follow Jesus only || Thomas à Kempis
No man has the mind of Christ, except him who makes it
his business to obey him || George MacDonald
One can believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and feel
no personal loyalty to Him at all - indeed, pay no attention whatever to His
commandments and His will for one's life || Catherine Marshall
I defy you to read the life of any saint that has ever
adorned the life of the Church without seeing at once that the greatest
characteristic in the life of that saint was discipline and order. Invariably
it is the universal characteristic of all the outstanding men and women of God
|| Unknown
Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to
the blood, the courses in which it moves || Horace Bushnell
Men do not decide their future. They decide their habits
and their habits decide their future || Unknown
Plant a word in the mind, and you will reap an act. Plant
the act and you will reap a habit. Plant a habit and you will reap a character.
Plant a character and you will reap a nature. Plant a nature and you will reap
a destiny || Unknown
The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured by
his special exertions, but by his habitual acts || Blaise Pascal
If Christ does not reign over the mundane events in our
lives, He does not reign at all || Paul Tripp
Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of
dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself || Abraham Joshua Heschel
Maturity doesn't come with age; it comes with acceptance
of responsibility || Ed Cole
To be converted to faith in Jesus Christ is to return to
the worship of the true God, and to dethrone all rivals to his authority || Graham
Kendrick
We must assess our thoughts and beliefs and reckon
whether they are moving us closer to conformity to Christ or farther away from
it || John Ortberg
Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said, Bob, why are
you resisting me? I said, I'm not resisting you! He said, You gonna follow me?
I said, I've never thought about that before! He said, When you're not
following me, you're resisting me || Bob Dylan
There is no peace in the border lands. The halfway
Christian is a torment to himself and of no benefit to others || Earnest Worker
The characteristic of holiness, which is the outcome of
the indwelling of God, is blazing truthfulness with regard to God's word and an
amazing tenderness in personal dealings || Oswald Chambers
Christianity does not consist in any partial amendment of
our lives, any particular moral virtues, but in an entire change of our natural
temper, a life wholly devoted to God || William Law
Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their
life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other ||
Matthew Henry
...Christ did not appoint professors, but followers. If
Christianity...is not reduplicated in the life of the person expounding it,
then he does not expound Christianity, for Christianity is a message about
living and can only be expounded by being realized in men's lives || Soren
Kierkegaard
A holy life has a voice. It speaks when the tongue is
silent, and is either a constant attraction or a perpetual reproof || Hinton
Preaching is to much avail, but practice is far more
effective. A godly life is the strongest argument you can offer the skeptic || Hosea
Ballou
Sometimes we don't need another chance to express how we
feel or to ask someone to understand our situation. Sometimes we just need a
firm kick in the pants. An unsmiling expectation that if we mean all these
wonderful things we talk about and sing about, then lets see something to prove
it || Dietrich Bonhoeffer
No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through
one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him || D.L.Moody
I surrendered unto Him all there was of me; everything!
Then for the first time I realized what it meant to have real power || Kathryn
Kuhlman
I dare not say with Paul that I am the slave of Christ,
but my highest aspiration and desire is to be the slave of Christ || George
MacDonald
Nothing is really lost by a life of sacrifice; everything
is lost by failure to obey God's call || Henry P Liddon
Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh
like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in
hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but it screams against hidden service.
It strains and pulls for honor and recognition || Richard Foster
Today, even amongst Christians, there can be found much
of that spirit that wants to give as little as possible to the Lord, and yet to
get as much as possible from Him. The prevailing thought today is of being
used, as though that were the one thing that mattered. That my little rubber
band should be stretched to the very limit seems all important. But this is not
the Lord's mind. The Lord wants us to be used, yes; but what He is after is
that we pour all we have, ourselves, to Him, and if that be all, that is enough
|| Watchman Nee
The decision to grow always involves a choice between
risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce
comfort as the ultimate value of your life || John Ortberg
The Christian ideal has not been found tried and found
wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried || GK Chesterton
If thou art willing to suffer no adversity, how wilt thou
be the friend of Christ? || Thomas à Kempis
There is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed
without sacrifice it is because someone has suffered before you. If you
sacrifice without success it is because someone will succeed after || Rick
Joyner
The Bible parable says that while men slept, the enemy
sowed tares among the wheat. A boy who rises at 4:30 to deliver papers is
considered a go-getter, but to urge our young people to rise at 5:30 to pray is
considered fanaticism. We must once again wear the harness of discipline. There
is no other way || Leonard Ravenhill
To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least
recognized need of the human soul || Simone Weil
Knowing that we are fulfilling God's purpose is the only
thing that really gives rest to the restless human heart || Chuck Colson
The invitation is not, “Give Me thine head.” The
invitation is, “My Son, give Me thine heart” || John G. Lake
At the back of it there lies the central citadel of
obstinacy: I will not give up my right to myself--the thing God intends you to
give up if ever you are going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ || Oswald
Chambers
Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain
it cannot come true unless man cooperates || Stella Terrill Mann
... I gave as an offering my all to Him Who had won me
and saved me, my property, my fame, my health, my very words... In considering
all these things, I preferred Christ. And the words of God were made sweet as
honeycombs to me, and I cried after knowledge and lifted up my voice for
wisdom. There was moreover the moderation of anger, the curbing of the tongue,
the restraint of the eyes, the discipline of the belly, and the trampling under
foot of the glory which clings to the earth || Gregory of Nazianzus
Let no one imagine that he will lose anything of human
dignity by this voluntary sell-out of his all to his God. He does not by this
degrade himself as a man; rather he finds his right place of high honor as one
made in the image of his Creator. His deep disgrace lay in his moral
derangement, his unnatural usurpation of the place of God. His honor will be
proved by restoring again that stolen throne. In exalting God over all, he
finds his own highest honor upheld || A.W Tozer
It is the Father's life, and the Father's life alone,
that ever lives the Christian life. It is the Father's life, and Father's life
alone, which will live the Christian life in you. Embrace a formula or a list
in order to "live the Christian life," and you are doomed to
frustration || Gene Edwards
Do not scrutinize so closely whether you are doing much
or little, ill or well, so long as what you do is not sinful and that you are
heartily seeking to do everything for God. Try as far as you can to do
everything well, but when it is done, do not think about it. Try, rather, to
think of what is to be done next. Go on simply in the Lord's way, and do not
torment yourself. We ought to hate our faults, but with a quiet, calm hatred;
not pettishly and anxiously || Francis de Sales
If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will
in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead || William Law
Until you have given up yourself to Him you will not have
a real self... || C.S. Lewis
It is only by a total death to self we can be lost in God
|| Jeanne Guyon
All we have - ourselves - to Him, and if that be all,
that is enough || Watchman Nee
