Walking in God’s Will

He who walks with integrity walks securely…” ~ Proverbs 10:9

Scripture often uses the concept of walking as a metaphor for our life. Our “walk” with Christ is literally our “life” lived in Christ. And as our Proverbs states here, he who walks, that is lives their life, with integrity, walks securely. Why is this? It is because God would have His people live by His character, His integrity. We should walk as “living sacrifices, holy and blameless” (Rom. 12:1-2). And as our life conforms more to Christ, there is safety and security knowing you’re walking in the will of God.

~ apl

With Ease & Joy

“If each year should see one fault rooted out from us, we should go quickly on to perfection. But on the contrary, we often feel that we were better and holier in the beginning of our conversion than after many years of profession. Zeal and progress ought to increase day by day; yet now it seemeth a great thing if one is able to retain some portion of his first ardour. If we would put some slight stress on ourselves at the beginning, then afterwards we should be able to do all things with ease and joy.”

~ Thomas a’ Kempis

Let Us Lay The Axe

“If we look upon our progress in religion as a progress only in outward observances and forms, our devoutness will soon come to an end. But let us lay the axe to the very root of our life, that, being cleansed from [worldly] affections, we may possess our souls in peace.”

~ Thomas a’ Kempis

It Is Not Deep Words

“What doth it profit thee to enter into deep discussion concerning the Holy Trinity, if thou lack humility, and be thus displeasing to the Trinity? For verily it is not deep words that make a man holy and upright; it is a good life which maketh a man dear to God. I had rather feel contrition than be skillful in the definition thereof. If thou knewest the whole Bible, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what should all this profit thee without the love and grace of God? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, save to love God, and Him only to serve. That is the highest wisdom, to cast the world behind us, and to reach forward to the heavenly kingdom.”

~ Thomas a’ Kempis

When I’m Not Praying

“Our daily life in the world is the test of our communication with God in prayer… Life is a whole. The hour of prayer is only a small part of daily life… The effective prayer of faith comes from a life given up to the will and the love of God. My prayer is answered by God, not as a result of what I try to be when praying, but because of what I am when I’m not praying.”

– Andrew Murray (1828-1917)

A Ready Heart

“Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world?  It is not he who prays the most or fasts the most, it is not he who lives the most, but it is he who is always thankful to God, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it.”

~ William Law (1686-1761)

Just As Necessary

In what, then, are justification and sanctification alike? (a) Both proceed originally from the free grace of God. It is of His gift alone that believers are justified or sanctified at all. (b) Both are part of that great work of salvation which Christ, in the eternal covenant, has undertaken on behalf of His people. Christ is the fountain of life, from which pardon and holiness both flow. The root of each is Christ. (c) Both are to be found in the same persons. Those who are justified are always sanctified, and those who are sanctified are always justified. God has joined them together, and they cannot be put asunder. (d) Both begin at the same time. The moment a person begins to be a justified person, he also begins to be a sanctified person. He may not feel it, but it is a fact. (e) Both are alike necessary to salvation. No one ever reached heaven without a renewed heart as well as forgiveness, without the Spirit’s grace as well as the blood of Christ, without a meetness for eternal glory as well as a title. The one is just as necessary as the other.

~ J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Proof of His Fidelity

“Christ is to be answerable for all those that are given to Him, at the last day, and therefore we need not doubt but that He will certainly employ all the power of His Godhead to secure and save all those that He must be accountable for. Christ’s charge and care of these that are given to Him, extends even to the very day of their resurrection, that He may not so much as lose their dust, but gather it together again, and raise it up in glory to be a proof of His fidelity; for, saith He, “I shall lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day.””

~ Thomas Brooks (1608-1680)

Humble The Mind

“As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp Him, He could not be infinite. If we could understand Him, He could not be divine… No subject of contemplation will tend to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.”

~ Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)