Suffering With Christ

When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men; in the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised; do you dare complain of anything? He had enemies and defamers; do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if nor adversity tests it? How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with him.

The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A Kempis 

Habits

God never makes character; God puts into us the disposition of His Son, and on that basis we have to form character. As we form the habit of doing things in accordance with the disposition of Jesus Christ we are backed by inward supplies of God's grace. Every habit begins with difficulty. Habit is a mechanical process of which we have ceased to become conscious. A man who is right with God does the right thing instinctively.

Still Higher For His Highest, Oswald Chambers

The Lord's Purpose

Our Lord's purpose is not the development of a person - His purpose is to make a person exactly like himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what he pours through us that really counts. God's purpose is not simply to make us into plump, beautiful grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us.

My Utmost For His Highest, September 2

A Christ-like Vocation

Everybody has a vocation to some form of life work. But behind that and deeper than that, everybody has a vocation to be a person, to be fully and deeply a human being, to be Christ-like. And the second is more important than the first. It is more important to be a great person than a great teacher, butcher, or candlestick maker. And if the only chance of succeeding in the second is to fail in the first, the failure, from God's point of view, is fruitful.

The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning

Growth In Grace

Growth in grace is something that is required of us all... Growth in grace cannot be measured in the way that physical growth can, but it can be and often will be tested. Whether we have been growing or not will be revealed by our response to times of crisis and unexpected pressure. The more we have grown, the steadier we shall stand, and the more resolutely we shall obey.

Growth in grace does not take place at the same speed in every life, nor produce the same experiences, because each of us is different. However, the goal is the same for us all - that we shall bear the full fruit of the Spirit in our lives and become fully like our Master.

In God's Presence, April 11

The Imitation Of Christ

We are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ.

The Imitation Of Christ, Thomas A Kempis

Preparation

God is preparing His heroes; and when opportunity comes, He can fit them into their place in a moment, and the world will wonder where they came from.

Let the Holy Ghost prepare you, dear friend, by the discipline of life; and when the last finishing touch has been given to the marble, it will be easy for God to put it on the pedestal, and fit it into its niche.

Streams In The Desert, April 28

To Be In Christ

To be "in Christ," Paul told the Philipians, means to have in you the mind of Christ Jesus, to think as Christ thought, to have the ideals Christ had, to throb with the desires that filled Christ's heart, to replace all your natural actions to persons, events and circumstances with the response of Jesus Christ. In a word, a christocentirc life means to live in the heart of Jesus, to share His tastes and aversions, to have the same insterests, affections and attitudes, to be motivated in everything by His loving compassion. It means making the habitual thought patterns of Jesus Christ so completely your own that truly, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."

The Relentless Tenderness Of Jesus, Brennan Manning

Holiness

Holiness is not optional. Sanctification is God's will for all Christians.  It is a matter of obeying instructions which come with God's call to salvation; it starts with the heart and is then expressed in conduct...

Holiness involves loving action toward both Christians and non-Christians.  Holiness is more than abstaining from all evil; Christian love is the way separation to the Christian God must show itself.

In God's Presence by JI Packer

We are not suns to burn others with our 'self-goodness,' just moons to reflect His clear light.       Corrie Ten Boom

A holy Life will produce the deepest impression.  Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine.     DL Moody

Rediscovering Holiness

Holiness means, among other things, forming good habits, breaking bad habits, resisting temptations to sin, and controlling yourself when provoked. No one ever managed to do any of these things without effort and conflict. How do we form the Christ-like habits which Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit?  By setting ourselves, deliberately, to do the Christ-like thing in each situation...

Love as the Christ-like reaction to people's malice

Joy as the Christ-like reaction to depressing circumstances

Peace as the Christ-like reaction to troubles, threats, and invitations to anxiety

Patience as the Christ-like reaction to all that is maddening

Kindness as the Christ-like reaction to all who are unkind

Goodness as the Christ-like reaction to bad people and bad behavior

Faithfulness and Gentleness as the Christ-like reaction to lies and fury

Self-control as the Christ-like reaction to every situation that goads you to lose your cool and hit out.

Rediscovering Holiness by J.I.Packer

Service vs. Devotion

Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ.  The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him.  It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him.  The goal of the call of God is sanctification, not simply that we should do something for Him.  We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles.  Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?

My Utmost For His Highest, January 18

Conformed To His Purpose

Jesus doesn't take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work - so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose.

My Utmost For His Highest, January 12

Chiseling Our Souls

God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other sorts of affliction, as his chisel for sculpting our souls. Weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away.

Living with your complaint uncomplainingly, and remaining kind, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel less than good, is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace in your life.

In God's Presence by J.I. Packer, March 19

Becoming Real

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath..."Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, and not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real...It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to those who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Improving Your Serve, by Chuck Swindoll