Random Quotes & Articles to Provide Food for Thought
Just think of God giving His Son to come and pass through all the temptations that come to you, that He might be able to sympathise, and then lifting Him up to the throne of omnipotence that He might be able to succour, and say if you have not reason to trust Him fully. He was made like to us in temptation, that we might become like Him in victory. –Andrew Murray in The Holiest of All
Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has nothing (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know that they have done anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness. –C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
Now remember that Christ’s demand of self-surrender, self-sacrifice, continuous effort, rigid limitation, does not come from any mere false asceticism, but is inevitable in the very nature of the case, and is made also by all worthy work. How much every one of us has had to shear off our lives, how many tastes we have had to allow to go ungratified, how many capacities undeveloped, in how many directions we have had to hedge up our way, and not do, or be this, that, or the other; if we have ever done anything in any direction worthy the doing! Concentration and voluntary limitation, in order to fix all powers on the supreme aim which judgment and conscience have enjoined is the condition of all excellence, of all sanity of living, and eminently of all Christian discipleship. –Alexander MacLaren
We can reach our world if we will. The greatest lack today is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer. Without increasing the number of Christian workers or their financial support, we could see multiplied results if we would only multiply prayer. –Wesley Duewel in Touching the World Through Prayer
These are days when a premium is set upon doing, rather on on being or quietly meditating. We are what we think; therefore it is very important to regulate our thoughts. And there is no better subject to apply our minds to than divine things.
By quiet meditation I don’t mean just reading; because if all we do is read, then our mind becomes full of other men’s thoughts. Meditating is an exercise of the mind, and, like other parts of us, the mind can only gain strength by exercise. We must read, yes; but we must not stop there. We must chew over what has been read, and weigh it all in the balances of our mind and judgment–learn to discern between good and evil.
Meditation also involves prayer.
A meditating man is one who is acquainted with the thoughts and opinions of other men, but who has opinions and conclusions of his own. He knows what he believes, and he knows why he believes it. This gives him a certain authority–an authority that can never belong to a mere parrot. The result is that the meditating man (assuming that his meditations are upon the Scriptures) is loyal to truth, not to any system of doctrine or to the writings or sayings of this or that person. –EC
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. –Thomas A. Edison
I came across this story in God’s Missionary Standard a few weeks ago:
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods. “What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!” he said to himself. As he continued walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a 7- foot grizzly charging towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear raising his paw to take a swipe at him. At that instant the atheist cried out: “Dear Lord, help me!…” Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. It was then that a bright light shone upon the man and a voice came out of the sky saying: “You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don’t exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?” The atheist looked directly into the light, “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?” “Very well,” said the voice. The light went out. And the sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke, “Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful.” –Unknown
Welcome to a brand new blog. Sometimes in my work I come across stories or short quotations that make me stop and think (or smile) for a few moments and I’d like others to share those moments with me. However, I don’t like sending emailed stories and quotations to people who may already be tired of the amount of unsolicited messages they are receiving. So, the alternative is to post them here. If you want to read them, all well and good: you just go to cookbits.com. If you don’t want to read them, that’s fine too. It’s all about choice. Thanks for stopping by.