the.slow.down

Some thoughts that stuck with me….

Preface:
“Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is a proof of this.”
- Wesley

1 - Following Hard After God
“The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.” p. 13

“If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity. Now, as always, God discovers Himself to “babes” and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him.” p. 17

2 - The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing
“There is within the human heart a tough, fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets things with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns my and mine look innocent enough in print but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do.” p. 22

“Let us never forget that a truth such as this cannot be learned by rote as one would learn the facts of physical science. They must be experienced before we can really know them. We must, in our hearts, live through Abraham’s harsh and bitter experiences if we would know the blessedness which follows them. The ancient curse will not go out painlessly; the tough, old miser within us will not lie down and die in obedience to our command. he must be torn out of our heart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony and blood like a tooth from the jaw.” p. 29

This entry was posted Friday, November 17th, 2006 at 9:34 am and is filed under out of my brain. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.