You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it.

Man is not God but hath God's end to serve, A master to obey, a course to take, Somewhat to cast off, somewhat to become. Grant this, then man must pass from old to new, From vain to real, from mistake to fact, From what once seemed good, to what now proves best. —Robert Browning

But the most impossible thing for you is to be so closely identified with the Lord that there is literally nothing of your old life remaining.

Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer—"O Lord God, You know" (37:3). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, "Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.

No one enters into the experience of entire sanctification without going through a "white funeral" - the burial of the old life

The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being.

The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.

Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory?

Dec. 31… "Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea.

The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God—such a trust that we no longer want God's blessings, but only want God Himself.

Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been.