We learn to tread more warily, to trust less to our own strength, to have lower thoughts of ourselves, and higher thoughts of Him; in which two last particulars I apprehend what the Scripture means by a growth of grace does properly consist. Both are increasing in the lively Christian: —-every day shows him more of his own heart, and more of the power, sufficiency, compassion, and grace of his adorable Redeemer; but neither will be complete till we get to Heaven. I

This was the lesson Paul learnt, to rejoice in His own poverty and emptiness, that the power of Christ might rest upon Him. Could Paul have done anything, Jesus would not have had the honour of doing all. This way of being saved entirely by grace, from first to last, is contrary to our natural wills

Failure does not shape you; the way you respond to failure shapes you.

Did you wake up feeling fragile? Read the bible till you find a promise strong enough to carry you through the day.

As we grow older and our bodies weaken, we must learn from the Puritan pastor Richard Baxter (who died in 1691) to redouble our efforts to find strength from spiritual joy, not natural supplies.

My experience is that the absence of firm prior resolve results in regular rationalization.

Therefore, the essence of our work as humans must be that it is done in conscious reliance on God's power, and in conscious quest of God's pattern of excellence, and in deliberate aim to reflect God's glory.

Steve Halliday believed in the book from the beginning. If he hadn't asked to see the sermons in 1983, there may be no Desiring God.

Make this the year you stop complaining about your weaknesses, and instead search for their God-given purpose.

Only the gospel can do two seemingly contradictory things: destroy pride and increase courage. Destroy self-exaltation and increase confidence. Destroy the pushiness of self-assertion and deliver from the paralysis of self-doubt.

Christian, be a Christian: live by faith; walk by the Spirit; serve in the strength that God supplies.

After escaping from Paris and finally leaving France entirely, Calvin spent his exile in Basel, Switzerland, between 1534 and 1536. To redeem the time, "he devoted himself to the study of Hebrew." (Imagine such a thing! Would any pastor today, exiled from his church and country, and living in mortal danger, study Hebrew? What has become of the vision of ministry that such a thing seems unthinkable today?)