Anybody who does not feel that he would be much happier were he only permitted to understand and obey the commandments of Jesus in a straightforward literal way, and e.g. surrender all his possessions at his bidding rather than cling to them, has no right to this paradoxical interpretation of Jesus' words. We have to hold the two together in mind all the time.

Therefore let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers' (Rom 13.1). The Christian must not be drawn to the bearers of high office; his calling is to stay below. The higher power are over him, and he must remain under them. The world exercises dominion, the Christian serves, and thus he shares the earthly lot of his Lord, who became a servant. 'For there is no power but of God.' (Mark 10.42-45) These words are addressed to the Christians, not to the powers.

If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray.

Life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not using him for your own purpose.

Tell them that everything in their life is going to have to bend to His will. Repent and believe.

If the life we live in this world is wholly for Christ, it is a life of daily surrender.

God is not a supporting actor in our life movie. We exist for his purposes, not the other way around.

God had brought a "crooked" event into my life, and I became acutely aware that only He could straighten it. Could I trust God whether or not He

Yet, I acknowledge it often seems more difficult to trust God than to obey Him.

I've noticed that two prayers in particular are among the riskiest a person can pray. [...] "God, open my eyes to who you really are, and then I'll open my life to you." [...] "God, here I am, fully submitted to you; use me as you have never used me before.

A man is his tallest when he is down on his knees in prayer.

Holiness, on the contrary, is the total denial of the separative self, in its creditable no less than its discreditable aspects, and the abandonment of the will to God.