The necessary result of God’s saving work is a transformed person. When a soul is redeemed, Christ gives a new heart (cf. Ezekiel 36:26). Implicit in that change of heart is a new set of desires – a desire to please God, to obey, and to reflect His righteousness. If such a change does not occur, there is no reason to think genuine salvation has taken place.-John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus, © John MacArthur, 1988, p. 96.

Great hopes make everything great possible.- Benjamin Franklin

Jesus Christ can so interfere in a human life that it can
look up and say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all
His benefits," even in the midst of sorrow or suffering.-Robert Pierce (1914-1978), founder and president, World Vision, in a private communication from World Vision

Oh, what a blessed and comfortable thing to be known by Christ, known and marked as His friends, His relations, His dear children, His beloved family, His purchased possession! Here we are often cast down, often discouraged, often persecuted, often spoken against, often misunderstood—but let us take courage, our Lord and Master knows all. A day shall come when we shall no longer see through a glass darkly—but face to face—a day when we shall know even as we are now known; for the union between us and our Redeemer, which we so often feel disposed to doubt, shall then be clearly seen, and we shall no more go out to battle.~ J.C. Ryle,The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “The Privileges of the True Christian”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 107.

I can let Christ grip me; but I cannot grip him. I love...
to sit on Christ's knee; but I cannot set my feet to the
ground, for afflictions bring the cramp upon my faith. All I
now do is to hold out a lame faith to Christ, like a beggar
holding out a stump, instead of an arm or leg, and cry, Lord
Jesus, work a miracle.- Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel
Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Feb. 9, 1637, p. 178

Temptation, in and of itself, is not sin. This is critically important, especially for those who suffer from an overly sensitive and tender conscience. Jesus was repeatedly tempted (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15; Mt. 4), but he was sinless. We must resist thinking that we are sub-Christian or sub-spiritual simply because we are frequently tempted. It was the great reformer Martin Luther who first said, “You can't prevent the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” His point is that a temptation only becomes a sin when you acquiesce to it, as it were “fondle” it and “enjoy” it.-Sam Storms, Tactics of Temptation, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com

Hope is a vigorous principle; it sets the head and heart to work, and animates a man to do his utmost. It makes a seeming impossibility give way.- Jeremy Collier

Kind words produce their own image in men's souls; and a beautiful image it is. They soothe and quiet and comfort the hearer. They shame him out of his sour, morose, unkind feelings. We have not yet begun to use kind words in such abundance as they ought to be used.-Blaise Pascal

Gold is a living god and rules in scorn,
All earthly things but virtue.- Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792 - 1822

Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the Prodigal Son who had fallen most low, could still be saved. The bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle again.-Soren Kierkegaard

There is no use for the incantation that Islam is a religion of peace. The incantation is false; Islam, like other religions, is theologically a religion of war and a religion of peace. In our time, it is a religion in distress, fought over, hijacked at times, by a militant breed at war with the modern world. -FOUAD AJAMI

Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries
of poverty, sickness, of captivity, would, without
this comfort, be insupportable. --Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) _The Rambler_ [1750-1752], Number 67

Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us. - Henri Matisse, 1869 - 1954

Sometimes one has simply to endure a period of depression for what it may hold of illumination if one can live through it, attentive to what it exposes or demands.
- May Sarton, 1912 - 1995

Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate. - Thomas Aquinas, 1225 - 1274

The person who takes the banal and ordinary and illuminates it in a new way can terrify. We do not want our ideas changed. - Frank Herbert

CAUTION! Non-exposure to the Son will cause burning.

My life goes on in endless song
• Above earth's lamentations,
• I hear the real, though far-off hymn
• That hails a new creation.
•
• Through all the tumult and the strife
• I hear it's music ringing,
• It sounds an echo in my soul.
• How can I keep from singing?
•
• While though the tempest loudly roars,
• I hear the truth, it liveth.
• And though the darkness 'round me close,
• Songs in the night it giveth.
•
• No storm can shake my inmost calm,
• While to that rock I'm clinging.
• Since love is lord of heaven and earth
• How can I keep from singing?
•
• When tyrants tremble in their fear
• And hear their death knell ringing,
• When friends rejoice both far and near
• How can I keep from singing?
•
• In prison cell and dungeon vile
• Our thoughts to them are winging,
• When friends by shame are undefiled
• How can I keep from singing?
• Eva Cassidy, How Can I Keep From Singing


There is a net of love by which you can catch souls. - Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
     In Martin H. Manser's _The Westminister Collection
       of Christian Quotations_ [2001], "Evangelism")

The biggest disease today is not leprosy or
tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of
being unwanted, uncared for and
deserted by everybody.
     --Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
      _The Observer_ [October 3, 1971]

If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither
praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.
     --Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
      (In Martin H. Manser's _The Westminister Collection
       of Christian Quotations_ [2001], "Humility")

I see God in every human being.  When I wash the
leper's wounds I feel I am nursing the Lord himself.
     --Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
      _Guardian_ [September 6, 1997], "Obituaries"

Hope is not wishful thinking, nor fanciful imagination. Hope is the realism of the man of faith who knows that there is a line of meaningful development from the past, through the present, into the future. Hopelessness is the true condition of hell.-Joshua Haberman

"For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory!" 2 Corinthians 4:17
Oh Christians! under your greatest troubles--lie your greatest treasures!
"It is good for me to be afflicted--that I might learn Your statutes!" Psalm 119:71
By the greatest affliction--God teaches us the greatest instruction. When a believer lies under God's hand which afflicts him--he lies in God's heart which loves him!
Afflictions are good--but not pleasant.
Sin is pleasant--but not good.
There is more evil in a drop of sin--than there is in a sea of afflictions!
God by affliction, separates the sin He hates so deadly--from the soul He loves so dearly!
The believer studies more how to adorn the cross--than how to avoid the cross! Tell me, oh believer, is not Christ with His cross--better than the world with its crown?
"God disciplines us for our good--that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews 12:10
Suppose, Christian, that the furnace is hot, seven times hotter--it is but to make you seven times more holy! Fiery trials--make golden Christians! Sin has brought many a believer unto suffering--and suffering has kept many a believer from sinning! It is better to be preserved in brine--than to rot in honey!
"I know, O Lord, that Your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness You have afflicted me!" Psalm 119:75
William Dyer, Fiery Trials--Make Golden Christians!."Christ's Famous Titles"

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination. - Elizabeth Hardwick, 1916 - 2007

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 1689 - 1762

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. - Richard Steele, 1672 - 1729