Quotes

10 May 2023

Adversary (Satan)

A fable is told of three apprentice devils that were coming to Earth to finish their apprenticeship. They were talking to Satan, the king of the devils, about their plans to tempt and ruin humanity. The first said, “I will tell them there’s no God.” The Devil said, “No, that is not going to work. People know there is a God.” The second one said, “I will tell them there’s no Hell.” “No,” the Devil said, “Most people, deep down in their hearts, know there is a Hell and a judgment to come.” The third said, “I will tell them there’s no hurry.” “Go,” said Satan, “and you will ruin them by the thousands.”

Screwtape

(Paraphrased)

The Enemy’s goal is to have the patient focus on what he does. It’s our job to make him focus on the results. - Screwtape

No te engañes, Orugario. Nuestra causa nunca está tan en peligro comocuando un humano, que ya no desea pero todavía se propone hacer la voluntad de nuestroEnemigo, contempla un universo del que toda traza de Él parece haber desaparecido, y sepregunta por qué ha sido abandonado, y todavía obedece. - Screwtape

El hombre que verdadera y desinteresadamentedisfruta de algo, por ello mismo, y sin importarle un comino lo que digan los demás, estáprotegido, por eso mismo, contra algunos de nuestros métodos de ataque más sutiles. - Screwtape

En una palabra, el futuro es, de todas las cosas, la menosparecida a la eternidad. Es la parte más completamente temporal del tiempo, porque elpasado está petrificado y ya no fluye, y el presente está totalmente iluminado por los rayoseternos. De ahí el impulso que hemos dado a esquemas mentales como la EvoluciónCreativa, el Humanismo Científico, o el comunismo, que fijan los efectos del hombre en elfuturo, en el corazón mismo de la temporalidad. De ahí que casi todos los vicios tengan susraíces en el futuro. La gratitud mira al pasado y el amor al presente; el miedo, la avaricia, lalujuria y la ambición miran hacia delante. - Screwtape

En una palabra, el futuro es, de todas las cosas, la menosparecida a la eternidad. Es la parte más completamente temporal del tiempo, porque elpasado está petrificado y ya no fluye, y el presente está totalmente iluminado por los rayoseternos. De ahí el impulso que hemos dado a esquemas mentales como la EvoluciónCreativa, el Humanismo Científico, o el comunismo, que fijan los efectos del hombre en elfuturo, en el corazón mismo de la temporalidad. De ahí que casi todos los vicios tengan susraíces en el futuro. La gratitud mira al pasado y el amor al presente; el miedo, la avaricia, la lujuria y la ambición miran hacia delante. - Screwtape

Conviction

We love the truth when it enlightens us, but we hate it when it convicts us - Augustine, church father

Fear

It is not for us to calculate our victory or fear our defeat, but to do our duty and leave the rest in God’s hands. - Alan Keyes, ambassador

Sadness

Jane Kenyon’s remarkable poem, “Having it out with Melancholy,” posits two “God” problems associated with depression and our attempts at care. First, depression ruins our “manners toward God” because it teaches us “toexist without gratitude,” and tempts us to answer the purpose of ourexistence as “simply to wait for death,” since “the pleasures of earth are overrated.”

Idolatry

God doesn’t want to ‘Christianize’ your life, but to crucify your dreams, desires, ambitions…and to seek His. - Tom Landry

Kingdom Mindset

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. - Jim Elliot

Picture 269 people entering eternity through a plane crash in the Sea of Japan. Before the crash, there are anoted politician, a millionaire corporate executive, a playboy and his playmate, and a missionary kid on his way back from visiting grandparents. After the crash, they stand before God utterly stripped of their MasterCards, checkbooks, credit lines, image clothes, how-to-succeed books, and Hilton reservations. Here are the politician, the executive, the playboy and the missionary kid, all on level ground with nothing, absolutely nothing, in their hands, possessing only what they brought in their hearts. How absurd and tragic the lover of money will seem on that day — like a man who spends his whole life collecting train tickets and in the end is so weighed down by the collection that he misses the last train. - John Piper

Money

If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them. - CS Lewis

Luke Thoughts

Deliverance

When the brothel is on fire, even the pretty girls have to run out . . . and some of the really gorgeous blondes stay put.

Humility

Humility is much less confessing to God that you are lesser. This is quite facile. No, it is acting with complete servitude toward God when the flesh tugs you in the alternate direction.

Pain

God delivers us with severe mercy; Jesus is enough of an example. But in the wake of such severe mercy, we obtain peace.

On the outside, everyone is put together. On the inside, they all are as hopeless, broken, sad, self-conscious and anxious as you are.

In every suffering, through every trial, through each tribulation, God plants some seed of victory, whether it be endurance, perseverance, or a lesson your heart was too hard to receive other than by a forced softening via the rod.

Wrong incisions and right incisions are equally painful, but the LORD never makes a wrong incision in the lives of His children. That’s why we should trust the LORD

Prayer

Sometimes all you need to hear and see is to shut your eyes and sit in silence, your sole focus the humble, mighty waves of the Lord’s presence.

When I’m tempted, I like to immediately consult God and ask Him what I should do. Generally, He gives me an answer that I don’t like. Then, I ask why? He gives me a logical response, which makes His opinion more challenging to resist. Finally, how? And the response is generally the same. “Through Me.”

Perserverance

The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat

Priorities

A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death. - Newt Gingrich, US House Rep

Proof of God

The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible - Einstein

Risk

Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. - West Point Cadet

Service

A Servant: Someone who gets excited aboutmaking other people successful. - Bill Gothard

Sharing the Gospel

I love the simplicity of this one!

There is a correlation between how many students you share the gospel with & how many become Christians - Shadrach

Taking Action

There is no reason ever to have the same thought twice, unless you like having that thought.