This Sunday’s readings: James 1:9-15

Reflections

No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in, and make no effort to escape from.
~ George Eliot, Daniel Deronda

The greatest temptations are not those that solicit our consent to obvious sin, but those that offer us great evils masking as the greatest goods.
~ Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

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There is something deeper than obedience because of duty, and that is obedience because of devotion.
~ W. W. Wiersbe, 1929-2019, American pastor

For you will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.
~ C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour … If at my convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?
~ Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

There’s too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will.
~ Agatha Christie

Ultimately, it is the desire, not the desired, that we love.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

[T]he Will is always determined by the strongest motive…
~ Jonathan Edwards, 1703-1758, Freedom Of The Will

No one can get Joy by merely asking for it. It is one of the ripest fruits of the Christian life, and, like all fruits, must be grown.
~ Henry Drummond, 1851-1897, Evangelist, Biologist, Writer

This Sunday’s readings: James 1:9-12

Reflections

“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
~ Jeremiah 9

Thankfully, God has given us His self-revelation in the Bible. And anyone who takes the Bible seriously soon discovers that the issue is not to begin with us as human beings. … You need to begin with God. ~ Conrad Mbewe, Zambian pastor & author

None of us starts off with a pure internal ‘kit’ of impulses, hopes and fears. If you are true to ‘yourself’, you will end up a complete mess. The challenge is to take the ‘self’ you find within, and to choose wisely which impulses and desires to follow, and which ones to resist.
~ N.T. Wright, Scholar, former Bishop of Durham

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If you have things you’re unwilling to lose, evil will have power over you. … Most people want to grow, but the price of growth is pain. … Christ never intended to cover up the dark side of life, but rather to illuminate a path through it.
~ Dan B. Allender, Author/Psychologist

“If you are poor in spirit (feel far from God), mourning, meek (humble, restraining temper), hunger and thirst for righteousness, and merciful…God’s favor is on you. … If dependency on God is the goal, weakness is the advantage.”
~ Lecrae Devaughn Moore, 1979- , hip hop artist and songwriter

Contentment is submitting and taking pleasure in God’s [will]. A contented heart looks to and submits to God’s [will], that is, he sees the wisdom of God in everything. In his submission, he sees His sovereignty; but what makes him take pleasure in God’s wisdom? [It is this:] the Lord knows how to order things better than I. I only see things at present, but the Lord sees a great while from now.
~ Jeremiah Burroughs, 1599-1646, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves into His hands and let themselves be formed by His grace.
~ Ignatius of Loyola, Letter to Ascanio Colonna 1543