The Christian Faith

Yes, another Charles Spurgeon quote...what can I say? =)
This quote is taken from the book Beautiful Fight by Gary Thomas...just started reading it...already recommend it! He's basically talking about Nominalism (in name only!). ;)

“The grand point is not to wear the garb, nor use the brogue of religion, but to possess the life of God within, and feel and think as Jesus would have done because of that inner life. Small is the value of external religion unless it is the outcome of a life within.”
~Charles Spurgeon

I love how God sovereignly intertwines messages on Sundays with quotes from our devotions during the week! I am so challenged to NOT let Christianity become simply a "robe" that I put on when it's convenient, but to let my faith be as if (taken from It's A Wonderful Life) I swallowed the moon, and the light from the moon would shine through my eyes, my mouth, the pores in my skin, so that when people look at ME they're only seeing the Light! By believing in Christ and surrendering my life to Him, I am no longer my own. My life does not belong to me, meaning I must rely on Someone else.

Christ Is My All In All!

Yay! I'm so excited I get to start this back up! =) Today's quote is from Charles Spurgeon, but I found it at the end of Alistair Begg's Pathway To Freedom book (which I finished today!). Oh, and if you've never read that book, it is definitely a "must read". This particular quote was inserted in the Epilogue and was basically explaining everything he had just written "in a nutshell".

“It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, ‘Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.’ All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that ‘Christ is all in all.’ Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you-it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope; look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus.’ Keep your eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon your mind; when you wake in the morning look to him; when you lie down at night look to him. Do not let your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail you.”~C.H. Spurgeon