for you that activity is wrong

"If you can't bow your head and sincerely thank God for a movie or a symphony or a newscast or a novel--then for you that activity is wrong. Stop arguing with yourself and move onto something else."

* Lord willing, prayer will be the subject for September's entries.

why

"Why would I want to gain enjoyment or soak my mind in the sins that Jesus shed his blood to free us from?"

everything

"Every choice, every thought, every conversation, every deed done to glorify God will lead to a harvest of eternal life."

grow in holiness

"Growing in holiness is not all about the things you should avoid; it's about the wonderful things you can and should be doing instead."

wonder why

"Some sow to the flesh everyday and wonder why they do not reap happiness."

turn away and find

"When we turn away from sin--we're turning toward true satisfaction and joy in God."

satisfaction in God

"The key to holiness is satisfaction in God--faith that He is more to be desired than anything this world has to offer."

peace

"Peace cannot be manufactured. It is a divinely natural thing. It comes through a fusion of faith and fidelity. There is one criterion: the more you obey the more it develops. If you disobey, it tends to disappear. Isaiah puts this beyond dispute: 'There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked' (57:21)."

apologize

"Never ruin an apology with an excuse."

as thou wilt

"O use me Lord, use even me
Just as thou wilt, and when and where,
Until thy blessed face I see,
Thy rest, thy joy, thy glory share."

*Each month's quotes will have a subject/theme starting September

if it obscures your awareness

"It doesn't matter what something is rated, or how popular it is, or how seemingly innocent it appears. If it hardens your heart toward God, if it obscures your awareness of the ugliness of sin and the holiness of God, if it takes the edge off your spiritual hunger, then it's sin."

together

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

true repentance

"True repentance is a change of direction.
1) Pray
2) Identify the sin
3) Embrace God's Word
4) Take steps to stop
5) Replace sin with righteousness
6) Seek friends and family
7) Review"

there's a right kind of culture

"A thoughtless, selfish, snappish, fretful, overbearing, and dictatorial young woman might take prizes at school, may excel at music, and travel round the world, but the more she knows, the less culture she has. The commonist country girl, with good health, an open brain, and a warm, unselfish, patient, self-controlled disposition, is a hundredfold more cultured than the boarding-school graduate, who is fractious with her mother, cross with her sisters, or knows too much to associate with other girls. Disposition is culture. Health is the soil, intelligence the branches, and disposition the leaves, buds and blossoms - the robe of living beauty, fragrance, and sweetness with which a young woman is to clothe her life. Without heart-culture the finest mental culture is like a tree with nothing but cold, lifeless limbs."

must pray

"If you worry, you didn't pray. If you pray, don't worry."

continuing ed

"There is such a thing as adult education, and we may learn from everybody and everything until the day of our death, so that nothing is more ridiculous than to speak of a girl's education being 'finished' when she leaves school."

little children as flowers

"I want to see little children adorning every home as flowers adorn every meadow and every wayside. I want to see them welcomed to the homes they enter, to see their parents less and less selfish and more and more loving because they have come. I want to see God's precious gifts accepted, and not frowned upon and refused."

a servant's heart

"A young maiden who is practicing a servant's heart feels worthless when she is unable to serve."

a hymn of praise

"O praise our great and gracious Lord,
And call upon His Name;
To strains of joy tune every chord,
His mighty acts proclaim;
Tell how He led His chosen race
To Canaan's promised land;
Tell how His covenant of grace
Unchanged shall ever stand.

He gave the shadowing cloud by day,
The moving fire by night;
To guide His Israel on their way,
He made their darkness light;
And have not we a sure retreat,
A Saviour ever nigh,
The same clear light to guide our feet,
The Day-spring from on high?

We too have Manna from above,
The Bread that came from Heav'n;
To us the same kind hand of love
Hath living waters given;
A Rock we have, from whence the spring
In rich abundance flows:
That Rock is Christ, our Priest, our King,
Who life and health bestows."

to obey is better

"To obey is better than sacrifice; and to hearken, than the fat of rams." {I Samuel 16:22}

things to remember

"Remember:
1) Sin takes small steps.
2) Disobedience deliberately delays obedience.
3) Righteousness requires reasonable service."