John Calvin: We are not our own. We are God’s.

“We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to our flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God’s: let us live for him and die for him. We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God’s: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal.”

John Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion (III.7.1) as quoted by Sung Wook Chung in “Taking Up Our Cross: Calvin’s Cross Theology of Sanctification,” in John Calvin and Evangelical Theology: Legacy and Prospect. ed. Sung Wook Chung (Louisville, KY: WJK, 2009) 165.

“Before the Lord God made man upon the earth, He first prepared for him by creating a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and delight. They were made for man’s uses, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was God, without, a thousand gifts which God had showered on him.

But sin had introduced complications and has made those very gifts of God a potential source of ruin to the soul.

Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and “things” were allowed to enter. Within the human heart, “things” have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer…This is not a mere metaphor, but an accurate analysis of our real spiritual trouble.”

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) in The Pursuit of God, (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1982) 21-22.

“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983) as recounted in Trusting Relationship: How to Live in Intimacy with Jesus by Joseph Gillespie (Bloomington, IN: Westbow, 2012) 16.

“Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit’s power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power.”

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) as recounted in The Prayer Motivator compiled and edited by Daniel Whyte III (Dallas: Torch Legacy, 2010) 91.

“Another time Saint Anthony was traveling in the desert he found a plate of silver coins in his path. He pondered for a moment as to why a plate of silver coins would be out in the desert where no one else travels. Then he realized the devil must have laid it out there to tempt him. To that he said, “Ha! Devil, thou weenest to tempt me and deceive me, but it shall not be in thy power.” Once he said this, the plate of silver vanished. Saint Anthony continued walking along and saw a pile of gold in his way which the devil had laid there to deceive him. Saint Anthony cast the pile of gold into a fire, and it vanished just like the silver coins did. After these events, Saint Anthony had a vision where the whole world was full of snares and traps. He cried to the Lord, “Oh good Lord, who may escape from these snares?” A voice said back to him, “humility shall escape them without more.”

St. Anthony (251-356) in The Golden Legend: The Life of St. Anthony. For further reading on this desert father and the father of all monks, download (for free) The Life of St. Anthony by St. Athanasius.

“The Christian should never worry about tomorrow or give sparingly because of a possible future need. Only the present moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come.”

George Mueller, The Autobiography of George Mueller (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1984) 212.

“You can always give without loving, but you can never love without giving.”

Amy Carmichael, (1867-1951), missionary to India who established an orphanage. For more on her life, read A Chance to Die: the Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot.

“All the resources of the Godhead are at our disposal.”

Jonathan Goforth, (1850-1936), missionary, as recounted by his wife, Rosalind Goforth in Climbing: Memories of a Missionary’s Wife (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1940) 197.

“It is true that we may desire much more. But let us use what we have, and God will give us more.”

Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) missionary in The American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer vol. 1. (Boston: James Loring and Lincoln & Edmands, 1817) 99.

“The self-giving love Christ has for us leads in turn to the believers’ giving themselves for the world in preaching the gospel, in social action, in peacemaking and through acts of self-giving and self-denial.”

Derek Tidball, The Message of the Cross, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove: IVP, 2001) 24-25.