“Obadiah 1:4”
Source: Prophecy of the Judgement of Edom
“And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.”
“The Sufi path is marked by a number of different stages or stations (maqdm/maqdmdt) which the Sufi traveller (sdlik) passes through as he advances on the path. On his way the Sufi also experiences various psychological and emotional states (hdl/ahwdf). [...] The Sufi’s progress along the path is hindered by the machinations of the self (nafs), that is, the ego-self or what is called in the Qur’an the self that incites or exhorts to evil {al-tiafs al-ammdrah bi-al-su). In order to maintain his progress along the path to God the Sufi must be able to control the ego-self by disciplining it, and by continually blaming and abasing it.”
Source: Three Early Sufi Texts: A Treatise on the Heart, Stations of the Righteous, The Stumblings of Those Aspiring
“Eternity shall be at once a great eye-opener and a great mouth-shutter." -Jim Elliot”
Source: Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot
“St. Augustine said, "The very pleasures of human life men acquire by difficulties." There are times when the entire arrangement of our existence is disrupted and we long then for just one ordinary day - seeing our ordinary life as greatly desirable, even wonderful, in the light of the terrible disruption that has taken place. Difficulty opens our eyes to pleasures we had taken for granted.”
Source: Keep a Quiet Heart
“Cwe give up all for the love of God? When the surrender of ourselves seems too much to ask, it is first of all because our thoughts about God Himself are paltry. We have not really seen Him, we have hardly tested Him at all and learned how good He is. In our blindness we approach Him with suspicious reserve. We ask how much of our fun He intends to spoil, how much He will demand from us, how high is the price we must pay before He is placated.
If we had the least notion of His loving-kindness and tender mercy, His fatherly care for His poor children, His generosity, His beautiful plans for us; if we knew how patiently He waits for our turning to Him, how gently He means to lead us to green pastures and still waters, how carefully He is preparing a place for us, how ceaselessly He is ordering and ordaining and engineering His Master Plan for our good-if we had any inkling of all this, could we be reluctant to let go of our smashed dandelions or whatever we clutch so fiercely in our sweaty little hands?
If with courage and joy we pour ourselves out for Him and for others for His sake, it is not possible to lose, in any final sense, anything worth keeping. We will lose ourselves and our selfishness. We will gain everything worth having.”
Source: The Path of Loneliness: Finding Your Way Through the Wilderness to God
“If God loves me, He´ll make me happy”.
Well, yes and no. Happy isn´t the word, really. It´s joy, a far better thing. Not a sentiment, not mere “feeling good”, but something that can never be taken away.”
Source: Loneliness: It Can Be A Wilderness. It Can Be A Pathway To God.
“Theirs was a deep and delighted love, something they handled with extraordinary sacredness, even as it stretched and surprised them in ways they never saw coming--spiritually and beyond.”
Source: Devotedly: The Personal Letters and Love Story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot
“Jim and Betty modeled--not perfectly, but persistently--the way God intends us to handle love, steward it, and keep it continually under His guidance.”
Source: Devotedly: The Personal Letters and Love Story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot
“The words that had already begin to flow into this private little notebook of hers--though punctuated, of course, with the typical cares and crises of any young woman’s life—would never shift from this due-north orientation. God was first; God was supreme; God was all.”
Source: Devotedly: The Personal Letters and Love Story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot