“Without the power of intelligence there is no capacity for spiritual knowledge; and without spiritual knowledge we cannot have the faith from which springs that hope whereby we grasp things of the future as though they were present. Without the power of desire there is no longing, and so no love, which is the issue of longing; for the property of desire is to love something. And without the incensive power, intensifying the desire for union with what is loved, there can be no peace, for peace is truly the complete and undisturbed possession of what is desired.” ChristianSpiritualDesireIssuesSpringCapacityLongingPropertyUnionsPossessionOrthodoxNo LoveWhat Is LoveSpiritual Knowledge Author:Maximus the Confessor
“When like the patriarchs we learn to dig wells of virtue and spiritual knowledge within ourselves by means of ascetic practice and contemplation, we will find within us Christ the spring of life (cf. Gen. 26:15-18). Wisdom commands us to drink from this spring, saying, 'Drink water from your own pitchers and from the spring of your own wells' (Prov. 5:15). If we do this we shall find that the treasures of wisdom truly are within us.” IfsWellsMeanChristianSpiritualChristWaterPracticeVirtueDrinkSpringTreasureCommandContemplationOrthodoxPitcherCfsDrink WaterSpiritual Knowledge Author:Maximus the Confessor
“The tragedy is that many of us are living desperate Christian life. Sunday comes and we get some strength, and then we lose some on Monday; a good deal is gone by Tuesday and we wonder whether we have anything left. On Wednesday it has all gone and then we exist. Or perhaps refreshment comes in some other way, some meeting we attend, some friends we meet. Now that is the old order of things, that is not the new. He puts a well within us. We are not always drawing from somewhere outside. The well, the spring, goes on springing up from within into everlasting life.” WayWellsChristianOrderLeftLosesDealsWonderGoneGoes OnSpringTragedyMeetingsDrawingChristian LifeDesperateSundayMondayEverlastingTuesdayWednesdayRefreshmentsEverlasting Life Author:Martyn
“True Christian love is not derived from things without, but floweth from the heart, as from a spring.” HeartChristianLove IsSpringChristian Love Book:Life of Martin Luther Source: Life of Martin Luther
“Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy.” GivingMatterHappensRunningChristianJoyJesusResultsSpringNo Matter WhatDryReverseDeep Down Author:S. D Gordon
“In the eyes of the Associated Press, American Christianity, which springs from the Protestant Reformation, is fundamentalist. And Christian Fundamentalists, radical Muslims, Hindu extremists, and fanatical Zionists are all the same - bloodthirsty lunatics.” EyeChristianReligiousChristianitySpringPressesRadicalReformationExtremistProtestantsFundamentalistZionistProtestant Reformation Book:The Turning Tide Source: The Turning Tide