Billy Graham Quotes - Page 20

Many parents preach to their children but do not set good examples. Parents want the children to do as they say, not as they do.

Parenting is the most important responsibility most of us will ever face, and none of us does it perfectly.

When worry is present, trust cannot crowd its way in.

Worries flee before a spirit of gratitude.

Our worship must be directed to the One who holds the world in His hands.

We face a dark time in the history of God’s people . . . the forces of evil seem to be gathering for a colossal assault on the work of God in the world. In the darkest hour God can still revive His people, and by the Holy Spirit breathe new vigor and power into the body of Christ.

The devil’s overriding goal is to block God’s work— and if he can convince you God doesn’t really love you, or that you can’t fully trust Him, then he has blocked God’s work in your life and achieved his goal.

Do your work with honesty and integrity, and don’t compromise God’s moral standards. It may be difficult, but it’s far better to do right than to do wrong. God is with you, and He will not abandon you.

Christians at work in the world are the only real spiritual light in the midst of great spiritual darkness. This places a tremendous responsibility on all of us.

Any work done by a follower of Christ to the glory of God is “gold, silver, precious stones.” But if any follower of Christ works with any self-interest or personal ambition involved, it will be “wood, hay, and stubble” and will be burned.

Worship in the truest sense takes place only when our full attention is on God—on His glory, power, majesty, love and compassion.

Learn to shut out the distractions that keep you from truly worshiping God.

We have come to worship things, status, fame, popularity, money, security. Anything that comes between God and ourselves is idolatry. Jesus demands Lordship over all such things.

Many believe that pagan worship is a thing of the past, but it is ever present—we have just given it a new name: pop culture.

The true child of God will have a hunger for worship and God’s Word.

We are to till the soil and work the land—not worship it.

God is more concerned about the attitude of our hearts than the way we express it. Worship isn’t supposed to be entertainment.

Many people who have lost jobs . . . find that this was God’s way of redirecting their lives.

Jesus used the carefree attitude of the birds to underscore the fact that worrying is unnatural. I am learning in my own life, day by day, to keep my mind centered on Christ.

As long as you look only at the situation in the world today, it will be very hard . . . to overcome your worries because it is true that there are many problems and the future is unknown to us. Lift your eyes beyond your circumstances and learn instead to trust God. Worrying . . . won’t change anything.

Often our self-esteem is tied to our work. In our culture, men and women often define themselves by the jobs they hold . . . But a person’s job tells you nothing about a person’s character or value.

Man has always been beset by worry, and the pressures of modern life have aggravated the problem . . . Many . . . are filled with a thousand anxieties. Bring them to Jesus Christ by faith. He will bring peace to your soul and your mind.

My visits to Hungary over the past twelve years absolutely fixed my conviction that God’s Holy Spirit was releasing a spiritual force in that part of the world that was bound to challenge the atheistic philosophy that had dominated nations in that region for decades.

Only God knows when the alarm will sound, ending the work and ministry of evangelism as we have known it.

I’ve never seen such a hunger in people for spiritual things . . .People realize the past is gone, the future is uncertain, and the present seems to be hopeless. As a result, many [in Moscow] were open to God.

My visit to Auschwitz will certainly be one of the most unforgettable events of my life. It is a blot on the whole human race. It was the invention of minds so depraved and demonic that they defy any rational explanation. It reminds us of the terrible potential man has for violence and inhumanity.

I wept more in Korea than in all the past several years put together. These experiences changed my life. I could never be quite the same again . . . I felt sadder, older. I felt as though I had gone in a boy and come out a man.

Nations and civilizations rise, flourish for a time, and then decay. Eventually each comes to an end. This, because of sin, is the decree of history and the way of life on this planet.

Each of us has a tongue and a voice. These instruments of speech can be used destructively or employed constructively.

Some of the most healing words in any language are, “I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” How much more we need that confession to our Father in heaven.

Our daily conversation when we meet each other, whether it be in the office or on the campus or in the shop, should be concerned with the things of God.

We should say nothing that we would not wish to say in His Presence. We should do nothing that we would not do in His Presence.

The Scripture warns about evil communications that corrupt good manners. Off-color jokes and dirty stories have no place in the Christian life. Thousands of people are engaging in immorality by the way they talk. Keep your talk pure. Ask God to purify your tongue.

You can use your tongue to slander, to gripe, to scold, to nag, and to quarrel; or you can bring it under the control of God’s Spirit and make it an instrument of blessing and praise.

Cursing, telling smutty stories, smearing the good name of another, and referring irreverently to God and the Scriptures may be considered as coming under the expression corrupt speech. Our speech is to be clean, pure, and wholesome.

I have walked down jungle trails in Africa where I met fellow Christians; and immediately we were brothers even though we were separated by language, race, and culture.

We insult God by speaking to Him with our lips while our hearts are far from Him.

The Bible teaches that a man who can control his tongue can control his whole personality.

God speaks to those who are prepared in their hearts to listen. Discern the voice from heaven above the noisy din of earth’s confusion.

Suppose there was no anger, no profanity, no lying, no grumbling or complaining; suppose there were no dirty stories told, no unjust criticism—what a different world this would be!

Pain has many faces . . .the unseen part of man is often the victim of the most debilitating of pains . . . a man can endure excruciating physical pain, and yet he can be felled by one unkind word.

Are you willing to follow [Christ] with a disciplined mind and tongue?

Regardless of our cleverness, our achievements, and our gadgets, we are spiritual paupers without God.

Preach with authority. The authority for us is the Word of God. Preach with simplicity . . . Preach with urgency . . . heaven and hell are at stake. Preach for a decision.

Thousands of pastors, Sunday school teachers, and Christian workers are powerless because they do not make the Word the source of their preaching or teaching.

Nowhere in Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” [KJV] — nor in any similar Scripture did Christ command us to go only into the Western or capitalist world. Nowhere did He say to exclude the Communist world.

I have had the privilege of preaching the Gospel on every continent in most of the countries of the world, and I have found that when I present the simple message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with authority, quoting from the very Word of God—He takes that message and drives it supernaturally into the human heart.

When I preach—no matter where it is in the world—I can always count on five areas of human need that afflict all peoples. Emptiness, loneliness, guilt, fear of death, deep-seated insecurity.

God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. The weaker I became, the more powerful became the preaching.

Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News.

I’m not a great preacher, and I don’t claim to be a great preacher . . . I’m an ordinary preacher, just communicating the Gospel in the best way I know how.

We preach Christ crucified. The cross is the focal point in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It was no afterthought or emergency measure with God. Christ was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” [Revelation 3:8 KJV].

Oh God, if You want me to preach, I will do it.

As the people came to a desert place to hear John the Baptist proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord,” so [man] in his confusions, frustrations, and bewilderment will come to hear the minister who preaches with authority.

I preach a Gospel not of despair but of hope for the individual, hope for society, and hope for the world.

I am counting totally and completely on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not on Billy Graham. I am not going to heaven because I’ve read the Bible, nor because I’ve preached to a lot of people. I’m going to heaven because of what Christ did.

I know that many of the things I have said from the Scriptures have offended some, but I cannot afford to tone down the message. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:17, “I have a stewardship entrusted to me” (nasb), and that is to preach the pure and simple Gospel in whatever culture I am in.

Many churches have their eyes on the culture instead of on Christ. Many pastors preach on common unity instead of calling the community to repent.

When we preach or teach the Scriptures, we open the door for the Holy Spirit to do His work. God has not promised to bless oratory or clever preaching. He has promised to bless His Word.

I must ask myself, “Billy Graham, are you prepared to meet the Master at any moment?” Yes, I am—but not because I have preached or tried to help people, but solely because I am trusting Christ as my Lord and Savior. Stop right now and ask yourself that question.

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