Billy Graham Quotes - Page 26

Every word that [Jesus] spoke was historically true. Every word that He spoke was scientifically true. Every word that He spoke was ethically true. There were no loopholes in the moral conceptionsand statements of Jesus Christ. His ethical vision was wholly correct, correct in the age in which He lived and correct in every age that has followed it.

We should be about our Father’s business by pouring His compassionate love into aching and parched souls that have nowhere to turn, no one to love, and no one to care. Let them see Jesus in us. That is a living testimony.

What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is calledthe Christ?” (Matthew 27:22 NIV). This is the most important question that has ever been asked. It is also the question you must ask yourself.

Sin diverts some. Pleasure diverts others. Social service and “religious” activity divert others. We are told to be occupied with Jesus Christ Himself.

Jesus knows the intentions of our hearts and what we do in secret.

I trust Jesus with all my tomorrows, knowing that He will solve the mystery of life beyond the grave.

[Christ’s] goodness is still a rebuke to our badness; His purity still shows up our impurities; His sinlessness still reveals our sinfulness; and unless we allow [Jesus] to destroy the evil within us, the evil within us still wants to destroy Him. This is the conflict of the ages.

A Roman soldier . . . thrust a spear into Jesus’ side and out came blood and water. Physicians say that a mixture of blood and water indicates that Jesus died of a broken heart. He poured out the last ounce of His blood to redeem us.

Our imaginations are so stilted. The very thought of being like Jesus is breathtaking.

Our schedules are so hectic we can’t get everything done, or else we are bored and restless, constantly looking for something to amuse us. We are the most frantic generation in history—and also the most entertained. The Bible tells us that both extremes are wrong.

God gives us a glimpse of what heaven will be like for the believer. It will have the characteristics of a happy home, a holy city, a glorious garden, and a beautiful bride. This staggers the imagination!

God is concerned with our imaginations, for they in a large measure determine what kind of persons we are to be.

Jesus invited us not to a picnic, but to a pilgrimage; not to a frolic, but to a fight. He offered us not an excursion, but an execution.

All transgressions begin with sinful thinking . . . guard against the pictures of lewdness and sensuality that Satan flashes upon the screen of your imagination, select with care the books you read, choose discerningly the kind of entertainment youattend, the kind of associates with whom you mingle, and the kind of environment in which you place yourself.

Never has there been a time when men tried so desperately to have fun as they do today.

We have arrived at the point where we are flippant about God. We tell jokes about Him. God’s name is used so often in profanity in the entertainment world that sometimes it is embarrassing to watch television.

We don’t have to be on the battlefields of the world to experience strife and conflict. We need only to open our eyes each morning and read the headlines, we need only to turn a keen ear when our phones ring with bad news, we need only to open our hearts to those next door—and maybe even in our own homes—to notice those with grieving hearts.

The facade of grief may be indifference, preoccupation, anger, cheerfulness, or any variety of emotions. But if we try to understand it, we may learn how to cope with it.

If there is something we need more than anything else during grief, it is a friend who stands with us, who doesn’t leave us. Jesus is that friend.

Often it takes that “knife in our heart” to drive us to Him. Our faith, our very lives, depend on God, and when we enter the valley of grief, we need His help or we will never climb another mountain.

When we grieve over someone who has died in Christ, we are sorrowing not for them but for ourselves. Our grief isn’t a sign of weak faith, but of great love.

Grief turns us inward, but compassion turns us outward, and that’s what we need when grief threatens to crush us. The Bible says, “Carry each other’s burdens” [Galatians 6:2 NIV].

Grief which is not dealt with properly can cause us to lose our perspective on life.

Grief comes with many losses. Whatever its cause, grief will come to all of us.

God’s forgiveness is not just a casual statement; it is the complete blotting out of all dirt and degradation of our past, present, and future.

The only sin God cannot forgive is the sin of rejecting Christ. Turn to Him in repentance and faith—and He will forgive.

Sinners, pray to a merciful God for forgiveness.

Truly, the world is in need of moral leadership . . .that teaches the difference between right and wrong and teaches us to forgive one another even as we are forgiven by our Father in heaven.

We make a mockery of God’s forgiveness when we deliberately engage in sin because we think He will forgive it later.

We cannot ask forgiveness over and over again for our sins, and then return to our sins, expecting God to forgive us. We must turn from our practice of sin as best we know how, and turn to Christ by faith as our Lord and Savior.

Christ can take the most sin-laden, selfish, evil person and bring forgiveness and new life.

Forgiveness is one of the most beautiful words in the human vocabulary. How much pain and unhappy consequences could be avoided if we all learned the meaning of this word!

When God forgives us and purifies us of our sin, He also forgets it. Forgiveness results in God dropping the charges against us.

Before asking God’s forgiveness there is something important you must do. You must repent, that is, turn from the behavior and lifestyle that [leads to sin].

When God forgives, there is an immediate andcomplete change in relationship. Instead of hostility, there is love and acceptance. Instead of enmity, there is friendship.

Repent when you fail, and immediately seek God’s forgiveness and restoration. Sin breaks our fellowship with God.

Guilt is not all bad. Without it there is nothing to drive a person toward self-examination and toward God for forgiveness.

In one bold stroke, forgiveness obliterates the past and permits us to enter the land of new beginnings.

Forgiveness does not come easily to us, especially when someone we have trusted betrays our trust. And yet if we do not learn to forgive, we will discover that we can never really rebuild trust.

A muscle becomes weak if it is not used. To become strong, a muscle must push against something.

God takes the weak and makes them strong. He takes the vile and makes them clean. He takes the worthless and makes them worthwhile. He takes the sinful and makes them sinless.

God is in control. He may not take away trials or make detours for us, but He strengthens us through them.

Grief can kill a person emotionally and physically. If not counteracted with God’s strength and power, our personal weakness may debilitate us.

God will give us the strength and resources we need to live through any situation in life that He ordains.

We must learn to let the Word of God feed us and strengthen us in our faith in God its author, Christ its message, and the Holy Spirit its teacher.

Are your beliefs anchored in a faith that can withstand emotionalism, the drug culture, social and peer pressure, and material temptations? The world is seething with demonic energy. Only supreme inner strength can resist its ceaseless hassling.

We shouldn’t think about ourselves and how weak we are. Instead, we should think about God and how strong He is.

Our ministries are strengthened, sometimes more than we realize, by our devotional life.

The focus on self has led our society into a fascination with pleasure, emotional and sexual stimulation, and “personal fulfillment.” America’s compulsion for “maximum personhood” is evidenced everywhere.

Are you disappointed with society? If you are,I challenge you to take the first step. I challenge you to look at yourself.

Today we see social evil, terrorism, and gross immorality throughout the world. Someone has said, “A wrong deed is right if the majority of people declare it not to be wrong.”By this principle we can see our standards shiftingfrom year to year according to the popular vote!This new permissiveness is condoned by intelligent men and women,many of whom are found in the churches.

Jesus indicated that there will be a permissive society just before He comes back . . . the world today is on an immoral binge such as has not been known since the days of Rome. We are in a hedonistic society, and what we are seeing is human nature expressing itself without God.

Sickness is deep within the soul of our society—and that has always been God’s exclusive territory.

The world does need changing, society needs changing, the nation needs changing, but we never will change it until we ourselves are changed.

The same conditions that prevailed in Rome prevail in our society. Before Rome fell, her standards were abandoned, the family disintegrated, divorce prevailed, immorality was rampant, and faith was at a low ebb.

Sometimes I think the truly committed Christian is in conflict with society around him more than any other person. Society is going one direction, and the Christian is going in the opposite direction. This brings about friction and conflict. But God has promised, in the midst of trouble and conflict, a genuine peace, a sense of assurance and security, that the worldly person never knows.

In a decadent society the will to believe, to resist, to contend, to fight, to struggle is gone. In place of this will to resist, there is the desire to conform, to drift, to follow, to yield, and not give up.

Many children today are growing up without discipline. As they become adults and the discipline of job or family demands are placed upon them, they do not know how to cope . . .children need discipline to be useful members of society. Likewise, God’s children need discipline to be useful members of His family.

Children must be taught obedience just as much as they need to be taught to read and write.

Parents need much wisdom in relating to their grown children—and much prayer. Children likewise have much to learn about relating to their parents as the years pass.

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