Billy Graham Quotes - Page 27

We enjoy the sense of God’s presence in the midst of suffering here and now. I have talked to people who are experiencing deep pain or severe difficulties, and they have said, “I feel God is so close to me.

Worldliness is actually a spirit, an atmosphere, an influence permeating the whole of life and human society, and it needs to be guarded against constantly and strenuously.

The war that exists between you and God can be over quickly, and the peace treaty is signed in the blood of [God’s] Son Jesus Christ.

I have read the last page of the Bible. It isall going to turn out all right.

Jesus Christ is God in human flesh, and the story of His life, death, and resurrection is the only Good News the world will ever hear.

Don’t ever hesitate to take to [God] whatever is on your heart. He already knows it anyway, but He doesn’t want you to bear its pain or celebrate its joy alone.

If Jesus had not risen from the dead, no right-minded person would have glorified anything so hideous and repulsive as a cross stained with the blood of Jesus . . .An unopened grave would never have opened heaven.

The Old Testament may not seem relevant to us today—but it is, because it is part of God’s Holy Word, and He has much to teach us through its pages.

Jesus tells us not to be misled by the voices of strangers. There are so many strange voices being heard in the religious world of our day. We must compare what they say with the Word of God.

The self-life manifests itself in self-indulgences, such as self-love, self-will, self-seeking, self-pride . . . It takes self-denial to turn off the television and spend [time] in prayer . . . and read the Scriptures . . .the only object in life is that Christ may be honored.

My wife Ruth once said, “If our children have the background of a godly, happy home and this unshakeable faith that the Bible is indeed the Word of God, they will have a foundation that the forces of hell cannot shake.

Christianity is a Gospel of crisis. It proclaims unmistakably that this world’s days are numbered.

Salvation is free, but there is a price to pay in following Jesus. It is never said in Scripture that we can have “Christ and . . .”.It is always “Christ or . . .”. What is your “or”?

I am becoming aware of the truth that people change people as much as ideas change people.The power of personality is strong . . . often personality is greater than the idea.

The Bible can stand the onslaught of any enemy.

God Himself is the power that makes prayer work.

Sometimes life touches one person with a bouquet and another with a thorn bush, But the first may find a wasp in the flowers, and the second may discover roses among the thorns.

Compared to when I was a boy, we now live in reverse. The people are locked up in their homes at night and criminals are outside on the loose! When I was young, the criminals were locked up and the people were free to move about. That time has passed for many cities.

If you have been trying to limit God—stop it! Don’t try to confine Him or His works to any single place or sphere. You wouldn’t try to limit the ocean.

The Gospel shows people their wounds and bestows on them love. It shows them their bondage and supplies the hammerto knock away their chains. It shows them their nakedness and provides them the garments of purity. It shows them their poverty and pours into their lives the wealth of heaven. It shows them their sins and points them to the Savior.

Some of the most radiant Christians I have ever met were “wheelchair” saints. May God give you grace to “triumph in affliction.

Many people say they do not fear death, but the process of dying. It’s not the destination, but the trip that they dread.

Don’t waste your life on things that have no eternal value.

I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God.

Conscience is the detective that watches the direction of our steps and decries every conscious transgression.

Jesus, by example, tells us that every true leader should be a helper, a servant, or even a bondslave. This is a command, not a suggestion, and applies with special force to leaders.

The secret strength of a nation is found in the faith that abides in the hearts and homes of the country.

Death for the Christian is the doorway to heaven’s glory. Because of Christ’s resurrection we can joyously say with Paul, “Where, O death, is your victory?” [1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV].

We all have a terminal disease far worse than cancer that will kill us morally and spiritually.It’s called sin.

Satan is the illusive manipulator. He prances and dances and drinks in the adulation of his worshippers as he glimmers and shimmers, displaying all that glitters and all that attracts the shallowness of man.

Anxiety and fear are like baby tigers: The more you feed them, the stronger they grow.

If you know Christ, you don’t need to beg for the Holy Spirit to come into your life; He is already there—whether you “feel” His presence or not. Don’t confuse the Holy Spirit with an emotional feeling or a particular type of spiritual experience.

When we use the word “sin,” we usually think of our misdeeds—actions or habits we know are wrong. But those are specific sins, and they are the result of sin, the deeper spiritual disease that infects our souls. Sin is the cause; sins are the effect.Sin is the tree; sins are the fruit. Sin is the disease; sins are the symptoms.

Pleasures are the things that appeal to our flesh and to our lust. But joy is something else. Joy runs deep.

It is a time for soul-searching, a time to see if our anchor holds.

[The Bible] has survived attack of every kind. Neither barbaric vandalism nor civilized scholarship has touched it. Neither the burning of fire nor the laughter of skepticism has accomplished its annihilation. Through the many dark ages of man, its glorious promises have survived unchanged.

Do young people have the moral stamina to carry through in case of economic depression? . . . The real tests of the [younger] generations have not yet come, but they are on their way!

God speaks to us through our conscience. This may be a “still small voice” that will not let us go until we do what we know is right . . .we must never silence that inner voice—[but] check what we think it is saying against the Scriptures.

The Bible teaches that whether we are saved or lost, there is conscious and everlasting existence of the soul and personality.

Being a Christian does not exempt us from tough training, which may mean suffering. If the training were easy, we would not be prepared for the tough days ahead.

It is strange that the world accepts enthusiasm in every realm but the spiritual.

Prayer is speaking to God— but sometimes He uses our times of prayerful silence to speak to us in return.

Our magazine covers frequently feature the immoral, the perverted, the psychologically sick. Sin is “in.” People don’t like to be told they are sinners.

Our lives speak loudly to those around us, especially the children in our home.

God is the Ruler of His mighty creation. There is no reason to despair, because He holds in His hands the whole world, while His Spirit is able to fill the void in man’s heart.

Our emotions can lie to us, and we need to counter our emotions with truth.

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

One can approach the Bible with a cold, rationalistic attitude, or one can do so with reverence and the desire to hear God speak.

Right is right, and wrong is wrong, in small things as well as in big things.

Before Satan there was no sin, and before sin there was no pain.

One of the worst things we can do is allow our children to grow up thinking they don’t need to keep any rules. A spoiled child becomes a spoiled adult.

Let [Christ] transform your life so that you will have a glow on your face, a spring in your step, and joy in your soul.

The Bible is a living Book and can be trusted for its advice and direction and knowledge of God.

There may have been a time when pride was the very center of your life. You had ambitious thoughts of yourself, your powers, desires, and aims; but now that will begin to change . . . you have been born again.

The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.

I [will] not go to heaven because I am a preacher. I am going to heaven entirely on the merit of the work of Christ.

Heaven is full of answers for which nobody ever bothered to ask.

The happiness which brings enduring worth to life is not the superficial happiness that is dependent on circumstances. It is the happiness and contentment that fills the soul even in the midst of the most distressing circumstances and the most bitter environment. It is the kind of happiness that grins when things go wrong and smiles through the tears. The happiness for which our souls ache is one undisturbed by success or failure, one which will deeply root inside us and give us inward relaxation, peace, and contentment, no matter what the surface problems may be. That kind of happiness stands in need of no outward stimulas.

Becoming “new” in Christ is a wonderful beginning, but it isn’t the end of pain or problems in our lives. It is the beginning of our facing up to them. Being a Christian involves a lifetime of hard work, dedicated study, and difficult decisions.

Many homes are on the rocks today because God has been left out of the domestic picture. With the clash of personalities in a domestic pattern, there must be an integrating force, and the living God is that Force!