Billy Graham Quotes - Page 8

If we have no mercy toward others, that is one proof that we have never experienced God’s mercy.

In our spiritual pilgrimage we see sins which mar our relationship with God, but beneath it is a commitment which seeks to move beyond to a higher life, based on wholehearted surrender to God.

This is still the age of grace. God’s offer of forgiveness and a new life still stands. However, the door will one day be closed. Someday it will be too late. This is why the Bible continually warns and challenges: “Now is the accepted time” [2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV].

This “I” was made in the image of God for fellowship with God. Without God it is miserable, empty, confused, and frustrated. Without God life has no meaning; but with God at its center there is life, an inner strength and peace, a deep satisfaction, an unfading joy known only to those who know Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit gives liberty to the Christian, direction to the worker, discernment to the teacher, power to the Word, and fruit to faithful service. He reveals the things of Christ.

The unbelieving world should see our testimony lived out daily because it just may point them to the Savior.

Many people have just enough natural religion to make them immune to the real thing.

Ask God to give you a greater hunger for Himself and a deeper desire for His fellowship. Then be honest about whatever is keeping you from prayer, and ask God to help you deal with it.

I like the bumper sticker that reads, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” But that does not give us license to live below God’s standard.

We now have the advantage of a few years more of life, but death is still standing at the end of the road.

Death reduces all men to the same rank. It strips the rich of his millions and the poor man of his rags . . .Death knows no age limits, no partiality. It is a thing that all men fear.

We must be constantly aware that Satan can take any human effort and twist it to serve his own purposes.

Every generation has found [the Bible’s] message indispensable, and its influence on individuals and society over the centuries has been enormous.

Most people yearn for one thing more than anything else: inner peace. Without it they have no lasting happiness or security.

Christians need to take a stand for what is right and not let evil go unchallenged.

When the Christian or the church becomes popular with the unbelieving world, something is seriously wrong. Because Christ runs counter to evil and because we are Christ-owned, we must also stand against evil.

It is only the consecrated, Spirit-filled Christian who can have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is the Holy Spirit who will do the fighting for you.

Christians, pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit upon a willful, evil, unrepentant world.

If we feed our spiritual lives and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us, He will have rule over us. If we starve our spiritual natures and instead feed the old, sinful nature, the flesh will dominate.

Pleasure depends on circumstances, but Christian joy is completely independent of health, money, or surroundings.

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.

Do you know what nearly all the sociologists say today in their study of young people? The greatest problem facing young people today is not sex—it is boredom.

God welcomes our prayers. He is much more concerned about our hearts than our eloquence.

God’s holiness demands that sin be punished—but God’s love has provided the way of redemption through Christ.

We live in an upside-down world, in which people hate what they should love and love what they should hate.

There are Christians who have never really learned the biblical truth of separation: separation from unclean thoughts and unclean habits.

If we have our eyes upon ourselves, our problems, and our pain, we cannot lift our eyes upward. A child looks up when he’s walking with his father, and the same should be true for the Christian.

In order to compete with God for the dominion of the world, Satan, whom Christ called “the prince of this world,” was forced to go into the “religion” business.

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.

People reading the Bible for the first time are often surprised to discover how much human drama it contains. Almost every conceivable human dilemma and conflict is reflected in its pages.

The faithful Christian steward acknowledges that God owns all he has, and it is his responsibility to manage and dispose of his possessions in a way that is acceptable to the Lord.

It is strange that men will prepare for everything except death. We prepare for education. We prepare for business. We prepare for our careers. We prepare for marriage. We prepare for old age. We prepare for everything except the moment we are to die.

God called me many years ago to be an evangelist, and I have never regretted His leading. I love the crusades, meeting people from every country and culture all over the world. My life has been blessed by friends from every land, and challenges from every corner.

The word repentance is sadly missing today from the average pulpit. It is a very unpopular word. The first sermon Jesus ever preached was “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” [Matthew 4:17 kjv].

The Bible is primarily concerned with the story of man’s redemption as it is in Jesus Christ. If you read Scripture and miss the story of salvation, you have missed its message and its meaning.

It was God’s love which knew that men were incapable of obeying His law, and it was His love which promised a Redeemer, a Savior, who would save His people from their sins.

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

In order to get to heaven, Jesus said that you must be converted. I didn’t say it—Jesus said it!

The Bible warns that money cannot buy happiness! Money cannot buy true pleasure. Money cannot buy peace of heart. And money certainly cannot buy entrance into the kingdom of God.

Your salvation is a free gift, made possible only because God planned it . . .Christ paid for it . . . and the Holy Spirit assures you of it.

Christians are to be “the light of the world” [Matthew 5:14], illuminating the darkness caused by sin and giving guidance to a world that has lost its way.

Too many husbands and wives enter into marriage with the idea that their spouse exists for one purpose: to make them happy.

Only in heaven will we know exactly what heaven is like.

We should read the Bible expectantly, systematically, and obediently . . .The Bible can change our lives as we read it and obey its teachings every day.

When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.

Ruth once wrote, “Dear Journal, Never let a single day pass without saying an encouraging word to each child . . .‘More people fail for lack of encouragement,’ someone wrote, ‘than for any other reason.

It is Satan’s purpose to steal the seed of truth from your heart by sending distracting thoughts . . . The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is: though they both may have good and evil thoughts, Christ gives His followers strength to select the right rather than the wrong.

The cross shows the seriousness of our sin—but it also shows us the immeasurable love of God.

The Bible does not teach that sin is completely eradicated from the Christian in this life, but it does teach that sin shall no longer reign over you.

The more worldly pleasure we enjoy, the less satisfied and contented we are with life.

Thousands are killed and injured every year by teenagers driving too fast or under the influence of drugs and drink . . .others are killing [themselves] with alcohol or heroin overdoses.

The fact that God is infinite makes the study of His Word a lifetime occupation.

Tragic as it is when a child fails to develop physically or mentally, even more tragic is a Christian who fails to develop spiritually.

Hardship is not our choice; but if we face it bravely, it can toughen the fiber of our souls.

The journey God has set before us isn’t a freeway; we are constantly encountering forks and junctions and crossroads. Which way will we go when we meet them? Life is filled with decisions, and we can’t avoid them.

Be sure that Satan will tempt you at your weak point, not the strong.

When that glorious day comes, sin and death will be destroyed and Satan will be banished. All the strife and hatred and suffering and death that twist and scar this world will vanish, and the Lord’s Prayer will be fulfilled: God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We should begin the day with the Bible, and as it comes to a close let the Word speak its wisdom to our souls. Let it be the Staff of Life upon which our spirit is nourished. Let it be the Sword of the Spirit which cuts away the evil of our lives and fashions us in His image and likeness.

That “the Spirit Himself intercedes” indicates that it is actually God pleading, praying, and mourning through us.

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.