Billy Graham Quotes - Page 25

Salvation is not just repairing the original self. It is a new self created of God in righteousness and true holiness.

Become grounded in the Bible. As Christians, we have only one authority, one compass: the Word of God.

Our worldly wisdom has made us calloused and hard. Our natural wisdom, as the Scriptures teach, comes not from God, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish.

It’s amazing how we can hurt others, especially those close to us . . .subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which wives belittle husbands and vice versa.

We see ourselves as self-sufficient, self-important, and self-sustaining. God sees us as dependent, self-centered, and self-deceived.

The Bible lists in Hebrews 11 the heroes of the faith . . .who were tortured, imprisoned, stoned, torn apart, and killed by the sword. They didn’t wear designer jeans but went about in animal skins, destitute and tormented.

Christianity is not an accretion, it is not something added. It is a new total outlook which is satisfied with nothing less than penetration to the furthest corners of the mind and the understanding.

We want to be relevant . . . However, the more relevant we become to a sin-dominated world, the more irrelevant we actually are to God.

The mystery of God’s love would not be a mystery if we knew all the answers.

Man persists in waywardness. If one institution fails [he says], try another—anything but God’s plan.

Marriage is a holy bond because it permits two people to help each other work out their spiritual destinies. God declared marriage to be good.

Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, restless.

Christ’s second coming reminds us that ultimately our hope is not in this world and its attempts to solve its problems, but in Christ’s promise to establish His perfect rule over all the earth.

May we all storm the gates of heaven for the souls of the anguished, that in their greatest time of need they will hear the gentle voice of God’s Spirit calling them to repentance.

I am afraid the church is trying to speak out on too many issues that really do not concern the church. There are certain issues we know to be wrong—racial injustice, crime, gambling, dishonesty, pornography. On these matters we must thunder forth as the prophets of God.

Not one word about hell in the Bible would ever make you want to go there.

The word decease literally means “exodus” or “going out.” The imagery is that of the children of Israel leaving Egypt and their former life of bondage, slavery, and hardship for the Promised Land. So death to the Christian is an exodus from the limitations, the burdens, and the bondage of this life.

No matter how hard we try, words simply cannot express the horror, the shock, and the revulsion we all feel over what took place in this nation on 9/11. My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us, and will know in our hearts that He will never forsake us as we trust in Him.

One of Satan’s most effective ways of blocking God’s work is to convince us God can’t use us to make an impact for Christ. But it isn’t true. All around you are people no one else will ever be able to reach with the Gospel.

Let us always remember that Christ calls men and women not only to trust Him as Savior, but also to follow Him as Lord. That call to discipleship must be part of our message if we are to be faithful to Him.

Sin has tarnished every area of life, and [Christ] wants to erase its stain everywhere.

A great problem in America is that we have an anemic and watered-down Christianity that has produced an anemic, watered-down, and spineless Christian who is not willing to stand up and be counted on every issue.

Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes. Only He can convict us of the depth of our sin, and only He can convince us of the truth of the Gospel.

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

The television, iPod, and Internet have trespassed upon the innocence of America’s children, while preoccupied mothers and dispassionate fathers stare aghast wondering what went wrong. They don’t stop to think of their own contributions to the persuasions influencing their children. After all, where do kids as young as elementary age get money to rent rock videos and the latest rap DVDs?

Evil and suffering are real . . . They aren’t an illusion, nor are they simply an absence of good. We are fallen creatures living in a fallen world that has been twisted and corrupted by sin, and we all share in its brokenness. Most of all, we share in its tragic legacy of disease and death.

God isn’t finished with you when you retire! When we know Christ, we never retire from His service.

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.

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.

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.