Billy Graham Quotes - Page 6

Life can grow sweeter and more rewarding as we grow older if we possess the presence of Christ. Sunsets are always glorious. It is Christ who adds colors, glory, and beauty to man’s sunsets.

Our world is obsessed with success. But how does God define success? Success in God’s eyes is faithfulness to His calling.

No book ever takes the place of the Bible. It is its own best commentary.

The men who followed Jesus were unique in their generation. They turned the world upside down because their hearts had been turned right side up.

Some things never change. Not the ABC’s, not the multiplication tables, not God!

I am convinced if the church went back to the main task of proclaiming the Gospel it would see people being converted to Christ, and it would have a far greater impact on the social, moral, and psychological needs of people than anything else it could possibly do.

The Garden of Eden was somewhere in present-day Iraq. The turmoil and war [we are witnessing] in that part of the world . . .is occurring in the land where God established the first perfect civilization.

One of the great joys of my life has been to travel around the world and meet thousands of Christians in every country.

The Bible teaches that we are to live in this world, but we are not to partake of the evils of the world. We are to be separated from the world of evil. When I face something in the world, I ask: “Does it violate any principle of Scripture? Does it take the keen edge off my Christian life? Can I ask God’s blessing on it? Will it be a stumbling block to others? Would I like to be there, or reading that, or be watching that, if Christ should return at that time?

The entire world is in turmoil. We are living in a time of enormous conflict and cultural transformation. We have been stunned by shockwaves of change in nation after nation, all around the globe.

Come back to the Bible. Begin to read it. Study it and God will speak to you and change you—and through you perhaps history can be changed.

The cross is the suffering love of God bearing the guilt of man’s sin, which alone is able to melt the sinner’s heart and bring him to repentance for salvation. “For he hath made him to be sin for us” [2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV].

Thanksgiving is recognition of a debt that cannot be paid. We express thanks, whether or not we are able otherwise to reimburse the giver.

Within the New Testament, there is no indication that Christians should expect to be healthy, wealthy, and successful in this present age.

Let the study of the Bible become central in your life—not just so you will know it, but that you will obey it.

Being” is far more important than “doing.” When we are what we should be inside, we will bring forth fruit.

Some Christian leaders . . . are willing to give up some of the teachings of the Bible in order to harmonize Christianity with the other religions.

It is often asked, “How could the early disciples turn the world upside downwhen millions of Christians can’t even keep it right side up today?” The answer is they didn’t conform their faith to match the world. They had the truth, and they refused to water it down. They had a faith that would not compromise.

It would be the greatest tragedy if I didn’t tell you that unless you repent of your sins and receive Christ as your Savior, you are going to be lost.

God has spoken to us through a Book: the Bible.

Many young people are building their lives on the rock of materialism. I find across the country a deep economic discontent among people in every walk of life.

A life touched by the Holy Spirit will tolerate sin no longer.

Look up on a starry night, and you will see the majesty and power of an infinite Creator.

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

Children, pray for the salvation of your parents.

I have yet to discover a source of information, practical advice, and hope that compares to the wisdom found in the Bible.

Christians, day by day, week by week, and month by month, are told to walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means being led and directed by the Holy Spirit. This comes as we progressively yield various areas of our lives to the Spirit’s control. Now desire in itself is not wrong, it’s what we desire or lust for that is wrong—and when we yield.

[Every] believer will receive a reward for his works. The New Testament teaches these rewards are called “crowns.” We will surely be surprised to note who receives the crowns and who doesn’t. The lowliest servant may sparkle with more jewels than the philanthropist who endowed the church and whose name is engraved on the plaque in the narthex.

I believe integrity can be restored to a society one person at a time. The choice belongs to each of us.

Jesus worked all His life. But the greatest work that Jesus did was not in the carpenter’s shop . . .His greatest work was achieved in those three dark hours on Calvary . . . dying for us.

I believe there is an obedience to the Gospel, there is a self-denial and a bearing of the cross, if you are to be a follower of Christ. Being a Christian is a serious business.

Just as millions of angels participated in the dazzling show when the morning stars sang together at creation, so will the innumerable hosts of heaven help bring to pass God’s prophetic declarations throughout time and into eternity.

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.

To find the right path, we first need to remember why we are on the wrong path. The reason can be put in one word: sin.

Envy and greed starve on a steady diet of thanksgiving.

The happiest people I know are separated followers of Jesus Christ.They are not dependent on artificial stimulants. They do not resort to sick, dirty jokes. They do not abuse their bodies to relax their minds.

Neither the devil nor the world, nor even our own evil heart can compel us to sin. It must be by our own consent and will.

The Bible differentiates clearly between true faith and mere religiosity.

The words 'believe' and 'repent' are now largely replaced by other terms such as "Give your life to Christ', 'Open your heart to Christ', 'Do it now', 'Surrender completely', 'Decide for Christ', etc., and in similar language those who profess conversion are sometimes represented as having 'given in'.

Ours may be the heritage of the withheld promises. We have been blessed through the endurance and faithfulness of those who have suffered in the past; the people around us, or those who will succeed us, may be blessed through our trials and suffering and how we react to them.

Don’t let the burdens and hardships of this lifedistract you or discourage you, but keep your eyes firmly fixed on what God has promisedat the end of our journey: heaven itself.

Too many so-called Christians are like the little chameleon which adapts its coloration to that of its surroundings. Even a critical world is quick to recognize a real Christian and just as quick to detect a counterfeit.

The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured. They know and absorb her example and attitudes when it comes to questions of honesty, temperance, kindness, and industry.

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.

If you take a stand [for God] and mean it, you may suffer persecution. Some of your friends will drift away. They don’t want to be with people like you. You speak to their conscience. They feel uncomfortable in your presence because you live for God.

Cut out some of your “important social engagements,” and make your home the center of your social life. God will honor you, and your children will grow up to call you “blessed” [Proverbs 31:28].

Money takes our minds off God.

Two conflicting forces cannot exist in one human heart. When doubt reigns, faith cannot abide. Where hatred rules, love is crowded out. Where selfishness rules, there love cannot dwell.

Sin also affects the conscience, until one becomes slow to detect the approach of sin.

If our children grow up with no understanding of right and wrong . . .no desire to live with integrity . . . no faith in God . . .their souls will be impoverished and they will miss life’s highest good.

Christ taught that in the sight of God one soul is worth the entire materialistic world! In God’s sight the individual is all-important. When Christ calls a man to follow Him, He calls him “out” from the “group.” Christ can fill the vacuums. He can restore your personal identity. He can become the truth to your generation.

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.

Many people are trying to steady themselves by taking tranquilizers. Jesus is the greatest tranquilizer of all. He can straighten out your life and put you back on center.

We’ve tried calling sin “errors” or mistakes” or “poor judgment,” but sin itself has stayed the same. No matter how we try to salve our conscience, we’ve known all along that men are still sinners; and the results of sin are still disease, disappointment, disillusionment, despair, and death.

May we store up the truths of God’s Word in our hearts as much as possible, so that we are prepared for whatever suffering we are called upon to endure.

We can take persecution because we know the purpose behind it. The purpose is to glorify God.

The world doesn’t give peace, for it doesn’t have any peace to give. It fights for peace, it negotiates for peace, it maneuvers for peace, but there is no ultimate peace in the world. But Jesus gives peace to those who put their trust in Him.

Christ . . . didn’t come to treat symptoms. He came to get at the very heart of man’s disease.

If your heart is not attuned to God, it will become a catch basin for every device of the devil. Yes, Satan is at work in our world. The Bible is my authority.

Tens of thousands of God’s saints and sufferers through the ages have found their dark nights lightened and tortured souls strengthened because they found help from the Spirit in the Word of God.