Joe Thorn > Quotes

“You live recklessly when you do not take God's law seriously or respond to the gospel properly. Reckless living can look like laziness and apathy. When you simply aren't motivated and tell yourself that God has forgiven you in Jesus, so you're not going to fight temptation and sin - that is reckless living, and it's far more dangerous than you realize.”
― Joe Thorn, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself

“At times God will delay granting you relief in order to draw you closer to himself. He might want to teach you just how helpless you really are and how all-sufficient he really is. Sometimes God will allow you to suffer for a season to test and strengthen your faith.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“To say that God is love is not to romanticize his character or soften his holiness. In fact, the love of God means very little apart from his holiness and justice. The love of God is magnified in that he loves the unholy and pours out blessings upon those deserving just punishment for sin.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“Your suffering is real, but those who trust the Lord will find life even in the midst of death.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“But when you doubt that you have anything to offer, you question God's ability to use you beyond your own weakness. Your usefulness in the lives of others is not dependent on your own intellectual or creative abilities, though God will use your talents whatever they are. Your usefulness to God and his people is connected with your dependence on God and his Word and your love for his people.”
― Joe Thorn, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself

“Your calling is to be faithful to God where you are, and in doing this all work is sacred, spiritual, and worthy of your full attention and energy. When you get to work, you are not entering a secular environment as much as you are bringing the sacred into the world by following Christ wherever you are.”
― Joe Thorn, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself

“What is clear is that Scripture requires both head and heart, and you need to see it not just as a text but as the very words of God. This will encourage you to pay close attention to the very words he uses, but it will also compel you to feast on those words as light-shedding, wisdom-dispensing, and life-giving counsel from on high.

For all your longing for God to speak, to make his will plain and his plan clear, you should be daily immersed in God's Word. This is his voice, his will, and his plan made known to you. Consider these words, "Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes." God's face shines on you when you are learning - experientially - his Word.”
― Joe Thorn, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself

“Theology is not meant merely to be known, but to be made known.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“You are never just living for the moment. You are living for eternity, and your life has the potential to prove fruitful not only for yourself, but also for many others.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“In Christ you are chosen, reborn, justified, adopted, and sanctified. You are indwelled by his Spirit, protected by his power, and guaranteed to be perfected in glory. You are a member of his kingdom and an heir of the world to come. In Jesus you are perfectly and eternally loved. Christ became poor to give you all of this. What else do you need?”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“the gospel itself is the climax of all theology.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“For when you suffer, you can be sure that one of two things is happening. Either God is teaching you to rely on his grace and sufficiency through your pain, or he is teaching you to return to his grace and sufficiency through your pain.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“I am thankful that I have learned that belief is easy when life is easy, but when life is confusing and painful, faith will prove itself to be either rooted in Jesus Christ or resting on religious sentiments.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“The deepness and consistency of your repenting will have a direct impact on the liveliness of your faith and the brightness of your confidence. This is not because you repent so well, but because in repenting you know the darkness and trouble of your own sin, and the great work of grace in Jesus that overcomes it all.”
― Joe Thorn, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself

“Do not attempt to base your interpretation of God on your circumstances, but see your circumstances in light of who God has revealed himself to be.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“Your refusal to forgive one who has sinned against you us a manifestation of hypocrisy - a telltale sign that either you have not experenced God's forgiving grace, or that you take such grace for granted.”
― Joe Thorn

“To be careful in your theological development is to be ultimately persuaded of the authority and the sufficiency of Scripture, as well as of the worthiness of God.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“more than wanting, you become frustrated by not having. You become jealous, envious, and discontented with your life. It is true; you need what you lack, but what you lack is satisfaction in Jesus.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“Your progress in the faith, your sanctification, is not a result of will power or education but the consequence of Christ’s atoning work. That is your confidence and hope. You can die to sin because he has died for your sin. You can live unto righteousness because Jesus has risen from the dead and in him you are now truly alive!”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“So why aren’t you singing “always, only for [your] king?”1 Have the mercies of God grown small in your heart? Is there little joy, little gratitude, little wonder? Do you just not feel like singing? The confession of your sins and gospel meditation will lead you to song, so start there. There are songs of praise, thanksgiving, confession, lament, and victory that need your voice.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“Tolerate nothing in your life that might diminish your hunger for God’s Word. And apply it with vigor and spiritual energy!”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“I know that you say you would die for your wife, and I believe you. But if that is true, why won’t you let go of self-interests on her behalf? If you love her, and would lay down your life for her, why can’t you lay down the remote control in order to give her your attention? Do you serve her and seek her betterment? Do you seek her growth in grace? Consider this: your calling is not only to care and provide for her in a general sense, but to seek her spiritual beautification.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“God provides what is best, and sometimes what is best is that which you would never choose. Sometimes that which is painful for a time will yield a greater blessing later, even if you must wait for it until after death.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“Trusting in Jesus means believing that your only hope to stand before the face of God and experience mercy is found in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“In this life, as you work for the glory of Jesus and the good of others, you should do so with an eye to his return. It will lead to earnestness and create an urgency in your life to make the most of all your days.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“There is never a moment of your day when God is inactive. He is there and he is involved.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“Instead of suffering fruitlessly through your trials, be sure to keep your eyes fixed on your heavenly Father who has good purposes in all you experience. Check yourself for sin that has not been dealt with. Lean on the grace and goodness of God, and you will find relief.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“Believing in Jesus is not choosing a new religion, but seeing your own sin and just condemnation before God.”
― Joe Thorn, Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

“Do you want to become more like Christ? Then you must suffer, and suffer well.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self

“Your work is one of the primary ways in which you will glorify God. For as you do it in faith, thankfulness, and godliness, you are serving God and reflecting his beauty to everyone around you.”
― Joe Thorn, Note To Self