Gayle D. Erwin > Quotes

“The chief means of resisting manipulation is humility – knowing who we really are and facing it. You can only serve by love. You can only love by choice. True love cannot be the result of decree, force or manipulation. Jesus always kept his strength to make loving choices. He calls us to make loving choices necessary to be the servant of all." "Humility permits me to own my feelings – and to admit them. Now I'm free to say, ‘I'm angry’. I'm free to admit what I am reacting to. I am free to ask if anger is what the person wanted to produce in me, and to ask for help in changing if my reaction is inappropriate.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, The Jesus Style

“Love is written in our instincts, yet erased by our actions.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, The YHWH Style: A Fresh Look at the Nature of God the Father

“When I look at the clues that indicate the nature of Jesus – born in a barn, questionable parents, spotty ancestry, common name, misdirected announcement, unattractive looks, reared in a bad neighborhood, owning nothing, surrounding himself with unattractive co-workers, and dying a shameful death – I find his whole approach unable to fit into the methods that automatically come to mind when I think about “winning the world.” His whole approach could easily be described as nonthreatening or nonmanipulative. He seemed to lead with weakness in each step of life. He had nothing in the world and everything in God and the Spirit.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, The Jesus Style

“Many confuse the United States with the Church or the Constitution with the Bible. They feel that the good of the United States is the same as the good of the Kingdom of God. Some feel that the Constitution of the United States is as infallible as the Bible. However, one with wisdom notice that some things are Kingdom principles and some are not.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, Spirit Style

“Gentleness is not apathy but is an aggressive expression of how we view people. We see people as so valuable that we deal with them in gentleness, fearing the slightest damage to one for whom Christ died. To be apathetic is to turn people over to mean and destructive elements, to truly love people cause for us to be aggressively gentle.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, Spirit Style

“I still find my corrupt heart longing for tomorrow's bread. I can make a good argument to the Lord about how effective I can be if He would supply me with enough advance funds. It's a little frightening to pray for TODAY's bread. That means I must pray again for tomorrow and believe again for tomorrow. My greedy heart is willing to be corrupted by a little bit of riches so that I see my warehouse full of loaves. I can make a good argument about how God won’t have to be bothered with me every day if He would only advance me about ten years worth of bread.”
― Gayle Erwin, The YHWH Style: A Fresh Look at the Nature of God the Father

“When the mouth cries, I want to see God, the heart has reached its finest moment. Once we have sought and seen God, all other things have a way of finding us.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, The YHWH Style: A Fresh Look at the Nature of God the Father

“The moment a structure begins to promote itself, it has violated the nature of Christ and has drunk the poison of its death.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, The Jesus Style

“Focus your attention, your study efforts and your praise on Jesus himself. In other words, fill yourself with the knowledge of Jesus and believe on him. (John 7:37–39) 2. Invite the Lord to empower your life and overflow you with the Holy Spirit for the benefit of others. 3. Believe and accept that he is now working in your life. Since all God’s gifts are received by faith, you can trust that he will answer this prayer. 4. Watch to see what new events will happen in your life, what new power will be there, what new understandings, what new energy for service, what new drive toward purity. 5. Do not close the door to the miraculous or to new experiences if they match Scripture. Be bold and watch God work. 6. Pray for boldness to speak God’s word and ask God to heal and “perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Jesus.” In the early church, God responded with an overflow of the Holy Spirit when this prayer was prayed. (Acts 4:29–30) 7. The Holy Spirit was also given as a down payment in our lives to assure us of our salvation. (2 Corinthians 1:22 and 5:5) If you lack this sense, ask the Lord to reveal this reassurance to you. Then just enjoy watching what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life. 8. Pray more and more unselfishly. Discover the promise that the Holy Spirit also prays in our behalf in keeping with the will of God. That cooperation unlocks great power. (Romans 8:26, 27) 9. Abandon fear. With the Holy Spirit in your life, you have a restful assurance of God’s relationship to you. Enjoy it! (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6) 10. Prepare to know him more and to be more like Jesus because of the action of the Holy Spirit in your life.”
― Gayle D. Erwin, Handbook for Servants