Rebecca Stark > Quotes

“Our God wants us to know Him, so He condescends to speak to us in language we can understand. He adjusts His speech to our limitations and tells us who He is. We can know God because He has shown Himself to us (Rom. 1:19).”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“The first step to being satisfied with the gifts God has given us is to acknowledge them. We tend to take his generosity for granted because he is constantly providing for us from his abundance. We may commute to work, for instance, without considering that it is only because our good God is protecting us that we arrive safely. Or we may take a daily shower without acknowledging that God is the one who keeps the water pipes and the water heater working. But neither safe travels nor warm showers are automatic. They are both good gifts from God, gifts that some women won’t receive today. When we remember his kindnesses to us—his big gifts and his small ones—and receive them with thanksgiving, we will be more content with what we have and less envious of his gifts to others.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“whom then will you compare me,’ He asks, ‘that I should be like him?’ (Isa. 40:25; see also 40:18 and 46:5, 9). The right answer to His question is ‘no one’! We can’t reason our way from human categories to true knowledge of God because He is like no one else. In fact, assuming He is like the people and things He has made is a fast track to a warped view of Him.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“God’s glory is His absolute perfection and His unlimited worth. It’s everything that makes Him magnificent and beautiful. Since God’s whole being is absolutely perfect, worthy, magnificent, and beautiful, His glory includes all that He is.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“9 Consider how different our existence is from His a se existence. We are dependent creatures. We have nothing but what God provides. But God? He is independent; He is from Himself. He doesn’t need anything from us—not our help, or worship, or love. He is not ‘served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything’ (Acts 17:25). The money you give to your church? God doesn’t need it. It came from Him in the first place and when you give, you are you are simply returning it to Him. He is providing for His church through the gifts He gave to you. Your labor? God doesn’t need it either. He gave you the ability to work, and when you work for Him you are giving back from gifts you received from Him.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“That God is simple means, to use the words of the of the Westminster Confession of Faith, that He is ‘without … parts.’ He is not a composite or compound being, but a simple one.5 He is not made up of parts. You are not simple. You were, as the psalmist says, ‘knitted … together in your mother’s womb.’ You have a maker who formed your ‘inward parts,’ joined them together, and gave you life (Ps. 139:13). Your existence depends on the one who made you and on the parts He formed and joined together. Everything God created is made of parts—parts that are held together by His sustaining power. Nothing in creation is simple. But God is not like you or anything else. He has no maker. His attributes are not knitted together to form His being. He is not ‘made up’ of His attributes, nor are His attributes added on to His being or essence to make Him what He is. No, He is identical to His attributes. He is simple.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“The study of God keeps us from idolatry, shows us our sinfulness, and provides the knowledge of God necessary for our sanctification. But the best reason to study Him is to grow our love for Him.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“Our triune God can be loving by nature—something that can’t be said of a single-person God15—because He loves from eternity within Himself apart from the existence of creatures to love.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“Unless we know God as He is, we cannot see ourselves as we are. And as painful as it is to see an accurate picture of ourselves, it is also necessary for true worship. True worship of God comes from a heart that sees how glorious He is, and understands its own unworthiness.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“the pattern for our growth in holiness should be the perfection of God.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“We must know about Him to love Him. Knowledge of God isn’t a hindrance to living faith, but the beginning of it. Knowing too much about God isn’t what causes cold hearts, but cold hearts develop when we don’t follow the truths we learn back to the face of the living God.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“The three persons of the Trinity exist from eternity in a relationship of mutual love.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“all people are naturally inclined to idolatry.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“Imagine that God had chosen not to create the universe. What would He be then? It’s this existence, His perfect eternal existence, that’s the focus of the question ‘What is God?’ It is asking this: In the beginning, before God created the heavens and the earth, what was He? In the beginning, when the Word was God and the Word was with God, what was God? Or, to put it another way: What is God apart from His creation?”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“Scripture tells us more than that God exists. It also tells us God’s story.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“to the extent we view God as different from the One He has revealed Himself to be, we have also ‘[exchanged] the truth about God for a lie.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“let God’s revelation of Himself take us far enough back to catch sight of His perfect existence apart from His creation.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“when we see the Father, who gave up His own Son in love, and the Son, who gave up His heavenly glory to become human, and then gave up His life to save sinners (Phil. 2:7–8), we know even our best attempts to love fall short and are always tainted with sinful self-interest.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“since God is simple, one attribute shouldn’t be emphasized at the expense of others, or one attribute regarded as more true to His nature than others. And any thought that God can limit or set aside one of His attributes, even temporarily, is just plain wrong.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“Our human brains are no match for the unlimited greatness of God.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman

“anything we learn about God should have its origin in what God has told us about Himself.”
― Rebecca Stark, The Good Portion - God: The Doctrine of God for Every Woman