Patrick Whitchurch

“A helpful exercise to revive this tired word is to replace “love” with the concept of attachment as we read these familiar Scriptures. For example, we looked at 1 John 4:11: “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” We can awaken our senses by replacing love with the idea of a family bond. A paraphrase might be, “Dear friends, since God has joyfully attached himself so firmly to us, we also ought to attach ourselves to each other as family members.” You will awaken and broaden your definition of love in the Bible by doing this exercise as a part of your spiritual practices. When we have an unclear understanding of love, our view of the church becomes distorted.”
― Jim Wilder, The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation

“The Puritans were masters of meditation. Let me sum up their advice: [44] • Begin with prayer for the Spirit’s help (Psalm 119:18). • Focus on one verse or doctrine—something clear and applicable to your life. It may be a Scripture addressing backsliders (Jeremiah 2; Psalm 25, 32, 51, 130; Hosea 14). Or take a topic like God’s character, or Christ’s person and work, or the sinfulness of sin. • Repeat the verse or doctrine to yourself several times, and think about it carefully. • Preach it to yourself. • Turn it into prayer and praise. • Make specific application. Feed and inflame your soul with the Word. Don’t just chew on the Word, but digest it and incorporate it into your life.”
― Joel R. Beeke, Getting Back in the Race: The Cure for Backsliding

“So to know how to meditate on and delight in the Bible is the secret to a relationship with God and to life itself.”
― Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms

“If you feel stuck, defeated by old sin patterns, leverage that despair into the healthy sense of self-futility that is the door through which you must pass if you are to get real spiritual traction. Let your emptiness humble you. Let it take you down. Not to stay there, wallowing, but to shed the facile optimism that we so naturally believe of ourselves.”
― Dane C. Ortlund, Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners