Josiah

“We readily acknowledge that it is very humbling to the proud heart of the creature to behold all mankind in the hand of God as the clay in the potter’s hand, yet this is precisely how the Scriptures of truth represent the case.”
― Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God

“Many Christians give in to a quiet cynicism that leaves us unknowingly paralyzed. We see the world as monolithic, frozen. To ask God for change confronts us with our doubt about whether prayer makes any difference. Is change even possible? Doesn’t God control everything? If so, what’s the point? Because it is uncomfortable to feel our unbelief, to come face-to-face with our cynicism, we dull our souls with the narcotic of activity. Many Christians haven’t stopped believing in God; we have just become functional deists, living with God at a distance. We view the world as a box with clearly defined edges. But as we learn to pray well, we’ll discover that this is my Father’s world. Because my Father controls everything, I can ask, and he will listen and act. Since I am his child, change is possible—and hope is born.”
― Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting With God In A Distracting World

“Becoming like Jesus means taking on his character, his way of looking at the world, his way of loving and interacting with others. It means cultivating a relationship with God like Jesus’s own—one of intimacy, depth, and care. It means living a life that’s at war with evil’s grip on the world around us, and that certainly includes the sin in our lives, but to make sin management primary in the Christian life misses the point of the gospel. Our sins are paid for, past, present, and future, and in that freedom we can be transformed.”
― Daniel Montgomery, Faithmapping: A Gospel Atlas for Your Spiritual Journey

“We are not really surprised that God has redeemed us. Somewhere
deep inside, in the secret chambers of our hearts, we harbor the notion that God owes us His mercy. Heaven would not be quite the same if we were excluded from it. We know that we are sinners, but we are surely not as bad as we could be. There are enough redeeming features to our personalities that if God is really just, He will include us in salvation. What amazes us is justice, not Brice.”
― R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God