The Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - March 2013

Desire the simple. Desire the essential.

Let me pay attention to what I see around me. Let me feast my eyes on the beauty that God has created. And may I receive the message of God's love from His creations.

There will be disappointments in faith. There will be prayers that will not be answered. Some prayers may seem utterly rejected. In such cases how does one go on trusting in God? A great man of faith in the Bible said, "Shall we accept good from God and not bad?" One must be prepared to accept good and bad from God trusting in God's ultimately beneficial intentions. God has a good plan for those who trust in him. And though he may not always act desirably, there is no justification for doubting his essential goodness, for no one who accepts the truth of the Bible can doubt the beneficence of God.

Shall I accept good from God and not bad? No, I shall accept both, and I shall particularly welcome the bad. In my latest trial there is a bitter disappointment that carries a most urgent message. God's love is most eloquently expressed in the trouble that he sends to discipline his children.

"Do not be desperate to know people. Be desperate to know God" is a reminder to myself and to those who value the impulse to know others and befriend them for self-gratification. To know people this way is worse than not knowing them at all. I must pursue God above every other created being and to know God must be my foremost desire in life. Yes we must love and befriend people in a selfless and giving manner, to express the pure and unconditional love that God has put in our hearts. But we should not pursue people for selfish gain.

It is difficult for me to perform without being wearied by expectations. I work with certain expectations and I do care about the way my work is received by people. My work is for the people of God, so I need to know how they react to my work. But I cannot be reliant on how people regard me and my strength cannot be derived from their good opinion.

Disciple of God, don't forget that in the worst storm there is a God beside you well in control of the situation.

Performance declines as one's job wears on. This is the great danger to excellence. When the charm of novelty wears off, when routine sets in, job performance declines.

We must always seek, highlight and celebrate what unites us. This is always more important than noticing differences and divisions.

It is all about learning to trust God. All the suffering that you go through takes you to the place of total trust in God.

There are times when I am without any spiritual motivation. These are the times when I wonder why I should go on. I also know I cannot go on any further without the stirring of God within me. Yes it is He who brings to life my inner death and fills my inner emptiness with His inspiration.

Suspicion will kill the best part of you.

The best lessons in life are expensive. They cost you your very stability.

Wear the sun on your face and walk into the depths of darkness.

Don't grow out of your need for your mother's simple affection. Don't grow out of your need to sit at her feet and gaze at her loving face beaming down at you.

Troubles have come, anxiety has stayed, but I will not forget the faithfulness of God.

If the sum of the last few years in my life is a mistake, then it is the best mistake that I have made. I have lived irresponsibly according to the world, yet responsibly according to God whom I have served and for whom I have spoken. This work for God is not really my work at all. It is he who equipped, enabled and sustained me in this difficult job of taking God to those who do not know him.

The person who says, "Forgive me, for I have done wrong" has the very Spirit of God in her. Only the person touched by God knows her faults and seeks to be forgiven.

You don't always get what you want. That is life. You must learn to deal with the refusal and the rejection. The sooner you are done with it the better you can appreciate what you do have and what has not been refused to you.

I cannot make you believe in God. But I can pray for you and I will. It is my privilege to pray for those who do not know God. It is my prayer that they know God as I do and worship him as I do.

I now realize that security and well-being are gifts of God. I cannot protect myself and ensure my own well-being. It is God alone who protects me and gives graciously to me. I will not entertain any misplaced confidence in my own ability to take care of myself today.

Some who call themselves unbelievers and atheists may actually be the people of God. Though they say "no" to God today they will one day say "yes". God will reveal Himself to them as He revealed Himself to me who once said "no" to Him. Nothing shall separate the people of God from His love.

I must do something for you today even though you may not do anything for me.

Don't be afraid. Just go out and love people. Love them with the love of Jesus Christ, accept them just as they are and let His love transform them gently and gradually. Don't worry about how they'll react. You can't do anything about that. God will take care of that. Just don't let your hearts be troubled by thoughts like that.

God will help. Step by step He will help. Let our trust in God be secure even as He helps us little by little. Let's celebrate every help that we receive from God. And let's continue to rejoice even when there is seemingly no help from God.

Where there is no help but God's help, that's the best place to be.

With God on my side why should I worry about my mistakes? He likes me just as I am, and if I am of a certain type it is He who made me that way. Why should He object to the work of His own hands?

You must keep trying till you get it. You cannot give up. You cannot let your doubts and fears win. You must believe that you can do what you've set out to do. And though there is opposition, and sometimes fierce opposition, you must go on believing in yourself and in the fire within you. Believe that your fire can quench every other fire.

I shall trust in God's wisdom today. He has made me come forth with my testimony. I have spoken. I have used my voice. And I have ministered to others. And I am grateful for that. My own personal desire has not been granted. And I am grateful for that also. It is good for the self to be denied. It is good to be humbled. It is good to be taught by an all-knowing God. He knows too well so whatever pain he causes in me is greatly needed.

My faith is alive and well no matter what my enemies do to me. The Lord has prepared a table for me before my very enemies and is anointing my head with oil. That's what's happening to me now.

I need God to get my facial muscles relaxed. I need God to set my tone right. And I need God to put his love into my heart. I just need God. I need him always and everywhere.

I'm in the business of sharing love. I'm in the business of sharing God's goodness with others. So I will share, even take the risk of sharing God with those who do not desire him. One never knows what may happen.

You can be a people lover. But you cannot be a people pleaser. You please God and God only. And you do His work as He tells you, not in a manner than suits people. That is why the work for God can be a thankless one.

It is easy to hate. It is difficult to love. Those who are in Christ are called to do the difficult thing. The day before he died, Christ issued a new command to his disciples that they should love one another as he loved them. He was calling them to love to the point of sacrificing their lives for others. This is not only difficult but also impossible to all those who operate in the natural. But with God everything, even this kind of love, is possible.

From asking God to relieve my pain and suffering I have moved on to asking God to help me learn whatever I can from my troubles.

It is most difficult to forgive one's enemies. It seems unthinkable that one should pray for those who have hurt us. But that is exactly what Jesus did on the cross as he was dying, and by doing it he was showing us by example that forgiveness is what he expects from us. We cannot forgive like God without God in us. And God will be in us only if we believe in Jesus whom he sent to us. We should not only believe in Christ's perfect sacrifice for all human sins but we must also accept his example in compassion and forgiveness. And when we do so Christ will empower us to live and to forgive like him.

I must learn to forgive like Christ. I must learn to love like Christ. I must learn to approach crisis like Christ. I must submit to the will of God like Christ. People are to be loved and prayed for, even the worst of them. Many people will disappoint me and be offended with me without proper cause. Many people will oppose and persecute me for no reason at all. It is important at that time to know who I am in God and what love and compassion and forgiveness can flow into me through Him.

Don't ever force anyone to believe in Jesus Christ. Tell those who do not know Christ the great story of his life, and what he and he alone could do for humanity. And when you tell them leave them with the vivid impression of God's immense love. And let the Spirit of God continue your work and let him be the one to work in the hearts and minds of those who hear. Finally let those who hear respond from their very being and whatever their response let it be theirs.