The Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - September 2013

O Lord, help me appreciate beauty and not cling to it.

To be happy in a time of trouble - that cannot happen without God.

I must rejoice in every little thing that happens to me today. I must let none of them escape.

Appreciation is most sweet when it is not sought.

There is a thirst for justice in every wronged man and may that thirst be fulfilled by the just God.

What a mix this is! And it is my mix. Let me hold on to it.

Sometimes I'd like to think about what I've done for God in the last few years. But this is where I end up. I've done nothing for God in these six years. It is He who has done a work in me. I have been done. I have not done.

Celebrate. But celebrate what is real.

Don't be in a hurry. Enjoy where you are now.

Make the most of this day. Make the most of this life. Do what is best for you. Learn as much as you can. Question everything that you learn. Above all experience as much of life as possible. And test the truth of what you learn in the light of this experience.

Whom God has enabled will be allowed to accomplish.

Read, but don't over read the situation. Appreciate, but don't over appreciate something. Give thanks to God for good things even though you may not always know what they are.

How much heart have you got left in you for evil after your nightmarish indulgence in it? When God rules the man the ultimate consequence of an evil delight is a nightmare that poisons the very desire for it.

Every time I come out of darkness, I want to throw light on everything and everyone.

Fear comes from not knowing God. He who knows and receives God's love cannot be terrified of God's justice. For God has paid the price for Man's sins. So let this needless worry about sin be over. We will all sin as long as we live. Even one sin is bad enough. No one can escape from that. But those who believe in and accept Jesus Christ have escaped from the punishment for sin. So let's rejoice in that. Let's begin by smiling.

The greatest thing a human being can aspire to do is to love selflessly his fellow human beings. Such love is greater than any knowledge whether human or divine. Such love is greater than even faith in God. Such love is the door to knowing and loving God.

Nothing can stand next to God. There is no attraction in the world that can stand next to God. There are pretenders and aspirants of course. But they will all ultimately and inevitably pale in significance.

I have learned not to be afraid of my weakness. Because when I am weak then I am strong. In my weakness God shows His strength.

I can even weep for an enemy. This is what God has done for me.

Today if you want to receive love give love first to someone who is not expecting it.

I've reached that point in my life where I have no confidence in my own ability but I have total confidence in the ability of Jesus Christ whom I will allow to live in me and through me. Now I live the truth that without Him I can do nothing.

Lord, you can do the impossible. I believe this. Fulfil my need today. Fulfil the needs of your people today. Let your people not be ashamed. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

The great question in faith is this: what will you do when your faith in God meets with disappointment?

It is better not to do something than to say that you will do it and then not do it.

I am more than a conqueror in Christ, though I don't feel like a conqueror at all. I can do all things through Christ, though I have done only a few things so far. This is the realistic picture of my life in the faith.

Faith is as much an investment as time and money. The one who invested faith in God will stand to be as much disappointed if his faith was not rewarded as another man who invested in business and failed would be.

For all those who are trusting in God today to provide their needs, let me pray this: "May God answer the prayers of His people and grant their needs immediately without any delay. May the faith of God's people be rewarded. May God do to them according to their faith. In Jesus' name. Amen."

In scarcity I thank God for every plentiful moment.

I yearn for extreme economy in expression, the simplest and the most direct communication of thoughts. But this is not how I was before.

Be silent when you have nothing to say.

The greatest lie is that there are people and things more attractive than God.

For the peace on my face I thank God. For the peace in my heart I thank God.

When God starts to work in a man He will finish what He started, but the man must stay in an attitude of faith willing to be worked upon.

There is a time for folly and there is a time for wisdom. There is a time for lust and there is a time for love. There is a time for worldliness and there is a time for spirituality. There is a time for slavery and there is a time for freedom. One will come after the other.

And for a while absolutely nothing moved, nothing appeared to happen. And then suddenly it happened. My miracle happened.

It's a journey from confusion to clarity, from despair to hope and from fear to faith. It's my journey to God.

Belief in God is the persistent unwillingness to trust in your reasonable and probable fears and the persistent willingness to trust in what seems to be the extravagant and improbable promises of God.

The greatest act of worship we can render to God today is to be honest with him.

To believe what you are still not able to accept as true, that is belief.

To believe when there is no reason to believe, that is belief.

God will not forsake his people. His people shall never be ashamed.

Where love is God is.

No one cares for me more than God does. No one, not even my parent, not even my friend cares for me more than God does. I may not be able to see him or hear him, but he cares for me more than any human being cares for me.

When everything falls apart you will be ready to believe in God.

When you are driven to the extreme you will be driven to believe.

The Bible is right about the fallenness of Man, for I have the seen that fallenness in me. There can no be greater proof than what is daily proven unfailingly in me.

If you want to love truly be willing and ready to let your love be trampled upon.

On a day when I need help let me give help.

If I succeed in bringing anyone to God, it will be God's doing from the beginning to the end.

There is no desire in my heart stronger than my desire to be with God. This I will fiercely believe and declare because thoughts of the opposite kind frequently besiege me.

To die to a desire one must live in it.

I should not be worried about anything. But if I do decide to be concerned about something let my concern be a concern of God.

To avoid a person you need to know him and fear him. Sometimes we avoid what we should not fear and invite what we should.

I should be more than happy to be where I am.

If it's about numbers, it's pathetic. It's about people. It's not important that you reach many. It's important that you reach at least one person.

What is the point of so much hatred in the name of love? Those who say they love, let them love. Or let them hate and call what they do hatred.

There may be little gain in talking to a bigot. But one must talk and one must hope that bigotry fades away. We were all bigots of some kind to start with. And we did change.

People's approval should mean very little to me.

Let's not be in a hurry to move forward. While we are here let's look around and take in the scene.

A great risk to the health of the world is a lack of politeness, which is observable in many places. Politeness is an outcome of respect. Respect is what we need to show to a fellow human being regardless of what he believes and where he comes from. We need to give one another the respect that we give ourselves.

Your passion for Christ should not be harassment to others. Such passion is counter-productive and reflects poorly on Christ.

You cannot pick and choose what you believe. There are things in the Bible which you may not find to your liking. Some things are downright reprehensible if not repulsive. What will be your ultimate response to the word of God?

If you are going to attack somebody do it outright. Do not pretend to bless him even as you attack him. That's simply not cool.

The man who admits his mistakes is one worthy of admiration. The man who apologizes for his mistakes is still worthier.

Admit your mistake and move on. There's no need to make excuses.

Reaching many people is not important. Reaching one person is more important.

The hardest thing is to be calm.

Love for Jesus should not become a despicable thing. It is expressed gently and considerately and with restraint. In any other manner it is not welcome.

We all need help and receive help. The people who work for God need help. And they will get it. Does that make them false teachers? No, that is not justifiable. There is no church in the world that runs without help from its congregation. I doubt the existence of a tool for evangelization in this world, which works without help from people in any way. It was my hope to work without assistance. But it was a foolish hope.

Nothing will bother the one in Christ is simply not true. Christ himself was bothered by the hypocrisy of his people, and he was certainly angered by the trivialization of worship. Anyone who is in Christ, even anyone who cares about decency and good behaviour will be bothered by rudeness, and anyone who cares about knowledge will be bothered by ignorance. If people do not bother, the world will go from bad to worse.

When your mind is troubled by unanswered prayers think about the answered ones.

When you are sickened by your desire for human approval you have walked the right road indeed.

Love for God is a beautiful thing but it becomes an ugly thing when it leads to hatred towards one's fellow men.

Shut up when a fool speaks.

Christians are not saved by Christ so that they may boast about their sinlessness in Christ. Rather they should talk about their weaknesses in which Christ works best to produce His righteousness.

He who is acutely aware of his sinfulness and his need of Jesus Christ is best able to draw from the grace of Christ.

If only Christians would spend as much energy building one another up as much as they do in tearing one another down, Christianity might have a chance at approaching a certain unity. But this approach is rarely seen in Christian communities.

Let me celebrate the control that I am able to exercise in certain areas in my life rather than bemoan the lack of control in other areas. It is best to be pleased with what has been achieved rather than be worried about what has not been achieved.

There are some people who are very sure of God. I personally do not want to be so sure of God. I will allow for the surprise element in everything that God is likely to do. This will be an admission of my partial knowledge, which is indeed reality.

A holier-than-thou attitude is the best way to turn people away from Christianity. And this attitude does not seem scarce in Christian communities today.

How do we rejoice in God when there is trouble and lack in our lives? Is it even possible? Should we even do it? The answer is yes. There is a lot to be thankful for in any situation no matter how bad it is. Also there is something lacking in every life. Since we tend to look at what we do not have we fail to be happy with what we do have. We need to change this attitude or we will miss out on the happiness that we must have. And that will be tragic.

Do not hang on to anything that you find beautiful. Appreciate it and let it go.

The more I yell in pain the more I speak.

Ultimately all things except God become familiar and unattractive.

O God respond to prayer. Respond to your people who cry out in distress. Was it not said that nothing shall separate us from the love of God? Nothing means nothing. So why do you still delay the response? O Lord listen. O Lord forgive. O Lord hear and act.

If I love you today, is that my achievement?

Attend to sin, but do not be obsessed by it.

We must conquer our nature. But we cannot conquer this on our own. We need someone else who has conquered it for us. We need to stand in his shadow. He must be in us so that we may be in him.

Do not be disturbed by sin. But be disturbed by your obsession with sin.

The more knowledge you want the more mistakes you must be willing to make.

A bad mistake can lead to good knowledge.

Let me not be bowled over by human approval. It is the flimsiest of things and if I hang on to it I do so at my own peril.

The great challenge in faith is to overcome fear, the fear of ultimate disappointment in what one believes.

To trust in God you cannot tie Him to your expectations. Not only does God work below our expectations but He also works beyond them as well.

A prayer is a cry from the heart desperate for relief.

My troubles have driven me to God. My lusts have driven me to seek His righteousness. How then can troubles and lusts be a curse?

I am suffering so that I may understand those who are suffering.

I cannot let my hope in God slip out of my hands even now when He seems to have delayed the answer to a most pressing question.

A great threat to Christianity are Christians themselves.

Silence is the best answer to provocation.

Those who wish to be strong will be weak.

If "when I am weak, then I am strong" is right then what you have to do to be strong is to be weak.

Is it possible to resist God? Absolutely. That's what we do most of the time. Is it possible to resist Satan? Absolutely. But that's what we don't do most of the time.

What can God do in a man who would not let Him work in him?To work for God is to let God work in a human being.

Barking dogs shouldn't bother you if you see barking as a part of a dog's nature.

Those who called me a great prophet of God have not said anything since then.

The last thing I will do is to let myself be provoked immediately.

It is my privilege to pray for even the dog that barks at me.

Fear enslaves. Love liberates. The more we know the love of God the less we fear Him. It is when we are not afraid of Him that we are free to love Him without the fear of the consequences of not pleasing Him. God wants us to accept his love, and that is the beginning of everything.

When one wields the sword of criticism one wields the sword of pride as well.

When God humbles a man it is an act of love.

The tone appropriate to God is not appropriate to Man. Let a man deal with his fellow men in utter humility even considering himself lower than the others.

Learning is an act of humbling, sometimes great humbling, and a disarming loss of pride.

The Bible thoroughly exposes Man's essentially sinful nature. Those who read the Bible and pay attention to these details may lose sight of the essential nature of God. This is the love of God, which paid the ultimate price for Man's sins. This love of God is what a follower of God must chose to be conscious of. He will do well to celebrate the unbelievable grace of God rather than dwell on sinful human nature, which is being renewed every day by the work of the Spirit of God in him.