Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - June 2015 (Part 1)

My wiring is not yet perfect. But my lights will continue to burn.

I'm not here to teach. I'm here to learn and to share what I have learned with you.

Shun publicity and popularity and seek only God.

Oh God, what am I to do? I have waited and waited and waited. I know that I should keep on hoping. How can I let my hope die? This is the nature of the strife involved in the God-centred life. And let me today not be found lacking. Supply strength and hope and faith and everything else that I need. O Lord, come to my rescue today.

God will not answer my prayer because of my good behaviour. But He will answer my prayer because I believe in His goodness while knowing well my own wretchedness.

When God speaks it is absolutely clear. So wait till that clarity arrives.

Today let me say a sincere prayer for others, and for those who are silent to me. May God bless them and keep them.

Let me be without greed and the desire to be popular. Let me rejoice in what God created me to be.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Silence is the best answer to provocation.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

As Christ welcomed the unwelcome ones, let Christians welcome those whom they would normally shun.

Christ came into the world not to condemn the world but to save the world. As followers of Christ let us endeavour to do the same.

God is not a terrible person. He is not the awful disciplinarian that I thought he was. I have come to see him as a loving, understanding and sympathetic God. And he is not out to punish me. He loves me and wants me to share his love with others.

Caring for others is caring for God.

The more I am crushed the more I am hopeful.

The best argument for seeking God is not that we are living in end times and that we will be destroyed by the wrath of God if we fail to turn from evil, but that there is no other way of finding true happiness and contentment in life. Without knowing God and receiving his love this life will be a seemingly endless pursuit of worldly pleasures that neither satisfy nor last. Those who say that God is not love or does not exist have not seen the inside of their hearts and how God still cares for human beings despite what they secretly think and desire every day in their lives. How do I know that God still cares or that he even exists? Simply by observing this. We exist. Our very breath testifies to his existence. The continued human presence on earth testifies to his love.

To those who say that we are living in end times, I say, we've been doing that for over 2000 years. To those who believe that the return of Jesus Christ is imminent, I say that their belief is not very different from what the first century Christians believed.

We conquer this world not by what we do but by what we are. We are born of God and become children of God when we choose to believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord. In that very moment of becoming God's own we become one with Christ and his victory over sin and death becomes ours.

If you have suffered much your pain is not without purpose. Your suffering will make you even stronger in faith. Just rejoice in this today. Remember what Paul said. Our present sufferings are really nothing compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. Rejoice in this today.

Desire no change except only what God can bring about in his own way in his own time.

It is for light that I was born. It is to speak the words of light that my voice was given. So let me stay in the light and walk away from the darkness.

Today if you want to get do not fail to give.

To give love without expecting to get love can only be God's way. To love those who are not easy to love can only be God's way. To repay evil with good can only be God's way. The devil cannot take credit for any of these actions.

Our very breath testifies to a living God.

Pride is not good. It is not at all good. It keeps me from tasting the truth and living the life that God has for me. Every day God breaks my pride degree by degree. Every day God reveals to me my littleness and my wickedness. And for this I am thankful.

My deadness to sin I must declare every moment of my life. Sin must not reign in me; at least sin must never think that it has a prominent place in my life.

Faith is more inward belief than outward declaration.

Let this moment not pass from my active memory. God has again considered my request and granted it. My waiting that seemed endless has now ended in his conclusive answer. And it is the one I wanted. Surely my God answers prayers and grants the petitions of his children if they are willing to wait. Rejoicing surely came in the morning.

You can read the entire Bible and still miss seeing God.

There is hatred for God in this world. The way to counter this hatred is to present God who is essentially love. The reason why some people hate God is that they do not and cannot see love in him. I see God as utterly in love with Man. It is my belief that when a person sees this he is on the road to being transformed by the love of God.

In showing what love is I am glad that God did not just send us the words that Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, but he actually demonstrated that love in the life and in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without this flesh-and-blood demonstration of love no one would have ever known what God's love is, and it is a most wonderful thing, and it is available to all who seek it, irrespective of caste, creed and colour. This is the good news that the world needs to hear: God's love is available to all, and by accepting his love we are saved from the wretchedness of our lives.

That God forgives all sins and loves all people is a fact that is hard to accept for some people. Even some who call themselves the followers of God have a problem with God showing grace to others even though they themselves have received the same grace.

In a world where everyone feels that he is right there will be conflict and division and hatred and unbearable pain.

Absolute humility is required when you belong to Christ. You must keep absolutely silent when provocative remarks and annoying suggestions are made. Sometimes you feel like lashing out as Job did at his sanctimonious, platitudinous friends. Sometimes it's good to call a spade a spade. But it's so much better to say nothing, to rein in that vicious impulse. I choose not to speak the vehement words not because I lack the vocabulary but because I prefer to bless the offender with my silence, or if I receive the grace I will bless him verbally.

I am thankful for my many weaknesses. I have been greatly humbled by them.

What I really do not want is to look weak before others. Even when I try to look weak I want to look strong.

Our elderly are our precious gifts. They may have little time left. We may have little time left. So let us use every moment of our time well and let us love our aged relatives and friends and celebrate their presence in our lives.

The best worship is to say "thank you".

Your resolve never to sin again will fail every time. So resolve never to make such resolutions. Just trust in Jesus. His grace is sufficient for everything.

If Christ lives in you then say to lust and every other stirring of your flesh, "God is greater than you. He always overcomes you."

It's God job to provide. It's my job to wait expectantly.

Sin in me is serious. But Jesus in me is far more serious.

I embrace my suffering in the hope that God will indeed finally reward me with his healing presence and joy, which no man can take away from me.

A certain boldness comes when you are desperate. A certain determined faith arises when you are pushed to the very edge.

I must have compassion when I deal with anyone, especially when I deal with someone very flawed in my eyes and who has disappointed me in some way. I must deal compassionately even with my enemies.

Fear is the last thing that should motivate you to enter into a relationship with God, who is your Creator. God is perfect love and drives out every fear. There is no fear that can consume you if you truly know the love of God. You should go to God because he made you for himself and without him there is no meaning and purpose to your life.

We can find something good even in someone who appears without merit if we look deeply with sympathy. And when we find the good we must declare it and celebrate it, so that the person may feel good and desire improvement. We cannot help people through unfavourable criticism and disparaging words. Such methods kill the spirit of others rather than give life to it.

Why do we emphasize what God hates? Why don't we emphasize what God loves? If God is indeed love then we must emphasize what he loves and study why he loves it.

It is I and only I who LET my heart be troubled. It is I and only I who choose to be miserable and without hope. If I put my trust in God as I say I do, then I must trust him enough to believe that he is sufficient for all my needs and that he is capable of guiding me through every difficulty and even able to solve all my problems.

Admit to God that you are weak. And admit to the world that you are weak without God. When you announce your weakness the world may judge you. There is a price to paid for honesty. Human beings may not always react well to honesty. But God is always pleased with an honest person.

It is to God I have asked a question in public. Though people may answer and though God's voice may sometimes be heard in what people say, I shall wait for God's answer, his quiet answer in my mind. He alone knows my heart. He alone has travelled with me on this journey. He alone knows what I need.

God has not strengthened us so that we may condemn others and tell them that they are wrong. No God has strengthened us so that we may bear with others and help them realize their error by showing ourselves as loving and compassionate humans who are ruled by the love of God.

Whether God grants my request or not I will still praise Him.

No more hateful fantasies and vengeful dreams for me - I shall hand them over to God and borrow from his heart of love.

I will thank God for everything, for every good thing, both little and big, for even the trouble that he sends. I will look forward to every opportunity to give thanks to my God.

Don't worry about what is wrong. Rejoice in what is right. Give everything to God. He will make your wrongs right.

What do I teach? I teach that God is love. And that he loves the world so much that he does not want anyone to perish. And that he can deal with outward differences that upset human beings. And that he accepts all who accept him and his love. And nothing shall separate us from his love. This I believe and this I teach.

God's people will never be ashamed. So I wait in hope for God. He will save me from my enemies and he will not let me be ashamed before them.

I may be no biological father. But I have a felt a love throb in my heart in the presence of a young child. I felt a deep sense of anguished joy at the task of raising a child for God. And that is the task of a father, plain and simple. A father needs to raise a child for God. He has to approach this task with the help of God, who will direct his every step and correct his every mistake. For the raising of a child is no task for a godless man.

Don't 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

I am neither an evangelist nor a prophet nor a pastor nor anything requiring a title before my name. I seek God. And God seeks me. And I speak about how desperately I cling to him. It is in fact the song that I have been asked to sing continually.

You can't love God and be afraid of him.

The great lesson that God teaches is to show a man what is in his heart.

Now that I have chosen to work for God and spend my time exclusively on spreading his message I must believe that God will take care of my needs. I must believe that God will provide even when it appears that he hasn't provided. I must be willing to wait patiently for God's gracious gift. I must trust in God and in his promises. God does not always work in the way I expect him to. Nevertheless God works silently but surely. And God cares about my plight. This I must believe.

Whatever happens don't be afraid. Don't let your mind be ruled by fear. Give without restraint and love without fear. And how you are received when you do that is not your concern at all.

When you don't have something, which you previously used to have, and you miss it badly now, thank God for the time when you did have it, when he mercifully gave you what you desired. The Lord who gave then still has the power to give.

God does everything. But for him to do everything we must cooperate. We cooperate by believing in his power to change us, and we allow him to change us by surrendering our will to him. With his help we learn to surrender our hearts and our minds. Yes God does everything, but we must let him. We must desire to change.

One thing I have finally realized. My life is not in my hands. It is in God's hands. I have left it there a long time ago. And nothing that I can do now can change that fact.

By doubting what God is doing in you you don't become what you really were meant to be.

When nothing happens simply wait.

Let me teach myself before I teach others. Let me read to myself before I read to others. Let me attend to myself before I attend to others.

We should be more concerned with our own faults than with the faults of others. For every fault we may find in another there may be in us two, which we must attend to.

When people try to upset you don't give them what they are looking for. Give them the opposite of what they expect from you. Bless them with a smile and give them a few kind words. That will show them what they are.

If God works the way we want him to work, then trusting him is no problem at all.

“O Lord save me! Have mercy upon me. I am a sinner struggling with my sin, I have no power over it except what you have given me. Continue to empower me O Lord. Help me obey you O Lord. Let me love what you love and hate what you hate. Apart from you I can do nothing. Problems have come to strangle the joy out of my life. But I will not lose hope. For my hope is in you. And nothing is difficult for you. Today I lay down all my burdens at your feet O Lord. Please do not despise my broken and contrite heart.” This is the prayer that I say today.

Before Jesus died he said to his disciples, "Love one another as I have loved you." Love is the main theme of Jesus' teachings. Without love nothing is possible. Without love nothing is worthwhile even if possible. Love is greater than faith and hope. Those who love will always be first, will always enter God's rest before those who have faith in God and yet are without love. So loving one another without discrimination of any kind and expectation of any kind is the best way to live.

You arrive at clarity only after a great deal of confusion.

The knowledge of truth is not enough. The practice of truth is what ultimately matters. This King Solomon lamentably demonstrated.

I cannot let sin reign in my mortal body and then wonder why I cannot spiritually ascend.

The life of faith must be lived on God's terms. Much as we like to know, God does not reveal everything and seems to withhold information. This is so to encourage trust, for it is only through obedience and trust that a man achieves his salvation.

"Thank you Lord" is the simplest and the sweetest thing to say to God now and for evermore.

The adverse reaction of people will not impact the man of God who is speaking for his Maker. People may respond favourably. Most often they may respond unfavourably. And at other times there may be no response at all. But the work of God must be done and will be done regardless of people's response.

You can give love and still be rejected. You can speak the truth and still not be heard.

The best time to pray for someone is right now. Praying for others is the hardest kind of prayer. A human being is naturally self-conscious and vulnerable to self-centredness. He promises to pray for others, but his prayers are usually focused on his own needs. He must overcome this tendency in the strength of God and in the knowledge of the lover that he is divinely designed to be. As a lover he will discover that his prayers are most rewarding when they focus on others, even those whom he has never met and from whom he has little hope of ever receiving thanks.

It doesn't matter how far you've gone and how much you have wasted. Let the prodigal sons return to their father.

Let the offence go. Hand over the offender to God. He alone can make restitution.

Your God will not desert you. Just wait for him quietly believing in his faithfulness.

It takes more courage to believe in God than to disbelieve in him.

Don't let the devil tell you who you were. Let God tell you who you are.

We have all rebelled against God and fallen short of his glory, and the glorious image in which we were made. Yet only some of us feel sorry for our rebellion.

How foolish of me to try to complete what God started in my life! What God does, no man can do.

Every time human beings have tried to predict doomsday they have failed. And they will continue to fail. It is better to live life assuming that this could be the final day of our lives. This way we may do what we need to do before it is too late.

"I will think the thoughts of God. I will speak the words of God. I will do the deeds of God." This should be the resolve of every child of God.

To love someone is to bless someone, and when we love someone we experience the greatest blessing.

The best answered prayer in my life are the two women who have lived with me till this day. When they became seriously ill, I cried out to God for their lives. And God answered me, and added years to their lives. Now they are in their eighties and are still going strong. Thank you God for my mother Hannah and my aunt Mary Helen Indra. They have been my greatest companions in this journey called life.

Belief in God is a risk. You could end up looking like a total fool, as you lay down your life for him. Still take the risk. The joy of heaven is worth that risk.

My greatest problem in faith is that from time to time I don't trust God to solve my problems.

I can't run away from God because I don't want to run away from God.

Sometimes it pours. Sometimes it drizzles. Sometimes nothing arrives from the sky. Be thankful for everything from the pouring rain to the dry season. Be firm in faith that everything will turn out for your good. For God is good and He likes to do something good for you.

There is only one reason to live. There is only one reason to do anything in life. It is to acknowledge the source of life. It is to please the Giver of all gifts. It is to glorify God. It is to proclaim that we belong to Him.

Feeling hope when it is hopeless is good. Giving hope to another when it is hopeless is better. Clinging to hope after many disappointments and offering hope to others even after many rejections is best.

There is always an English teacher in me even if I have walked many a mile away from teaching English.

The devil takes something beautiful and turns it into something ugly. God takes that very ugly looking thing and reveals its true beauty.

When Saint Paul asks us to flee evil he is not asking us to run away from evil in fear. We should not run away from evil. We should confront it in the strength of Jesus Christ and defeat it. When we run away from evil we acknowledge that evil is more powerful than we are. The truth is that we who are in Christ are more powerful than evil. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. We are more than conquerors in Christ. So let us act as conquerors and confront evil and defy it in the power of God. When Saint Paul asks us to flee from evil, he is asking us to walk away from evil deeds in the power of Christ.

It's God who keeps me going. Let me not take any credit for it.

You try so hard to impress people. What makes you think that they even care? And if they do care why should you even bother?

Maybe it is the man who appears to fail in the world who achieves success with God.

God understands better than any man will ever understand. God forgives more than any man will ever forgive. I prefer God to a man any day.

Smile through the pain. Hope through the disappointment. This is the way to honour your God.

I shall expect favour in the most unfavourable situation. I shall hope in the moment of total despair. I shall celebrate victory in the moment of defeat. Thus I shall conquer the forces against me.

To say hello to someone you have not spoken to in a while is good. To smile at even a stranger is good. Let humanity not forget this simple service of love.

To see what has been seen already, why should one be passionate about that? But to see what has not been seen, that is something one should be passionate about.

You cannot be destroyed if God is with you. You cannot be brought down if God is in you. You may fail every now and then to rise to your expectations. But God is truly more tolerant of you than you are of yourself. He would not have died for you if you could have died for yourself. He knows your frailty and tolerates it better than you imagine. So walk tall and straight. You will reach your destination, for He who holds your hand will not let go of it.

The benefit of evil is that when you see and experience it you want to walk away from it. In fact you want to run to what is good.

The journey started in pain. It is to be conducted in pain. It is to end in pain. Pleasure and joy are unwelcome to the student of pain. For they do not bring remembrance but forgetfulness of the precious knowledge gathered in pain. In that knowledge there is no empty joy but heavy pain.

Thank you God for life. It's good to be alive today. I could be unborn or dead. But I am still alive and able to praise you for your goodness and thank you for your love and kindness. Be with me today.

If I want to praise my God today with songs and prayers who can stop me from doing that? Who can stop me from worshipping my God? Worship is my decision. God is my God. No one, absolutely no one can stop me from worshipping God today.

You work for God, so be a servant in your thinking. Desire the well-being of your God and not your own well-being. Strive to spread His name and not your name. Be content to stay in His shadow even if you cannot be seen. In the glory of God is your glory. In His shelter is your eternal destiny.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice", said Saint Paul. What does this mean? Why should we rejoice in the Lord? And why should we rejoice always? The Lord loved the world and proved his love by dying for us on the cross. The shedding of his blood makes it possible for us to taste the joy of belonging to him, of being children of God. We who were dead in our sins and doomed to go to hell have now the undeserved reward of eternal life with God. Not only should we receive this priceless gift with joy, but we must also celebrate this always, for there is much suffering in life and this will make us forget the tremendous gift that we have been given. Rejoicing always in the love of God and in the promise of an eternal life with him will help us bear the troubles on this earth.

What God usually looks for is humility. Whoever is aware of his powerlessness is usually the right person for God. What God really wants to know is whether a person genuinely acknowledges his need of God. If a person is genuinely dependent on God, then he is the right person for God. All of us are morally and spiritually corrupt. None of us is fit for God to work in us. However, it is only the humble among us who are fitted for God's work, and God himself does this fitting. What God resists is not talent but pride.

Be thankful to God for all gifts: the gifts that have come, the gifts that will come and the gifts that will never come. God is good. All that He does and does not do is for your good. Believe that today.

Do you want to progress spiritually? Then you must believe even if your belief appears ridiculous. You must wait though waiting seems hopeless. You must endure even if endurance means your ultimate doom. You should walk into a fiery death still hopeful of triumph.

I have the mind of Christ. I have the vision of Christ. This is what I will choose to believe even if my mind and my eyes deceive me at times. Let my choices and my path be dictated by what I choose to believe. There is a path that seems right, but let that path not be mine. There is a path that only God knows is right. Let that path be mine. There is a life that God has prepared for me. Let that be my life. Every other desire no matter how good and legitimate, let it vanish from my life.

This is the truth: it is humility that God is driving a man to. It is pride that a man is seeking to enlarge. And this is the source of all resistance to God.

To accept God's will when it goes against your own will is the greatest feat of enlightenment.

You cannot discard anything without the grace to do so. The ability to shun evil and choose good is a gift from God and comes only to those who humbly wait in the knowledge that only God can grant their need. And God will grant their need exactly when and how he chooses to.

Let me be grateful for every little bite I have to eat. Let me thank God for every moment, every joy, every sorrow, every lesson and every blessing. I'm alive now. I can still breathe, feel, think and thank.

It all begins with a simple "God bless you". A relationship begins with a simple smile.

Don't be eager to move ahead in this world. Be content to stay back as far as possible. Do not desire wealth or fame or position. Seek only God. Desire only his humility.

The most beautiful person is the one who admits that he is wrong and is willing to change.

Jealousy can make the prettiest person monstrously ugly.

God has a way of accomplishing His work. No twelve-step programme is required to harness the power of God. All that it takes is trust and surrender. A man must desire to change and must realize that only God can change him. He must allow God to work and must trust Him to complete the work. The rest is a matter of waiting and receiving.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to speak too soon. We speak too soon because we arrive at a conclusion too soon. Let us cultivate the habit of thinking about something and thinking about it again and again until we know what we are dealing with. And then let us speak slowly.

If you are troubled today, it is likely that you will not be troubled tomorrow by what troubled you today.

There is a certain path that needs to be taken. There are certain things that must be cast away. There is a certain waiting that needs to be endured. And then that day will come.

Today whatever happens I know that God is with me. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ is here with me. I shall no longer fear what is to come. Where God is, there is no place for fear and uncertainty. Whenever trouble is near God is nearer.

What really hurts the Christ worker is not rejection by non-Christians but rejection by Christians. I have said this before. I say it again. Christianity is hurt most by Christians.

There is a terrible truth regarding words. We can't undo the words we speak. And it is impossible to tame the tongue. Let us pray today and ask God for mercy and grant us the grace to speak words that will not destroy both others and us.

I just want to take my eyes off the world and look only at God. This is my prayer today.

It is God who empowers me to love. By myself I am a bitter, hateful little man.

We will do this again and again until you get it right. I hear God saying this to me.

Let us not sow bad seeds today. Let us not punish people for their behaviour towards us. Let us not fail to show kindness to everyone, especially to the one who has hurt us. Let us ask God to give us the strength to do this.

Fear is from the devil. Faith is from God. Yet we cannot see the power of faith in the absence of fear. When faith rises above fear and hopes in God even in dire circumstances it becomes glorious.