Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - October 2015, Part 1

Faith at its best is trusting in God when it makes no sense.

Wisdom is learning to be at peace with your imperfections.

This is God's kindness to me, I asked him for something I needed very much. But I waited a year or more to ask him for that. When I finally did ask him he supplied my need instantly. Today I can only smile and say the words with awe, "God is great."

Let's not get lost in ourselves. Let's appreciate others. It is when we see the good in others, others will be able to see the good in us.

No one can uproot what God has planted. So grow without fear knowing that God will sustain what he planted.

To be happy in life you should try to make others happy. True happiness is in giving and not receiving.

We need to sow before we can reap. We need to work before we can enjoy the benefits. We need to employ the talent that God has given us. And we need to give to others from what we have freely received. Yes, all of us have received a measure of God's grace. And each of us has a gift. We must use this gift to benefit others and bring them close to God. We need to bring God glory, for this alone is our thanksgiving for his gracious gifts. And when we give like this we will receive, exactly in the same way we gave. There is no denying this.

God alone is the giver. Human beings are only agents of God. We should ask God and expect to receive from him through human beings. Sometimes we need to do more than ask God for something. We need to keep on asking. But we should only ask God in that way. He alone can give what we ask. He alone can make something happen when nothing seems to go our way. God alone can make a way when there seems to be no way. And it is his way that we must always seek.

Know God's heart before you ask him anything. God loves you and cares for you. God will give you what you need. You must be willing to wait for it. Use your talent to bring glory to God. Every one of us has something to give. Give as much as you can. And you will receive in the same measure in which you gave. Make no mistake about this. We give because we have received. We give and we will receive in the same manner as we gave. These are divine truths that will always prevail.

Ask God before you ask anyone else. Ask God and believe that you will receive. He will help you through humans most probably. But you should ask God first.

You will receive your miracle when God wants it to happen. Wait patiently until then. He will be on time.

You need to rest because God wants you to rest. You can worry and feel desperate. But this will do you no good. In fact this will have an adverse effect on your health. If you trust in God, you must rest in his promise. Believe that he will help you somehow.

Don't look at your problem. Look at God. Fix your eyes on God. And he will come to your rescue.

A grateful heart will express itself. There is no need to prod it.

Whether we believe in a god or no god, many of us live with a desire for common good. We want to help others besides helping ourselves and our near and dear. We want to give something back, for we realize we have taken something away for our personal use. But to whom or to what we are in debt we cannot agree about that. We want to be good, but we cannot agree about why we want to be good. We want to die peacefully and gratefully, with fulfilled aims, whether we believe in a supernatural deity or not. This common desire for good is what unites a severely fractured world. Let our beliefs in god or no god not prevent us from holding on to the basic thing that unites all human beings. Let us not widen the fractures that are already there. Let us walk toward one another and cross over the fractures.

Some don't need God. Some don't need any god. All that they need is their mind and what it has so clearly revealed to them. Years of ill-formed belief and crushing dogma are said to have turned hearts away from the worship of a supernatural deity thought to dwell in the sky but also seen to be present everywhere on earth. People who don't need God just need their minds and what their minds have collectively found. And this is what they have found. They have found that the deity or deities that many worship cannot be found anywhere on earth or anywhere above. All that exists is the outcome of many scientific processes and the point of origin is still being studied. But many who study this origin are not ready to admit the reality of a creator. For the scientific truths do not point to a creation but an evolution of everything that we now find around us. Their knowledge is still incomplete and may always remain incomplete, as long as they are human. But that will not prevent some of them from making the ultimate guess. There is nothing supernatural about this natural universe. That's what they think. And that's the assumption which will shape whatever they find in future.

Let us give up our unsound beliefs and move on with what we know deeply in our hearts. God is the only one to be honoured. He alone is good. He alone should be followed. He loves us more than any human parent. He cares for us more than any human does. He alone knows what is best for us. It is he alone that we should be loyal to. But to know him we must go through a terrible period of learning, where we need to give up our ill-formed, immature theories of God and our incomplete black and white vision of what is right and what is wrong.

Have all those who lived long been obedient people who honoured their parents? Are all those who live long God-fearing people who acknowledge and honour God in their hearts? The way of the world seems different from what is believed by some people. God-fearing people seem to live more troubled lives than those who have no need to acknowledge God. Some have undergone torture and death for their faith. Some have endured disdain and ridicule for their loyalty to God. Nearly all believers continue in their difficult journey of faith by believing that their rewards will come in another life. But life on earth, as it superficially seems, offers few rewards and many sufferings to those who walk after God.

When I wake up, I long to get back to work. That is my great blessing.

God keeps me going. By myself I would have stopped a long time ago, and I would have been a perennial rolling stone by now without any moss.

Even a useless thing is useful when it points you to what is useful.

When life doesn't make sense, hold on to the belief that God always makes sense. Even when good things are removed from your life and blessings seem plucked out of your hands, God is still at play, and whatever he allows he has a good reason for it, and he will cause all things, even these terribly unfair things to work together for your good in the end.

When a door is closed, even when a promising door is closed, and there seems to be no good reason for that to happen, believe that all things happen for a purpose, and God is behind all of them. He will not allow what is eventually not good for you. And he is the only one you should never lose sight of. For no plan is as beneficial as his plan for you. And no one can shut what he opens. And no one can put down what he has exalted.

Accidents will happen. Misunderstandings will go on. People will tread on your toes. Demons will dance. But you have to go where God tells you to go, and do what he tells you to do, even if the way is blocked and the door is shut in your face.

God can exceed our expectations. But he does not always. Jesus said that it would be done according to our faith. So to receive from God we should expect him to give. To receive more we should expect more. We should believe that God is a giver and that his giving can exceed our expectations by a great margin.

Forgiveness is an outcome of love. A great outcome of God's love is forgiveness. The best gift that human beings receive from God's love is forgiveness. When we receive God's forgiveness graciously in this loving manner, we should also reflect the same graciousness to others. As God loves us we should love others. As God forgave us in love, we too should forgive others in love. That is why we should not give any place in our lives to bitterness, rage and anger, and we should not engage ourselves in brawling and slander. We should be kind and compassionate, seeing others as God sees us.

There is one God and so there is only one love that unites us all. This love surpasses knowledge, because no man-made knowledge can grasp it. But by the Spirit of God, we will be given the grace to grasp how wide and long, high and deep this love of God runs, cutting across man-made boundaries and penetrating superficial barriers. Not only will love embrace us all but it will also equip us to serve God and become united in faith as God intends us to be. When we reach that place, we will become Christ-like in the most complete manner.

God loves you. He will always love you. He will always forgive you no matter how much you sin. But should you return his love with rebellion against him? This is the question that all who receive his love have to answer.

You don't save a life by sinning. You ruin your own life.

Wait for God. It may seem like a long time. But it is worth it.

As long as you know that your love is true, don't worry about someone else thinks.

Don't try to do something great. Just do something that will bring you and someone else joy.

If you want to prove to someone that God is real and that he is here, let them see him in you. Love someone you would normally hate. Bless someone you would normally curse. Help the poor without drawing attention to yourself. Think kind thoughts about everyone. See God in everyone, no matter how they see you.

If you want to prove that God is here, then show them that God is in you. That's the only way you can prove it.

You love God by loving people. Love people without expecting anything in return. Love even those who are difficult to love. That's how you show everyone how much you love God.

I don't spend too much time writing anything. I let the words tumble out of me. There will always be a better expression. But I try to come up with a sincere expression as quickly as possible. I don't go after the elusive best. I stick with the spontaneous and not- so-perfectly-formed expression.

Some wise men in this world do not believe in God. Because the very idea of God is not logical to them. And the knowledge of God appears like foolishness to them. They see believers in God as deluded. And so believers are seen as fools. But the Bible presents an opposite case. Those who believe in God are seen as wise, and those who disbelieve in God are seen as fools. These fools despise the knowledge of God and refuse to be instructed by the truth of God.

The fear of the Lord is unknown to the fools of this world. To be a fool in the biblical sense is to deny the very existence of God. The fools of this world not only deny that God exists but also despise the knowledge of God, which is transmitted to us through the ages by the writers of the Bible.

There is avoidable sin. And then there is unavoidable sin. Don't let the avoidable become unavoidable.

Sin is sin. It doesn't become admirable if it is a means of achieving something good. Sin will most likely be forgiven if you confess it to God. But let God's graciousness not be a license to sin, even for a worthy purpose.

Don't sin consciously to help someone else. Your good intention will mean nothing if you carry it out knowing well that you are rebelling against God.

Help people. But don't do anything that you know is wrong in order to do what is right. There are no prizes in heaven for right work done in the wrong way.

People are naturally haters and vengeance-seekers. Forgiveness is unnatural and maybe even impossible for human beings without God. But when humans allow God to shape their lives they will become more capable of forgiveness, but that alone will not always ensure best results. It is when a human being recognizes his own bottomless depravity and how God graciously forgave his unforgivable mistakes that he will be moved to forgive his human offenders in the same way.

People are naturally fault-finders. They cannot tolerate in others what they so effortlessly tolerate in themselves. Humans are hypocrites until they admit the truth about themselves. That is what Jesus Christ will enable humans to do.

Jesus made no attempt to underestimate the power of sin. Sin is terrible and has dire consequences. That is why he suggested that we enter heaven without the body parts that had committed sin. But this should not be taken literally, or we will make the foolish mistake of thinking that it is only the body part that sinned and not the entire human being, under the control of a sinful nature. All sins are the fruits of this nature. Even after spiritual regeneration or rebirth, even as the human mind is renewed in spiritual strength, the natural inclinations of man will surface frequently, and sin will be unavoidable as long as one is in the flesh.

You should ask for help as directly as possible, expecting to be helped. If you do not receive help you should not be upset. Some people will help. Others will be reluctant to help. But God will help you through someone. You can be confident of that. God is faithful. And he will help, usually through a human being.

We are in this world together. We help others because we ourselves have received help.We help others knowing that someday we too may need help. We help others because it is the right thing to do. God has put us together, and it is not for the purpose of living for ourselves, but for the purpose of helping one another. We cannot live our lives well in isolation, caring only for ourselves. Such a life if possible will be ultimately self-defeating.

God does not appear to us in person. But we see God in one another. You see God in others and others see God in you. Our concern for others, our compassion for the suffering, our deeds of sacrificial love for the sake of others, bring out God in us. Yes God is with us and he will be seen in us. This is what Jesus Christ enabled us to experience.

How do you know that God loves you? Consider your life. Consider the people who love you and take care of you. Consider the kindness people have shown to you. Look at the world and its beauty. Look at a flower. Look at a butterfly. And you will see the love of God for you.

God loves all that he created. Every human creator will prize and protect his creation. God does the same but even better and more reliably than any human can do.

The love that outlasts every other love is God's love. It is the spontaneous love of a father for his children. It is the natural love of a creator for what he created. It is a love as lasting as the one who feels it. It is a love without end. It is a love that is not dependent on performance or tied to any expectation. It is a love that only wants to give.

Human love cannot satisfy. Humans love today and hate tomorrow. Humans love and hate interchangeably. Humans love themselves more than they love others. Human love is nearly always tied to expectations. Human love frequently does not tolerate the faults of others. So human love cannot satisfy the one who is looking for something more consistent and enduring, and which does not depend on outcomes.

We don't get to choose the people we love. It is right to love everyone. It is best to love those whom we find difficult to love.

God's love is needed because human love will not do.

I'd like to meet people. But if some people don't like to meet me I understand that. There is a lot to experience in life. There is a lot to appreciate and acknowledge. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do. Meeting people is only of the many things to do.

The last days madness is not something that I subscribe to. I am not drawn to doomsday predictions. I prefer to be aware of my own limitedness and vulnerability. Life on earth cannot be guaranteed to anyone. So anyone can die any time. Therefore it is best that one lives today as though this could very well be our last day. This is an ideal way to do our best every day.

Are these the last days of the world? These could very well be the last days for you or me individually. There is no way any one can tell exactly when the last days of this world will begin. There is no use in guessing that. It is better to assume that these may very well be the last days for us individually. And we should live in the immediacy of that truth, doing what is not only best for ourselves but also for others.

Some of us simplistically think that Jesus brings only peace, for he is called the Prince of Peace. But his peace is not the kind that the world gives. His peace initially comes as war. And in the war Christ will let you find a peace that surpasses human understanding. Even as dissension and conflict arise out of Christ and our allegiance to him, we will find a rest in his ultimate truth and ever-present guidance. This is the shelter available in the great storm that our love for Christ brings about in our lives.

We don't live in a free world where we can roam freely and do anything we want. Everything has consequences, even our attitude to God. Though we should love God ultimately, we should also fear him. For great is his capacity to destroy us. And he can destroy us utterly. Even humans may kill the body, but only God can kill the soul. And that is the part that we shouldn't allow to die. So like a responsible teacher Jesus Christ warns us regarding our attitude to God. As long as we know and fear what he is ultimately capable of doing, and walk in awareness of his ultimacy, there is nothing to fear. In fact only then can fear really dissolve, and calm enter.