Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - January 2016, Part 1

When all of us are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God, it is pointless to find out who among us is the greater sinner. It is pointless to point out certain misbehaviours and say that these are not acceptable to God. Nothing about the human being is acceptable to God. The human heart is rotten to the core, and the human body is incapable of being made right. When such is the case, let us not waste our time finding fault with others. There is much in us that is reprehensible in the eyes of God. The best approach to take is one in humility, acknowledging our failures and tolerating the weaknesses of others, which are not more serious than our own shortcomings.

It is not a great thing to be a human being first of all. A human is sin-ridden by nature. Nothing about the human is acceptable to God. Sexuality is just one of the items in a very long list of what makes the human not right with God. The only one who makes us right is Christ. His love overcomes all our sins, and his blood pays for all our transgressions. So let us look at what makes us right instead of pointing out what makes us wrong.

You are a mixture of things. So be grateful for everything that makes you what you are. Be thankful for the black as much as you are for the white. It is the impurity in you that makes the purity stand out.

Don't respond to every provocative statement, even if it is something that you think is helpful. You don't have to prove your love for what you care about. Let your heart convey your deepest feelings, and let your outward language be without useless repetition and needless emphasis.

Be glad about everything that adds to you, even about that little thing that normally escapes your notice. Cultivate the art of gratitude, and the tendency to give thanks for everything that makes you what you are today.

One's performance inside one's family is more important than one's performance outside it.

God is not going to measure us by the size of our wallets but by the size of our hearts for him.

Many people are going through a difficult time in their lives. I too am in a lot of difficulty right now. I have chosen to do a work for God in the last nine years, forsaking many things, including my career and every money-making opportunity to do a work for God. This work has been kept going by God despite hardships of many kinds. I have had the support of family and friends. God has been good. I count on his goodness at all times, and particularly now as I go through many difficulties. I know that God will remain faithful to me. I await his help once again. May God continue to provide not only for me, but for all those who are calling out to him in great need.

God, support your people, who work for you. Help those who have given up many things for you. Help those who serve you full-time, forsaking money-making opportunities in the world. O Lord, come swiftly and help us.

Spiritual poverty is the requirement for spiritual advancement. It is only the spiritually destitute who find a home in God's land.

The more you know your weakness the more you crave strength. The more you are aware of your moral depravity, the more you long for a righteousness outside you.

Great weakness brings about a great humility.

God became our father even before we became his children. And he will remain so without any further help from us.

A life full of trouble inspires in some human beings a desire for a life without troubles. Such a life is available to many who hold a religious belief. This life is in a place called heaven. And it is an unending life overflowing with joy and health and in it there is no place for suffering and pain and death. Heaven is the hope that keeps many seeking God.

Those who will not believe in what they cannot see will not believe in either heaven or God who is said to live there. Heaven is a place that cannot be seen with human eyes. It is a place which we hear about in the Bible, and in other religious books. The truth of heaven can be only perceived as a matter of faith. If people believe in God, they are also likely to believe in heaven. The terrible realities of life on earth make heaven highly desirable to some people, but to some others the same realities make heaven a most unlikely place and a figment of spiritual imagination.

There are heavens and not just one heaven. The first verse of the Bible makes that clear. There could be at least three heavens as far as the Bible is concerned. The first heaven is the earth's atmosphere. The second heaven is what lies beyond earth's atmosphere and includes the stars and the planets. The third heaven is where God himself lives with his angels and other living creatures. The third heaven is what lies beyond what can be visibly seen. It can be reached only through spiritual means, as Paul the Apostle experienced in his life. Not all this is crystal clear in our reading of the Bible. But some believe that these assumptions can be made.

Heaven is described by Jesus as his Father's house. He said that his Father's house has many rooms or mansions. And he said that he would go there to prepare a room for each and every one who believes in him. And he said that he would come back and take his people to their respective mansions later. Jesus mentioned heaven on a few occasions. His disciple John met him in heaven, when a revelation was given to him. Paul the apostle speaks of being caught up to the third heaven. So there is much in support of a place called heaven in the Bible. It is described as a place with pearly gates and a golden street. It is certainly a place out of this world, and nothing like it can ever be seen or even imagined on earth.

Heaven is also the place where people faithful to God expect to go after their death. Those who believe in Jesus Christ hope to enter heaven, on account of their faith in Christ's redemptive death and victorious resurrection. Even those from other faiths believe that there is such a thing as heaven, and hope to enter that place of total happiness and unending life, after their earthly journey is concluded. But they believe that they will get there on their own merit and not because of any redemptive act of any divine figure on their behalf.

Heaven is a place where God lives eternally with his loyal angels and any other living creature loyal to him. It is a place where there is no darkness or evil. And it is a place where there is no injustice and unfairness. It is a place where someone can be totally happy without any regret. This is my most rudimentary description of heaven. A more detailed description of heaven would include other places where spiritually wicked powers dwell, something that emerges from Saint Paul's understanding. It seems to me that Satan and his cohorts are not in hell yet. They are all in heaven still, but probably not in the heaven where God lives.

God's heart is no doctrine. He revealed it clearly in Jesus Christ. And his heart is one of love. His justice, and its requirements were met in Jesus Christ's sacrificial death, and beyond that death nothing more needs to be paid. So let guilty human beings rest. We are all guilty. And our guilt has been erased. We can either believe this and rest or not believe this and fret away till we die.

No one can keep God's commandments. This is the plain truth. We satisfy God's requirements only by being in Christ, who is the only one who could keep God's commandments.

Doctrinal correctness will matter little to God. What will matter and what does matter is the heart that seeks God and cannot live without God. If a man or woman has that heart and nothing else, God will still have him or her.

Don't do anything on your own. Just let God do it for you. It will not be clear to you now. But remember this. Nothing that you do on this earth will ever add to your worthiness before God. Our worthiness does not come from our actions. Our worthiness comes from our placing our trust in God and his Son, the Lord Christ.

Only God makes us righteous, And he does that if we will simply believe in what his Son did for us.

A love of God flows out of a love of all human beings. We cannot love God without loving human beings. We cannot honour God without honouring human beings. We cannot see God without seeing him in each and every one of us.

Phobia of many kinds characterizes the average believer in God. One should learn to worship God without the terror of being doctrinally wrong. God alone is to be worshipped. But God is in all of his saints. All those who are in Christ reflect God and each and every one should be honoured as God himself is honoured.

Mary, Mother of Christ, is the most blessed of women. Generations have called her blessed and they will continue to do so. To approach her and to ask her to intercede for us is not very different from asking another person to pray for us. As such she is a most eminent intercessor. Asking Mary to intercede does not amount to the worship of Mary. God alone is to be worshipped.

This work we do for God is not about success and failure. This is about trusting in God and doing what he inspires.

Be thankful for all your gifts even if they don't satisfy you.

O Lord, thank you for all your benefits in the past year. How much we have received from you! Every day is a blessing. Every moment is a blessing. Every breath is a blessing. Every day of health is a blessing. Every friend we’ve made, every relationship in our lives is a blessing. Every opportunity to speak about your love, every opportunity to share your message is a blessing. And you gave me so many blessings. You gave my family so many blessings during this year. Thank you very much O Lord.

When someone curses you don't curse back. Remain silent and forgiving. Bless that person. Ask God to reveal his great love and mercy to that person. And may he or she be transformed by that love. Every time someone curses us we have the great opportunity to bless. And when we bless the one who cursed us we render impotent the evil effects of the person's curse. For we overcome evil not with evil but with good.

The love of God endures all forms of human coldness. Let us aspire to love like God, without expectation and without letting our love be defined by human response.

Don't worry about what people think about you. They will always find something about you that they do not like. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, calmly assess what others think about you, and see if there is any truth to it. Make changes to suit their expectations if you can or if you are willing. But if you are convinced that you are right in being what you are, then go ahead and be yourself no matter what the cost of that is. It is more important to please oneself than to please others.

A new year is not new until every day of it is new in our eyes.

Cultivating a kind, appreciative heart should be the goal of every person who desires appreciation from others.

We should keep our excitement regarding life going every day, not just on New Year’s Eve or on New Year’s Day but every day. The mark of newness is to feel new even when circumstances appear old. This newness is brought in by God, when we embrace the will of God and seek him. We will then come into the newness which he alone can bring about in a most effective way. Happy New Year to all who desire this God-made newness. May God bless you all.

Is God going to bring in the new in our lives? Or are we going to do it all on our own? Are we going to change ourselves by our own efforts? Do we really believe that we can change without God’s help? A year is only a marker of time. It may matter very little from an eternal perspective. I believe every day is important. Every moment is significant. We should not be excited about the new year. We should be excited about this new moment. We should be excited about every moment. And this excitement should go on every day as long as we live.

We have all seen the passing away of a year and the coming of a new year. What does a new year mean to us? Is it simply a matter of making resolutions and failing to keep them? Is it simply a fresh attitude that lasts for a while and disappears? How excited are we about a new year? What possibilities do we see in this new year? Is anything really going to change in our lives? Or are we only going to imagine the change? Or are we going to effect that change in our own strength? Or are we going to ask God to help us move to a new place and to a new way of thinking and to a new way of living?

Is a new year a new number in the calendar? Is that all? Is that the end of the story as far as a new year is concerned? A new year is not about the number. Some people believe in numbers. Some people swear by numbers. Some people believe that certain numbers are lucky numbers. I don’t believe in numbers. I believe in God. I believe that it is God who keeps us going. It is God who keeps every man and woman going. And it is God that I will trust any day. And I believe that God will guide me to the places where he wants me to go. He will lead me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. And surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. This is my belief and my hope as I step out of this year and move into another.

What pain you have had to bear all these months! And you bear it very well. May God grant you the strength to go through this trouble. It is my prayer that He heals you soon. Do not give up. Keep on believing in a miracle, no matter how long it takes. Do not give up until God grants you the relief that you seek. Give no peace to God. Knock on His door until He opens it and grants you the blessing that you seek. Fight on my friend. God is on your side. He will neither leave you nor forsake you. Just hold on to this promise: "He will be with you in trouble. He will deliver you and honor you. With long life will He satisfy you and show you His salvation."
God bless you with a healthy and happy New Year.