Faith

"So long as we are quietly at rest amid favorable and undisturbed surroundings, faith sleeps as an undeveloped sinew within us; a thread, a germ, an idea. But when we are pushed out from all these surroundings, with nothing but God to look to, then faith grows suddenly into a cable, a monarch oak, a master principle of life...It may not be necessary for us to withdraw from home and friends, but we shall have to withdraw our heart's deepest dependence from all earthly props and supports, if ever we are to learn what it is to trust simply and absolutely on the eternal God."

 

~F.B. Meyer~

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

“Christ wants you to believe in him who justifies the ungodly; he does not require you to be godly before you believe (Romans 4:5). Jesus came as a Physician for the sick. He does not expect them to recover their health before they come to him (Matthew 9:12). The vilest sinners are properly qualified and prepared for the gospel’s design, which is to show forth the exceeding riches of grace when God pardons their sins and saves them freely (Ephesians 2:5-7)…

 

The real insult to Christ is when you condemn the fullness of his grace and merit by trying to make yourself righteous and holy before you receive him! You condemn the justice and holiness of God when you try to improve yourself before you receive the righteousness and holiness that can only come through faith in Christ.” 

~Walter Marshall~