I do not get to know God and then do His will. I get to know Him by doing His will. Philip Yancey More Quotes by Philip Yancey More Quotes From Philip Yancey Thanks to the scientific method, most people in "developed" countries have an outlook of mild deism. We assume things like weather and disease operate according to fixed natural laws. Every so often, though, problems impinge on us so directly that we stretch beyond that mildly deistic stance and ask God to intervene. When a drought drags on too long, we pray for rain. When a young mother gets a diagnosis of cervical cancer, we solicit prayers for her healing. We beseech God as if trying to talk God into something God otherwise might not want to do. Philip Yancey prayermothercountry Prayer is - keeping company with God. Philip Yancey companyprayer The Christian knows to serve the weak not because they deserve it but because God extended his love to us when we deserved the opposite. Christ came down from heaven, and whenever his disciples entertained dreams of prestige and power he reminded them that the greatest is the one who serves. The ladder of power reaches up, the ladder of grace reaches down. Philip Yancey christianoppositesdream And perhaps, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit may be our very best defense against a materialist view of mankind here on earth. Philip Yancey fruits-of-the-spiritdefenseviews We, Jesus' followers, are the agents assigned to carry out God's will on earth. Too easily we expect God to do something for us when instead God wants to do it through us. Philip Yancey agentsfollowersjesus Prayer unfolds in the stillness of the soul. Philip Yancey stillnesssoulprayer The surgery of life hurts. It helps me, though, to know that the surgeon himself, the Wounded Surgeon, has felt every stab of pain and every sorrow. Philip Yancey painsorrowhurt I think God isn't interested in intervening every time some little bad thing happens. God is interested in getting the message of good news and love and comfort and hope across through people like us, ordinary people, or extraordinary people like Bono. Philip Yancey and-lovepeoplethinking Jesus announced a great reversal of values in His Sermon on the Mount, elevating not the rich or attractive, but rather the poor, the persecuted, and those who mourn. Philip Yancey richpoorjesus I begin with confession not in order to feel miserable, rather to call to mind a reality I often ignore. When I acknowledge where I stand before a perfect God, it restores the true state of the universe. Confession simply establishes the proper ground rules of creatures relating to their creator. Philip Yancey perfectorderreality For me, the world of nature bears spectacular witness to the imaginative genius of our Creator. Philip Yancey geniusbearsworld As I look around on Sunday morning at the people populating the pews, I see the risk that God has assumed. For whatever reason, God now reveals himself in the world not through a pillar of smoke and fire, not even through the physical body of his Son in Galilee, but through the mongrel collection that comprises my local church and every other such gathering in God’s name. (p. 68, Church: Why Bother?) Philip Yancey sundayfaithmorning As the books of Job, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk clearly show, God has a high threshold of tolerance for what appropriate to say in a prayer. God can "handle" my unsuppressed rage. I may well find that my vindictive feelings need God's correction - but only by taking those feelings to God will I have the opportunity for correction and healing. Philip Yancey prayerjobsbook God does not seem impressed by size or power or wealth. Faith is what he wants, and the heroes who emerge are heroes of faith, not strength or wealth. Philip Yancey herodoewant True healing, of deep connective tissue, takes place in community. Where is God when it hurts? Where God's people are. Philip Yancey hurthealingpeople Unless we love natural goods - sex, alcohol, food, money, success, power - in the way God intended, we become their slaves, as any addict can attest. Philip Yancey alcoholsexway The promise of pleasures so alluring that we may devote our lives to their pursuit, and then the haunting realization that these pleasures ultimately do not satisfy. Philip Yancey hauntingrealizationpromise Augustine started from God's grace and got it right, Pelagius started from human effort and got it wrong. Augustine passionately pursued God; Pelagius methodically worked to please God. Philip Yancey augustineeffortgrace [...]women much like this prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Philip Yancey sawschurchjesus [Jesus] invoked a different kind of power: love, not coercion. Philip Yancey differentcoercionjesus
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