Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they found Him, the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the deep longing for a connection with the divine and the rewards that come from such a pursuit.
Aiden Wilson Tozer emphasizes the importance of seeking a deeper relationship with God, illustrating that the struggles and dedication involved in this spiritual journey amplify the joy of ultimately finding Him. The quote suggests that the intensity of one's desire and effort in seeking the divine leads to a more profound and satisfying experience when that connection is achieved.
In practice
During a sermon to highlight the importance of dedication to faith.
Peace of heart that is won by refusing to bear the common yoke of human sympathy is a peace unworthy of a Christian. To seek tranquility by stopping our ears to the cries of human pain is to make ourselves not Christian but a kind of degenerate stoic having no relation either to stoicism or Christianity.
The average Christian is so cold and so contented with His wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness.
Let a man set his heart only on doing the will of God and he is instantly free. If we understand our first and sole duty to consist of loving God supremely and loving everyone, even our enemies, for God's dear sake, then we can enjoy spiritual tranquility under every circumstance.
The church that can't worship must be entertained. And leaders who can't lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.
Before the Christian Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, ‘What is God like?’ and goes on from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed, her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is; and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind
People who are crucified with Christ have three distinct marks: 1. they are facing only one direction, 2. they can never turn back, and 3. they no longer have plans of their own.
For we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heros of all time have gone before us.
Gotta kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight.
So when it came to role models, I looked at presidents' wives. Of course, you're talking about a farm girl who stood in the fields, dreaming, years ago, wishing she was that kind of person. But if I had been that kind of person, do you think I could sing with the emotions I do? You sing with those emotions because you've had pain in your heart.
I'm always trying to prove to my 17-year-old self that I can do creative things I thought weren't possible.
What else have I done nearly all my life than go hungry and go on singing?
With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world.
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