God deliver me from the dread asbestos of βother things.β Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame.
Jim ElliotRead
Lord, make my way prosperous, not that I achieve high station, but that my life may be an exhibit to the value of knowing God.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes seeking prosperity not for personal gain, but to showcase the value of a relationship with God.
Jim Elliot's quote reflects a deep desire for prosperity that serves a higher purpose beyond personal ambition. He suggests that true worth in life comes not from attaining power or status, but from living in a way that exemplifies the significance of knowing and trusting God. It invites reflection on how one's life can inspire others to value spiritual connections over material achievements.
In practice
During a sermon on faith and purpose, I shared this quote to illustrate the importance of seeking a meaningful life.
God deliver me from the dread asbestos of βother things.β Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame.
I have felt the impact of your prayer in these past weeks. I am certain now that nothing has had a more powerful infl uence on this life of mine than your prayers.
God, I pray light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for thee.
Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.
None of it gets to be 'old stuff', for it is Christ in print, the Living Word. We wouldn't think of rising in the morning without a facewash, but we often neglect that purgative cleansing of the Word of the Lord. It wakes us up to our responsibility
Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save. Have it Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an oblation for the world. Blood is only of value as it flows before Thine altar
At the time I did not know that stories of life are often more like rivers than books.
The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by an invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing.
In the ideal world, philanthropy should be redundant or at least it should be at the edges, as innovation or risk capital. But it's far from an ideal world; the wealthy are cornering more and more opportunities and resources from this planet. So, the big challenge for philanthropy is... can it engage with the distribution of wealth itself?
Understanding that everything is impermanent, that happiness is transformed into suffering, and that all phenomena are lacking reality in themselves and are only projections of our mind, will permit us to counteract the first hindrance to meditation, that is, our attachment to this world.
In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a diabolical cunning.
...human beings are a species splendid in their array of moral equipment, tragic in their propensity to misuse it, and pathetic in their ignorance of the misuse.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.