by Vance Havner
A boy was told by his father not to go swimming. When his father caught him in the water, the boy said, “I didn’t mean to do it.” “Then why do you have your swim suit with you?” he was asked. “I brought it along in case I was tempted,” was the reply. So do we make provision for the flesh.
by Vance Havner
by A.B. Simpson
In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves—Philippians 2:3
When the apostle speaks of the deep things Of God (1 Corinthians 2:10), he means more than deep spiritual truth. There must be something before this. There must be a deep soil and a thorough foundation.
Much of our spiritual teaching fails because the people to whom it is directed are so shallow. Their deeper nature has never been stirred.
The beatitudes begin at the bottom of things-the poor in spirit, the mourners, the hungry hearts. Suffering is essential to profound spiritual life. We need not go to a monastery or a hospital for the leprous to find it. Unless we are born into a different race than Adam’s, the first real opportunity for unselfishness will bring into our lives the anguish of crucifixion.
Standing For God 