Perpetual Spring of Pure Desire

“You know to what extent You have already changed me, You who first healed me of the lust of vindicating myself, so that You might forgive all my remaining iniquities, and heal my diseases, and redeem my life from corruption, and crown me with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and satisfy my desires with good things.” St. Augustine

“It is a sure mark of grace to desire more.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne

“‘Dost thou want nothing, O poor soul? Hast thou nothing to ask? Oh yes! You say, a great deal. Well then, draw near to thy gracious King and Bridegroom without fear. Lo! He holds out His golden scepter to thee, saying, ‘Only ask: not the half, but the whole of My kingdom shall be granted; nay, I will give myself unto thee!’ O dear soul, pray, and tell Him everything that is wanting, be it ever so great or ever so small. His loving-kindness will hear even the least petition; nay, He will seem to be ignorant of what thou dost not tell Him. But whatever is poured out before Him is actually addressed and lodged in its proper place, and does not lie upon thy heart any longer, but upon His heart, which cannot rest till you are relieved. And if you have experienced His help aforetime in great or small things, you may depend on His readiness to help you out of troubles hereafter; only be earnest in prayer for His help. We often imagine we were willing and drawing near to Him, but He was unwilling, and refused our request; but it is not so: He rather draws us, and desires our relief more than we do; for it is He that works even this willing mind.” K.H. Von Bogatzky

“Desire only God, and your heart will be satisfied.” Augustine

“This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: ‘I will help thee’. ‘It is but a small thing for Me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! Not help thee? Why, I bought thee with My blood. What! Not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside My glory and became a man for thee; I gave My life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. ‘Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. “Help thee?” Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of my all sufficiency. “I will help thee”.’ O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them there – thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy might. The Eternal God is thine helper!” C. H. Spurgeon

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires (that is, our ambitions) not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” C. S. Lewis

“.....dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.” Charles Wesley

“Let temporal things serve your use, but the eternal be the object of your desire.” Thomas a Kempis

“To be rebuffed by a loved one causes pain not to be compared with the cruelties inflicted by an enemy. So your indifference and unresponsiveness to My call brings anguish to My soul, indeed, deeper grief than the crimes of the reprobate sinner. I have laid My rod upon the sinner, but I have laid My hand upon you. And I have put My arm around you to draw you closer, but you have been impatient and irritable as though I sought to interfere with your liberty. I am able to give you greater liberty than you will ever find by seeking to be independent of Me. I seek not to interfere with your happiness, but I do require that you relinquish your will; for I cannot bless you as I desire until your will is yielded up and you accept Mine in exchange. As you love Me, you accept My will as your own, and the caliber and extent of your love for Me may be accurately measured to the degree that you accept My will with a peaceful heart. You can best sing ‘My Jesus, I Love You’ when you can truly sing ‘Where He Leads Me, I Will Follow.’ For whoever does not take up his cross daily to follow Me cannot be My disciple.” Frances J. Roberts

“Satan woos us with pleasantness to seek our bondage (as if self wasn’t enough) and then bites us with guilt and shame. Indeed, his desire is to entice us towards a conduct that would ruin us. He is our enemy not our friend. God, on the other hand, lovingly woos us from “the jaws of distress” - which is every form of sin and captivity holding us tightly, to seek our freedom. Christ came to set us free. We are not to be yoked again to slavery. Make no mistake about it – sin harm’s. Indeed, it is a death sentence. Satan wants us to believe that God is holding out on us, that He does not have our best interest at heart while all the while, through the blood of Jesus, all God seeks to hold out on us is death and destruction.” BHY

“But the question to precede all others, which finally determines the course of our lives is, 'What do I really want?' Was it to love what God commands, in the words of the collect, and to desire what He promises? Did I want what I wanted, or did I want what He wanted, no matter what it might cost?” Elisabeth Elliot

“...Jesus showed us what God really wants to cleanse and purify—our hearts. Christ’s transforming work on the cross helps us to break free from desires that hold us in bondage. As we submit to God, we become like Christ, no longer wanting to offend God. Out of gratitude we obey Him from the inside out.” Tremper Longman

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” C.S. Lewis

“Contentment is a learned secret that sadly many fail in their endeavors to obtain. It is never found in more, better, bigger, new, marriages, children or whatever that whatever may be. Oh, it may appear briefly with these faux gods we seek to enthrone but vanishes quickly after obtaining. A contentment and peace which prevails is found only in Christ. He wants to fill our wants – just ask Him. He wants to be the desire of our hearts – seek Him. Because He knows it will make us whole so that we are no longer needy or just plain annoying to be around. God fills completely when we allow Him. He wants to fill us in order to spill us (which, btw, brings much joy to the soul) so that we leave the aroma of Christ in our spheres rather than the smell of death. This is the abundance He came to give us – life to the fullest measure. This is contentment.” BHY