Without the Spirit man is so infirm that he cannot, with all other means whatsoever, be enabled to think one right saving thought of God, of Christ, or of his blessed things.
John BunyanRead
I would say to my soul, O my soul, this is not the place of despair; this is not the time to despair in. As long as mine eyes can find a promise in the Bible, as long as there is a moment left me of breath or life in this world, so long will I wait or look for mercy, so long will I fight against unbelief and despair.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes perseverance and hope in the face of despair.
John Bunyan's quote highlights the importance of maintaining faith and hope even in challenging times. It suggests that as long as one can find hope and promises in faith, they should continue to resist despair and fight against disbelief, emphasizing an unwavering commitment to optimism and resilience.
In practice
In a motivational speech to uplift a community facing hardships.
Without the Spirit man is so infirm that he cannot, with all other means whatsoever, be enabled to think one right saving thought of God, of Christ, or of his blessed things.
I saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday and today and forever.
For to speak the truth, there are but few that care thus to spend their time, but choose rather to be speaking of things to no profit.
I saw a man clothed with rags . . . a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back.
Look how fears have presented themselves, so have supports and encouragements; yea, when I have started, even as it were at nothing else but my shadow, yet God, as being very tender of me, hath suffered me to be molested, but would with one Scripture or another, strengthen me against all; insomuch that I have often said, Were it awful, I could pray for greater trouble, for the greater comfort's sake.
There can be but one will the master in our salvation, but that shall never be the will of man, but of God; therefore man must be saved by grace.
Sometimes we know what we have to do, but we lack the courage to do it. Let us learn from Mary how to make decisions, trusting in the Lord.
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest. It was a scandal that a breed of fearless and sinister people ran around freely, so they attached a nickname and a myth to these people to get even with them, to make up for the many times they had felt afraid.
Romeo: Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much. Mercutio: No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.
We face up to awful things because we can't go around them, or forget them. The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you say 'Yes, it happened, and there's nothing I can do about it,' the sooner you can get on with your own life. You've got children to bring up. So you've got to get over it. What we have to get over, somehow we do. Even the worst things.
The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on.
Will be a divine fight, a holy war...Armageddon on a miniature scale.
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