Phillip Keller Quotes

Contentment should be the hallmark of my life, as I put my affairs in the hands of God.

No pastor, no spiritual leader, is ever able to take his people any further than he himself has gone with God.

And wasn't that a great moment in baseball history," Holly Grace replied with withering sarcasm. "Helen Keller pitching and Little Stevie Wonder catching.

This is difficult to comprehend when one pauses to consider the character of Christ. Admittedly there have been many false caricatures of this Person, but an unbiased look at His life quickly reveals an individual of enormous compassion and incredible integrity.

Mercy is to care, and care very deeply about one another. It is to care to the point where we are prepared to be involved with the sufferings and adversities of others. It implies that I am prepared to put myself in the other person's place. It means that I shall try to really understand why they behave as they do, even though it injures me. It is a willingness to walk a mile in the other man's moccasins before I criticize his conduct. It is the extension of good will, help, forgiveness, compassion and kindness to one who may not seem to deserve it.

Looking back over my own life I here declare without apology that it is the study of God's Word, year after year, close communion with Christ, and great books that have nourished my soul in wondrous ways. Such authors as Fenelon, Henry Drummond, F. B. Meyer, G. Campbell Morgan, Martyn Lloyd Jones, A. W. Tozer, Hannah Whitehall Smith Oswald Chambers, Andrew Murray and John Stott have each, with their own special insights, enriched my life beyond measure.

The absolute basic belief that every child of God must come to is that if he or she lives in obedience to God's Word and in joyous harmony with our Father, nothing can impinge on his life except by His permission. To live in close communion with Christ is to experience daily the calm assurance of God's complete care and management of every detail in our walk with Him. No matter if trials or turmoil come. No matter if there is trouble. No matter if there is pain or poverty. Each is for a supreme purpose understood best by my Father, but allowed to impact me for my ultimate benefit, and for His honor.

We are identified and known by the sort of fruit, the quantity of fruit, and the quality of fruit borne out in our daily conversation, conduct, and character. There is no greater criterion for Christians. It is the paramount gauge of God's people.

Dad simply would not settle for second best. He always insisted on several basic rules of personal behavior. "Anything worthwhile costs an effort," or "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well," or "Opportunities only come to those prepared to grasp them," or "Do the thing you fear and so overcome.

What worked in war would likewise work in the place of peace. God's principle of power never altered because of circumstances. It takes as much faith to produce a crop of corn as it does to storm and seize an enemy stronghold. One must act in confidence, sure that God will play His part, whether in a cornfield or on a battlefield.

It is becoming fashionable to scorn the idea of sin in society. The impact of humanistic thinking is to belittle the concept that man is corrupt. Psychologists and psychiatrists would persuade us that people really are not responsible for their wrongs. Rather, the view of sociologists is that the environment is all wrong. Their cry is, 'Change society and you will get better men and women'. It simply does not happen. Christ's call is, 'Change men and women and you will get a better society'. This does work. It always has.

Contentment should be the hallmark of the man or woman who has put his or her affairs in the hands of God.

When I reach a place where I have implicit confidence in God's ability to manage not only the affairs of the world but also mine, as I entrust them to Him, I will have found the place of rest.

God invites us to come directly into His presence by way of His own dear Son. He Himself put it to us so simply when He stated before His death in our stead: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). It is upon this beautiful basis that it is possible for people to come freely, gladly, boldly into the supreme presence of our Father as His beloved children. We are given the joyous privilege to approach Him in childlike confidence anytime, anywhere, without apprehension, all because of the profound provision Christ Himself has made for us to pray in this intimate way. Added to all of this, His Holy Spirit confirms within us that God is our Father. He assures us that Christ is our Friend, our Intercessor. In our praying, He, God's Spirit, also intercedes on our behalf, making our prayers pleasing and acceptable to God.

How many Christians actually feel this way about Christ? How many of us are truly convinced that no matter what occurs in our lives we are being followed by goodness and mercy?

With my natural tendencies to fear, worry, and ask “why,” it was not always simple to assume that He really did know what He was doing with me.

My serenity has as its basis an implicit, unshakable reliance on His ability to do the right thing, the best thing in any given situation.

So what? I can’t see that it’s going to do any

Whenever I am afield or outdoors, there steals over me the acute consciousness that I am confronted on every hand by the workmanship of my Father. It is as if every tree, rock, river, flower, mountain, bird, or blade of grass had stamped upon it the incredible label, 'Made by God.

belong to Him simply because He deliberately chose to create me as the object of His own affection.

To think that God in Christ is deeply concerned about me as a particular person immediately gives great purpose and enormous meaning to my short sojourn upon this planet.

The gracious Spirit continually brings home to me the acute consciousness that I am God’s child and He is my Father.

There can be a habitual awareness of Christ within me, empowering me to live a noble and richly rewarding life in cooperation with Him. As I respond to Him and move in harmony with His wishes, I discover that life becomes satisfying and worthwhile. It acquires great serenity and is made an exciting adventure of fulfillment as I progress in it. This is made possible as I allow His gracious Spirit to control, manage, and direct my daily decisions. In fact, I should deliberately ask for His direction even in minute details.

we pause to reflect on the person of Christ—on His power and His achievements—suddenly like David we will be glad to state proudly, “The Lord—He is my Shepherd!

After all, when we pause to think about it a moment, we must realize that even our modern mountain highways follow the valleys to reach the summit of the passes they traverse. Similarly the ways of God lead upward through the valleys of our lives.

When my little world is falling apart and the dream castles of my ambitions and hopes crumble into ruins, can I honestly declare, “Surely—yes, surely—goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”?

the lot in life of any particular sheep depended on the type of man who owned it.

One of the calamities of Christianity is our tendency to talk in ambiguous generalities.

But because they belong to Christ and have recognized Him as Lord and Master of their lives, their owner and manager, they are permeated by a deep, quiet, settled peace that is beautiful to behold.

The only real, practical measure of my appreciation for the goodness and mercy of God to me is the extent to which I am, in turn, prepared to show goodness and mercy to others.

In the Christian life exactly the same applies. Many of the places we may be led into will appear to us as dark, deep, dangerous, and somewhat disagreeable. But it simply must be remembered that He is there with us in it. He is very much at work in the situation. It is His energy, effort, and strength expended on my behalf that even in this deep, dark place is bound to produce a benefit for me. It is there that I will discover He only can really satisfy me. It is He who makes sense and purpose and meaning come out of situations that otherwise would be but a mockery to me. Suddenly life starts to have significance. I discover I am the object of His special care and attention. Dignity and direction come into the events of my life, and I see them sorting themselves out into a definite pattern of usefulness. All of this is refreshing, stimulating, invigorating. My thirst for reality in life is assuaged, and I discover that I have found that satisfaction in my Master.

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).

When my eyes are on my Master, they are not on those around me. This is the place of peace.

Quem sofre a perda de uma pessoa amada pensa muito a respeito da autopiedade. Nós nos preocupamos com ela, a tememos, vasculhamos nossos pensamentos em busca de sinais dela. Temos medo de que nossas reações denunciem a condição descrita, de forma reveladora, como “remoer o sofrimento”. Compreendemos a aversão que a maior parte de nós tem a “remoer o sofrimento”. O luto visível nos lembra a morte, o que é considerado antinatural, uma incapacidade de lidar com a situação. “Uma única pessoa está ausente, mas o mundo inteiro parece vazio”, escreveu Phillipe Ariès a respeito dessa aversão em História da morte no Ocidente. “Mas uma pessoa não tem mais o direito de dizê-lo em voz alta.” Lembramos a nós mesmos, repetidas vezes, que nossa própria perda não é nada se comparada à perda vivenciada (ou, ainda pior, não vivenciada) por aquele que morreu; essa tentativa de corrigir o pensamento serve apenas para nos fazer mergulhar ainda mais nas profundezas da autopiedade. (Por que não enxerguei isso, por que sou tão egoísta?) A própria linguagem que usamos, quando pensamos na autopiedade, revela a profunda repulsa que sentimos por ela: autopiedade é sentir pena de si mesmo, autopiedade é chupar dedo, autopiedade é ah,coitadinho de mim, autopiedade é o estado que se permitem, ou do qual até mesmo se comprazem, aqueles que sentem pena de si mesmos. A autopiedade permanece ao mesmo tempo o mais comum e o mais universalmente abominado de nossos defeitos, sua destrutividade pestilenta aceita como algo inevitável. “Nosso pior inimigo”, dizia Hellen Keller. Nunca vi um animal selvagem/ sentir pena de si mesmo, escreveu D.H. Lawrence em uma homilia de quatro versos muito citada que, quando analisada, se revela cheia de significados tendenciosos. Um pequeno pássaro cairá morto de um galho, congelado,/ sem nunca ter sentido pena de si mesmo.Isso pode ser o que Lawrence (ou nós) preferia acreditar em relação aos animais selvagens, mas consideremos os golfinhos, que se recusam a comer depois da morte do parceiro. Consideremos os gansos, que procuram pelo parceiro perdido até ficarem desorientados e morrerem. Na verdade, quem sofre essa perda tem razões urgentes, até mesmo uma necessidade urgente, para sentir pena de si mesmo. Maridos saem de casa, esposas saem de casa, divórcios acontecem, mas esses maridos e essas esposas deixam para trás teias de associações intactas, por mais amargas que sejam. Apenas aqueles que sobrevivem a uma morte ficam de fato sozinhos. As conexões que constituíam sua vida — tanto as profundas quanto as aparentemente insignificantes (até serem rompidas) — desaparecem por inteiro.