A Quote by Sinclair B. Ferguson
Regeneration, however it is described, is a divine activity in us, in which we are not the actors but the recipients.
Related Quotes
[Martin] Luther did not regard the water in baptism as common water, but as a water which had become, through the Word with its inherent divine power, a gracious water of life, a washing of regeneration. Through this divine efficacy of the Word the sacrament effects regeneration.
The activity of God, which is transcendent in blessedness, is the activity of contemplation; and therefore among human activities that which is most akin to the divine activity of contemplation will be the greatest source of happiness.
Now, justification in this life is given to us according to these three things: first by the laver of regeneration by which all sins are forgiven; then, by a struggle with the faults from whose guilt we have been absolved; the third, when our prayer is heard, in which we say: 'Forgive us our debts,' because however bravely we fight against our faults, we are men; but the grace of God so aids as we fight in this corruptible body that there is reason for His hearing us as we ask forgiveness.
None of us find yoga. We are not that smart. Yoga finds us. We are taken up by it. It is nothing more than pure grace. We don’t make this happen. We are the very fortunate recipients of this divine largesse.
Regeneration expresses those supernatural, divine, new qualities imparted by the Spirit to the soul, which are the principle of all holy action.
Once you are absolutely thoughtlessly aware, you are one with the Divine, so much so that the Divine takes over every activity, every moment of your life and looks after you and you feel completely secured, one with the Divine and enjoy the blessings of the Divine.
War is thus divine in itself, since it is a law of the world. War is divine through its consequences of a supernatural nature which are as much general as particular. War is divine in the mysterious glory that surrounds it and in the no less inexplicable attraction that draws us to it. War is divine by the manner in which it breaks out.
Once we understand just how to control genes, we have the potential for spinal cord regeneration, bone regeneration, and so on. It might also give us plumper chickens.
First, we become aware of that which is Divine around us. Then we become aware of that which is Divine within us. Finally, we become aware that all is Divine, and that there is nothing else. This is the moment of our awakening.
The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart's happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead.
To be cheerful when others are in despair, to keep the faith when others falter, to be true even when we feel forsaken—all of these are deeply desired outcomes during the deliberate, divine tutorials which God gives to us—because He loves us. These learning experiences must not be misread as divine indifference. Instead, such tutorials are a part of the divine unfolding.
The animal is one with its life activity. It does not distinguish the activity from itself. It is its activity. But man makes hislife activity itself an object of his will and consciousness. He has a conscious life activity. It is not a determination with which he is completely identified.
As a community organizer who holds a degree in history, I understand the fascination with history. However, there is a tendency for many of us to get engrossed in the recounting of our history, which often amounts to purely intellectual activity without material action.
And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins and to regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined.
When you start witnessing something without thought, there is no obstruction for absorbing the knowledge about that thing because there is no thought. It's complete absorption which takes place. And then it manifests. This is how the Divine Power works within us. So with our gravity, what we do is to touch that depth within us, which can carry the Divine Power and manifest.
All of us, I suspect, imagine that a world exists from which we alone have been excluded; all of us have our noses pressed against the glass. But if we contemplate our own lives, not the phantom life on the other side, we might find things in them to envy-a family that’s intact; a job we like; excellent health (the thing we take for granted and on which all happiness depends). Good fortune is there, however sporadic, however modest, however difficult to achieve. The trick is to recognize it.
Related Authors
Adam Smith Quotes
Scottish
Economist
Annie Lennox Quotes
Scottish
Musician
B. C. Forbes Quotes
Scottish
Journalist
Craig Ferguson Quotes
Scottish
Comedian
David Byrne Quotes
Scottish
Musician
David Hume Quotes
Scottish
Philosopher
George MacDonald Quotes
Scottish
Writer
Gordon Ramsay Quotes
Scottish
Chef
Irvine Welsh Quotes
Scottish
Novelist
Nicola Sturgeon Quotes
Scottish
Politician
Oswald Chambers Quotes
Scottish
Theologian
Robert Burns Quotes
Scottish
Poet
Robert Louis Stevenson Quotes
Scottish
Novelist
Samuel Smiles Quotes
Scottish
Author
Thomas Carlyle Quotes
Scottish
Philosopher
Walter Scott Quotes
Scottish
Novelist