Not he who prays most or fasts most is the greatest saint

"There is no state of mind so excellent as that of thankfulness to God.
 It is not he who prays most or fasts most who is the greatest saint in the world.
It is not he who gives most alms or is most eminent for temperance, chastity, or justice.
But it is he who is always thankful to God, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness,
and has a heart always ready to praise God for it."
~William Law In Everything Give ThanksTekst
+ Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard, page 141. 

 “Separate creaturely life, as opposed to life in union with God,
is only a life of various appetites, hungers, and wants, and cannot possibly be anything else.
God Himself cannot make a creature to be in itself,
or in its own nature, anything else but a state of emptiness.
The highest life that is natural and creaturely can go no higher than this:
it can only be a bare capacity for goodness
and cannot possibly be a good and happy life
but by the life of God dwelling in it and in union with it.
And this is the two-fold life that, of all necessity,
must be united in every good and happy and perfect creature. “
~William Law
"If you would be a good Christian, there is but one way
– you must live wholly unto God.
You must live according to the wisdom that comes from God.
You must act according to right judgments of the nature and value of things.
You must live in the exercise of holy and heavenly affections.
And you must use all the gifts of God to his praise and glory."

~William Law

English: Photo of William Law (1809—1892) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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• Parting Words
• Becoming Holy on Purpose
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• Dwelling in It & in Union With It

What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits

12  What shall I return to יהוה {Jehovah}? All His bounties are upon me.
13  I lift up the cup of deliverance, And call upon the Name of יהוה {Jehovah}.
14  I pay my vows to יהוה {Jehovah}Now in the presence of all His people.

Psa 50:5  “Gather My kind ones together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by slaughtering.”

My Morning Resolve

My Earliest Thought I Desire Shall Be:

“What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?
I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord [for grace to help].
I will pay my vows unto the Most High.”—Psalm 116:12-14

Remembering the Divine call, “Gather My saints together unto Me; those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice” (Psalm 50:5), I resolve that by the Lord’s assisting grace I will today, as a saint of God, fulfil my vows, continuing the work of sacrificing the flesh and its interests, that I may attain to the Heavenly inheritance in joint-heirship with my redeemer.

I will strive to be simple and sincere toward all.
I will seek not to please and honour self, but the Lord.
I will be careful to honour the Lord with my lips, that my words may be unctuous and blessed to all.
I will seek to be faithful to the Lord, the Truth, the brethren and all with whom I have to do, not only in great matters, but also in the little things of life.

Trusting myself to Divine care and the Providential overruling of all my interests for my highest welfare, I will seek not only to be pure in heart, but to repel all anxiety, all discontent, all discouragement.
I will neither murmur nor repine at what the Lord’s providence may permit, because

“Faith can firmly trust Him,
Come what may.”

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• "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." - Hosea 6:3
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• Psalms 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
• Daily Verse: Psalm 34:9
• I Love the Lord, Because He Has Heard My Voice (psalm 116)
• Thrill Me, God: Psalm 92
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Heroes and saints

Perhaps we want to be  Heroes and saints at the same time.

"The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world,
who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by.
The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world,
himself a light."
- Felix Adler

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."
- Author Unknown

The mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration.
A saint is not a man without faults,
but a man who has given himself without reserve to God.
- W. T. Richardson

"In Jesus' situation we have the story of the holiest man that ever lived,
and yet it was the whores and the thieves who worshiped him,
and the religious who denounced him."
- Rebecca Manley Pippert

Sanctification is glory begun.
Glory is sanctification completed.
- F. F. Bruce

"Therefore be careful how you walk,
not as unwise men but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
... understand what the will of the Lord is."
Ephesians 5:15-17

In winter the world is beautiful white,
but it can be dangerous slippery.
Let me know the dangers of this seemingly beautiful world, Lord.
Let me deal with the right people
and let me be a light in dark days for many,
that I ask you, my God, in Jesus name.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Helden en heiligen

+++

2013 update:

Billboard advertising Heroes World Tour, Changi Airport, Singapore. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Growth in character

"We are to speak the truth in love; the body is to increase unto the edifying of itself in love.

There is to be more than growth in knowledge and in numbers within ecclesial life. Our characters must increase and develop and our personality traits often must be modified.

The ecclesia, with all its component parts, is supplied that we, individually and collectively, might come "unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11- 13). Love and persistence, forgiveness, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, wisdom, judgement, holiness, justice, integrity are all to improve for we are to "grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (v. 15).

This is a vital area of growth, for the saints of all ages are to be joint rulers of the world with Christ."
-------
Principles of Ecclesial Life - Growth in character
Brother Don Styles
http://www.christadelphianbooks.org/dstyles/poel/index.html

“Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers. Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah, until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection. We will then no longer be infants tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah.” (Eph 4:11-15 Cjb)

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Groei in karakter