Quotes on the way of Jesus

I love quotes. Short, quick reads with lots of truth. Things you can dwell on while driving the car or mowing the yard. Here are a few of my favorites about following Jesus.

"Ruthless trust comes down to this: faith in the person of Jesus and hope in his promise in spite of all disconcerting appearances."
-Brennan Manning in Ruthless Trust

The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself.
-Rita Maye Brown

This adventure is not about me but Jesus, and apart from Him and the grace of the Spirit and Abba’s love in this process I would be lost and destroyed, or dead already. So let’s be people who rock the world, who fight for the unity of the heart, who embrace powerlessness and a love that is so wondrously painful that it threatens daily to pull us out of this age and into the presence of the One we so desperately love.
-Paul Young, Author of The Shack

We are called to be fruitful - not successful, not productive, not accomplished.Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort.Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.”
-Henri J.M. Nouwen


“I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into a habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God.”
-Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

“When religion replaces the actual experience of the living Jesus, when we lose the authority of personal knowing and rely on the authority of books, institutions, and leaders, when we let religion interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we lose the very reality that religion itself describes as ultimate.”
-Brennan Manning in The Wisdom of Tenderness

Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix.
-Barbara Brown Taylor in A Deadly Mix

“Nothing makes people n the church more angry than grace. It’s ironic: we stumble into a party we weren’t invited to and find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninviteds get in. Then a strange phenomenon occurs: as soon as we are included in the party because of Jesus’ irresponsible love, we decide to make grace 'more responsible' by becoming self-appointed Kingdom Monitors, guarding the kingdom of God, keeping the riffraff out (which as I understand it, are who the kingdom of God is supposed to include.)"
-Michael Yaconelli in Messy Spirituality

"Why, then, is there so much unfreedom in religious circles today? The sad truth is that many Christians fear the responsibility of being free. It's often easier to let others make the decisions or to rely exclusively on the letter of the law. Some men and women want to be slaves."
-Brennan Manning in The Wisdom of Tenderness

What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day. For each of us the time is surely coming when we shall have nothing but God."
A.W Tozer

May all your expectations be frustrated. May all your plans be thwarted. May all of your desires be withered into nothingness. That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit."
-A blessing prayed over Henri Nouwen by a friend

Anyone God uses significantly is always deeply wounded... We are, each and every one of us, insignificant people who God has called and graced to use in a significant way... On the last day, Jesus will look us over not for medals, diplomas, or honors, but for scars."
-Brennan Manning in Ruthless Trust

"There has been persecution of people who will live this costly life throughout the history of organized religion. We need to see that the real enemy of the cross-life comes from the established religion of the day. That seems to be the clear teaching of Jesus—and history has born him out."
-David Boan and John Yates, brothers from Australia in an unpublished manuscript

"Brothers and sisters, break free from whatever ruts you have settled into! Whoever does not want to be set free - well, suit yourself, but don’t say you are living in Christ’s spirit. You can continue in the old ways and be a part of Christianity, but not of God’s kingdom. You can live in Christianity but not in Christ; the gulf between the two is great."
-Christoph Blumhardt in Break Free