Quotes from Jerry Bridges

The converse truth is that love gives validity to my actions and makes them acceptable to God. I

The place to start controlling the cravings of our physical appetites is to reduce our exposure to temptation.

When I say we should never ask why, I am not talking about the reactive and spontaneous cry of anguish when calamity first befalls us or one we love. Rather, I am speaking of the persistent and demanding why that has an accusatory tone toward God in it.

contrast, there are sixteen whys in the book of Job, according to author Don Baker.6 Sixteen times Job asked God why. He is persistent and petulant. He is accusatory toward God. And, as has been observed by many, God never answered Job's why. Instead He answered who.

One of the most damning indictments of mankind is found in Isaiah 53:6: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" (Niv). Going our own way is the very essence, the very core, of sin. Your way may be to give money to charity; another person's way may be to rob a bank. But neither is done with reference to God; both of you have gone your own way.

But on the whole, we appear to be more concerned about the sins of society than we are the sins of the saints.

to stop asking why.

God's providence is His constant care for and His absolute rule over all His creation for His own glory and the good of His people.

where God through Elihu confronts Job with his audacity, that met my need at the time, causing me to realize and repent of my own accusations against God.

asking a demanding why of God.

Our first priority in times of adversity is to honor and glorify God by trusting Him.

Matthew Henry says that to walk with God is "to set God always before us, and to act as those that are always under his eye. It is to live a life of communion with God both in ordinances and providences. It is to make God's word our rule and his glory our end in all our actions."5

But even here we must be careful that we are not seeking to satisfy our souls by finding some spiritual "good" in the adversity. Rather we must trust God that He is working in the experience for our good, even when we see no beneficial results. We must learn to trust God when He doesn't tell us why, when we don't understand what He is doing.

The only safe evidence that we are in Christ is a holy life. John

The fact is we do not know what God is doing through a particular set of circumstances or events.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees" (Psalm 119:71).

we as Christians should put our trust in God, not in our nation's armaments.

To experience His fellowship in suffering we must do as the apostles did: rejoice because we have been counted worthy to suffer for His name (see Acts 5:41).

If we think about it, we realize that obedience that is not delighted in is not perfect obedience.

Acknowledging His holiness is one of the ways we are to praise God.

God never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek our good at the expense of His glory.

we are just as dependent on God when the physician diagnoses a routine illness and prescribes a successful medication. We are just as dependent when the paycheck comes regularly and all our material needs are met.

He has designed His eternal purpose so that His glory and our good are inextricably bound together.