Watchman Nee
Outside of Christ, I am only a sinner, but in Christ, I am saved. Outside of Christ, I am empty; in Christ, I am full. Outside of Christ, I am weak; in Christ, I am strong. Outside of Christ, I cannot; in Christ, I am more than able. Outside of Christ, I have been defeated; in Christ, I am already victorious. How meaningful are the words, "in Christ."Collection: Strength
I do not consecrate myself to be a missionary or a preacher. I consecrate myself to God to do His will where I am, be it in school, office, or kitchen, or wherever He may, in His wisdom, send me.Collection: God
If you would test the character of anything, you only need to enquire whether that thing leads you to God or away from God.Collection: Character
Good is not always God's will, but God's will is always good.Collection: God's Will
To bear the cross means that you refrain from doing what you have the power to do. You are qualified to fulfill your desire, yet you refrain from doing so. A person like this is the strongest person. The strongest person is not the one who is able to do something, but the one who is able not to do what he has the power to do.Collection: Mean
Negligence in prayer withers the inner man. Nothing can be a substitute for it, not even Christian work. Many are so preoccupied with work that they allow little time for prayer. Hence they cannot cast out demons. Prayer enables us first inwardly to overcome the enemy and then outwardly to deal with him.Collection: Christian
The 'flesh' is too bad to be cleansed; it must be crucified.Collection: Flesh
We must have a spirit of power towards the enemy, a spirit of love towards men, and a spirit of self-control towards ourselves.Collection: Men
God is not seeking a display of my Christ-likeness , but a manifestation of His Christ.Collection: Christ
There is nothing more tragic than to come to the end of life and know we have been on the wrong course.Collection: End Of Life
Not until we take the place of a servant can He take His place as Lord.Collection: Lord
Repentance means a change of mind. Formerly, I thought sin as a pleasant thing, but now I have changed my mind about it. Formerly, I thought the world an attractive place, but now I know better. Formerly I regarded it miserable business to be a Christian, but now I think differently. Once I thought certain things delightful, now I think them vile. Once I thought other things utterly worthless, now I think them most precious. That is a change of mind, and that is repentance.Collection: Christian
It does not matter what your personal deficiency, or whether it be a hundred and one different things, God has always one sufficient answer, His Son Jesus Christ, and he is the answer to every need.Collection: Jesus
The breaking of the alabaster box and the anointing of the Lord filled the house with the odor, with the sweetest odor. Everyone could smell it. Whenever you meet someone who has really suffered; been limited, gone through things for the Lord, willing to be imprisoned by the Lord, just being satisfied with Him and nothing else, immediately you scent the fragrance. There is a savor of the Lord. Something has been crushed, something has been broken, and there is a resulting odor of sweetness.Collection: Pain
A Christian life is an unending engagement on the battlefield.Collection: Christian
Separation to God, separation from the world, is the first principle of Christian living.Collection: Christian
The Christian life from start to finish is based upon this principle of utter dependence upon the Lord Jesus.Collection: Christian
If we just had more revelation of what we already have, there would be far less prayers and far more praise.Collection: Prayer
We may be weak, but looking at our weakness will never make us strong.Collection: Strong
To keep our hand on the plow while wiping away our tears -- THAT is Christianity!Collection: Hands
Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.Collection: Easter
Why do so many Christians pray such tiny prayers when their God is so big?Collection: Encouraging
Because the Lord Jesus died on the Cross, I have received forgiveness of sins; because the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, I have received new life; because the Lord Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of the Father, I have received the outpoured Spirit. All is because of Him; nothing is because of me.Collection: Jesus
Not by gain our life is measured, But by what we've lost 'Tis scored; 'Tis not how much wine is drunken But how much has been outpoured. For the strength of love never standeth In the sacrifice we bear; He who has the greatest suffering Ever has the most to share.Collection: Life
Spiritual advancement is measured by faithful obedience.Collection: Spiritual
We work because we have not seen the work of Christ.Collection: Christ
And it is through conflict that God induces the believer to seek and to grasp total triumph in Christ.Collection: Triumph
When the fruit of your service is out of all proportion to the gifts you possess, THAT is Blessing!Collection: Blessing
We should try our best to pour out all the burdens in our spirit by prayer until all of them have left us.Collection: Prayer
The author tells a story wherein a missionary friend of his was invited by unbelievers on a train ride to play cards. The friend declined, saying that he did not bring his hands with him. He explained to the astonished group that the hands attached to what they saw as his body belonged to the Lord, and he was thereby able to explain the Gospel.Collection: Hands
Frequently the burden or concern in the spirit is for prayer.Collection: Prayer
Most soulish believers assume an attitude of self-righteousness, though often it is scarcely detectable. They hold tenaciously to their minute opinions we ought to lay aside the small differences and pursue the common objective.Collection: Attitude
It is a fact that the Lord Jesus has already died for you. It is also a fact that you have already died with the Lord Jesus. If you do not believe in your death with Christ, you will not be able to receive the effectiveness of death with Him - freedom from sin.Collection: Jesus
Never adopt an attitude of indifference, for if you do you will suffer for it. The weight will grow heavier and heavier.Collection: Attitude
A Christian ought to realize what the weights laid on his spirit are. If he encounters it in the morning and does not deal with it at once, he experiences defeat the whole day long.Collection: Christian
It is a fact that God wants to destroy every work of our flesh, but He never desires to destroy our personality. He takes no pleasure in transforming us into automata; rather He delights in having us cooperate with Him.Collection: Personality
Now the things done may not be evil or improper; they in fact may be good and godly (such as reading the Bible, praying, worshiping, preaching); but if they are not undertaken in a spirit of complete reliance upon the Holy Spirit, then the flesh is the source of all. The old creation is willing to do anything-even to submit to God - if only it is permitted to live and to be active.Collection: Reading
One gains by losing self for others and not by hoarding for oneself.Collection: Self
Overcoming sin, blessed though it surely is, is but the bare minimum of a believers experience. There is nothing astonishing in it. Not to overcome sin is what ought to astonish us.Collection: Blessed
Faith in Christ makes one a regenerated believer; obedience to the Holy Spirit makes him a spiritual believer.Collection: Spiritual
None who are shod with fleshly shoes can stand on the holy ground of God's service. Many failures and much waste and confusion which have resulted are due to men's coming to work, instead of being sent out to work.Collection: Men
Do not grow overconfident following a few victories. Should you not rely upon the Holy Spirit you will soon be thrown once more into a distressing experience. With holy diligence you must cultivate an attitude of dependency.Collection: Attitude
Eternal life means more than mere future blessing to be enjoyed by believers; it is equally a kind of spiritual ability.Collection: Spiritual
Believers must persevere in prayer that they may see clearly their own pitiful state and understand the indwelling, working, and demands of the Holy Spirit.Collection: Prayer
Towards himself a Christian should have a broken spirit, but towards God it should be one of rejoicing always in Him. He rejoices not for its own sake nor because of any joyful experience, work, blessing or circumstance, but exclusively because God is his center.Collection: Christian
From the evening I was saved, I began to live a new life, for the life of the eternal God had entered into me.Collection: New Life
Now is the hour we should humbly prostrate ourselves before God, willing to be convicted afresh of our sins by the Holy Spirit.Collection: Spirit
Genuine spiritual knowledge lies not in wonderful and mysterious thoughts but in actual spiritual experience through union of the believer's life with truth.Collection: Spiritual
The particular sin of omission which gives ground to the evil spirits is the believer’s passivity.Collection: Omission
On at least four separate occasions and recorded in the four Gospels the Lord Jesus called His disciples to deny their soul life, deliver it to death, and then to follow Him.Collection: Jesus