C. John Miller

Enjoying "The Heart of a Servant Leader: Letters from Jack Miller" (link)... here are a few quotes I thought were worth sharing:

• "a man of vision gets his vision only in and through prayer. Only prayer with a goal of glorifying God at any cost can give God's vision to a man or a woman."
• "We secretly suspect that His will might be more demanding, more crucifying of our desires, than we can handle. But daily surrender to His will as you pray, and it will bring a freedom from anxiety that you cannot believe."
• "One evidence of the Spirit's presence in our lives is our seeing where we really are and admitting it to others. One cannot make progress in life without being a forthright and forthcoming person."
• "I do not think... a disclosure of His will is gained on the cheap. It requires prayer and fasting and some earnest and painful heart-searching..."
• "... ask yourself: what is my concern for the glory of God in my life? How much am I led by concern for my own comfort and feeling of well-being?"

Pastor Luke challenged us from Hebrews 3:12-15:

"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'"

As I consider how to exhort daily, I look also at these letters that C. John Miller used to encourage his recipients. His life was characterized by prayer for these people. This book and today's sermon are planting additional seeds in my life to pray for others, and to do so as a platform by which to further encourage them via phone calls, letters and email.