dreams are tawdry

Jim Elliot continues to be such an encouragement to me. (Why have I failed to encourage others?)

"Faith - not alone in facts and a rational apologetic - but in the reality of the inward work of the anointing which he possesses through the gift of the Holy Spirit. I must maintain a surer belief in the Spirit of God. It is no mere tenet of faith that He indwells the believer. He does indwell, and there He accomplishes His work of informing the spirit of man."

"It is a warning to any of us who love. We should love hard, and not casually; fervently, playfully, and simply, never heavily or slowly. Slovenly loving makes for wearisome living. I think A. just got weary. If you ever love... love like a school girl with giggles and sighs, and keep love alive by consciously keeping wonder and surprise at the core of it. For many 'young-marrieds' get used to it after a year or two, because they think they have to. For me, I can't afford to with Betty. I've got to make it last and last. I have not found it hard, but I have found that love is not effortless. It needs control and direction."

"How well I see now that He is wanting to do something in me! So many missionaries, intent on doing something, forget that His main work is to make something of them, not just to do a work by their stiff and bungling fingers. Teach me, Lord Jesus, to live simply and love purely, like a child, and to know that You are unchanged in Your attitudes and actions toward me. Give me not to be hungering for the 'strange, rare, and peculiar' when the common, ordinary, and regular - rightly taken - will suffice to feed and satisfy the soul. Bring struggle when I need it; take away ease at Your pleasure."