Chuck Smith Quotes

"Wisdom is knowing what to do with what you know."

"Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking God uses only 'special' people the strong, the intelligent, the beautiful. We don't think He has a place for the rest of us. We are so wrong!"

"God never made out a long contract that says, 'Abide by all my terms and I will love you and bless you; but if you violate even the smallest provision, it's all null and void and you are out of My kingdom!' Christians are not bound by any heavy contract to God. Paul declared that the only thing that constrained him was the love of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 5:14)."

"God will allow us to follow self-help, self-improvement programs until we have tried them all, until we finally come to the honest confession, 'I can't do it. I can't be righteous in my own strength!' It is then, when we admit our utter powerlessness, that we find hope. For it is then when the Lord intervenes to do a work that we could not do for ourselves."

"If through faith you have placed your eternal destiny in the loving hands of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that God is at work, shaping the events and circumstances of your life into a beautiful mosaic that will reveal His Son to the men and women around you. His hand is on you, as it has been since before you were born."

"God is more interested in what we are than in what we do. He looks for fruit; we try to produce works."

Paul points out that some say, "I'm of Paul," while others say, "I'm of Apollos." He asked, "Isn't that carnal?" But what's the difference between saying that or saying, "I'm a Baptist," "I'm a Presbyterian," "I'm a Methodist," "I'm a Catholic"? I have found that the more spiritual a person becomes, the less denominational he is. We should realize that we're all part of the Body of Christ and that there aren't any real divisions in the Body. We're all one. What a glorious day when we discover that God loves the Baptists! - And the Presbyterians, and the Methodists, and the Catholics. We're all His and we all belong to Him. We see the whole Body of Christ, and we begin to strive together rather than striving against one another. (p. 157)

I find at times that I am battling my flesh so that I do not do the things I really want to do. Sometimes my activities and actions are opposed to my faith in Jesus Christ. But I can't live in that condition. I may stumble and fall, as does everyone, but I don't lie there. The Spirit won't let me lie there. (p. 73)

The "carnal Christian" is the man who has been awakened by the Spirit of God to his need of Jesus Christ and has received Jesus Christ into his life as his Savior, but he has never submitted his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Thus, he is one who believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior, but is still ruled by his flesh.

I have discovered through the years that many of my prayers were completely out of the will of God. There were things I was almost insisting that God do, but in His love and goodness to me, He didn't do them. Today I am as thankful for the prayers that God did not answer as I am for the prayers that God did answer.

"The most important thing a born again Christian can do is to pray."