Jim Elliot Quotes

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Rest in this - it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call... It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond.

Live every day as if the Son of Man were at the door, and gear your thinking to the fleeting moment. Just how can it be redeemed? Walk as if the next step would carry you across the threshold of Heaven. Pray. That saint who advances on his knees never retreats.

The will of God is always a bigger thing than we bargain for, but we must believe that whatever it involves, it is good, acceptable and perfect.

God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him.

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.

He makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitible? God deliver me from the dread asbestos of 'other things.' Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame. But flame is transient, often short lived. Canst thou bear this, my soul - short life? ... Make me thy fuel, Flame of God.

Lord, give me firmness without hardness, steadfastness without dogmatism, love without weakness.

Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God.

Lord, make my way prosperous not that I achieve high station, but that my life be an exhibit to the value of knowing God.

It makes me boil when I think of the power we profess and the utter impotency of our action. Believers who know one-tenth as much as we do are doing one-hundred times more for God, with His blessing and our criticism. Oh if I could write it, preach it, say it, paint it, anything at all, if only God's power would become known among us.

Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.

Always seek peace between your heart and God, but in this world, always be careful to remain ever-restless, never satisfied, and always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Wherever you are - be all there.

Feast of Stephen, Deacon, First Martyr, the man who will not act until he knows all will never act at all.

Children are arrows in a quiver, and they are to be trained as missionaries and shot at the Devil.

We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with.... Oh that God would make us dangerous!

Father, let me be weak that I might loose my clutch on everything temporal. My life, my reputation, my possessions, Lord, let me loose the tension of the grasping hand. Even, Father, would I lose the love of fondling. How often I have released a grasp only to retain what I prized by 'harmless' longing, the fondling touch. Rather, open my hand to received the nail of Calvary, as Christ's was opened- that I, releasing all, might be released, unleashed from all that binds me now. He thought Heaven, yea, equality with God, not a thing to be clutched at. So let me release my grasp.

Our young men are going into the professional fields because they don't 'feel called' to the mission field. We don't need a call; we need a kick in the pants. We must begin thinking in terms of 'going out,' and stop our weeping because 'they won't come in.' Who wants to step into an igloo? The tombs themselves are not colder than the churches. May God send us forth.

Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save. Have it Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an oblation for the world. Blood is only of value as it flows before Thine altar

The will of God is always a bigger thing than we bargain for.

It's hard to steer a parked car.

When it comes time to die, make sure that all you have to do is die.

That saint who advances on his knees never retreats.

Desire is the putting of my will into God’s concern. It’s not a passive, sitting back in your easy chair, folding your arms sort of thing, which says, 'Well, I’m willing, if God would only give me a good swift kick and send me.' That’s willingness all right. But God doesn’t want willingness, He wants will! He wants your will put behind those desires.

Ps 119:89-91: The settled Word in Heaven makes for a solid foundation on earth and a safe path for today.

If we are the sheep of His pasture, remember that sheep are headed for the altar.

Why do you need a voice when you have a verse?

Eternity shall be at once a great eye-opener and a great mouth-shutter.

Dreams are tawdry when compared with the leading of God, and not worthy of the aura of wonder we usually surround them with. God only doeth wonders. He does nothing else. His hand can work nothing less.

I have prayed for new men, fiery, reckless men, possessed of uncontrollably youthful passion-these lit by the Spirit of God. I have prayed for new words, explosive, direct, simple words. I have prayed for new miracles. Explaining old miracles will not do. If God is to be known as the God who does wonders in heaven and earth, then God must produce for this generation. Lord, fill preachers and preaching with Thy power. How long dare we go on without tears, without moral passions, hatred and love? Not long, I pray, Lord Jesus, not long.

Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.

I have felt the impact of your prayer in these past weeks. I am certain now that nothing has had a more powerful infl uence on this life of mine than your prayers.

I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you Lord Jesus.

I pray for you, that all your misgivings will be melted to thanksgivings. Remember that the shadow a thing casts often far exceeds the size of the thing itself (especially if the light be low on the horizon) and though some future fear may strut brave darkness as you approach, the thing itself will be but a speck when seen from beyond. Oh that He would restore us often with that 'aspect from beyond,' to see a thing as He sees it, to remember that He dealeth with us as with sons.

What good are Greek, commentaries, insight, gift, and all the rest, if there is no heart for Christ?

It is true that a fellow cannot ignore women - but he can think of them as he ought - as sisters, not as sparring partners.

Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth!

Ninety-five percent of our wool is going to China.

In my own experience I have found that the most extravagant dreams of boyhood have not surpassed the great experience of being in the Will of God, and I believe that nothing could be better. That is not to say that I do not want other things, and other ways of living, and other places to see, but in my right mind I know that my hopes and plans for myself could not be any better than He has arranged and fulfilled them. Thus may we all find it, and know the truth of the Word which says, He will be our guide even until death.

The sound of 'gentle stillness' after all the thunder and wind have passed will the ultimate Word from God.

Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living.

As your life is in His hands, so are the days of your life. But don’t let the sands of time get into the eye of your vision to reach those who sit in darkness. They simply must hear.

I couldn’t have asked for more than God in deliberate grace has surprised me with!

He is no fool who parts with that which he cannot keep, when he is sure to be recompensed with that which he cannot lose.

Unwillingness to accept God's 'way of escape' from temptation frightens me - what a rebel yet resides within.

Rest in this-it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call, or whatever you want to call it. It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you... The sound of 'gentle stillness' after all the thunder and wind have passed will be the ultimate Word from God.

The will of God is sweet tonight, altogether ‘good and acceptable and perfect.’ The considerate love of the Lord Jesus for us seems such a kind thing now. I know it has always been so, but somehow I didn’t see how wise it was when it didn’t seem kind… Remind me of this when I cannot regard His love as considerate some time.

God is still on His throne, we're still on His 'footstool,' and there's only a knee's distance between!

Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly.