Eugene H. Peterson Quotes

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Art Christ Church Creation Feelings God Grace

Feelings are great liars. If Christians worshipped only when they felt like it, there would be precious little worship. We think that if we don’t feel something there can be no authenticity in doing it. But the wisdom of God says something different: that we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship.

Eugene H. Peterson

Christian, Liars, Thinking

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All the persons of faith I know are sinners, doubters, uneven performers. We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of us.

Eugene H. Peterson

Doubters, Performers, Persons

Eugene H. Peterson (2012). “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society”, p.90, InterVarsity Press

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The life of faith isn't meant for tourists. It's meant for pilgrims.

Eugene H. Peterson

Tourists, Pilgrim

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O God, when my faith gets overladen with dust, blow it clean with the wind of your Spirit. When my habits of obedience get stiff and rusty, anoint them with the oil of your Spirit. Restore the enthusiasm of my first love for you.

Eugene H. Peterson

First Love, Blow, Dust

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The only opportunity you will ever have to live by faith is in the circumstances you are provided this very day: this house you live in, this family you find yourself in, this job you have been given, the weather conditions that prevail at the ...moment.

Eugene H. Peterson

Jobs, Opportunity, Weather

Eugene H. Peterson (2009). “Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best”, p.150, InterVarsity Press

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No life of faith can be lived privately. There must be overflow into the lives of others.

Eugene H. Peterson

Overflow, Lives Of Others

Eugene H. Peterson (1996). “Living the Message: Daily Reflections with Eugene H. Peterson”, Harper San Francisco

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The word 'christian' means different things to different people. To one person it means a stiff, upright, inflexible way of life, colorless and unbending. To another it means a risky, surprised-filled adventure, lived tiptoe at the edge of expectation...If we get our information from the biblical material, there is no doubt that the Christian life is a dancing, leaping, daring life.

Eugene H. Peterson

Christian, Adventure, Mean

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Prayer is the disciplined refusal to act before God acts.

Eugene H. Peterson

Prayer, Refusal

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When we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn't go off and leave us- he enters into our trouble and saves us.

Eugene H. Peterson

God, Religious, Leaving

Eugene H. Peterson (2012). “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society”, p.53, InterVarsity Press

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If you don't take a Sabbath, something is wrong. You're doing too much, you're being too much in charge. You've got to quit, one day a week, and just watch what God is doing when you're not doing anything.

Eugene H. Peterson

One Day, Watches, Too Much

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The life of faith is a daily exploration of the constant and countless ways in which Gods grace and love are expereinced

Eugene H. Peterson

Christian, Grace, And Love

Eugene H. Peterson (2012). “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society”, p.45, InterVarsity Press

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One way to define spiritual life is getting so tired and fed up with yourself you go on to something better, which is following Jesus.

Eugene H. Peterson

Spiritual, Jesus, Tired

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Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.

Eugene H. Peterson

Christian, Jesus, Father

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My job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives.

Eugene H. Peterson

Jobs, People, Grace

Eugene H. Peterson (2006). “God's Message for Each Day: Wisdom from the Word of God”, Thomas Nelson Inc

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Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves.

Eugene H. Peterson

Art, Art Of Living, Conditions

97 Copy quote
That's the whole spiritual life. It's learning how to die. And as you learn how to die, you start losing all your illusions, and you start being capable now of true intimacy and love.

Eugene H. Peterson

Spiritual, And Love, Losing

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This kingdom of God life is not a matter of waking up each morning with a list of chores or an agenda to be tended to, left on our bedside table by the Holy Spirit for us while we slept. We wake up already immersed in a large story of creation and covenant, of Israel and Jesus, the story of Jesus and the stories that Jesus told. We let ourselves be formed by these formative stories, and especially as we listen to the stories that Jesus tells, get a feel for the way he does it, the way he talks, the way he treats people, the Jesus way.

Eugene H. Peterson

Morning, Jesus, Israel

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There is nothing terribly difficult in the Bible - at least in a technical way. The Bible is written in street language, common language. Most of it was oral and spoken to illiterate people. They were the first ones to receive it. So when we make everything academic, we lose something.

Eugene H. Peterson

People, Way, Firsts

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The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with him.

Eugene H. Peterson

Jesus, Godly, Reflection

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Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best - As above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge!

Eugene H. Peterson

Father, Squares, Heaven

Eugene H. Peterson, Jim Lyster, John Sharon, Peter Santucci (1997). “Subversive Spirituality”, p.263, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

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There are no experts in the company of Jesus. We are all beginners, necessarily followers, because we don’t know where we are going.

Eugene H. Peterson

Jesus, Experts, Beginners

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Prayer gets us in on what God is doing.

Eugene H. Peterson

Prayer

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GOD made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start. Now I'm alert to GOD's ways; I don't take God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step. GOD rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

Eugene H. Peterson

Book, Heart, Eye

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Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship.

Eugene H. Peterson

God, Christian, Expression

Eugene H. Peterson (2012). “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society”, p.54, InterVarsity Press

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You're here to be LIGHT... Shine! Be generous with your lives.

Eugene H. Peterson

Light, Shining, Generous

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Eugene H. Peterson

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Born: November 6, 1932
Occupation: Author
Cite this Page: Citation

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