Thoughts for each day from the Scriptures and the eight volumes of the writings of George Fox
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| Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. | ||
| (Matthew 6:20) | ||
| Do not delight in apparel, do not delight in the creature more than the Creator. Trust not in uncertain riches which fade and pass away; but trust in the Living God, and love the riches that endure, and fade not away. Delight not in the world that ends, but in the world that hath no end; that there ye may all come to have an assurance of the endless life. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| He shall grow as the lily. | ||
| (Hosea 14:5) | ||
| Take heed, that with all your mind may be kept up to God, who is pure; that as the lily ye all may grow, and receive wisdom from God how to use the creatures in their places, to the glory of Him that created them. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. | ||
| (Hebrew 13:5) | ||
| Christ...that never fell nor ever changes, nor ever will fall or change, nor leave the flock in cold weather, nor in the winter, nor storms, nor tempests... For the Light, the Power, the Truth, the righteousness, did it ever leave you in any weather, or in any storms or tempests? And so his sheep know his voice and follow him... | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. | ||
| (Luke 6:37) | ||
| Wherefore beware of that spirit which cannot bear one with another, or forgive one another; for that which cannot, will discover rather than cover, and bring a cloud over many. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. | ||
| (Philippians 2:5) | ||
| For all dwelling in the Light that comes from Jesus, it leads out of wars, leads out of strife, leads out of the occasion of wars, and leads out of the earth up to God out of earthly-mindedness to heavenly-mindedness, and bringeth your minds to be in heaven. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. | ||
| (Ephesians 2:18) | ||
| Keep up your head above the waters and the sea in which there is a tempest. Fear not the devil, nor all his darts nor weapons, nor all his soldiers and instruments that he keeps in league with, but mind the power of God and the light of Jesus, and be clothed with, and put on the armor of light, and the helmet of salvation, and the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, in which ye have victory, and unity, and access to God. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. | ||
| (Psalm 91:1) | ||
| Do not die from the good through the wantonness of fleshly lusts, neither be choked with the cares of this life, nor fear the shearers, neither let the heat scorch your green blade; but dwell under the shadow of the Almighty, who will shade you from the heat and cold. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. | ||
| (II Timothy 2:4) | ||
| And all be diligent in your places, serving the Lord, and that your spirits may not be plucked down with earthly things, nor limited by them; but that in the powers of the Lord God ye may act over them...out of the entanglements and thraldom of them...but keep in the power of the Lord God over them. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Keep yourselves in the love of God. | ||
| (Jude 21) | ||
| Mind the light, and dwell in it, and it will keep you atop of all the world; and mind the seed of God, and know it, and in it be content. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. | ||
| (I Corinthians 15:57) | ||
| In the power of God that is everlasting, and doth remain in this your day of trial, in it stand, of which ye are partakers, and are come to be heirs of the same, and in it is your peace and kingdom. And though ye have not a foot of ground to stand upon, yet ye have the power of God to skip and to leap in; standing in that, which is your life, that is everlasting. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. | ||
| (James 4:10) | ||
| Trust not in man, nor in the arm of flesh, neither put confidence in them, but in the Lord. Judge yourselves, and keep down the boaster, and that which would be high; under judgment keep that down by the power of God in yourselves, lest the Lord God bring something without you to bring you down, who do not keep all that down in yourselves, and therefore keep all that down with the power of God in yourselves; and then ye will have dominion over all, in the power of the Lord God. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. | ||
| (John 8:36) | ||
| ...People are saved by Christ, they will say; but while you are upon earth, you must not be made free from sin. This is as much as if one should be in Turkey a slave, chained to a boat, and one should come to redeem him to go into his own country; but say the Turks, thou art redeemed, but while thou art upon the earth, thou must not go out of Turkey, nor have the chain off thee. So say Satan's messengers, you are redeemed, but must carry a body of death about you... But I say you are redeemed by Christ; it cost him his blood... | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| These are they which follow the Lamb. | ||
| (Revelation 14:4) | ||
| So, be meek and low, then ye follow the example of Christ, and come to bear the image of the Just, who suffered by the unjust...yet cried, "Father, forgive them." Here He kept his dominion, though a sufferer, who had the victory, which the followers of the Lamb do (in measure) attain to. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| In the night his song shall be with me. | ||
| (Psalm 42:8) | ||
| Sing and rejoice, ye children of the day, and of the light; for the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that may be felt. And truth doth flourish as the rose, and the lilies do grow among the thorns, and the plants atop of the hills, and upon them the lambs do skip and play. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. | ||
| (Psalm 30:5) | ||
| And so think not the winter and cold weather, nor the night, long; for the lilies do grow, and the gardens do give a good smell... And the sun shines, and the light is clear, and not dim, that ye may see your way, and life, though there is a storm and tempest in the sea. And so mind the summer, and singing of birds; and not the winter and night, in which evil beasts do yell. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. | ||
| (I Peter 3:12) | ||
| And the Lord's eye is open, and He sees all the actions of man, and times and seasons are in His hands, who is King of kings and Lord of lords; the strong and all sufficient, omnipotent God... | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| I am the way, the truth, and the life. | ||
| (John 14:6) | ||
| All my dear friends, in the everlasting power, life, and truth live, for you cannot live without it in the winds and storms... But truth lives, and the power of God is over them all. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| In all their affliction he was afflicted. | ||
| (Isaiah 63:9) | ||
| And He will lay no more upon you than you are able to bear. And the angel of His presence suffered with the outward Jew, and Christ suffereth with the inward Jew in the spirit: and so hath a fellow-feeling with you all. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. | ||
| (John 16:33) | ||
| And never heed the tempests nor the storms, floods nor rains, for the Seed Christ is over all, and doth reign. And so be of good faith and valiant for the truth; for the Truth can live in the jails. And fear not the loss of the fleece for it will grow again; and follow the Lamb, if it be under the beast's horns, or under the beast's heels, for the Lamb shall have the victory over them all. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. | ||
| (Galatians 6:9) | ||
| We are not against any man, but desire that the blessing of the Lord may come upon all men, and that which brings the curse may be destroyed; and in patience do we wait for that, and with spiritual weapons do we wrestle, and not against any man's or woman's person. For amongst us Christ is King. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Because thine heart was tender...I have even heard thee. | ||
| (II Chronicles 34:27) | ||
| Give no occasion of stumbling; keep tender; for hardness of heart is worse than an outward plague, for that brings destruction in many ways. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. | ||
| (I Peter 1:25) | ||
| And you that grow rich in the world in earthly things, who have had a stirring in you formerly in the service of God, take heed lest your minds run into your outward businesses, about outward things, and therein be lifted up above the good and just spirit, and so leave the service of the Lord and His business, in minding your own. For outward riches, and the things of the world, will pass away with the outward riches therein...but the word of the Lord will remain. Labor for the riches of it, for that will endure with you. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. | ||
| (II Corinthians 5:21) | ||
| For Christ that sanctifies is pure, who sanctifies the impure; He who never fell, sanctifieth and washeth them that are in the fall; He who never transgressed, redeems out of transgression; He who never sinned, redeems out of sin, and makes an end of it; and He who never trespassed, comes to forgive trespasses and blot them out. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| A doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. | ||
| (James 1:25) | ||
| Now the practical part is called for. For people must not be always talking and hearing, but they must come into obedience to the great God of heaven and earth. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. | ||
| (Isaiah 26:3) | ||
| When any of these things fail, and are not according to your mind, it being in them, then your peace is broken, and you are cross and brittle, and envy gets up. So this is not a perfect peace, but is a broken peace, and then you have trouble and not the blessing. And the reason is, because your minds are in the creatures, and the outward things, and are not stayed upon the Creator, where the perfect peace is, and the blessing, where nothing can get betwixt you and the Lord. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. | ||
| (Philippians 4:11) | ||
| This was when he was Paul, not when he was Saul, running up and down with his packet of letters, haling the saints before the rulers...then he was not content, neither with his own conditions, nor others', but when he came to learn Christ who destroys the devil and his works, who teacheth to know all things, then in all things he learned to be content, so that you know there is learning, and learned, as a child when he is learning, and become learned. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| David...anointed of the God of Jacob...the sweet psalmist of Israel. | ||
| (II Samuel 23:1) | ||
| Therefore this is my answer to you all, take David's lamp and light. You may say, what is that? and where is it? I say it is with you, the word of God. You may say, people do not use to carry lamps in the day-time, but in the night, I say, you are in the night of darkness, and therefore the word is called a lamp, and a light to you...by this word he [David] saw Christ, and called Him Lord. Therefore he loved the word and hid it in his heart; and by it spake so many glorious expressions, which the world since hath turned into metre, and made songs of them. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. | ||
| (I Peter 1:4) | ||
| So that you may pass your time here with fear, as pilgrims, and strangers, and sojourners, having an eye over all things that are uncertain, as cities, houses, lands, goods, and as things below... Possess...an inheritance that will never fade away, in which you have riches that will abide with you eternally. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| But I had pity for mind holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned. | ||
| (Ezekiel 36:21) | ||
| So that every one may adorn the truth, and the gospel, and mind the Lord's business above their own, and every one be tender of the glory of God, and be careful, that in nowise his name and truth be dishonored. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. | ||
| (Isaiah 35:8) | ||
| This way, which is called the way of holiness, was spoken of by prophecy; and this way is Christ, who is the way of holiness, who is above the unclean, and destroys it, and the ground of it, the devil, and so the unclean cannot pass over this way of holiness. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
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| The Spirit of God dwelleth in you. | ||
| (I Corinthians 3:16) | ||
| Every man and woman must be brought to truth in their own hearts, and brought to the Spirit of God in their own hearts. This is the standing and perfect worship, and it will stand when all the worships of old Adam are gone, and when the Jews', and Turks', and Christians' worships, that be not in the truth, are gone: for this is a standing and perfect worship; the Spirit of God is perfect. And this is universal worship, and brings every individual man and woman to the Spirit of God in their own hearts. | ||
| (George Fox) | ||
Compiled by Gary Bowell
Copyright 1989 by Gary Bowell
All Rights Reserved