Max Anders quotes:

Worship is accomplished with the life as well as with the words and attitudes of people. Changed and transformed lives testify to the character and supernatural power of the God of heaven. Closeness to Him produces changes in character and holiness.

Spiritual strength is connected to faithful obedience to God's commands.

Believers are inclined to attribute their spiritual successes to their godliness when it would be more accurate to connect them with God's faithfulness.

Spiritual leadership ought to be given to those who have proven themselves under stress.

Intercessors constitute the greatest unseen group of spiritual heroes in world history. Their labors are not seen, but the results are. Those who pray for the spiritual needs of others do immeasurable good in the world, often preventing (at least for a time) divine judgment.

Rejoicing is the essence of genuine worship. A sad face (apart from remorse for sin or regret concerning the pain of others) is an affront to a gracious and generous God.

The thoughtful believer recalls God's faithfulness in the past when confronted by any new threat. Part of spiritual maturity is strong sense of one's own history.

In any spiritual undertaking, God's first order of business is to see to the spiritual health of His people.

God wanted Israel, as He wants Christians, to learn to utterly abhor and detest anything that had the potential of coming between them and their God. The believer's enemies are typically internal rather than external, and they pose a powerful threat to spiritual health and progress.

Father, we ask that you give us a passion for the truth and not merely a hatred of falsehood. Keep us concerned for the spiritual health of people but open to your own rebukes from your mighty Word.

Since the success of believers is tied to our knowledge of and obedience to God's Word, the memorizing of portions of the Bible is advisable.

Intimacy with God is to be preferred above material wealth.

Believers have just as much to fear from legalism as from waywardness. The first detracts from the beauty of the message, while the second mars it content.

The agonies of those who are falsely accused are of great concern to the living God, and He acts as their defender.

A healthy relationship with God is built on the internal changes He brings about through Christ.

Some believers tend to forget God's persistent faithfulness in the face of the spectacular and showy.

Only people of proven character should be placed in positions of spiritual leadership.

One of the greatest testimonials to God's love is His provision of His Word.

No amount of human willfulness can overcome God's determined love.

All believers can increase their commitment to God by reflecting on His faithfulness and by considering the forms such commitment should assume in their experience.

A concern for doctrinal purity should always be based on love of the Lord, not a desire to express spiritual pride.

Every demonstration of God's faithfulness to us is an opportunity for us to testify of Him to others.

Fear of God and love for God coexist happily in the heart of people who are rightly related to Him.

God is able to transform the hostile intentions of wicked people into blessings for His people.

The spiritual heritage of the godly lives on after they are gone.

Although God's people find many successes in the world, they must not fall prey to a spirit of pride. We succeed not because of our moral superiority but because of the faithfulness of our divine intercessor and because of the great mercy of God.

The believer who feels the agony caused by rebellion will grow to become the best intercessor.

A good memory is one of the most precious assets of spiritual living.

A worshiper's gift makes a statement about the worshiper and his God.

Although spiritual growth puts our wills to the test, after the battle has been won, we recognize that the Lord is the true victor in the struggle.

Although the world places a premium on the latest things, some realities are discovered by looking into the past.

Although their parents died in the wilderness for their stubbornness, Israel could profit from the older generation's failure by remembering that God had used adversity to train them.

An enriched capacity for rejoicing is an expanded capacity for worship.

Attachments to older forms of worship may be comfortable, but they may contain elements of falsehood that make them unacceptable to God.

Believers should be more concerned for God's opinion of them than for what human opponents might do to their bodies.

Celebration is best done in the company of others who can rejoice with us over God's goodness.

Chastening is a mark of affection, not a sign of rejection.

Christians must allow no unclean thing to interfere with a harmonious relationship with Christ.

Christians should be among those who speak loudest in defense of civil liberties and the protection of the weak.

Common sense religion emphasizes the human contributions that are supposed to move the deity. Valid worship always begins with recognition of what God has already done.

Compassion is easily forsaken in the midst of prosperity, even when this prosperity is God given.

Conversion engages the mind as well as the emotions.

Conversion is essential, but it is a beginning, not an end. The believer in Jesus Christ is not simply rescued from the penalty of his sin; he is redeemed to love God and his neighbor so that others might come to know him.

Courage is the most fundamental of all virtues.

Curiosity is an enormous challenge to godly living.

Demons lie behind much of the world's pagan worship systems.

Discouragement is contagious and is easily transmitted to others.

Distance is no barrier to the love of God.

Equal justice under law is a spiritual as well as a civic principle.

Error is most painful when it is found inside the family.

Even guilty people deserve to be treated as those made in the image of God.

Even the wisest people learn little from their successes; God warns His people against allowing their victories (which He will grant) to lead them into pride and spiritual indifference. Instead, they should pay close attention to God's Word.

Exposure to false doctrine places a person at risk not just for theological errors but for moral failure.

False teaching - anything that would weaken the believer's ties to his Lord - must be confronted wherever it appears, even if that confrontation requires painful correction.

Fear of the right type can be beneficial to the people of God (see Prov. 1:7), but the fear of man's hostile intentions seldom fits that category.

Giving to God should come from the firstfruits of a person's labor rather than from what is left after the bills are paid.

God chooses people not for what He can do for them, but for the good they can do for others.

God chose Israel not because they were superior but because of what He could do through them for others.

God delights in providing His people with material gain and comfort, although prosperity can pose a threat to spiritual well-being.

God delights to see His people rejoice in what He has provided.

God demonstrates generosity, then asks it from His people.

God expects believers to improve their attitude in giving as well as their giving itself.

God is always near His people, but their sinful behavior may cause His presence to be grievous.

God is concerned that Christians live consistent with their profession even in the seemingly small and insignificant areas of life.

God is glorified when His people find satisfaction in Him and in His provisions for them.

God is not naïve in the giving of His laws; He anticipates our disobedience even as He commands our obedience.

God leads His people whether they are obedient or rebellious, but His leading is far more pleasant when they obey.

God never forgets a promise.

God not only allowed for joyful worship but also commanded it.

God ought to be given the choice portion of our wealth and not its dregs.

God realizes His people need protection from the pains and heartaches of the world.

God supplies the needs of His people according to their needs but does not ordinarily allow stockpiling.

God wants believers to take an interest in the well-being of the society in which they live.

God wants us to have love. We must be careful not to settle for sex.

God warned Israel, "And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it" (Ex. 20:25). To pollute something is to make it ordinary. God insists that any approach crafted by human ingenuity will produce a worship system just like all the pagan systems in the world. In other words, it will be common or profane - just like everyone else's paganism.

God's commandments not only reflect His holiness, they promote our happiness.

God's love does not depend on the current spiritual condition of those He loves.

God's loving discipline brings us face-to-face with our pride.

God's Word calls His people to adore Him exclusively and completely and to love people as themselves.

Grace is always given freely by God, but grace received should always issue in a joyous delight in Him.

Hearing alone is less effective in learning God's truth than hearing combined with reading.

If Israel is to please the Lord fully, they will live lives that are as distinctive among the nations as their Lord is different from pagan deities.

In a world of constant change, God alone is the Rock upon which to build a life.

In Deuteronomy 11, God offers Israel a choice; either a life of productivity and enjoyment made possible by obedience to Him, or a life of difficulty and opposition made necessary by disobedience. The happiness Israel desires can only be theirs by being properly related to Him.

In God's pattern of justice, He takes the risk of the guilty going free but not the innocent being punished.

Israel's [as well as our] enjoyment of the land is contingent on their behavior. Blessings or cruses lie before them; the choice is theirs.

It is sometimes easier to trust God in a life-threatening battle than in the small challenges of daily life.

Kindness that allows barriers to one's relationship with God to spring up is self-destructive.

Love is one factor - but not the only on - that God uses to promote the permanence of the marriage bond.

Many people find spiritual growth possible only when times are hard; prosperity tends to promote complacency.

Mental confusion can be the product of divine discipline.

Moses simplifies the whole duty of Israel (and of humanity) by crystalizing the moral law into a single command to love God supremely.

Moses warned them [Israelites] that the leading spiritual danger they would face on entering the [promise] land would be forgetting the Lord. What adversity would not do, prosperity and satisfaction could. They were to be on their guard against spiritual lethargy.

No amount of temporal success can compensate for the loss of God's approval.

Nothing should be considered outside the scope of God's authority.

Our identity as the people of God is marked primarily by our faithfulness in obedience to Him.

Our lives will last as long as God has something for us to do.

People are not free to violate law or convention to satisfy their wants and cravings.

People sometimes punish to exact judgment for past actions. God disciplines in order to teach and always in the interest of those whom he disciplines.

Persistence in prayer brings results that casual prayer does not.

Prosperity is often the enemy of spiritual development.

Protection of human life can be costly; but so is the neglect of that protection.

Recalling what our lives were like before Jesus Christ entered them will help keep our daily problems in perspective.

Religious truth is not false for being narrow any more than mathematical or scientific truth is false for the same reason.

Since all wealth ultimately comes from God, His people ought to acknowledge His primacy by offering Him the best of their wealth, time, and abilities.

Some duties exist simply because we are part of a larger family or community.

Sometimes believers are hampered in their public effectiveness by limitations that are no fault of their own.

The choice of a mate is crucial because no one has a greater influence on our spiritual lives.

The concept of freedom in Scripture differs from modern notions. Freedom is not a life lived free of restraints but a life that recognizes healthy limits, those that are concern to produce prosperity and order for the person who observes them.

The faithfulness of God in the past fortifies believers for future challenges.

The fear of God does not come naturally to human beings; it must be learned through Scripture, worship, and the hard knocks of experience.

The generous giver, demonstrating the nature of God by his behavior, can never outgive God.

The health of marriage and the health of society are bound together; as one goes, so goes the other.

The heart that delights in God and longs only to see His glory advance will seldom be conscious of sacrifice. God in His wisdom asks that we first love Him and then live in keeping with that core value. He does not want His people to think of what they do as sacrificial, even though from the world's point of view it may be just that. Gratitude for grace of God will always be found near the center of the Biblical Christian's most powerful motivations.

The Lord longs to exalt His people as trophies of His work in them.

The most blessed gift that God can give any person is a knowledge of Himself.

The opposite of love is indifference to the genuine needs of others.

The person who believes he must earn the right to go through the door of eternal life will miss the mark.

The task of evangelism often involves preparing an open road so offenders can find their refuge in Christ.

The wise Christian will learn from the spiritual blunders of others.