The Imitation of Christ. Day 10: Walking in Truth. Book 3. Chapter 4-6.

Day 10: Walking in Truth (Book 3. Chapter 4-6 emphasize humility, the vanity of worldly knowledge and possessions, and the importance of a pure conscience and a virtuous life over intellectualism.) Walking in the truth is to see reality clearly: who God is, who we are, and how deeply we need His grace. [The sad truth is I want God, but I also don't want God.]

Ch. 4: We must live before God in humility and truth. The one who walks in truth will be safe from the assaults of the wicked. Think of your sins with great displeasure and grief. Never consider yourself to be something because of good works. Let what you most dislike be your own great baseness. Fear and flee nothing like you do your own vices and sins. [There is good in me and brokenness in me. Both good works alone {leads to pride} and brokenness alone {leads to despair, discouragement, despondency, dejection, depression, defeat} are lies.]

The Imitation of Christ. Day 9: Listening to God's Voice. Book 3. Chapter 1-3

Day 9: Listening to God's Voice (Book 3, Chapter 1-5). God is always speaking—but we're too distracted to listen by noise, vanity, or even good things. Quiet your hearts so we can truly hear and act on God’s voice.

Ch. 1: Christ speaks within to the faithful soul. Truly blessed are the ears that listen, not to a voice making noise outside, but to one that teaches the truth within.

The Imitation of Christ. Book 1, Chapter 1-25. Day 1-5.

Day 1. The Ultimate Good (Chapter 1-7).

• Ch. 1. Because there is so much good in the world God made, we are always tempted to make good things ultimate things (Exo 20:3-4). Even knowledge of the Trinity without humility displeases God; only a virtuous life makes you dear to God.

The Imitation of Christ. Day 8: When the Cross Finds You. Book 2. Chapter 10-12.

Day 7. When the Cross Finds You (Book 2. Chapter 10-12). The only way God makes us more like His Son is through the Cross. It is through both active and passive mortification that the Cross finds you.

• Ch. 10: Gratitude for God's grace. Grace is always offered to one who gives proper thanks. It is given to the humble and taken away from the proud.

• Seek patience more than consolation and carrying the cross more than enjoyment. Spiritual consolation surpasses all wordly delights and the bodily pleasures. I do not want any consolation that would take away my repentance/compunction.

• Be grateful even for punishment and chastisement.

The Imitation of Christ. Book 2. Chapter 6-9: The Joy of a Clean Conscience. Day 7.

Day 7. Book 2. Chapter 6-9: The Joy of a Clean Conscience. A clean conscience always brings peace. Profound freedom is found in detachment from praise and criticism. Accept the truth of who you are before God.

• Love God more than yourself, more than what you desire. (Dt 6:5)

• God wants you for Himself and will tolerate no rivals. (Exo 20:3-4)

• With Jesus everything is good; without Him everything is hard. (Rom 8:28)

• Blessed are you to disregard yourself for Jesus' sake. (Lk 9:23)

• A clean conscience is a good man's pillow.  If you have a good conscience you will always have joy, even in adversity (Ac 24:16; 1 Pet 3:16; 1 Tim 1:5; 2 Cor 7:4)

• Don't rejoice when you're praised or be depressed when you're criticized or rejected. (1 Cor 4:3-5)

• Who you are right now is who you actually are. You are not greater than what God knows you to be. (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 2:20; Eph 2:10; Col 3:3)

• If God gives you consolation, know that it's a gift and not what you deserve. (Eph 2:8-9)

The Imitation of Christ. Book 2. Chapter 1-5: Distrust of Self.

Book 2. Day 6. Chapter 1-5 (Distrust of Self) focus on the vanity of worldly things, the importance of humility, and the pursuit of inner peace through God. The 2 movements of conversion are distrust of oneself and trust in God.

• Ch. 1. Learn to disregard externals and give yourself to what is within, for the kingdom of God is within you (Lk 17:21).
• When Christ is within you He is enough for you...and you will have no need of hoping in human beings. Do not have much confidence in human beings, who are frail and mortal and soon change (Jn 2:24-25).
• If you love Jesus you will disregard your very self, and totally disregard personal convenience or inconvenience.
• Nothing stains and binds the human heart quite like an impure love for creatures (Exo 20:3-4, 17; Rom 7:8, 24).

Christians were Never Meant to be Normal. Extremism. Evil People.

“Christians were never meant to be normal. We’ve always been holy troublemakers, we've always been creators of uncertainty, agents of dimension that’s incompatible with the status quo; we do not accept the world as it is, but we insist on the world becoming the way that God wants it to be. And the Kingdom of God is different from the patterns of this world.” Jacques Ellul. 1912-1994, died 82. 20th-century French social theorist and resistor against Nazi occupation.