Gleanings from the Diary of William Fetler (Basil Malof)

...as compiled by James Alexander Stewart

DIARYGRAMS

Prayer and sins are never twins.

When sin is possible, prayer is impossible.

If you want to be happy with the Lord, you must be more unhappy with sins.

My blessed Lord said, "My heart is sorrowful, even unto death." He was full of horror under the burden of the sins of others. We must be full of horror because of our own sins.

God is not interested in man's cleverness; He is interested in his godliness.

Why seek high friends to introduce and help us? Why not seek God, Who can do more for us in a moment than all human friends in a lifetime.

Do not try to start any business with God, until first you have sincerely repented and given up every sin.

We must cut out from our thinking that we are too busy to pray and to study God's Word. If we are too busy to ask God for definite blessings, when we do ask in emergencies, He will be too busy to hear.

A true saint seldom judges others, for all his time is occupied judging himself. (I Cor. 11:31.)

A saint does not criticize persons; he deals with principles. He does not hate unrighteous people; he hates unrighteousness. (Heb. 1:9.)

Heaven is full of music. It may be said that Heaven is music; one unceasing melody of praise to God. But music is harmony, and where harmony ceases, there Heaven also ceases, and where Heaven ends, there Hell begins.

When a Christian ceases to be peculiar, there is something peculiar about his Christianity.

Every step which the prodigal took away from the father's house, he had to retrace.

My best vacation is not time spent in Florida, but in the climate of holiness.

The Holy Spirit can only unite with something of His own nature. "Whom the world cannot receive" (John 14:17). "We have received .. ." (Rom. 8: 15).

The greatest fear I have is losing the anointing of the Holy Spirit. All else can depart if the Lord is but near.

The Christian should think not on how much he can eat, but on how little he can exist. He must not live to eat, but eat just enough to live.

A backslider goes back to the devil's territory and is thus subject to the devil's dominion. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey" (Rom. 6: 16).

Keep away from idols. Anything that interferes with the presence of God in our hearts is an idol, no matter how attractive it may seem to be. We must get rid of it or forfeit fellowship with God.

Little minds make mole hills into mountains; great minds make mountains into mole hills. Little minds are animated by fear; great minds are operated by faith. "Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain" (Zech. 4:7). Little minds say, "God help me to accomplish the smallest possible good in the longest possible time." Great minds pray, "Lord help me to accomplish the greatest possible good in the shortest possible time."

Little minds find fault with everyone except themselves; great minds judge nobody except themselves.

The Holy Spirit is very holy, so if you want Him you must avoid all unholiness in word and deed.
The Holy Spirit is very pure, so if you want to have Him you must be pure in heart and mind.
The Holy Spirit is very selfless, so if you want to have Him you must give up your self-life and self-interests.
The Holy Spirit is very loving, so you must put away all hatred and anger, for otherwise He cannot anoint you with power for service.

Oh how blameless, crucified, and pure I must be to have blessed fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Oh, help me my God and my Lord!

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus..."(Phil. 2:5).

A person is either sane or insane. The sane person is he with a sound mind. The only person who ever had a completely sound mind was Jesus Christ. He never thought a corrupt thought. He never spoke a wild or out-of-place word. He never committed a wrong deed. In all those points where a person differs from Christ, either in thought, word, or behaviour, he is not normal, but abnormal.