Christ As He Really Is (and others)

Christ As He Really Is (and others)

"One like unto the Son of man...out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword" (Revelation 1:13, 36)

The Christian message has ceased to be a pronouncement and has become instead a proposition. Scarcely anyone catches the imperious note in the words spoken by Jesus Christ.

The invitational element of the Christian message has been pressed far out of proportion in the total scriptural scene. Christ with His lantern, His apologetic stance, and His weak pleading face has taken the place of the true Son of man whom John saw - His eyes as a flame of fire, His feet like burnished brass, and His voice as the sound of many waters.

Only the Holy Spirit can reveal our Lord as He really is, and He does not paint in oils. He manifests Christ to the human spirit, not to our physical eyes.

These are strenuous times, and men and women are being recruited to devote themselves to one or another master. But anything short of complete devotion to Christ is inadequate and must end in futility and loss.

Lord, help me to see You as You truly are - mighty, righteous, just, and holy. Amen

~A. W. Tozer~
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Guidance Is By the Spirit

"Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

We can always trust the moving and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives and experiences, but we cannot always trust our human leanings and our fleshly and carnal desires. That calls for another word of balance. We know that the emotional life is a proper and noble part of our total personality. But by its very nature, it is of secondary importance, for religion lies in the will and so does righteousness.

God never intended that such a being as mankind should become the mere plaything of his or her feelings. The only good that God recognizes is the willed good. The only valid holiness is a willed holiness. That is why I am always a little suspicious of the overly bubbly Christian who talks too much about himself or herself - and not enough about Jesus. That is also why I am more than a little concerned about the professing Christian whose experience does not seem to have resulted in a true inner longing to be more like Jesus every day in thought, word, and deed!

Dear Lord, today I want to be more like You in everything I do - what I say to my family and colleagues, how I react in difficult situations, and what I think about in my free time. Amen

~A. W. Tozer~
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Majesty - And Meekness

"I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works" (Psalm 145:5).

When the prophets try to describe for me the attributes, the graces, the worthiness of the God who appeared to them and dealt with them, I feel that I can kneel down and follow their admonition: "He is the Lord -worship thou Him!"

They described Him as radiantly beautiful and fair. They said that He was royal and that He was gracious. They described Him as a mysterious being, and yet they noted His meekness.

The meekness was His humanity. The majesty was His deity. You find them everlastingly united in Him. So meek that he nursed at His mother's breast, cried like any baby and needed all the human care that every child needs.

But He was also God, and in His majesty He stood before Herod and before Pilate. When He returns,coming down from the sky, it will be in His majesty, the majesty of God, yet it will be in the majesty of the Man who is God!

This is our Lord Jesus Christ. Before His foes He stands in majesty. Before His friends, He stands in meekness!

Dear Lord, You are both my King and my Friend. Lead me through this day, O King, and pick me up when I stumble, dear Friend! Amen

~A. W. Tozer~