Think Like God Thinks (and more)
"Search me, O God...try me, and know my thoughts" (Psalm 139:23).
If God knows that your intention is to worship Him with every part of your being, He has promised to cooperate with you. On His side is the love and grace, the promises and the atonement, the constant help and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
On your side there is determination, seeking, yielding, believing. Your heart becomes a chamber, a sanctuary, a shrine in which there may be continuous, unbroken fellowship and communion with God. Your worship rises to God moment by moment.
We have all found that God will not dwell in spiteful and proud and selfish thoughts. He treasures our pure and loving thoughts, our meek and charitable and kindly thoughts. They are the thoughts like His own!
As God dwells in your thoughts, you will be worshiping - and God will be accepting. He will be smelling the incense of your high intentions even when the cares of life are intense and there is activity all around you.
This leaves us no argument. We know what God wants us to be. He wants us to be worshipers.
Lord, I worship You this morning. I look forward to our fellowship throughout the busy activities of this day. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
______________________________
Our Highest Happiness
"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17).
Let me call it to your attention that the happiness of all moral creatures lies in the giving of obedience to God, the Creator.
The psalmist cries out in Psalm 103:20; "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word."
The angels in heaven find their complete freedom and highest happiness in obeying the commandments of God. They do not find it a tyranny - they find it a delight!
Here is something that we should know and realize: Heaven is a place of surrender to the whole will of God, and it is heaven because it is such a place.
I thank God that heaven is the world of God's obedient children. Whatever else we may say of its pearly gates, golden streets and jasper walls, heaven is heaven because children of the Most High God find they are in their normal sphere as obedient moral beings.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your patience with me as I learn to obey You more fully in my daily walk with You. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
___________________________
Activity Is Not Enough
"And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart...and rest a while" (Mark 6:3).
Those who try to give warnings to the Christian church are never very popular. Still, I must voice the caution that our craze for "activity" brings very few enriching benefits into our Christian circles. Look into the churches, and you will find groups of half-saved, half-sanctified, carnal people who know more about social niceties than they do about the New Testament.
It is a fact that many of our church folks are activists - engaged in many religious journeys - but they do not seem to move up any closer to Jesus in heart and in spirit.
This modern religious emphasis on activity reminds me of the Japanese mice I have seen in the pet store windows. They are called waltzing mice- but they do not waltz. They just run continually!
Many of our churches hope to have a part in "something big and exciting." But God calls us back - back to the simplicity of the faith; back to the simplicity of Jesus Christ and His unchanging Person!
Dear Lord, help me to find some quiet moments in the midst of today's schedule to focus my thoughts on Your goodness and mercy. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Who Will Come to Jesus? (and more)
Who Will Come to Jesus? (and more)
"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17).
God's invitation to men is broad but not unqualified. The words "whosoever will may come" throw the door open, indeed, but the church is carrying the gospel invitation far beyond its proper bounds, turning it into something more human and less divine than that found in the sacred Scriptures.
What we tend to overlook, is that the word "whosoever" never stands by itself. Always its meaning is modified by the word "believe" or "will" or "come."
According to the teachings of Christ no one will or can come and believe unless there has been done within him a prevenient work of God enabling him to do so.
In the sixth chapter of John, Jesus teaches us that no one can come of himself; he must first be drawn by the Father. "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," Jesus said (6:63).
Before any man or woman can be saved, he or she must feel a consuming spiritual hunger. Where a hungry heart is found, we may be sure that God was there first - "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16).
Heavenly Father, I pray today for evangelists and missionaries around the world who are representing You in teeming cities and remote areas. Through them, I ask that You will draw many people to Yourself who have never heard the gospel message. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_______________________
Christ Came to Save
"For God sent his Son into the world to condemn the world" (John 3:17).
Millions who have rejected the Christian gospel have generally been too busy and too involved to ask themselves a simple question: "What really is God's intention toward me?"
They could have found the plain and simple answer given by the Apostle John: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).
This is a gravely significant message from the heart of God Himself! Yet, even in the full light it provides, people are indifferent. Upon our eyes there seems to have fallen a strange dimness; within our ears, a strange dullness. It is a wonder, and a terrible responsibility, that we should have this message in our possession and be so little stirred about it!
I confess that it is very hard for me to accept the fact that it is now very rare for anyone to come into the house of God, silently confessing: "Dear Lord, I am ready and willing to hear what you will speak to me today!"
Dear Lord, how grateful I am that You do not condemn, but by Your Spirit You do convict. Help me to hear and act upon Your promptings today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
______________________
We Are Not Orphans
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Psalm 37:23).
I once wrote in an editorial that Christian believers are not orphans in this world, making the point that the divine Shepherd goes before us and that we travel an appointed way.
A reader wrote to question my allusion to our traveling an "appointed" way, asking: "I was brought up a Methodist In your comments, do you mean this to be foreordination? That is what the Presbyterians believe. Just what did you mean?"
I replied that I had not meant to go down that deep into doctrine - that I had not been thinking of foreordination, predestination or the eternal decrees.
"I was just satisfied that if a consecrated Christian will put himself in the hands of God, even the accidents may be turned into blessings," I told him.
Anyway, I am sure the Methodist brother can go to sleep at night knowing that he does not have to become a Presbyterian to be certain that God is looking after him!
Dear Lord, in these quiet moments this morning, prepare my mind and heart for the encounters You've arranged for me today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17).
God's invitation to men is broad but not unqualified. The words "whosoever will may come" throw the door open, indeed, but the church is carrying the gospel invitation far beyond its proper bounds, turning it into something more human and less divine than that found in the sacred Scriptures.
What we tend to overlook, is that the word "whosoever" never stands by itself. Always its meaning is modified by the word "believe" or "will" or "come."
According to the teachings of Christ no one will or can come and believe unless there has been done within him a prevenient work of God enabling him to do so.
In the sixth chapter of John, Jesus teaches us that no one can come of himself; he must first be drawn by the Father. "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," Jesus said (6:63).
Before any man or woman can be saved, he or she must feel a consuming spiritual hunger. Where a hungry heart is found, we may be sure that God was there first - "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16).
Heavenly Father, I pray today for evangelists and missionaries around the world who are representing You in teeming cities and remote areas. Through them, I ask that You will draw many people to Yourself who have never heard the gospel message. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_______________________
Christ Came to Save
"For God sent his Son into the world to condemn the world" (John 3:17).
Millions who have rejected the Christian gospel have generally been too busy and too involved to ask themselves a simple question: "What really is God's intention toward me?"
They could have found the plain and simple answer given by the Apostle John: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).
This is a gravely significant message from the heart of God Himself! Yet, even in the full light it provides, people are indifferent. Upon our eyes there seems to have fallen a strange dimness; within our ears, a strange dullness. It is a wonder, and a terrible responsibility, that we should have this message in our possession and be so little stirred about it!
I confess that it is very hard for me to accept the fact that it is now very rare for anyone to come into the house of God, silently confessing: "Dear Lord, I am ready and willing to hear what you will speak to me today!"
Dear Lord, how grateful I am that You do not condemn, but by Your Spirit You do convict. Help me to hear and act upon Your promptings today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
______________________
We Are Not Orphans
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Psalm 37:23).
I once wrote in an editorial that Christian believers are not orphans in this world, making the point that the divine Shepherd goes before us and that we travel an appointed way.
A reader wrote to question my allusion to our traveling an "appointed" way, asking: "I was brought up a Methodist In your comments, do you mean this to be foreordination? That is what the Presbyterians believe. Just what did you mean?"
I replied that I had not meant to go down that deep into doctrine - that I had not been thinking of foreordination, predestination or the eternal decrees.
"I was just satisfied that if a consecrated Christian will put himself in the hands of God, even the accidents may be turned into blessings," I told him.
Anyway, I am sure the Methodist brother can go to sleep at night knowing that he does not have to become a Presbyterian to be certain that God is looking after him!
Dear Lord, in these quiet moments this morning, prepare my mind and heart for the encounters You've arranged for me today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Truth Is A Person (and more)
Truth Is A Person (and more)
"Then said Jesus...And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).
Let me say boldly that it is not the difficulty of discovering truth, but the unwillingness to obey it, that makes it so rare among men.
Our Lord said, "I am...the Truth" (John 14:6). And again He said, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Truth, therefore, is not hard to find for the very reason that it is seeking us!
So we learn that Truth is not a thing for which we must search, but a Person to whom we must hearken! In the New Testament, multitudes came to Jesus for physical help, but only rarely did one seek Him out to learn the Truth. The whole picture in the Gospels is one of a seeking Saviour, not one of seeking men.
The Truth was hunting for those who would receive it, and relatively few did, for "many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14).
Thank You for this truth, Lord, that You came "to seek and to save that which was lost."I don't want to keep this truth tucked in my back pocket. Give me the opportunities to share Your good news with someone today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_________________________
Christ Is Not Divided
"Jesus answered...If a man love me, he will keep my words" (John 14:23).
Much of our full gospel literature and much of our preaching tend to perpetuate a misunderstanding of what the Bible says about obedience and Christian discipleship.
I think the following is a fair statement of what I was taught in my early Christian experience and before I began to pray and study and anguish over the whole matter:
"We are saved by accepting Christ as our Saviour."
"We are sanctified by accepting Christ as our Lord."
"We may do the first without doing the second."
What a tragedy that in our day we often hear the gospel appeal made in this way:
"Come to Jesus! You do not have to obey anyone. You do not have to give up anything. Just come to Him and believe in Him as Saviour!"
The fact that we hear this everywhere does not make it right! To urge men and women to believe in a divided Christ is bad teaching - for no one can receive a half or a third or a quarter of the divine Person of Christ!
Heavenly Father, You are a wonderful Saviour and Lord deserving my full obedience to all of Your teachings. Forgive me, Lord, for the times that I've obeyed only a portion of Your Word. Show me the areas in my life in which I am weak. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
__________________________
Who Hears The Call of God?
"Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).
Who can deny that there are certain persons who, though still unconverted, nevertheless differ from the crowd, marked out by God, stricken with an interior wound and susceptible to the call of God?
In the prayer of Jesus in John 17:11, He said, "Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me." Surely no man is ever the same after God has laid His hand upon him. He will have certain marks, perhaps some not easy to detect.
First might be a deep reverence for divine things. A sense of the sacred must be present or there can be no receptivity to God and truth.
Another mark is great moral sensitivity. When God begins to work in a man to bring him to salvation, He makes him acutely sensitive to evil.
Another mark of the Spirit's working is a mighty moral discontent. It does take a work of God in a man to sour him on the world and to turn him against himself; yet until this has happened he is psychologically unable to repent and believe!
Lord, I pray that Your Spirit will continue to make me sensitive to the "divine things" at work in this immoral world so that I may make a difference for Christ among my network of relationships. Amen.
~A. W. Tozer~
"Then said Jesus...And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).
Let me say boldly that it is not the difficulty of discovering truth, but the unwillingness to obey it, that makes it so rare among men.
Our Lord said, "I am...the Truth" (John 14:6). And again He said, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Truth, therefore, is not hard to find for the very reason that it is seeking us!
So we learn that Truth is not a thing for which we must search, but a Person to whom we must hearken! In the New Testament, multitudes came to Jesus for physical help, but only rarely did one seek Him out to learn the Truth. The whole picture in the Gospels is one of a seeking Saviour, not one of seeking men.
The Truth was hunting for those who would receive it, and relatively few did, for "many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14).
Thank You for this truth, Lord, that You came "to seek and to save that which was lost."I don't want to keep this truth tucked in my back pocket. Give me the opportunities to share Your good news with someone today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_________________________
Christ Is Not Divided
"Jesus answered...If a man love me, he will keep my words" (John 14:23).
Much of our full gospel literature and much of our preaching tend to perpetuate a misunderstanding of what the Bible says about obedience and Christian discipleship.
I think the following is a fair statement of what I was taught in my early Christian experience and before I began to pray and study and anguish over the whole matter:
"We are saved by accepting Christ as our Saviour."
"We are sanctified by accepting Christ as our Lord."
"We may do the first without doing the second."
What a tragedy that in our day we often hear the gospel appeal made in this way:
"Come to Jesus! You do not have to obey anyone. You do not have to give up anything. Just come to Him and believe in Him as Saviour!"
The fact that we hear this everywhere does not make it right! To urge men and women to believe in a divided Christ is bad teaching - for no one can receive a half or a third or a quarter of the divine Person of Christ!
Heavenly Father, You are a wonderful Saviour and Lord deserving my full obedience to all of Your teachings. Forgive me, Lord, for the times that I've obeyed only a portion of Your Word. Show me the areas in my life in which I am weak. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
__________________________
Who Hears The Call of God?
"Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).
Who can deny that there are certain persons who, though still unconverted, nevertheless differ from the crowd, marked out by God, stricken with an interior wound and susceptible to the call of God?
In the prayer of Jesus in John 17:11, He said, "Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me." Surely no man is ever the same after God has laid His hand upon him. He will have certain marks, perhaps some not easy to detect.
First might be a deep reverence for divine things. A sense of the sacred must be present or there can be no receptivity to God and truth.
Another mark is great moral sensitivity. When God begins to work in a man to bring him to salvation, He makes him acutely sensitive to evil.
Another mark of the Spirit's working is a mighty moral discontent. It does take a work of God in a man to sour him on the world and to turn him against himself; yet until this has happened he is psychologically unable to repent and believe!
Lord, I pray that Your Spirit will continue to make me sensitive to the "divine things" at work in this immoral world so that I may make a difference for Christ among my network of relationships. Amen.
~A. W. Tozer~
Saturday, May 26, 2018
God Reveals Himself (and others)
God Reveals Himself (and others)
"I saw also the Lord...Then said I, Woe is me! I am undone" (Isaiah 6:1, 5).
I often wonder how so many people can live with a continuing hope that they will in some way be able to commune with God through their intellectual capacities. Where will they realize that if they could possibly "discover" God they realize that with the intellect, they would be equal to God?
Isaiah is a dramatic example of God's revelation of Himself to mankind. Isaiah could have tried for a million years to reach God by means of his intellect. But brainpower is not the means by which we find God!
Brethren, it is true that all of us would still be far from God if He had not graciously and in love revealed Himself to us. In the space of a short second of time, the Lord who loves us can reveal Himself to the willing spirit of a man or woman. It is only then that an Isaiah, or any one of us, can say with humble assurance, "I know Him!"
A committed Christian, then, should have upon him an element that is beyond psychology- beyond all natural laws and into spiritual laws!
Lord, thank You for what we can know about You through the various encounters we read in the Bible. Lord, I want to be prepared in my heart to hear Your voice when You speak. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_______________________
Jesus Said He Was God
"But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8).
The more we study the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He lived on earth among us, the more certain we are about who He is.
Some critics have scoffed: "Jesus did not claim to be God. He only said He was the Son of Man".
It is true that Jesus used the term, "Son of Man" frequently. But He testified boldly, even among those who were His sworn enemies, that He was God. He said with great forcefulness that He had come from the Father in heaven and that He was equal with the Father.
Bible-believing Christians stand together on this. They may differ about the mode of baptism, church policy or the return of the Lord. But they agree on the deity of the eternal Son. Jesus Christ is of one substance with the Father - begotten, not created (Nicene Creed).
In our defense of this truth, we must be very careful and bold - belligerent, if need be!
Christ is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of God's Person!
Lord Jesus, the only hope the world has is that You are One with the Father. You are God Almighty! You are our Messiah! I worship You today and every day. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
___________________________
Both Lord and Christ
"God hath made the same Jesus...both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).
No Christian believer should ever forget what the Bible says about the Person and the offices of the eternal Son, the Christ of God.
"God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Jesus means Saviour; Lord means Sovereign; Christ means Anointed One.
The Apostle Peter did not proclaim Jesus only as Saviour - he preached to them Jesus as Lord and Christ and Saviour, never dividing His Person or His offices.
Remember, also, the declaration of Paul: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus...thou shalt be saved!" (Romans 10:9).
Three times in the passage to the Roman Christians telling how to be saved, Paul calls Jesus "Lord." He says that faith in the Lord Jesus plus confession of that faith to the world brings salvation to us!
Sovereign Lord, You are the One I choose to serve. Help me to meditate on this truth as I journey through some mundane tasks today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
"I saw also the Lord...Then said I, Woe is me! I am undone" (Isaiah 6:1, 5).
I often wonder how so many people can live with a continuing hope that they will in some way be able to commune with God through their intellectual capacities. Where will they realize that if they could possibly "discover" God they realize that with the intellect, they would be equal to God?
Isaiah is a dramatic example of God's revelation of Himself to mankind. Isaiah could have tried for a million years to reach God by means of his intellect. But brainpower is not the means by which we find God!
Brethren, it is true that all of us would still be far from God if He had not graciously and in love revealed Himself to us. In the space of a short second of time, the Lord who loves us can reveal Himself to the willing spirit of a man or woman. It is only then that an Isaiah, or any one of us, can say with humble assurance, "I know Him!"
A committed Christian, then, should have upon him an element that is beyond psychology- beyond all natural laws and into spiritual laws!
Lord, thank You for what we can know about You through the various encounters we read in the Bible. Lord, I want to be prepared in my heart to hear Your voice when You speak. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_______________________
Jesus Said He Was God
"But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8).
The more we study the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He lived on earth among us, the more certain we are about who He is.
Some critics have scoffed: "Jesus did not claim to be God. He only said He was the Son of Man".
It is true that Jesus used the term, "Son of Man" frequently. But He testified boldly, even among those who were His sworn enemies, that He was God. He said with great forcefulness that He had come from the Father in heaven and that He was equal with the Father.
Bible-believing Christians stand together on this. They may differ about the mode of baptism, church policy or the return of the Lord. But they agree on the deity of the eternal Son. Jesus Christ is of one substance with the Father - begotten, not created (Nicene Creed).
In our defense of this truth, we must be very careful and bold - belligerent, if need be!
Christ is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of God's Person!
Lord Jesus, the only hope the world has is that You are One with the Father. You are God Almighty! You are our Messiah! I worship You today and every day. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
___________________________
Both Lord and Christ
"God hath made the same Jesus...both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).
No Christian believer should ever forget what the Bible says about the Person and the offices of the eternal Son, the Christ of God.
"God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Jesus means Saviour; Lord means Sovereign; Christ means Anointed One.
The Apostle Peter did not proclaim Jesus only as Saviour - he preached to them Jesus as Lord and Christ and Saviour, never dividing His Person or His offices.
Remember, also, the declaration of Paul: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus...thou shalt be saved!" (Romans 10:9).
Three times in the passage to the Roman Christians telling how to be saved, Paul calls Jesus "Lord." He says that faith in the Lord Jesus plus confession of that faith to the world brings salvation to us!
Sovereign Lord, You are the One I choose to serve. Help me to meditate on this truth as I journey through some mundane tasks today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
Saturday, May 19, 2018
A Divine Voice Calls (and others)
A Divine Voice Calls (and others)
"And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9).
There is a divine voice that continues to call. It is the voice of the Creator God, and it is entreating us. Just as the shepherd went everywhere searching for his sheep, just as the woman in the parable went everywhere searching for her coin, so there is a divine search with many variations of the voice that entreats us, calling us back.
If we were not lost, there would be no Father's voice calling us to return, calling us back. So, I say again that we have not been given up.
Think of the Genesis account: Adam fleeing from the face of God, hiding among the trees of the garden. It was then that the sound of God's gentle voice was heard, saying "[Adam,] where are you?"
I would remind you that His seeking voice has never died out. The echo of that voice is sounding throughout the widening years. It has never ceased to echo and reecho from peak to peak, from generation to generation, from race to race, and continent to continent, and off to islands and back to the continent again. Throughout all of man's years, "Adam, where are you?" has been the faithful call.
I pray earnestly, O God, that I may not be found among those with hardened hearts, no longer able to hear Your voice. Please speak to me today...I'm listening. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
__________________________
Our God: All Sufficient
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).
Have we modern men and women never given thought or meditation concerning the eternal nature of God? Who are we to imagine that we are "bailing out" the living God when we drop a$10 bill in the Sunday offering plate?
Let us thank God for the reality of His causeless existence. Our God only is all-sufficient, uncreated, unborn, the living and eternal and self-existent God!
I refer often to the great worshiping heart of Frederick William Faber, who in these words celebrated his vision of God's eternal self-existence:
Father! the sweetest, dearest Name,
That men or angels know!
Fountain of life, that had no fount
From which itself could flow.
Thy vastness is not young or old,
Thy life hath never grown;
No time can measure out Thy days,
No space can make Thy throne!
Dear Heavenly Father, my daily problems must seem so trivial to You, the eternal God. Yet You invite Your children to bring their cares and concerns to You. Praise be to God! Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
__________________________________
Sharing God's Nature
"Precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
Our heavenly Father disciplines us for our own good, "that we might be partakers of his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). God's motives are always loving!
I have known people who seemed to be terrified by God's loving desire that we should reflect His own holiness and goodness. As God's faithful children, we should be attracted to holiness, for holiness is Godlikeness - likeness to God!
God encourages every Christian believer to follow after holiness. We know who we are and we know who God is. He does not ask us to be God and He does not ask us to produce the holiness that only He Himself knows. Only God is holy absolutely: All other beings can be holy only in relative degrees.
Actually, it is amazing and wonderful that God should promise us the privilege of sharing in His nature. He remembers we were made of dust. So He tells us what is in His being as He thinks of us: "It is My desire that you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Me. I want you to be more like Jesus, My eternal Son, every day you live!"
Lord, thank You for allowing us to share in Your divine nature. I want to become even more like You, but I need Your Spirit's help and encouragement. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
"And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9).
There is a divine voice that continues to call. It is the voice of the Creator God, and it is entreating us. Just as the shepherd went everywhere searching for his sheep, just as the woman in the parable went everywhere searching for her coin, so there is a divine search with many variations of the voice that entreats us, calling us back.
If we were not lost, there would be no Father's voice calling us to return, calling us back. So, I say again that we have not been given up.
Think of the Genesis account: Adam fleeing from the face of God, hiding among the trees of the garden. It was then that the sound of God's gentle voice was heard, saying "[Adam,] where are you?"
I would remind you that His seeking voice has never died out. The echo of that voice is sounding throughout the widening years. It has never ceased to echo and reecho from peak to peak, from generation to generation, from race to race, and continent to continent, and off to islands and back to the continent again. Throughout all of man's years, "Adam, where are you?" has been the faithful call.
I pray earnestly, O God, that I may not be found among those with hardened hearts, no longer able to hear Your voice. Please speak to me today...I'm listening. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
__________________________
Our God: All Sufficient
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).
Have we modern men and women never given thought or meditation concerning the eternal nature of God? Who are we to imagine that we are "bailing out" the living God when we drop a$10 bill in the Sunday offering plate?
Let us thank God for the reality of His causeless existence. Our God only is all-sufficient, uncreated, unborn, the living and eternal and self-existent God!
I refer often to the great worshiping heart of Frederick William Faber, who in these words celebrated his vision of God's eternal self-existence:
Father! the sweetest, dearest Name,
That men or angels know!
Fountain of life, that had no fount
From which itself could flow.
Thy vastness is not young or old,
Thy life hath never grown;
No time can measure out Thy days,
No space can make Thy throne!
Dear Heavenly Father, my daily problems must seem so trivial to You, the eternal God. Yet You invite Your children to bring their cares and concerns to You. Praise be to God! Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
__________________________________
Sharing God's Nature
"Precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
Our heavenly Father disciplines us for our own good, "that we might be partakers of his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). God's motives are always loving!
I have known people who seemed to be terrified by God's loving desire that we should reflect His own holiness and goodness. As God's faithful children, we should be attracted to holiness, for holiness is Godlikeness - likeness to God!
God encourages every Christian believer to follow after holiness. We know who we are and we know who God is. He does not ask us to be God and He does not ask us to produce the holiness that only He Himself knows. Only God is holy absolutely: All other beings can be holy only in relative degrees.
Actually, it is amazing and wonderful that God should promise us the privilege of sharing in His nature. He remembers we were made of dust. So He tells us what is in His being as He thinks of us: "It is My desire that you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Me. I want you to be more like Jesus, My eternal Son, every day you live!"
Lord, thank You for allowing us to share in Your divine nature. I want to become even more like You, but I need Your Spirit's help and encouragement. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Ministry of the Church (and others)
Ministry of the Church (and others)
"The house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).
Not all of the pooled efforts of any church can make a Christian out of a lost man!
The Christian life begins with the individual; a soul has a saving encounter with God, and the new life is born.
All else being equal, every individual Christian will find in the communion of a local church the most perfect atmosphere for the fullest development of his spiritual life. There he will also find the best arena for the largest exercise of those gifts and powers with which Go may have endowed him.
Unfortunately, the word "church" has taken on meanings which it did not originally have. The meaning of the word for the true Christian was fixed by our Lord and His apostles, and no man and no angel has authority to change it!
The universal Church is the body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb, the habitation of God through the Spirit, the pillar and the ground of the Truth.
Without doubt the most important body on earth is the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood!
Heavenly Father, equip and empower Your Church to fight the plague of evil rampant in our generation. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
A Believing Remnant
"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5).
What is God trying to do with His believing people? - the Bible calls us a remnant according to grace, believers taken out of the great, teeming swarm of so-called religious people in today's world.
I am inclined to join others in wondering if the Lord is postponing His coming because He is trying to get His Bride ready.
For years it has been the popular idea in evangelical Christianity that the whole body of believers in Christ would rise like a flock of frightened birds when the Lord comes. But A. B. Simpson and William MacArthur and others in the past generation said, "Oh no! The Lord will take with Him those who are prepared and ready for His coming!"
I do not presume to give an answer satisfying to everyone in our churches. But I know that many Christians are too smug about this, saying in effect: "I am converted to Christ through grace, so I can live as I please!"
Of some things we cannot be dogmatic; but we know this for sure - God has no halfway house between heaven and hell where He takes us to fumigate us!
Dear Lord, today I pray for my pastor and my local church. Help us as a congregation not to be surprised on the day of Your return! Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
___________________________
Christ Will Rule
"I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
I am not surprised that I still meet people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth. In fact, some of them, armed with their own Bibles and interpretations, are insistent on setting me straight.
One gentleman has written saying that I have it all wrong, and that Paul did not mean what I had said he meant, as I applied Paul's statement to everyday life.
It took time to write a reply: "When it comes to saying what he meant, Paul's batting average has been pretty good up to now. So, will string along with what Paul plainly, clearly said."
I did not figure I needed someone to straighten me out - particularly someone who had decided the Bible does not mean what it says.
No one is going to argue me out of my faith in what God has revealed and what God has said. As far as I am concerned, it is a fact that Jesus is coming again! The question I do raise is this: Are we prepared spiritually for His coming? Are we tolerating conditions in our midst that will cause us embarrassment when He does come?
Dear Lord, grant me courage to live today - indeed, every day of my life - as though You were coming back this afternoon. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
"The house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).
Not all of the pooled efforts of any church can make a Christian out of a lost man!
The Christian life begins with the individual; a soul has a saving encounter with God, and the new life is born.
All else being equal, every individual Christian will find in the communion of a local church the most perfect atmosphere for the fullest development of his spiritual life. There he will also find the best arena for the largest exercise of those gifts and powers with which Go may have endowed him.
Unfortunately, the word "church" has taken on meanings which it did not originally have. The meaning of the word for the true Christian was fixed by our Lord and His apostles, and no man and no angel has authority to change it!
The universal Church is the body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb, the habitation of God through the Spirit, the pillar and the ground of the Truth.
Without doubt the most important body on earth is the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood!
Heavenly Father, equip and empower Your Church to fight the plague of evil rampant in our generation. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
A Believing Remnant
"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5).
What is God trying to do with His believing people? - the Bible calls us a remnant according to grace, believers taken out of the great, teeming swarm of so-called religious people in today's world.
I am inclined to join others in wondering if the Lord is postponing His coming because He is trying to get His Bride ready.
For years it has been the popular idea in evangelical Christianity that the whole body of believers in Christ would rise like a flock of frightened birds when the Lord comes. But A. B. Simpson and William MacArthur and others in the past generation said, "Oh no! The Lord will take with Him those who are prepared and ready for His coming!"
I do not presume to give an answer satisfying to everyone in our churches. But I know that many Christians are too smug about this, saying in effect: "I am converted to Christ through grace, so I can live as I please!"
Of some things we cannot be dogmatic; but we know this for sure - God has no halfway house between heaven and hell where He takes us to fumigate us!
Dear Lord, today I pray for my pastor and my local church. Help us as a congregation not to be surprised on the day of Your return! Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
___________________________
Christ Will Rule
"I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
I am not surprised that I still meet people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth. In fact, some of them, armed with their own Bibles and interpretations, are insistent on setting me straight.
One gentleman has written saying that I have it all wrong, and that Paul did not mean what I had said he meant, as I applied Paul's statement to everyday life.
It took time to write a reply: "When it comes to saying what he meant, Paul's batting average has been pretty good up to now. So, will string along with what Paul plainly, clearly said."
I did not figure I needed someone to straighten me out - particularly someone who had decided the Bible does not mean what it says.
No one is going to argue me out of my faith in what God has revealed and what God has said. As far as I am concerned, it is a fact that Jesus is coming again! The question I do raise is this: Are we prepared spiritually for His coming? Are we tolerating conditions in our midst that will cause us embarrassment when He does come?
Dear Lord, grant me courage to live today - indeed, every day of my life - as though You were coming back this afternoon. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Bringing Us To Glory (and others)
Bringing Us To Glory (and others)
"For it became him ... bringing many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10).
As Christian believers (I am assuming you are a believer), you and I know how we have been changed and regenerated and assured of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning death. On the other hand, where this good news of salvation by faith is not known, religion becomes an actual bondage. If Christianity is known only as a religious institution, it may well become merely a legalistic system of religion, and the hope of eternal life becomes a delusion.
I have said this much about reality and assurance to counter the shock you may feel when I add that God wants to fully prepare you in your daily Christian life so that you will be ready indeed for heaven! Many of us here have been in God's household for a long time. Remember that God has been trying to do something special within our beings day after day, year after year.
Why? Because His purpose is to bring many sons - and daughters too - unto glory!
Dear Jesus, thank You for Your faithfulness in my life - even when I ignore You. Today I want to be especially attuned to Your holy presence in each of my activities. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_______________________
Spiritual Readiness
"The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer" (1 Peter 4:7).
When the Bible says that God is calling a special people out of the nations to bear the name of His eternal Son, I believe it - and His name is Jesus!
Our pious forefathers believed in spiritual preparation, and they said so. They saw themselves as a bride being prepared to meet the Bridegroom. They regarded this earth as the dressing room to outfit themselves for heaven.
The evangelical church has come through a period when nearly everyone has believed that there is just one prerequisite to readiness: being born again. We have made being born again almost like receiving a pass to a special event - when Jesus returns, we whip out the pass to prove our readiness.
Frankly, I do not think it will be like that. I do not believe that all professed believers are automatically ready to meet the Lord. Our Saviour Himself was joined by Peter and John and Paul in warning and pleading that we should live and watch and pray, so to be ready for Jesus' coming.
Dear Lord, help me to "act out" my faith today with seriousness and passion. Enable me to give spiritual guidance or encouragement to someone who is hurting. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
Journey of the Heart
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).
I object to the charge that "Tozer preaches experience." I preach Christ, the Saviour - that is my calling! But I am positive about the validity, the reality and the value of genuine Christian experience. We can talk to Jesus just as we talk to our other friends.
As a boy, I was not a Christian. I did not have the privilege of growing up in a home where Christ was known and loved. God spoke to me through a street preacher who quoted the words of Jesus, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
That invitation let me know that Jesus is still calling "Come now!" I went home and up into the attic. There in earnest prayer I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. My feet had taken me home and into the attic. But it was my heart that went to Jesus! Within my heart I consented to go to Jesus. I have been a Christian ever since that moment.
Dear Jesus, I want to thank you for saving me through Your difficult journey to the Cross. Give me grace and strength to honor Your sacrifice through my life this week. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
We Get Around It
"If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:14).
The lordship of Jesus is not quite forgotten among Christians, but it has been relegated to our hymnbook, where all responsibility toward it may be comfortably discharged in a glow of pleasant religious emotion.
The idea that the Man Christ Jesus has absolute and final authority over all its members in every detail of their lives is simply not accepted as true by the rank and file of evangelical Christians.
To avoid the necessity of either obeying or rejecting the plain instructions of our Lord in the New Testament, we take refuge in a liberal interpretation of them. We find ways to avoid the sharp point of obedience, comfort carnality and make the words of Christ of none effect. And the essence of it all is that "Christ simply could not have meant what He said." Dare we admit that His teachings are accepted even theoretically only after they have been weakened by "interpretation"? Dare we confess that even in our public worship, the influence of the Lord is very small? We sing of Him and preach about Him, but He must not interfere!
Dear Lord, I have to admit that there have been times when I have conveniently ignored the clear instructions of Your Word. Help me to give someone a cup of cold water - in Your Name - today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
"For it became him ... bringing many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10).
As Christian believers (I am assuming you are a believer), you and I know how we have been changed and regenerated and assured of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning death. On the other hand, where this good news of salvation by faith is not known, religion becomes an actual bondage. If Christianity is known only as a religious institution, it may well become merely a legalistic system of religion, and the hope of eternal life becomes a delusion.
I have said this much about reality and assurance to counter the shock you may feel when I add that God wants to fully prepare you in your daily Christian life so that you will be ready indeed for heaven! Many of us here have been in God's household for a long time. Remember that God has been trying to do something special within our beings day after day, year after year.
Why? Because His purpose is to bring many sons - and daughters too - unto glory!
Dear Jesus, thank You for Your faithfulness in my life - even when I ignore You. Today I want to be especially attuned to Your holy presence in each of my activities. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_______________________
Spiritual Readiness
"The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer" (1 Peter 4:7).
When the Bible says that God is calling a special people out of the nations to bear the name of His eternal Son, I believe it - and His name is Jesus!
Our pious forefathers believed in spiritual preparation, and they said so. They saw themselves as a bride being prepared to meet the Bridegroom. They regarded this earth as the dressing room to outfit themselves for heaven.
The evangelical church has come through a period when nearly everyone has believed that there is just one prerequisite to readiness: being born again. We have made being born again almost like receiving a pass to a special event - when Jesus returns, we whip out the pass to prove our readiness.
Frankly, I do not think it will be like that. I do not believe that all professed believers are automatically ready to meet the Lord. Our Saviour Himself was joined by Peter and John and Paul in warning and pleading that we should live and watch and pray, so to be ready for Jesus' coming.
Dear Lord, help me to "act out" my faith today with seriousness and passion. Enable me to give spiritual guidance or encouragement to someone who is hurting. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
Journey of the Heart
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).
I object to the charge that "Tozer preaches experience." I preach Christ, the Saviour - that is my calling! But I am positive about the validity, the reality and the value of genuine Christian experience. We can talk to Jesus just as we talk to our other friends.
As a boy, I was not a Christian. I did not have the privilege of growing up in a home where Christ was known and loved. God spoke to me through a street preacher who quoted the words of Jesus, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
That invitation let me know that Jesus is still calling "Come now!" I went home and up into the attic. There in earnest prayer I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. My feet had taken me home and into the attic. But it was my heart that went to Jesus! Within my heart I consented to go to Jesus. I have been a Christian ever since that moment.
Dear Jesus, I want to thank you for saving me through Your difficult journey to the Cross. Give me grace and strength to honor Your sacrifice through my life this week. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
We Get Around It
"If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:14).
The lordship of Jesus is not quite forgotten among Christians, but it has been relegated to our hymnbook, where all responsibility toward it may be comfortably discharged in a glow of pleasant religious emotion.
The idea that the Man Christ Jesus has absolute and final authority over all its members in every detail of their lives is simply not accepted as true by the rank and file of evangelical Christians.
To avoid the necessity of either obeying or rejecting the plain instructions of our Lord in the New Testament, we take refuge in a liberal interpretation of them. We find ways to avoid the sharp point of obedience, comfort carnality and make the words of Christ of none effect. And the essence of it all is that "Christ simply could not have meant what He said." Dare we admit that His teachings are accepted even theoretically only after they have been weakened by "interpretation"? Dare we confess that even in our public worship, the influence of the Lord is very small? We sing of Him and preach about Him, but He must not interfere!
Dear Lord, I have to admit that there have been times when I have conveniently ignored the clear instructions of Your Word. Help me to give someone a cup of cold water - in Your Name - today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
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