Overcoming the World: by Andrew Murray

 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.  No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 1 John 3:5-6

John had taken deep into his heart and life the words that Christ had spoken on the last night-words about abiding in Him. He always remembered how the Lord had spoken six times of loving Him and keeping His commandments as the way to abide in His love and to receive the indwelling of the Father and the Son. Abiding in Christ is one of the key promises in this epistle that he wrote in his old age. (See 1 John 2:6, 24, 28; 3:6, 24; 4:13, 16.)

In the text verse above, John taught how we can be kept from sinning. "Whosoever abides in him sins not." Though there is sin in our nature, the abiding in Christ, in whom there is no sin, does indeed free us from the power of sin and enable us to live daily so as to please God. The Scriptures record that Christ had said of the Father, "I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29). And so John wrote later in his epistle, "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight" (l John 3:21-22).

Let the soul who longs to be free from the power of sin take hold of these simple but far-reaching words: "In him is no sin" (l John 3:5), and "He which establishes us ... in Christ .. .is God" (2 Corinthians 1:21). As you seek to abide in Him in whom there is no sin, Christ will indeed live out His own life in you in the power of the Holy Spirit and will equip you for a life in which you always do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

Dear child of God, you are called to a life in which faith-great faith, strong, continuous, and unbroken-in the almighty power of God is your one hope. As you daily take time and yield yourself to the God of peace, who perfects you "in every good work" (Hebrews 13:21) to do His will, you will experience that God indeed works in those who wait for Him. (See Lamentations 3:25.)

"Whosoever abides in him sins not." The promise is sure: God Almighty has pledged that He will work in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Christ Jesus. (See Hebrews 13:20- 21.) In that faith, abide in Him.

Anointing Jesus’ Feet: by Henry Blackaby

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. John 12:3

Mary seemed drawn to the feet of Jesus. It is not surprising that of all those who followed Jesus, Mary was the one to anoint His feet. The disciples would have their opportunity to show the same love, but pride would prevent them (John 13:12-13). Martha, too, was prone toward acts of service, but she had developed a different kind of relationship with Jesus than Mary had. While Martha had labored on Jesus’ behalf in the kitchen, Mary had joyfully sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him teach (Luke 10:38-42). Because Mary had come to know and love Jesus in this way, she was ready to humble herself and offer this poignant expression of love to Him. Such depth and sincerity of love comes only through spending time in close fellowship with Jesus.

The way we express our love for Jesus depends on the kind of relationship we have developed with Him. Our love for Him will not grow unless we spend time with Him, listen to His voice, and experience His love for us. If we find that our love for Jesus has waned or that we struggle to serve Him, it is a clear sign that we must take time to sit at His feet. We may have been involved in Christian activity on His behalf and yet neglected our relationship with Him. After we have spent time in intimate fellowship with our Lord, and after we have heard His voice and received His love, we will be prepared to serve Him, even laying down our life for Him if that is what He asks.

Mine, Mine, Mine: by CS Lewis (from The Screwtape Letters)

every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalm 50:10
 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Screwtape acknowledges the truth about ownership:

Even in the nursery a child can be taught to mean by 'my teddy bear' not the old imagined recipient of affection to whom it stands in a special relation (for that is what the Enemy will teach them to mean if we are not careful) but 'the bear I can pull to pieces if I like'. And at the other end of the scale, we have taught men to say 'my God' in a sense not really very different from 'my boots', meaning 'the God on whom I have a claim for my distinguished services and whom I exploit from the pulpit—the God I have done a corner in'.

And all the time the joke is that the word 'Mine' in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything. In the long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say 'Mine' of each thing that exists, and specially of each man. They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong—certainly not to them, whatever happens. At present the Enemy says 'Mine' of everything on the pedantic, legalistic ground that He made it: Our Father hopes in the end to say 'Mine' of all things on the more realistic and dynamic ground of conquest.

—from The Screwtape Letters

Inner Invincibility: by Oswald Chambers

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… —Matthew 11:29

“Whom the Lord loves He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6).

How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.

“…to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.

“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.

If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.

"Jesus Calling" (April 11) by Sarah Young

This is the day that I have made. Rejoice and be glad in it. Begin the day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life. Be careful not to complain about anything, even the weather, since I am the Author of your circumstances. The best way to handle unwanted situations is to thank Me for them. This act of faith frees you from resentment and frees Me to work My ways into the situation, so that good emerges from it.

To find Joy in this day, you must live within its boundaries. I knew what I was doing when I divided time into twenty-four-hour segments. I understand human frailty, and I know that you can bear the weight of only one day at a time. Do not worry about tomorrow or get stuck in the past. There is abundant Life in My Presence today.

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. —Psalm 118:24

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:13–14

Half-Hearted Desires: by CS Lewis (The Weight of Glory)

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
 We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests. Psalm 20:4-5

If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self- denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.