The TRUE Vine: by TA Sparks

I am the true vine. (John 15:1)

The true vine is that which fulfills the one and only purpose of its existence. So Jesus brings this illustration over to Himself and His Church, and it is perfectly clear what is the nature of the Lord Jesus. He is reaching out to all men, embracing the whole world. He asks ALL the nations into His heart. ALL men are His concern and not any one nation. He said to His disciples: "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of ALL THE NATIONS" (Matthew 28:19). It is the very nature of Jesus to do that. It is quite foreign to Him to be exclusive, small and narrow and self-occupied.... But it is all very well to think of this objectively. It has to come down to every one of us. What is the proof that Christ is in you and in me? How can it be known that Christ is in us? Only in one way – that others are receiving Life through us, that we minister the Life of Christ to others, that when hungry and needy people come into touch with us they feel the touch of Life. They may express it in different ways, but it amounts to this: 'That man, that woman, has something that I have not got and it is something that I need. There is something about them that I feel, and it is what I really need.' That should be true of every Christian because Christ is in us, expanding Himself through us and ministering His Life through us.

Oh, do pray, dear friends, every day as you get up: 'Lord, make me a channel of Life to someone today. Lord, minister Your own Life through me to someone today. May I bring Life wherever I am.' The Lord has no other purpose for you and for me. We may try to do a lot of things, but if we belong to the Vine we are no good for anything but to bear fruit; and that is to bring Life to others.

Satan Would Bind Us in Our Own Grave Clothes: by AW Tozer

 … For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

It is part of the devil’s business to keep the Christian’s spirit imprisoned. He knows that the believing and justified Christian has been raised up out of the grave of his sins and trespasses. From that point on, Satan works that much harder to keep us bound and gagged, actually imprisoned in our own grave clothes!

He knows that if we continue in this kind of bondage we will never be able to claim our rightful spiritual heritage. He knows also that while we continue bound in this kind of enslavement we are not much better off than when we were spiritually dead.

This is one reason why the Christians in today’s churches are behaving like a flock of frightened sheep—so intimidated by the devil that we can’t even say “Amen!”

I am sure that it is not glorifying to our God that Christians should be so intimidated and silenced in our day. It was Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, who came down and took our human body for Himself. He was a man, born of a woman, a man wearing our own nature—but He was also God!

He went out to the cross and they sacrificed Him there. The Father, God Almighty, accepted His sacrifice as the one, final fulfillment and consummation of all the sacrifices ever made on Jewish altars. After three days, He came out of the grave, then ascended as Victor over death and hell!

Believing this, we ought to be the most fearless, the happiest and most God-assured people in the whole world!

SIN: by Andrew Murray

 

And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
—1 Timothy 1:14-15

Never forget for a moment, as you enter the secret chamber, that your whole relationship to God depends on what you think of sin and of yourself as a redeemed sinner.

It is sin that makes God’s holiness so amazing. It is sin that makes God’s holiness so glorious, because He has said: “Be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45); “I am the Lord which hallow you” (Leviticus 22:32).

It is sin that called forth the wonderful love of God in not sparing His Son. It was sin that nailed Jesus to the cross and revealed the depth and the power of the love with which He loved. Through all eternity in the glory of heaven, it is our being redeemed sinners that will give music to our praise.

Never forget for a moment that it is sin that has led to the great transaction between you and Christ Jesus. Each day in your fellowship with God, His one aim is to deliver and keep you fully from its power, and to lift you up into His likeness and His infinite love.

It is the thought of sin that will keep you low at His feet and will give the deep undertone to all your adoration. It is the thought of sin, ever seeking to tempt you, that will give fervency to your prayer and urgency to the faith that hides itself in Christ. It is the thought of sin that makes Christ so unspeakably precious that keeps you every moment dependent on His grace, and that gives you the right to be more than a conqueror “through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). It is the thought of sin that calls you to thank God with “a broken and a contrite heart…[that] God…will not despise” (Psalm 51:17), and that works in you a contrite and humble spirit in which He delights to dwell.

It is in the inner chamber, in secret with the Father, that sin can be conquered, the holiness of Christ can be imparted, and the Spirit of holiness can take possession of our lives. It is in the inner chamber that we learn to know and experience fully the divine power of these precious words of promise: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7), and “Whosever abides in Him sins not” (1 John 3:6).

Why Do You Doubt? by Henry Blackaby

Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.      Matthew 8:25-26

It is by faith that God’s mighty power is released into the life of a Christian (Heb. 11:33-35). The fact that you have doubts indicates that you do not know God as you should. If your prayer life is infiltrated with doubts, you have denied yourself the greatest, single avenue of power that God has made available to you. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). God never comforts you in your doubt. Jesus consistently rebuked those who would not believe Him. He had revealed enough of Himself for His disciples to have believed Him in their time of need.

God wants to build your understanding of Him until your faith is sufficient to trust and obey Him in each situation (Mark 9:23-25). The moment you turn to Him with a genuine commitment to rid yourself of doubt, God will match your doubt with a revelation of Himself that can convince you of His faithfulness. When Thomas doubted, Jesus revealed Himself to him in such a way that every doubt vanished (John 20:27). You can only resolve your lack of faith in God’s presence. He must reveal Himself in such a way that any doubt you might have is removed. Jesus did this with His disciples. He involved them in a consistent, growing relationship with Himself. Jesus took them through teaching, to small miracles, to large miracles, and to the resurrection. Jesus knew that the redemption of the world rested on His disciples’ believing Him. What does God want to do in the lives of those around you that waits upon your trust in Him and the removal of your doubts? 

A Bible Fact: A Regenerated Man Knows God: by AW Tozer

 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Acts 27:25

The Bible assumes as a self-evident fact that men can know God with at least the same degree of immediacy as they know any other person or thing that comes within the field of their experience.

The same terms are used to express the knowledge of God as are used to express knowledge of physical things:

“O TASTE and see that the Lord is good.”

“All thy garments SMELL of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.”

“My sheep HEAR my voice.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall SEE God.”

These are but four of countless such passages from the Word of God. And more important than any proof text is the fact that the whole import of the Scripture is toward this belief.

We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for the purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spiritual world if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use them.

That a saving work must first be done in the heart is taken for granted here. The spiritual faculties of the unregenerate man lie asleep in his nature; they may be quickened to active life again by the operation of the Holy Spirit in regeneration! 

Planted: by TA Sparks

 

If we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Romans 6:5

May I remind you that the nature of this planting is just that with which we are so familiar. “Planted together in the likeness of His death.” That is the word of the Apostle, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” The enemy is the instrument so often, of planting us more deeply into the death of Christ. His assaults, his attacks, his accusations, everything – yes. The Lord is not the source of evil, but the Lord allows it. So often our hearts cry out: “Why did the Lord ever allow that in our lives?” That thing which has meant such a deep, dark passage. Why did the Lord allow it? He could have prevented it. Well, we were planted by it into the death of the Lord Jesus. We were brought more than ever to an end of ourselves. Yes, and therefore, to know the Lord in a larger measure than we have ever known Him, and to be brought to a place where it will not be so easy for the Devil to shake us next time.

That is the sovereign way of God in deeper death experiences. “Planted together in the likeness of His death.” Have you been planted there initially? Have you been planted in Christ crucified? Or are you one of those attachments to something? Are you planted? And when a deeper planting comes, remember it is the roots being driven downwards, and the issue is going to be most surely endurance, stability, and ability to stand; but, oh, there is going to be greater fruitfulness.

God the Holy Spirit: by Andrew Murray

 

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
—Ephesians 2:18

In our communion with God in the inner chamber, we must guard against the danger of seeking to know God and Christ in the power of the intellect or the emotions. The Holy Spirit has been given for the sole purpose that, “through Him we…have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Let us beware, lest all our labor be in vain because we do not wait for the teaching of the Spirit.

Christ taught His disciples this truth on His last night. Speaking of the coming of the Comforter, He said, “In that day ye shall ask…the Father in My name…Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:23–24). Take hold of the truth that the Holy Spirit was given with the one great purpose of teaching us to pray. He makes fellowship with the Father and the Son a blessed reality. Be strong in the faith that He is working secretly in you. As you enter the inner chamber, give yourself wholly to His guidance as your Teacher in all your intercession and adoration.

When Christ said to the disciples on the evening of the Resurrection, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22), it was, for one thing, to strengthen and equip them for the ten days of prayer and for their receiving the fullness of the Spirit. This suggests to us three things we ought to remember when we draw near to God in prayer:

1.   We must pray in the confidence that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. And we must yield ourselves definitely, in stillness of soul, to His leading. Take time for this.

2.   We must believe that the “greater works” (John 5:20) of the Spirit will be given in answer to prayer. Such “works” bring us toward the enlightening and strengthening of the spiritual life, toward the fullness of the Spirit.

3.   We must believe that through the Spirit, in unity with all God’s children, we may ask and expect the mighty workings of that Spirit on His church and people.

“He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

“Believest thou this?” (John 11:26).

HIS Higher Ways: by Henry Blackaby

 

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”      Isaiah 55:8-9

Rarely does God do something exactly as we think He will. Our problem is that we try to second-guess God, saying, “Oh, now I know what God is planning to do!” Moses experienced this as he learned how God was going to deliver the Hebrews out of Egypt. God told him He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. Yet, the result was not what Moses anticipated. Rather than allowing the Hebrews to leave, Pharaoh increased their hardship. Rather than becoming a hero among the Hebrews, Moses was despised by them for bringing greater suffering. Moses returned to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?” (Exod. 5:22). Much of the frustration we experience as Christians has nothing to do with what God does or doesn’t do. It has everything to do, rather, with the false assumptions we make about how we think God will and should act.

Have you ever done the will of God and then things seemed to become worse? Moses completely misunderstood what the results of His obedience to God would be. When things did not turn out as he anticipated, Moses became discouraged. God had told Moses what to do, but He had not told Moses what the consequences would be.

It is foolish to attempt to do God’s work using your own “common sense.”  God does not eliminate your common sense, He consecrates it. He gives you His wisdom so you can understand His ways.

As you look back on God’s activity in your life, you will recognize the supreme wisdom in how He has led you. As you look forward to what God may do, be careful you do not try to predict what He will do next. You may find yourself completely off the mark.

I AM... you get: by TA Sparks

 

Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:35

“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:14). “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Here is the great I AM saying what He is. And then you notice how frequently He links with that a ‘shall’. The ‘shalls’ of the ‘I am's’ in John’s Gospel are tremendously impressive – not always using the exact word, but in the context you will find the same conclusion. But here are some of the ‘shalls’. “I am the bread of life... he that eats this bread shall live for ever” (John 6:58). “I am the light of the world; he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12). The link between what He is and ourselves is this, “he that believeth on Me.” What I AM shall become true of him. “He that believeth on Me shall never die” (John 11:26), “...shall not hunger” (John 6:35), shall never wander like sheep without a shepherd, he shall have a governing, controlling reality like a shepherd in his life. “Shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” What I AM shall become true. “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever lives and believes on Me shall never die.” What I AM is made good when you believe.

Now it is not what we are. I am dead; He is alive. I can never be other than dead, but He as the Life can become Life in me in my death, if only I believe. I am hungry, spiritually starved; He is Bread, and I need never hunger; although I shall always hunger in myself, yet He will become the Bread to supply me. Think of it! I need never hunger, I am down there in the country, isolated, getting no fellowship, no food; I am away in some place where there is no spiritual bread, and He says, “He that eats Me shall never hunger.” Is that dependent upon where I am, what my situation and circumstances are as to available spiritual meat? No, it is Himself, not a place; it is Himself, not circumstances. But how can it be? – “He that believes.”

VISION: by TA Sparks

 

His eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Mark 8:25

You and I, dear friends, individually, and if we belong to a company of the Lord's people, that company, will only make progress toward that full, ultimate end of God in Christ if we have a spiritual vision of Jesus Christ. Vision is essential to progress. Is it necessary for me to stay with the word "vision"? I am not thinking about something objective that you see with your eyes of flesh. It is something that has happened inside of you, and your inner spiritual eyes have been opened. You can say, "I have SEEN, and that has revolutionized my life. That has put me on my feet. That has set me on a course. That has become a dynamic in my life which, in spite of myself, keeps me going." Yes, thank God, it works like that.

I know the aspect, the factor, of our responsibility, but God help you and me if it is all going to be left to our responsibility and what we do! I tell you – and this may have been your experience, or it may interpret your present experience – many, many times I would have given up the race. That is an awful confession! Indeed many times I have given it up in my heart. It became so difficult that I could go no further, so I gave up. It was not, therefore, my persistence that enabled me to go on, but what the Apostle calls "the power that worketh in us." What is that? The Holy Spirit has put a dynamic in us and we have seen. We cannot un-see! We cannot go back. The seeing may fade, and it may even be eclipsed by days of darkness and trouble. We may know what Paul meant when he said: "We were pressed out of measure, beyond our strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life" (2 Corinthians 1:8). That was a terrible thing for the greatest of all apostles to say! What happened? Did Paul give up and say: "Well, I cannot go on!"? No, not at all! "The power that worketh in us" got him on his feet again and again. Let Elijah seek out his juniper tree and say: "Take away my life!", but the Lord does not agree. He has given Elijah a part in His great, eternal purpose, and so he will come up again.

The Desire for God: by Andrew Murray

 

With my soul have I desired Thee in the night.
—Isaiah 26:9

What is the most glorious thing that man can see or find upon earth? Nothing less than God Himself.

And what is the most glorious thing that a man can and needs to do every day? Nothing less than to seek, to know, to love, and to praise this glorious God. As glorious as God is, so is the glory that begins to work in the heart and life of the man who gives himself to live for God.

My brother or sister in Christ, have you learned the first and greatest thing you have to do every day? Nothing less than to seek this God, to meet Him, to worship Him, and to live for Him and for His glory. It is a great step in the life of a Christian when he truly sees this truth and yields himself to consider fellowship with God every day as the chief purpose of his life.

Take time and ask whether this is not the highest wisdom, and the one thing for which a Christian is to live above all—to know his God rightly, and to love Him with his whole heart. Believe not only that it is true, but also that God’s greatest desire is for you to live thus with Him. In answer to prayer, He will indeed enable you to do so.

Begin today, and take a word from God’s Book to speak to Him in the stillness of your soul: “O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh longs for Thee…My soul follows hard after Thee:” (Psalm 63:1, 8); “With my whole heart have I sought Thee” (Psalm 119:10).

Repeat these words in deep reverence and childlike longing until their spirit and power enter your heart. Then wait upon God until you begin to realize the blessedness of meeting with Him in this way. As you persevere, you will learn to expect that the fear and the presence of God can abide with you throughout the day.

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1).