The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative

“Arise from the dead …” (Ephesians 5:14)

Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going!” Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard – just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.

We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and say to us, “Arise from he dead …” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life – He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead …,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.

~Oswald Chambers~

Are You Fresh For Everything?

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Sometimes we are fresh and eager to attend a prayer meeting, but do we feel that same freshness for such mundane tasks as polishing shoes/

Being born again by the Holy Spirit is an unmistakable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, and as surprising  as God Himself. We don’t know where it begins – it is hidden away in the depths of our soul. Being born again from above is an enduring, perpetual, and eternal beginning. it provides a freshness all  the time in thinking, talking, and living – a continual surprise of the life of God. staleness is an indication that something in our lives is out of step with God. We say to ourselves, “I have to do this thing or it will never get done.” That is the first sign of staleness. Do we feel fresh this very moment or are we stale, frantically searching our minds for something to do? Freshness is not the result of obedience; it comes from the Holy Spirit. Obedience keeps us “in the light as He is in the light …” (1 John 1:7).

Jealously guard your relationship with God. Jesus prayed “that they may be one just as We are one” – with nothing in between (John 17:22. Keep your whole life continually open to Jesus Christ. Don’t pretend to be open with Him. Are you drawing your life from any source other than God Himself? If you are depending on something else as your source of freshness and strength, you will not realize when His power is gone.

Being born of the Spirit means much more than we usually think. It gives us new vision and keeps us absolutely fresh for everything through the never-ending supply of the life of God.

~Oswald Chambers~

The Certain Answer to Prayer

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8)

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss” (James 4:3)

Our Lord returns here in the Sermon on the Mount to speak of prayer a second time. The first time He spoke of the Father Who is found in secret and Who rewards openly. Jesus also gave us the pattern prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). Here He wants to teach us what in all Scripture is considered the chief thing in prayer: the assurance that prayer will be heard and answered. Observe how He uses words which mean almost the same thing and repeats the promise each time so distinctly: “Ye shall receive, ye shall find, it shall be opened unto you.” He then gives the law of the Kingdom as grounds for such assurance}; “He that asketh, receiveth; he that seeketh, findeth; to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” We cannot help but feel that in this sixfold repetition He wants to impress this one truth deeply on our minds. We may and must most confidently expect an answer to our prayer. Everyone that asks, receives. Next to the revelation of the Father’s love, there is not a more important lesson that this in the whole course of the school of prayer.

A difference in meaning has been sought in the three words the Lord uses: ask, seek, knock. If it was indeed His purpose for these three words to have three distinct meanings, then the first “ask” refers to the gifts we pray for. But we may ask and receive the gift without the Giver. Seek is the word Scripture uses of God Himself. Christ assures us that we can find Him. But it is not enough to find God in time of need without coming into abiding fellowship with Him. Knock refers to admission to dwell with Him and in Him. Asking and receiving the gift would thus lead to seeking and finding the Giver, and from there to the knocking on and opening of the door to the Father’s home and love. One thing is sure: The Lord wants us to believe most certainly that asking, seeking, and knocking cannot be in vain. Receiving an answer, finding God, and the opening of His heart and home are the certain fruits of prayer.

That the Lord should have thought it necessary to repeat the truth in so many forms is a lesson of deep importance. It proves that He knows our hearts. He knows that doubt and distrust toward Him are natural to us and that we view prayer as religious work without expecting an answer. He also knows that we believe prayer is something spiritually too difficult for the half-hearted disciple, even though he believes that God hears prayer and answers it. At the very beginning of His instruction, He therefore endeavors to lodge this truth deeply into the hearts of those who want to learn to pray: Prayer accomplishes a great deal. Ask and you will receive; everyone who asks, receives. This is the eternal law of the Kingdom. If you ask and receive not, it must be because there is something wrong or missing in the prayer. Let the Word and Spirit teach you to pray properly. But do not lose the confidence He wants to give you, that everyone who asks, receives.

“Ask, and it shall be given you.”  In Christ’s school, there is no mightier encouragement of persevering in prayer than this. As a child has to prove a sum to be correct, so the proof that we have prayed correctly is our answer. If we ask and get no answer, it is because we have not learned to pray properly. Let every learner in the school of Christ therefore take the Master’s Word in all simplicity: Everyone who asks, receives. Christ had good reasons for speaking so unconditionally. Be careful not to weaken the Word with human wisdom. When He tells us heavenly things,  believe Him. His Word will explain itself to him who believes it fully. If questions and difficulties arise, don’t try to settle them before accepting the Word. Let us entrust them all to Him; He will solve them. Our work is to accept and believe His promise completely. Let our inner chamber be inscribed with that promise in letters of light.

According to the teaching of the Master, prayer consists of two parts: a human side and a Divine side. The human side is the asking, the Divine is the giving. Or, to look at both from the human side, there is the asking and the receiving – the two halves that make up a whole. it is as if He want to tell us that we are not to rest without an answer because it is the will of God and the rule in the Father’s family that every childlike, believing petition is granted. If no answer comes, we are not to sit down in resignation and suppose that it is not God’s will to give us an answer. There must be something in the prayer that is not as God would have it. We must seek for guidance to pray so that the answer will come. it is far easier for the flesh to submit without the answer than to yield itself to being searched and purified by the Spirit, until it has learned to pray the prayer of faith.

One of the terrible marks of the diseased state of Christian life these days is that there are so many who are content without the distinct experience of answer to prayer. They pray daily, they ask many things, and they trust that some of them will be heard. But they know little of direct definite answer to prayer as the rule of daily life. The Father seeks daily communion with His children so that He can listen to and grant their petitions. He wills that we come to Him day by day with distinct requests. He wills day by day to do what I ask. It was in His answer to prayer that the saints learned to know  God as the Living One and were stirred to praise and love Him (Psalms 34; 66:19; 116:1). Our Teacher waits to imprint this on our minds: Prayer and its answer – child asking and the Father giving – belong to each other.

There may be cases in which the answer is a refusal because the request is not according to God’s Word, such as when Moses asked to enter Canaan. But there was still an answer. God did not leave His servant in uncertainty as to His will. The gods of the heathen are dumb and cannot speak. Our Father lets His child know when He cannot give him what he asks. The child withdraws his petition as the Son did in Gethsemane. Both Moses the servant and Christ the Son knew that what they asked was not according to what the Lord had spoken. Their prayer was the humble request that the decision be changed. By His Word and Spirit, God will teach those who are teachable and who give Him time, whether their request be according to His will or not. Withdraw the request if it is not according to God’s will or persevere until the answer comes. Prayer is supposed to have an answer. It is in prayer and its answer that the interchange of love between the Father and His child takes place.

How deeply our hearts must be estranged from God that we should find it so difficult to grasp such promises! Even though we accept the words and believe their truth, the faith of the heart that fully possesses them and rejoices in them comes so slowly. It is because our spiritual life is still so weak and our capacity for accepting God’s thoughts is so feeble. Let us look to Jesus to teach us as none but He can teach. Simply take His words and trust Him by His Spirit to make them life and power within us. They will enter our inner being and allow the spiritual Divine reality of the truth they contain to take possession of us. We should not be content until every petition we offer is carried to heaven on Jesus’ own words: “Ask, and it shall be given you.”

Beloved fellow-disciples in the school of Jesus! Learn this lesson well! Let us take these words just as they were spoken. Do not let human reason weaken their force. Let us take them and believe them just as Jesus gives them. In due time, He will teach us how to understand them fully. Now we should begin by implicitly believing them. Take time in prayer to listen to His voice. Don’t let the feeble experiences of unbelief limit what faith can expect. Let us seek not only in prayer, but at all times, to joyfully accept the assurance that man’s prayer on earth and God’s answer in heaven are meant for each other. Trust Jesus to teach us to pray so that the answer can come. He will do it if we hold fast to the word He gives us: “Ask, and ye shall receive.”

~Andrew Murray~

Not All Storms Are Bad

Psalm 18:7-15

These verses present one of the greatest descriptions of a storm found in the Bible. It is a graphic picture of the way God works when He comes to the aid of His children. David was saying in these verses that God the Creator, God the Deliverer, used everything in nature to come to his aid. The earth shook, down to its foundations. Smoke came up, and fire came out. Coals were kindled. The heavens bowed down. The wind began to blow, for God was coming on the wings of the wind. We see darkness, dark waters, thick clouds, even hailstones and coals of fire. Thunder, lightening – the very breath of God was blowing across the fields.

When the child of God is in His will, all of nature works for him. When the child of God is out of His will, everything works against him. Remember Jonah? He ran away from God in disobedience, and what happened?  A storm appeared. The wind and waves were violent. That little boat went up and down on the ocean like a cork. Even the mariners were worried. Jonah disobeyed God, and everything in nature worked against him. David obeyed God, and everything in nature worked for him.

God can use the storms of life to fulfill His will. is the wind blowing? He is flying on the wings of the wind. Are the clouds thick? He will bring showers of blessing out of them. Don’t be afraid of the storm. Storms can come from the hand of God and be the means of blessing.

~Warren W. Wiersbe~

Walking With God

“Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1)

A walk is a great way to get alone with someone special and discover more about that person. In today’s Scripture passage, we see that Noah chose to spend his time walking with the most important being in his life: God. Because of this close relationship with the Lord, Scripture describes Noah in a most amazing way: “Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

The complete story of Noah and the great flood in Genesis 6-9 reveals what was involved for this one man to keep in step with His Lord. Noah’s walk with God was notably marked by a steadfast faith and a willingness to trust God even when everyone else mocked him. His walk also set him apart from the wicked men and women of the world, none of whom cared to experience the power of a personal relationship with the Creator.

Most importantly, Noah’s walk with God clearly represented the fellowship he enjoyed with the Lord. In a time when the world experienced its darkest day, the Lord looked to Noah and said, “I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1).

The wonderful news for you today is that God is just as excited about spending time with you as He was to fellowship with Noah. You are precious in His eyes, and He wants to develop a closer relationship with you. He wants to show you His amazing love in new ways. Will you walk with Him?

Lord, guide my feet so that they may not stray from the path that You have created. I want to walk through my life with You at my side. Amen

~Charles Stanley~

The Only Teacher # 2

Jesus came to baptize with the Holy Spirit which could not stream forth until He was glorified (John 1:33; 7:37-38; 16:7). When Jesus had made an end of sin, He entered into the holiest of all with His blood. There on our behalf He received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33) and sent Him down to us as the Spirit of the Father. It was when Christ had redeemed us and we had received the position of children that the Father sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to cry, “Abba, Father.” The worship in spirit is the worship of the Father in the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Sonship.

This is the reason why Jesus uses the name of Father here. We never find one of the Old Testament saints personally appropriating the name of child or calling God his Father. The worship of the Father is only possible for those to whom the Spirit of the son has been given. The worship in spirit is only possible for those to whom the Son has revealed the Father and who have received the spirit of Sonship. It is only Christ Who opens the way and teaches the worship in spirit.

Worship in spirit and in truth: In truth does not only mean in sincerity. Nor does it only signify accordance with the truth of God’s Word. The expression is one of deep and Divine meaning. Jesus is “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” “The law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Jesus says, “I am the truth and the life.” The old Testament was all shadow and promise. Jesus brought and gives the reality, the substance of things hoped for. In Him the blessings and powers of the eternal life are our actual possession and experience.

Jesus is full of grace and truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, through Whom the grace that is in Jesus is ours, a positive communication out of the Divine life. And so worship in spirit is worship in truth. This actual living fellowship with God is a real correspondence and harmony between the Father Who is a spirit and the child praying in the spirit.

The woman of Samaria could not immediately understand what Jesus said to her. Pentecost was needed to reveal its full meaning. We are inadequately prepared to grasp such teaching at our first entrance into the school of prayer. We will understand it better later on. Let us begin by taking the lesson as He gives it. We are carnal and cannot bring God the worship He seeks.

But Jesus has given us the Spirit. Let our attitude in prayer be what Christ’s words have taught us. Let there be the deep confession of our inability to bring God the worship that is pleasing to Him, the childlike teachableness that waits for Him to instruct us, and the simple faith that yields itself to the breathing of the Spirit. Above all, let us hold on tightly to this blessed reality: The secret of prayer in spirit and truth is in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God, the revelation of His infinite Fatherliness in our hearts, and the faith in His infinite love of us as His children. This is the new and living way Christ opened up for us. To have Christ the Son, and the Spirit of the Son, dwelling within us and revealing the Father makes us true, spiritual worshipers.

Lord, teach us to pray.

Blessed Lord! I adore the love with which You taught the woman who had refused You a cup of water what the worship of God must be. I rejoice in the assurance that You will instruct any disciple, who comes to You with a heart that longs to pray in spirit and truth, with the same love. O my Holy Master! Teach me this blessed secret!

Teach me that worship in spirit and truth is not anything from man, but comes only from You. It is not only a thing of times and seasons, but the outflowing of a life in You. Teach me to get near to God in prayer with the attitude that I am ignorant and have nothing in myself to offer Him. But, at the same time, remind me of the  provision that You, my Saviour, make for the Spirit’s breathing in my childlike stammerings.

I bless You because in You I am a child, and I have a child’s liberty of access to the Father. In You I have the spirit of Sonship and of worship in truth.

Teach me above all, Blessed Son of the Father, the revelation of the Father that gives confidence in prayer. Let the infinite Fatherliness of God’s heart be my joy and strength for a life of prayer and of worship. Amen.

~Andrew Murray~

(continued with # 3 – “Alone With God”)

The Only Teacher # 3

He (Christ) knows how to teach, whether it is by the urgency of felt need, by the confidence that joy inspires, by the studying of the Word, or by the testimony of another believer who knows what it is to have prayer heard. By His Holy Spirit He has access to our hearts and teaches us to pray by showing us the sin that hinders the prayer, or by giving us the assurance that we  please God. He teaches by giving not only thought of what to ask or how to ask, but by breathing into us the very spirit of prayer and living within us as the Great Intercessor. We can most joyfully say, “Who teaches like Him?” Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. To know how to speak to God is more than knowing how to speak to man. Power with God is the first thing, not power with men. Jesus loves to teach us how to pray.

What do you think my beloved fellow-disciples? Wouldn’t it be just what we need to ask the Master for a month to give us a course of special lessons on the art of prayer? As we meditate on the words He spoke on earth, let us yield ourselves to His teaching in the fullest confidence that with such a Teacher, we will make progress. Let us take time not only to meditate, but to pray, to sit at the foot of the throne and be trained for the work of intercession. Let us do so in the assurance that despite our stammerings and fears, He is carrying on His own work most beautifully. He will breathe His own life, which is all prayer, into us. As He makes us partakers of His righteousness and His life, He will make us partakers of His intercession, too. As the members of His Body – as a holy priesthood – will take part in His priestly work of praying to and getting results from God for mankind. Yes, even though we are unknowing and weak, let us most joyfully say, “Lord, teach us to pray!”

Blessed Lord! You live eternally to pray, and can teach me, too, to live eternally to pray! You want me to share Your glory in heaven by sharing this unceasing prayer with You, standing as a priest in the presence of my God.

Lord Jesus! Enroll my name among those who confess that they don’t know how to pray as they should, and who especially ask You for a course of teaching of teaching in prayer. Lord! Teach me to be patient in Your school, so that You will have time to train me. I am ignorant of the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need the Holy Spirit to be the spirit of prayer. Lead me to forget my thoughts of what I think I know, and make me kneel before You in true teachableness and poverty of spirit.

Fill me, Lord, with the confidence that with You for my Teacher, I will learn to pray. Then I will not be afraid, because my Teacher prays continuously to the Father, and by His prayer rules the destinies of His Church and the world. Unfold for me everything I need to know about the mysteries of the prayer-world. When there is something I may not know, teach me to be strong in faith, giving glory to God.

Blessed Lord! I know that You won’t put that student to shame who trusts You. And, with Your grace, that student won’t shame You, either. Amen

~Andrew Murray~

Capabilities

1 Corinthians 12

Have you ever noticed how uniquely adapted each animal is to its environment and its way of life? On land, a duck waddles along ungainly on its webbed feet. In the water, it glides along smooth as glass. The rabbit runs with ease and great bursts of speed, but I’ve never seen one swimming laps. The squirrel climbs anything in sight but cannot fly (unless you count great airborne leaps from limb to limb), while the eagle soars to mountaintops.

What’s true of creatures in the forest is true of Christians in the family. God has not made us all the same. He never intended to. He planned that there be a differences unique capabilities, variations in the Body. So concerned was He that we realize this, He spelled it out several times in His Word. I charge you to take the time to read 1 Corinthians 12 slowly and aloud. Those thirty-one verses tell us about God’s desires and designs – which are more attractive than any thirty-one flavors!

The subject is commonly called “spiritual gifts,” and it is as helpful as any truth the believer can ever know. In a nutshell, here’s the scoop:

God has placed you in His family and given you a certain mixture that makes you unique. No mixture is insignificant!

That mix pleases Him completely. Nobody else is exactly like you. That should bring you pleasure, too.

When you operate in your realm of capabilities, you will excel and the whole Body will benefit … and you will experience incredible satisfaction.

When others operate in their realm, then balance, unity, and health automatically occur in the Body. It’s amazing!

But when you compare … or force … or entertain expectations that reach beyond your or others’ God-given capabilities, then you can expect frustration, discouragement, mediocrity, and , in the long run, defeat.

If God made you a duck saint – you’re a duck, friend. Swim like mad but don’t get bent out of shape because you wobble when you run. Furthermore, if you’re an eagle saint, stop expecting squirrel saints to soar … or rabbit saints to build the same kind of nests you do.

Accept your spiritual species. Cultivate your capabilities. Stop comparing. Enjoy being you! That’s what God likes – you!

~Charles Swindoll~

Pure Words

Psalm 12:1-8

When you feel deserted, alone in standing for what’s right, read Psalm 12. The emphasis in this psalm is on words, on speaking. First, David speaks in prayer (vv. 1-3). Where are the godly? People today don’t want to take a stand for the truth, but David stood for what is right.

Sometimes we feel the faithful have disappeared – those who believe in prayer, giving, and commitment. Today’s generation doesn’t believe in commitment, especially with our words. We hear so much empty talk, lies, and flattery. Flattery is manipulative, not communicative, like our advertising and some of our preaching.

Second, the wicked speak in pride (v. 4). Never underestimate the power of speech. Jesus told the truth; His enemies argued. He gave words of life; they rejected Him. He came in love; they crucified Him. One of the evidences that a person is giving the truth of God’s Word is that he is rejected. People don’t want to hear truth unless they belong to truth (John 10:4).

Third, God speaks in promise (vv. 5, 7). His words are pure, not empty lies (v. 6). But the words of the wicked will burn in the furnace. God’s Word is precious, because it cost Jesus’s life. It is proved (v. 6) and permanent (v. 7). He keeps His promises. God knows where His people are, and He helps them. “I will arise”; “I will protect”; “I can be trusted” (vv. 5-7).

So much that is spoken in this world is untrue and empty talk. Be encouraged that God speaks in promise. His Word is pure and true. When you are surrounded by lies, rest on the promises of the Bible.

~Warren W. Wiersbe~

Be Holy, for I am Holy – Part 2

O Most Holy God! we do beseech Thee, reveal Thou to Thy children what it means that Thou has not only called them to holiness, but even called them by this name, “the holy ones in Christ Jesus.” Oh that every child of Thine might know that He bears this name, might know what it means, and what power there is in it to make Him what it calls him. Holy Lord God! oh that the time of Thy visitation might speedily come, and each child of Thine on earth be known as a holy one!

To this end we pray Thee to reveal to Thy saints what Thy Holiness is. Teach us to worship and to wait until Thou hast spoken unto our souls with Divine Power Thy word, “I am holy.” Oh that it may search out and convict us of our unholiness!

And reveal to us, we pray Thee, that as holy as Thou art, even a consuming fire, so holy is Thy command in its determined and uncompromising purpose to have us holy, O God! let Thy voice sound through the depth of our being, with a power from which there is no escape; Be holy, be holy.

And let us thus, between Thine infinite Holiness on the one hand and our unholiness on the other, be driven and drawn to accept of Christ as our sanctification, to abide in Him as our life and our power to be what Thou would have us – “Holy in Christ Jesus.”

O Father! let Thy Spirit make this precious word life and truth within us. Amen.

1. You are entering anew on the study of a Divine mystery. “Trust not to your own understanding;” wait for the teaching of the Spirit of Truth.

2. In Christ. A commentator says, “The phrase denotes two moral facts – first, the act of faith whereby a man lays hold of Christ; second, the community of life with Him contracted by means of this faith.” There is still another fact, the greatest of all: that it is by an act of Divine power that I am in Christ and am kept in Him. It is this I want to realize: the Divineness of my position in Jesus.

3. Grasp the two sides of the truth. You are holy in Christ with a Divine holiness. In the faith of that, you are to be holy, to become holy with a human holiness, the Divine Holiness manifest in all the conduct of a human life.

4. This Christ is a Living Person, a Loving Saviour: how He will delight to get complete possession, and do all the work in you! Keep hold of this all along as we go on: you have a claim on Christ, on His Love and Power, to make you holy. As His redeemed one, you are at this moment, whatever and wherever you be, in Him. His Holy Presence and Love are around you. You are in Him, in the enclosure of that tender love, which ever encircles you with His holy Presence. In that  Presence, accepted and realized, is your holiness.

~Andrew Murray~