Category Archives: Tozer
He’s a Bit Possessive…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, on the cross
“However, God’s solid foundation remains standing, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” ”” (2 Timothy 2:19a, NET)
Many of us are interested in walking with God and pleasing God and resting in the promises of God. We have discovered that such a life on this earth begins with a complete change in relationship between God and the sinner; a conscious and experienced change affecting the sinner’s whole nature.
Preaching—the preaching of Christ crucified—is the word of God. Priests need to prepare themselves as best they can before carrying out such a divine ministry, the aim of which is the salvation of souls. Lay people should listen with very special respect.
St. Josemaria makes a bold and very accurate statement – that preaching only happens when Christ is shown to be crucified. That is what preaching is, the revelation of God’s love for us, shown in the death of Christ. (he would have gotten extra points if he had tied out baptism to it, for there we die with Christ that we may live with God forever!)
This cross is the foundation for who we are, it is the basis for our knowing we are his. Our baptism, in the God’s name, is where He marks us HIs own. It is no coincidence we make the mark of the cross over the person’s head and heart as we baptize them on God’s behalf, as as noted, in His name. It is that name that seals us to Him, that marks us indelibly as his
It is that promise that begins our walk with Him, as we have been born again, as we have been risen with Him, a new creation. The relationship changes, as we become His born again children, friend of Jesus, as we become part of the community, the family.
That is why preach has to be the proclamation of Christ crucified – for us. It is the reason we have hope, it is point of union with our incredible God.
Who is, more than a bit possessive of us, why He is a jealous God, and why the first commandment is that we can have no other God, but Him.
We are His… sealed into this relationship in Baptism.
AMEN!
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge (p. 200). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Faith is Nothing Less than Intimacy with God…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to His cross…
“For,’ I say, ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah tightly to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. But they would not obey me.” (Jeremiah 13:11, NET)
I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day. ALBERT CAMUS
I think it might shock some of us profoundly if we were suddenly brought face to face with our beliefs and forced to test them in the forges of practical living. How many professing Christians boast in the Lord but watch carefully that they never get caught fully depending on Him? Pseudo-faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God “fails.”
What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians prepared to trust God as completely now as they must do at the last day! For each of us, the time is surely coming when we shall all have nothing but God! To the men of pseudo-faith, that is a terrifying thought!
For true faith, it is either God or total collapse, and not since Adam first stood up on the earth has God failed anyone who trusted Him! We can prove our faith by our committal to it—and in no other way!
It almost sounds silly to compare the intimacy God desires to a pair of tight-fitting underwear. Heck it almost seems blasphemous!
But that is how our Lord wants us to be, so…
The reason for it is seen in Tozer’s work, for his words about dependence on God parallel the experience of the people of Israel and Judah. We want a distant faith, with an escape clause for when our faith fails and we do not, perhaps even cannot, see God being faithful to His promises. Tozer and Camus both point to the day when there is nothing else left but Jesus! Camus goes farther… identifying that day as today.
We need to recognize the intimacy that God not only desires, that He offers at the Cross in baptism, and as He tenderly and with great precision cuts away all our sins as He washes us clean, and as He feeds us His Body and Blood at the altar. This is the God who gives us His word, His promises, and would have us cling to Him, and the hope He provides.
It is such a powerful concept, this intimate relationship that God desires, that the greatest example provides a bit of laughter, a lighthearted but deeply challenging thought.
You and God – as close and as intimate as your underwear!
And from that intimacy comes the faith and trust necessary to live, in this life, through the judgment, into eternity.
You and God, underwear and body – as inseparable as it gets!
AMEN!
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 13). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Life’s Unfair I Cry… and then realize I am glad for that…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and the Cross
“For this reason the sovereign master himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, NET)
When they arrived in the Spoleto valley, going back to their holy proposal, they began to discuss whether they should live among the people or go off to solitary places. But Christ’s servant Francis, putting his trust in neither his own efforts nor in theirs, sought the pleasure of the divine will in this matter by the fervor of prayer. Enlightened by a revelation from heaven, he realized that he was sent by the Lord to win for Christ the souls which the devil was trying to snatch away. Therefore he chose to live for everyone rather than for himself alone, drawn by the example of the one who deigned to die for all.
You stir us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you.
Christians who understand the true meaning of Christ’s cross will never whine about being treated unfairly. Whether or not they are given fair treatment will never enter their heads. They know they have been called to follow Christ, and certainly the Savior did not receive anything approaching fair treatment from mankind.
In language the word “unfair” seems altogether innocent but it indicates an inner attitude that has no place among Christians.
It’s ironic that one one the most evil rulers in all of history had the opportunity to receive any blessing he desired. ALl he had tro do was ask, and God would have granted it, to prove that he was trustworthy. And despite the king’s refusal, God provided him a sign, the birth of the Messiah, All to prove what is contained in the name of the Child provided.
Immanuel – “God is with you!”
It’s something we should never tired of hearing.
Even when we are as obstinate as the King of Israel, or as evil as his wife. God is at work, stirring us, trying to awe us with His love, that we might fins the peace we so desperately need, so our heart can rest from the “unquiet”
And from there, even as we desire more peace and rest, like Francis, we find at the end of our prayers a desire to live fro others. We learn to stop whining about what is fair or cry out for justice for our sake. For it wasn’t fair for Christ to come and die for me, but he embraced that sacrifice, that injustice, for me.
And so dealing with things that are unfair…
Those things become meaningless when we find the joy that comes when we realize we can worship God–for we know God’s love for us, and knowing that we can rejoice in Him. Knowing why we can rejoice in Him, because of his extravagant, incredible love for us.
That’s where it comes down to – experiencing the love of God that goes beyond what theologians can write about, or make a Youtube about. The love of God needs to be experienced, it needs to be lived in!
It is so incredible, embracing that which is unfair, in order to help people experience it is well worth it, indeed, we will come to rejoice in those times of life being unfair – for we know the opportunity it brings, to testify to how Jesus embraced us, even as our sins were unfairly carried by Him, nailed with Him to the cross….
The tears will come, as will the pain, but God will use it all for good, even if we don’t understand. He promised and we can depend on it. AMEN!
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 214). New City Press.
Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 39). New City Press.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Christians are simply beggars… if we do things right.
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”” (2 Corinthians 5:19–20, NET)
They are expressions of the one great heresy, which is as old as fallen mankind: Man refuses to accept the external word and the external means of grace and develops his own religion, which places man where God alone has the right to stand: “Ye shall be as gods!”
I have met Christians who were so intent upon winning souls to Christ that they would not talk to you about anything but God and His goodness!
Such a man was the Canadian, Robert Jaffray, one of our early pioneer missionaries. His family owned the Toronto Globe and Mail and as a young Christian he was disinherited because he chose to follow God’s call to China rather than join the family business.
That good godly man spent his lifetime in China and the south Pacific, searching for the lost—and winning them! He was always reading maps and daring to go to the most difficult places, in spite of physical weaknesses and diabetic handicap. He sought out and lived among the poor and miserable, always praying to God, “Let my people go!”
On my bookshelves I have numerous books about church growth, about having a missional spirit. Others talk about forensic apologetics and evangelism. Many of these approach the topic with a clinical approach, looking at statistics, looking for patterns that can be replicated, looking for logical presentations of the gospel that give overwhelming proof – which we hope will covert the heathen.
We know, for we ourselves our guilty, of the great sin of self-idolatry, of narcissism. Even in thinking “we” can prove the gospel, we are take up a burden that is rightfully the Holy Spirit. Far too often in the church, we create our own religion, putting ourselves in charge of saving the world.
Yet there are those, who in humility simply follow the Spirit, as they are compelled to not shut up about Jesus. Jaffray was one, Eric Liddell comes to mind, as does Barton Stone, and Wyneken and Luther. Each spent their lives, or a great deal of their lives not arguing, but pleading that people would be reconciled to God – a work already accomplished by Jesus.
I think that word pleading is important – it has the emphasis of desire built into the request. It doesn’t come from a place of power, or even authority, but of someone is so worried about the person they beg them to let God in, to receive the love and mercy. It comes from seeing people living without hope, without peace, assaulted by the world, and by their own guilt and shame.
And we have the antidote to that which poisons their life.
How can we get them to receive it? How can we get them to trust in a God they do not yet know of, that they have yet to experience, that they haven’t allowed to bring them to life, remove the guilt and shame of sin, and restore them?
This is the passion Paul had, this is why some cannot shut up about the love of God.
We can beg them, the Spirit opens their hearts, Christ has reconciled them to the Father.
This is our call… we simple beggers on a this journey called life…
Sasse, H. (2001). This Is My Body: Luther’s Contention for the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar (p. 191). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Know Thyself…Socrates Said. (It was simpler than he thought!)
“Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously I had not been depressed in the king’s presence.So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.” (Nehemiah 2:1–2, NET)
Neo-Platonism provided him (Augustine) with a vocabulary, and stirred in him a desire, for mystical union. Yet the One to whom Augustine aspired was not the remote, indifferent reality of Plotinus, but the God who constantly seeks, attracts, guides, heals, stoops toward us, forgives and loves us. He is the humble God of the incarnation. The Neo-Platonists had glimpsed the country Augustine sought, but could not show him the way there (VII,20,26; 21,27).
The God revealed in the Old and New Testaments is, moreover, the God who forms a people. He is the God encountered in the Church.
Benedict’s encyclicals and other papal writings invite the reader to have a personal relationship with Christ. “Encountering Christ” is the phrase that pervades all of his texts. In this light, Benedict’s Christocentric approach offers a fresh and deeper understanding of the concept of revelation. Benedict prioritizes Christ the Logos over Scripture and Tradition.
One might venture to conclude that Ratzinger’s /Pope Benedict XVI’s lasting legacy is to state vigorously that revelation in Christ is the definitive, personal self-disclosure of the triune God—and thereby, also as the identity of the human being.
“Remember, Tozer,” he said, “death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person!”
For the Christian, death is a journey to the eternal world. It is a victory, a rest, a delight. I am sure my small amount of physical suffering has been mild compared to Paul’s, but I feel as Paul did: “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!” (Philippians 2:23).
Nehemiah was not himself
It was so obvious that the King he was enslaved to serve noticed, and was concerned over a relatively minor person in his Kingdom. We use the phrase, “he wasn’t himself,” rarely these days, but it is a growing phenomenon as people try to identify themselves with this movement or that movement, with this star, or that politician, Often the “not being themselves” draw them into more extreme positions, even within the church, as they look for their true identity.
They are correct in their realization that relationship defines their existence, that it gives a picture of who we are. To often these relationships become idolatrous, as we define our identities by one different than our primary relationship- our relationship with the Father through Jesus.
Like Augustine, the existence of the search for identity can be part of what helps us find (actually be found by) Jesus – who is our identity. HIs dabbling with Neo-Platonism would leave him with a desire to be with God, even as its vision of God was not right,..it led him to the place where, when God came to him, he was ready to see his need for God.
That’s why Pope Benedict championed the cause of encountering Jesus. All of his knowledge, all of his theological understanding, all of it was only valuable if he recognized at the end of the day the presence of Jesus. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Pope Benedicts or Augustine, Luther or Melanchthon or Josemaria Escriva smile as they heard Philippians 1:21 read ““For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” (Philippians 1:21, NET) or to see the sigh of relief as people respond “and also with you,” during the mass or daily gatherings for prayer.
Ultimately, defining our identities, finding our identity in Christ leads us to recognize what Tozer’s mentor was pointing out. Death becomes less and less a threat, as we long to be in the presence of God the Father. If we knwo as ourselves as children of God, then it becomes natural to want to be home with Him, to enjoy His presence.
This is to know ourselves, to recognize that we are simply His children, His people, His beloved.
Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 19). New City Press.
De Gaál, E. (2018). O Lord, I Seek Your Countenance: Explorations and Discoveries in Pope Benedict XVI’s Theology (M. Levering, Ed.; pp. 201–202). Emmaus Academic.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Astonished Reverence–it cannot be manufactured, therefore stop trying to force it on others
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to His Cross”
“Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.” (John 1:14, NET)
“that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1:26–28, NET)
Luther’s understanding of Christ makes the Lord’s Supper a miracle. For it is an unspeakable miracle that the inseparable union of the two natures causes the body of Christ, which is in heaven, to be present on the altar
Ratzinger’s theology of revelation emphasizes Christ, the revelation of the Father. By encountering Christ in the Scriptures, in the sacraments, and in worship, one comes to knowledge of God.
The fear of God is that “astonished reverence” of which the saintly Faber wrote. I would say that it may grade anywhere from its basic element—the terror of the guilty soul before a holy God—to the fascinated rapture of the worshiping saint.
There are few unqualified things in our lives but I believe that the reverential fear of God, mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and adoration, is the most enjoyable state and the most purifying emotion the human soul can know. A true fear of God is a beautiful thing, for it is worship, it is love, it is veneration. It is a high moral happiness because God is.
I have had the distinct displease of seeing pietism raise its ugly head in a number of places. In choice of Bible translations, in choices of worship styles, in places where people define reverence as something people bring to church. As they get dressed with physical clothes, the are supposed to come into church or a Bible study reverently. And reverence or piety is defined and demanded by observers. And if the observers demanded form of pietism isn’t achieved or met, the efficacy of God’s mercy might be or actually is questioned.
It goes across the spectrum of Christianity, and it usually spans both edges of any discussion spectrum. Some say you can’t worship with guitars, others say you don’t worship with organs. Some say you can’t dress down, others say if you don’t “come as you are, you are playing games. In my 60 years, I have seen these spectrums divide the church, and those caught in the middle are often… the greatest victims.
Reverence is not man-made. It doesn’t depend on clothing choices, or the language that you use (especially if you don’t understand it!) Tozer’s modifier, astonished, is awesome in clarifying what true reverence is. It occurs when the sinner or saint sees the Triune God revealed in their presence, something that happens because Christ is made incarnate among us. Pope Benedict XVI nails this in discussing the encounter with Christ in word and Sacrament, and Luther sees this as what makes the Lord’s Supper, each and every time celebrated–truly a miracle–for it is Christ coming into our lives, as revealed in Scripture.
Such miracles leave us astonished, a state in which revering and adoring (and being in fear of ) God is natural. For the believer, the astonishment is because this is exactly where God wants us, in His presence, sharing in the very glory of God which the apostles saw revealed in Jesus, which they came to know and reveal to people as well.
This is why reverence can’t be manufactured on order, or demanded by others. It only finds its origin in the presence of God. I
I’ve seen this in the eyes of 3 year olds, as the run to get our altar rail before their parents. Can they comprehend the gift their parents are receiving? Probably not… DO they understand the blessing I say over them, perhaps not.. they just realize they are near Jesus, and the love that impacts their parents or grandparents is significant – and it is theirs as well, and so they rejoice!
This is reverence, when the sinner doesn’t want to leave, but soak in their being cleansed. This is the presence of God, which leaves us in awe, because only because of His love can we stand before Him, and only because of that love do we have hope. Hope because of the presence of God – which is revealed every week, though He never leaves us….
We still need to hear of the love, we still need to experience it and therefore know it.
And we do….
Attitude Check: How do we look at “those” sinners?
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross!
“Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation. For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth.For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:1–4, NET)
“The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” (Luke 18:11, NET)
It seems to be a comfort to some Christians to sit back and blame and belabor the Jews, refusing to acknowledge that they have information and benefits and spiritual light that the Jews never had.
It is surely wrong for us to try to comfort our own carnal hearts by any emphasis that Israel rejected Him. If we do that, we only rebuild the sepulchers of our fathers as Jesus said!
Back in high school, our youth group had a practice or tradition. If something didn’t seem right, someone would yell out, “attitude check!!. The others would respond, “Praise the Lord.” It would refocus us on Jesus, it would refocus us on His love and mercy, and on His rescuing us from sin.
I think the church today needs an attitude check, I think her pastors and priests need one to, especially this guy, typing these words.
You see, we all limit God’s grace. Like the Pharisee who couldn’t believe God could relate to “lesser” people who were broken. Or like those Tozer identifies, who are content to blame and not give a rip as to whether people come to know Christ.
It’s as if we say, “Yep, they deserve it,” as we walk away from those without hope, those blinded by sin. It doesn’t matter if the sin is against he first commandment, as people put their trust in other gods, or make themselves out to be gods, whether the sin is dishonoring parents and other authorities, whether it is being caught up in sexual sin of some form, or simply those who gossip, spreading lies and rumors and even defending their right to do so.
We can’t give up on them, we can’t casually say, they reject God and “dust off our sandals” and leave them. (This is one of the most abused passages in the gospels, as people use it to justify indifference and hatred) We have to work, as Paul described his ministry, with everything we are, trying to help people mature in Christ, as we reveal Christ, their hope of glory.
That’s the attitude of Jesus, not just writing the person off because they are progressive or conservative, nor because of a massive sin in their past (their are all massive) or because of issues they struggle with today.
Let us struggle with this, and continue to depend on the hope we have in Christ Jesus, even as we pray, and even cry over those whose struggle is so visible… and yet, denied.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
A God Who Loves Inconvenience
Thoughts that drag me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. These were their descendants: Ishmael’s firstborn son was Nebaioth; the others were Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael.”…
“The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, and (by Timna) Amalek. The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.” (1 Chronicles 1:28-31, 35–37, NET
“The voice spoke to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!”” (Acts 10:15, NET)
I have known some who were interested in the deeper life, but began asking questions: “What will it cost me—in terms of time, in money, in effort, in the matter of my friendships?” Others ask of the Lord when He calls them to move forward: “Will it be safe?” This question comes out of our constant bleating about security and our everlasting desire for safety above all else.
A third question that we want Him to answer is: “Will it be convenient?”
As I read Chronicles this morning, I had to think about it as I read about Ishmael and Esau’s descendants. I mean, they were the guys that were to be forgotten about, the covenant of Abraham ran through their brothers families–not theirs. They should have been forgotten about, except to log their sin, for they were exiled, put out of the family of God.
They didn’t matter. They weren’t the chosen people.
So why are their names here? Why do we know of their descendants?
Why go to the hassle, the inconvenience of tracking them? Why should their names be in the Bible?
Think about this – this book is somewhere between 800-1000 years after them….
God didn’t forget them, nor the promises he made to their mothers and to Ishmael and Esau. While the promise of the Messiah, the Lord who would come was to be through the lineage of their brothers, there was something to remember…
Jesus was coming to save them all.
They weren’t inconvenient, they were part of the target, the focus, the reason for the cross. We, the people of God, are to seek and save their further descendants, just as God promised.
As I read this, I am beginning to take inventory of my own actions and thoughts. Who do I dare consider inconvenient, ministering to whom is not worth investing my time and heart in? Do I consider them not worth including in my story of my journey with God?’
If there are people, I need to repent…
Which is fine, because God can handle that, granting me forgiveness and changing my heart and mine – as the Spirit works within…
Maybe its time for us to reconsider who our church considers inconvenient, and then rejoice as we engage and help them know God wants them in His Book as well!
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
The Blessing of Despair and Self-imposed Exile
Thoughts which draw me out of my exile, to Jesus and the cross
16 “Now tell your fellow-exiles what I am saying. I am the one who sent them to live in far-off nations and scattered them in other countries. Yet, for the time being I will be present with them in the lands where they have gone. Ezek. 11:16 GNT
But God is trying to reveal by His Holy Spirit the utter weakness of the child of God who is still putting his trust in himself.
Why does it take us so long to put our complete trust in God? He has made it so simple, so rewarding to yield what we are to Him!
767 What really makes a person—or a whole sector of society—unhappy, is the anxiety ridden, selfish search for well being, that desire to get rid of whatever is upsetting.
As I read Ezekiel’s words to the exiles, I can easily put myself in their shoes. There are days I feel like I don’t belong, that I am all by myself and feel like there is no hope.. no relief from the pain or the loneliness. I also know I am not alone in this – all you have to do is look at the number of pastors leaving the ministry, the number of teachers leaving education, the number of frontline workers leaving sheriff’s departments, police departments, and the rise of “coaches”–more often than not those who could not continue in their vocation, but someone want to help those who remain (and find a remnant connection to it)
Often times we call such times of self-imposed exile “burnout.” And truly, they are.
Those times come with a promise though, one seen by Tozer, that God will reveal our weaknesses, and use those times to deepen our relationship with Him–that we would come to trust Him more. You see exile and burnout are a matter, not of a lack or weak faith, but a time that reveals those times so that we value what God’s presence in the brokenness provides.
What it we took St. Josemaria’s idea of what was upsetting – and instead of getting rid of it, saw it as an opportunity to get to know Jesus better? To look for how He will provide? To find the joy in the presence of God who loves and embraces us, even in the midst of all that we consider negative. What if we heard Ezekiel’s message – that our exile was not just a disciplinary action by God, but a chance to see Him active in our lives, restoring us, calling us back–fulfilling the promise He made through the words of Ezekiel.
God sends us off into the exile we choose in our rebellion, so that He can be with us, and therefore restore us. Even there, WE ARE NOT ALONE!
God is with us… even in our doubt-filled, sin caused periods of exile we choose and impose on ourselves. He lets us go there.. so He can bring us back..
A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008).
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Where is “the” Church FOcusing its Efforts?
Thoughts that move me towards Jesus, and the The Cross
He helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help others who have all kinds of troubles, using the same help that we ourselves have received from God 2 Cor. 1:4 GNT
I think we can say that most Christians have no clear end toward which they are striving.
The first and highest work of love a Christian ought to do when he has become a believer is to bring others also to believe in the way he himself came to believe. Here you notice Christ begins and institutes the office of the ministry of the external Word in every Christian; for he himself came with this office and the external Word.
Psalm 119:59 tells of a time of self-examination, a time where the Psalmist looked at his life and probably sight, stood up and began the journey again. It is a hard course of action to take, but one that we each need to do, and perhaps, need to do as congregations as well.
But 30-30 years after Tozer originally noted that we strive without a true direction, we still don’t find it. We get caught up on crusade after crusade. THe latest is to fignt human trafficking, prior to that there were battles on both sides of the CRT issue, and the LGTBQ issue, and this political issue and that one. It’s nothing new, I remember the church being directed to strive against rock & roll, promiscuity, divorce and greed growing up.
And in all of this, we’ve lost what it means to be the church, to have Jesus revealed to us, to believe, trust and depend on the work of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in our lives.
and then to share that work with those who need it. Which is everyone we encounter. That’s the basis of what Paul is telling the church in Corinth. We need to strive to maintain the hope given to us in the life, death, resurrection and eventual return of Jesus–and then we need to share that with all who are broken.
I need to do this, but so do you. Luther’s clear about this being the work of both those called to shepherd the church. and those who are the church.
This needs to be our focus, our life, this hope of being a relationship with our creator, who loves us.
To strive after anything else, to think spiritual warfare is about anything else, is vanity
A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008).
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 255.
