"Behold, Thy servant," confessed Augustine concerning one period in his life; "behold, Thy servant, fleeing from his Lord, and obtaining a shadow."
"God is stupendously rich Reality," wrote von Hugel 1,500 years later, "the alone boundlessly rich Reality."
These sentences agree with and explain each other, and both accord with the teaching of Scripture and the facts of the creation. God is the only absolute Reality; all other reality is relative and contingent. While the things we know and experience day by day are real, they are not real in themselves but only as God gives them existence.
They could not continue to be should God withdraw His constant word of creation and leave them to themselves for even one short moment.
Here then is the rational ground for the Christian's insistence that God must be everything to us, that we must hold nothing dear except God.
All other things are to be seen in relation to God and valued only as they are held in God and for God. All things are but shadows cast by the great Reality, God, and if we were to gain the whole world and miss God, we should have no more than a handful of shadows.
verse
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."
— John 7:37
thought
Our attention may be fixed on the shadows rather than the God-Reality; on the gifts rather than the Giver; the blessings rather than the Blessor. Let's fix our heart-eyes on God!
prayer
Lord, so often my attention is fixed on blessings, good feelings; wanting life to run smoothly, comfortably. I look to You. I want to draw near to You, to know You.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
We may sow to the flesh if we will. There will be no interference from above.
Thus to sow is our privilege if we want to reap the harvest of corruption which must inevitably follow, a harvest no man in his right mind could deliberately choose. No, the snare lies in choosing the pleasures of sowing with the secret hope that in some way we can escape the sorrows of the reaping; but never since the beginning of the world has it been possible to separate the one from the other.
The way to deal with a law of God is to work along with it.
By faith and obedience we can put every divine law to work for us. And the law of sowing and reaping may be brought to our service and made to toil for our everlasting good. So kind is God and so thoughtful of His creatures. "He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
There it is, and we have but to submit to it to gain from it an everlasting reward.
Deeds done in the Spirit, in obedience to Christ and with the purpose of bringing honor to the Triune God, are seeds of endless blessedness.
The first gift of life is not by works, but by faith in the work of a sufficient Redeemer; but after the miracle of the new birth has been accomplished, the Christian to a large extent carrries his future in his hands. If he denies himself and takes up his cross in meek obedience, his deeds will become seeds of life and everlasting glory. He may forget his deeds of love or think them small and useless, but God is not unmindful. He never forgets.
The sweet harvest of a life well lived will be there to meet the sower after the toil is ended and the heat of the day is past.
verse
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
— Galatians 6:8-9
thought
The harvest (not our salvation!) depends on the seed we sow. We can only reap tomorrow what we sow today. What kind of seed are we sowing?
prayer
You have shown me, Lord, that good seed is doing good to all people. It's not enough to hold the seed, contemplate it. Good seed has to be sown. May I sow much good seed. For Jesus' sake.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Every man sows what he will later reap and reaps what he has previously sown.
This is a law of life, says Paul, and we may as well know that we cannot beat it.
God will not be mocked.
We are all sowing our own future, and the seeds we sow are the deeds we do. And, ironically enough, sometimes deeds we neglect to do or are afraid to do become seeds also and bring forth their harvest. For in the total scheme of things it often happens that deeds undone have as great power for good or evil as deeds actually performed.
The unbreakable link between harvest and seed was forged by the Lord God Himself at the creation.
From Him went forth the word, "after his kind," and that word has linked together the seed and the harvest, the sowing and the reaping, from that day to this.
Our today is bound to all our yesterdays, and our tomorrow will be the sum of our present and our past.
That is the fact, and we may make of it what we will.
The sovereign God has permitted us to have a measure of conditional sovereignty, a mark of the divine image once given at the Creation and partially lost by the Fall.
verse
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
— Galatians 6:7
thought
Today presents unique opportunity?deeds to be done and deeds not to be done. There will be deeds performed. Will they be the right ones or the wrong ones? The closeness of our walk with God and our appropriation of His enablement are the determinants.
prayer
Lord, help me to make this day special by doing what You want me to do and not doing what is not Your will.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
We have heard of some churches that hold a service very early Sunday morning so the worshipers can get their religious duties over before going out to play golf the rest of the day.
It gives them a comfortable feeling to know that their responsibilities toward God have been discharged with a minimum of inconvenience and without hindering in any way the fun of the day.
We would be tempted to smile at this if we did not notice an uncomfortable parallel between that practice and the practice of getting our believing done early so that we might be free thereafter to walk as men.
The insurance policy aspect of salvation is very prominent in our times. We pay it up in advance (or allow the Lord to pay it) and from there on we rest in an accomplished fact.
The urge to go on is almost wholly absent. This is not good, and it is surely not scriptural.
True faith is not an end; it is a means to an end. It is not a destination; it is a journey, and the initial act of believing in Christ is a gate leading into the long lane we are to travel with Christ for the rest of our earthly days.
That journey is hard and tired, but it is wonderful also, and no one ever regretted the weariness when he came to the end of the road.
verse
We live [walk] by faith, not by sight.
— 2 Corinthians 5:7
thought
It is by faith we walk and keep on walking. If we sit down, simply stand or fall without getting up, we are not walking. Make progress in your journey of faith today!
prayer
Thank You, Lord, I do not walk alone. You are with me. You lead me. By faith I recognize Your presence and follow You.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The book of Acts lays strong emphasis upon steadfastness in the faith, as do the Pauline epistles and the Book of Hebrews.
Obviously the apostles conceived the Christian life to be a long tough journey, requiring a lot of faith and determination but ending in glory at last. Neither Christ nor His apostles taught the once-for-all finality of the act of believing so popular among us today.
The whole build-up of the usual evangelistic meeting these days is toward the initial act of believing. Once a confession has been extracted from the seeker, a sense of victory seizes on everybody. It is as if a fish had been landed and safely stowed into the basket.
The saving act has been performed, and there remains nothing more to be done. Not so taught the apostles or the faithful leaders of the church of God through the centuries.
Faith in Christ is not an act to be done and gotten over with as one might get inoculated against yellow fever or cholera. The repentant sinner's first act of believing in Christ for forgiveness and eternal life is the beginning of a continuous act of believing which lasts throughout life and for all eternity. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."
These words accord perfectly with the exhortations of Barnabas to the Christians at Pisidia and Antioch: "That with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord . . . confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."
verse
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation?if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
— Colossians 1:22-23a
thought
Believing is present tense. It is good to have believed yesterday. Of greater significance is believing today whether going through sunshine or darkness, mountain tops or valleys. Believing today prepares us to keep believing tomorrow.
prayer
Lord, I cling to You today. I may be stumbling and blundering but in faith I hold on to You. I choose to believe. Help me when my faith is weak. For Jesus' sake.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The solution to life's problems is spiritual because the essence of life is spiritual.
It is astonishing how many difficulties clear up without any effort when the inner life gets straightened out.
If half the time we spend trying to fix up outward things were spent in getting our hearts right, we would be delighted with the result. Strange as it may seem, harmony within our own hearts depends mostly upon our getting into harmony with God.
Morning comes not by our pushing out the darkness but by waiting for the coming of the sun.
Church difficulties are spiritual also and admit of a spiritual answer.
Whatever may be wrong in the life of any church may be cleared up by recognizing the quality of the trouble and dealing with it at the root. Prayer, humility and a generous application of the Spirit of Christ will cure just about any disease in the body of believers.
Yet this is usually the last thing we think about when difficulties arise. We often attempt to cure spiritual ills with carnal medicines, and the results are more than disappointing.
verse
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
— Colossians 1:9
thought
Sedatives and band-aids do not deal with the causes of physical problems. How often we try to solve spiritual problems with non-spiritual remedies. Out of close fellowship with God comes love and humility?the remedy for most church problems.
prayer
Lord, to our church leaders, to all of us believers, give knowledge of Your will through spiritual wisdom and understanding. And may we soak our problems in prayer. In Jesus' name.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
All life is at root spiritual.
God is spirit, and since He is the Cause and Origin of everything, it follows that everything originally came out of spirit.
Matter may indeed be only the objectification of spirit. It is interesting to learn that modern science comes pretty close to teaching just that today. It is not necessary, however, to understand the philosophical ground for this belief (if such ground exists); it is enough to believe the Scriptures, and they make it very clear that a human being is essentially a spirit clothed in a body, and that the inner life is the key to all the rest of the life.
The whole Bible magnifies the inner and eternal part of man and lays correspondingly lighter emphasis upon the external and temporal.
Paul sang his ringing song of victory over this world, a song he could sing with all those who "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Indeed it may be truthfully said that everything of lasting value in the Christian life is unseen and eternal.
Things seen are of little real significance in the light of God's presence. He pays small attention to the beauty of a woman or the strength of a man. With Him the heart is all that matters.
The rest of the life comes into notice only because it represents the dwelling place of the inner eternal being.
verse
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
— 2 Corinthians 4:18
thought
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, they are not our own. It is through our bodies that we express our spirit/soul/mind/heart. Our bodies are vehicles by which we disclose our real being.
prayer
Father, this body of mine is not externally attractive and is certainly aging, but remind me that the inner me can keep growing and become beautiful as You change me. Praise to You for eternal life in Christ and inner transformation through Him. Amen.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The task of the church is too great for any one person to compass and too varied for the skill of any one person to accomplish.
God has met this difficulty by dividing the task and giving to every man gifts that enable him to do his part.
By distributing the work, He lightens the burden for all and makes possible smooth carrying out of His purposes among men.
That is undoubtedly the reason behind the gifts of the Spirit given to the various members of the Christian community. Here, as elsewhere, the manifold wisdom of God is revealed.
Not all men can sing; at least not all men can sing well enough to be heard in public.
Only a limited number are called to preach. Real teachers are scarce because the gift which enables a Christian to teach is not given to many.
Even the humbler gifts, such as "helps" and "governments," are given to relatively few.
The gift of the evangelist is not given to all, or the pastor's gift or the gift of wisdom.
Blessed is the man who knows his gift and who seeks to exercise it toward the other members of the body of Christ as a "good steward of the manifold grace of God."
A revival of true New Testament Christianity must surely bring with it a manifestation of spiritual gifts.
Anything short of it will create a just suspicion that the revival is something short of scriptural.
verse
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
— 1 Peter 4:10
thought
God has gifted each of us to serve other members of the Body in particular ways. It is our responsibility, in conjunction with other body members, to identify our gifts and faithfully exercise them. The health of the church demands it!
prayer
Father, show me the unique gifts You have given me with which to serve You and Your Church. Remind me that those gifts are from You and are to be used to build up Your Church.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The whole Bible and all past history unite to teach that battles are always won before the armies take the field.
The converse of this is true also.
Battles are never lost the day they are fought. They are lost the day or the year before; the results merely become manifest when the armies meet.
If we were wise enough, we could predict without fail the outcome of any battle, for the law of causation determines it always.
Lot fled from Sodom with the tattered remnant of his family and left all his property behind to perish in the flames, but his loss did not occur the night he escaped the burning city; it occurred the day he lifted up his eyes and saw all the well-watered plains of Jordan and coveted them.
On a certain night Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss, but his tragic downfall did not take place that night; it only became evident. For months he had been undermining his own soul by filching from the meager funds entrusted to his care. He had gotten himself ready for the kind of death he died by the kind of life he had lived. His betrayal and suicide might have been accurately predicted by anyone who could have known what had been going on inside him during the days before the betrayal. Preparation is vital. Let this be noted by everyone. We can seek God today and get prepared to meet temptation tomorrow; but if we meet the enemy without first having met God, the outcome is not conjectural; the issue is already decided. We can only lose. We do well to imitate the ant who takes advantage of the summer to get ready for the winter.
verse
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
— Hebrews 12:11
thought
Huge victories and shattering defeats do not occur in a vacuum or in a moment of time. Rather, they are like a long burning wick of a bomb. Victories and defeats result from discipline or lack of it over a period of time which God uses to prepare us.
prayer
You discipline me for my good, Lord, so that I may share in Your holiness. That discipline sometimes seems exceedingly hard. Yet You know what I need because You know what is coming.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/