It is quite in keeping with the ways of God that He should make the hope of the world to hang upon something as weak as a new baby.
A slip of the hand could have ended the newborn life.
All around the Bethlehem manger flowed dark, destructive forces urged on by that ancient and unbelievably cruel dragon called the devil and Satan.
All were in black conspiracy to destroy the tender Man-child before He could offer Himself on an altar for the redemption of the world. From the natural viewpoint nothing could have been easier than to kill the Babe before He had learned to say Father or Mother.
No bodyguard had He, and the very soldiers that should have protected Him were sent to murder Him.
The quiet and harmless Joseph could not save Him from the cold ferocity of the dragon, nor could the sweet young mother afford Him shelter from the destructive power of an iron empire. Yet He lay in complete security, safer in His frailty than if He had been surrounded by an army of a million men; safer than if He had been another Samson, able to slay at one blow a thousand Philistines.
The prophet, with anointed foresight, saw our Lord as He was after He had emerged into human nature and called Him a tender plant; but he saw also His human origin, and this appeared to him, or at least appears to us, more wonderful still: a root out of a dry ground.
verse
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
— Isaiah 55:9
thought
The incarnation plan is uniquely divine. Had we been designing the script, never would we have chosen the God way. Ours would have been a measureless tree in full grown splendor dropped down from heaven. He chose "a root out of the dry ground."
prayer
Your ways are far beyond my comprehension, Father, because You are Almighty God.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
One of the most beautiful descriptions of our Savior to be found anywhere is that given by Isaiah in the 53rd chapter of his prophecy:
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground(verse 2). Those who have at any time been close to the soil will see at once a young shoot just pushing through the ground and will feel the exquisite precision of the word tender when applied to it.
The delicate sprout appears to be mostly water, held together one scarcely knows how, and so brittle that it will snap asunder at the slightest touch.
Only after the passing of several days does it toughen up enough to endure external pressure without damage.
While a newborn babe is not as fragile as the tender plant just emerged from the soil, the likeness is too plain to miss, and the prophet spoke well when he compared the one to the other. The helpless, crying human thing is vulnerable from a thousand directions and is wholly dependent for its very life upon parents, neighbors and friends.
No one can pick up a day-old baby and not sense the pathetic frailty of it a barely conscious blob of sweet, perishable life only now arrived from the ancient void of nonexistence. So our Lord came to the manger in Bethlehem that first Christmas morning, not out of nonexistence, but from eternal pre-existence; not as a son of man only but as Son of Man and Son of God in the fullest sense of both terms; a tender plant and a root out of a dry ground.
verse
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
— Philippians 2:6-7
thought
What utter condescension on Christ's part! From eternal pre-existence as God, He empties Himself and enters human existence as a poor, helpless new-born baby. He does it all for you and me!
prayer
For me, Lord, You emptied yourself of the exercise of Your divine prerogatives. You showed me the meaning of complete humility.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (14:26-27).
What Christ is saying here is that faith in Him immediately introduces another and a higher loyalty into the life.
He demands and must have first place. For the true disciple it is Christ before family, Christ before country, Christ before life itself.
The flesh must always be sacrificed to the spirit and the heavenly placed ahead of the earthly, and that at any cost.
When we take up the cross, we become expendable, along with all natural friendships and all previous loyalties, and Christ becomes all in all.
In these days of sweet and easy Christianity, it requires inward illumination to see this truth and real faith to accept it. We had better pray for both before time runs out on us.
verse
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
— Matthew 10:37-38
thought
Christ precedes all else in our lives as believers. He is our Savior and our Lord. When He is given precedence all else eventually falls into proper order.
prayer
O Christ, You are first in my heart and life.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The weakness of much that passes for the Christian faith these days is seen in the readiness of many professed followers of Christ to make any concessions in order to get along with people, especially with relatives and in-laws.
The philosophy of mid-twentieth century Christianity is a philosophy of appeasement.
Peace and unity have become the Castor and Pollux of the majority of religious leaders, and truth is regularly sacrificed on their altars.
The notion that peace on earth as the New Testament uses the words, means concord between light and darkness is foreign to the whole traditional Christian position.
Our Lord cared nothing for the good will of bad men, nor would He alter one word of His message to stay in favor with anyone, be he Jew or pagan or even a member of His own earthly family. For even his own brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5). No one has understood the meaning of the cross who puts blood ties alongside the ties of the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (John 3:6).
All fleshly relationships will be dissolved in the glory of the resurrection, including the relationship between husband and wife. For this reason our Lord said plainly that for some people it would be necessary to break family ties if they would follow Him. Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law (Luke 12:51-53).
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (14:26-27).
verse
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
— Luke 14:26-27
thought
Christ is to be the first love of the believer. That means higher priority than even one's family.
Misunderstanding, even enmity, because of Christ being first is sometimes the believer's painful experince. It's part of cross-bearing.
prayer
Lord, that cross You command me to bear is an instrument of death my death to self and to family loyalties.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
It should always be kept in mind that the Church is a divine family and that its loyalties sometimes cut sharply across the ties that bind earthly families together.
The cross is a sword and often separates friends and divides households.
The idea that Christ always brings peace and patches up differences is found nowhere in His own teachings. Quite the contrary is true.
For a man to cast in his lot with Christ often means that he will be opposed by his blood relatives and will find his true family ties only in the community of regenerated souls. Surely it is a most desirable thing to be reared in a Christian home. When a young man or woman is thus happily situated, conversion to Christ brings no rift to the family circle but rather seals and cements the earthly ties.
We see sometimes whole families from the aged grandparents to the youngest child all joyously serving the Lord, and hardly anything under the sun could be more delightful. But it is not often so.
More often the presence of a true Christian in the home, if it does not actually divide, does at least bring a serious divergence of interest and puts a real strain upon the solidarity of the household.
verse
Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.
From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
— Luke 12:51-52
thought
How painful it is when members of one's family choose not to follow Christ.
It then becomes our responsibility to lovingly live Christ before them and faithfully pray for them.
But in the end it is each one who must decide.
prayer
Lord, I find it difficult to love those who reject me because of You. Love through me, Lord, love through me!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
It is much easier to say
I am thankful than to say as Paul did, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25).
The first does not commit the man. It is broad enough to afford footroom to retreat if someone should challenge him. The second burns its bridges and takes up its cross.
In these last bright brown days of autumn, we will be reminded a hundred times that we have a world of blessings for which we should render thanks. Let's not withhold our expressions of gratitude. Thankfulness that is put into words has a healing effect upon the soul and has a good effect upon those who hear.
But let's avoid pagan ambiguity.
For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live? (1 Corinthians 8:6).It is much easier to say ?I am thankful? than to say as Paul did, ?Thanks be to God ? through Jesus Christ our Lord!? (Romans 7:25). The first does not commit the man. It is broad enough to afford footroom to retreat if someone should challenge him. The second burns its bridges and takes up its cross. In these last bright brown days of autumn, we will be reminded a hundred times that we have a world of blessings for which we should render thanks. Let?s not withhold our expressions of gratitude. Thankfulness that is put into words has a healing effect upon the soul and has a good effect upon those who hear. But let?s avoid pagan ambiguity. ?For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live? (1 Corinthians 8:6).
verse
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
— 1 Corinthians 8:6
thought
Martin Rinkart expressed it well when he wrote: "All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given, the Son, and Him who reigns with them in highest heaven, the one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore; for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore."
prayer
All thanks to You, O God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, blest Three-In-One.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/to
It is important that we trace our benefits back to their source and express our thanks to the One from whom all blessings flow, rather than merely to feel a vague stirring of gratefulness that results in nothing real. I once lived with a fine old couple, neither of whom was a Christian, and I was impressed with the profound sense of gratitude they felt for everything they possessed.
When the winter winds moaned through the trees and made the old house tremble, the old man would smile and say, Ah! How good it is to have a warm place to sleep on a night like this. And the mother would often speak of her large family, now grown and scattered: How grateful I am that they are all healthy and all mentally sound. I am so thankful. Their gratitude was genuine.
Of that there could be no trace of a doubt, but I often wondered who was the recipient of it. Whom were they thanking They never said.
The irreligious world has its own way of reacting. When things break fortunately for a businessman, an athlete or a politician he will slap his hands together and shout, Great! Wonderful! He is thanking someone; but whom?
It could be that the old couple of whom I speak were actually meaning to express their thankfulness to God, and that the modern man who shouts his pleasure at his lot in life secretly feels his indebtedness to God; the trouble is that they were and are ashamed to direct their gratitude pointedly to One with whom they are not acquainted.
They flee like Adam and hide among the trees of the garden rather than face up to the God they know they have offended.
Fear of being thought queer sometimes leads people to express religious ideas in generalities instead of in concrete terms.
verse
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
— Ephesians 5:19-20
thought
It is not always sufficient to thank God for "everything." What do we mean by "everything"? From time to time we need to meaningfully enumerate those blessings and give Him thanks for each one.
prayer
Forgive me, Lord, I'm prone to take for granted those blessings from You. For each one I give thanks. It is from You that all blessings flow.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
There is probably no such thing as a wholly thankless heart.
Everyone at some time feels a sense of gratitude for benefits received.
This seems to be instinctive, or if not instinctive then surely acquired at a very early age. That a great many persons fail in the degree of their thankfulness we all know too well. Hardly anyone but has known remorse for his failure to express proper gratitude to father or mother or friend till it was too late. And most of us have felt the chill that comes to those who do acts of kindness for persons who receive them as matters of course without so much as a word of thanks.
Even Christ appears to have suffered from such treatment, for after He had healed ten lepers and only one returned to give Him thanks, He asked rather sadly, Where are the other nine? (Luke 17:17).
We dare not read too much into this, but it seems fair to assume that He wanted the cleansed lepers to thank Him, and was disappointed when they did not.
But even here we must not conclude that these men were wholly thankless. They may quite easily have been grateful to friends and relatives, or even to total strangers who might have helped them in the past, and still have failed to express their thanks to the One who deserved it most.
This habit of thanking everyone but God is not confined to those nine lepers.
Enter a plane, a train, a restaurant or any other place where modern civilized men and women meet and mingle and you will see evidences of the same spirit. You will hear thanks given and acknowledged right and left without so much as a mention of God. Somewhere I read of the Christian farm boy who went to college and who in the dining room always bowed his head to thank God before beginning to eat.
When some of his fellow students ribbed him for it, he grinned and said, Hogs dont thank anybody either when they eat their swill.
It might have been a bit direct, but I am sure everyone got the point.
verse
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him ? and he was a Samaritan.
— Luke 17:15-16
thought
The only one of the ten lepers who returned to thank Jesus was a Samaritan ? a foreigner, looked down upon by the Jews. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. When was the last time we fell at Jesus' feet and thanked Him?
prayer
Thank You, Lord, for cleansing me; for holding me in Your arms; for feeding me and leading me. Thank You!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
I have noticed lately among so-called evangelicals a renewed interest in the religious gadgets that our Protestant fathers once threw away to make room for the Holy Spirit.
It is becoming more common now to see in our churches (and in some Alliance churches, I regret to say) huge pictures of Christ, crosses on the altar, candles and other symbolic objects.
This is the sure way back to formalism and death.
In proportion as the Presence of Christ is felt in a congregation these things will be unnecessary, even offensive.
And as the Presence lifts and withdraws, these symbols are brought in as poor substitutes.
The human heart must have something to love and fear. If it misses the true God it will make a god of its own.
A crowd of persons who pray to a false god is not a church in any sense of the word, even if the word Christian or church appears on the front of the building.
verse
'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
— Matthew 16:15-16
thought
Symbols of Christ's presence hardly substitute for that presence. Do we sense His presence among us and within us? If we experience the genuine there is no reason to resort to representations.
prayer
Today may I take the time to be quiet before You and recognize Your presence, O Holy One.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/