A prayer of A.W Tozer

Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should become a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the face of the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet; not a promoter, not a religious manager—but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from the bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Amen

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Consider ‘Gains’ as ‘Loss’

What are the achievements in your life that you consider as ‘gain’ or as a success? Is it your education, good job, salary cheque, business, family, personality, etc.  Do we boast and feel proud of our credentials, credit and success. Those things do not have eternal value, and are given to us for our temporary life in this world.

God’s word teaches us that we must consider those things as rubbish in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord (Philippians 3:7-8). Apostle Paul was a useful vessel in His hand, a successful child of God because he considered the things that were gain to him, as loss for the sake of Christ.

What are the ‘gains’ we consider as’ loss’ for the sake of Christ in our Christian life?

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Changed into His likeness. by Watchman Nee

God cuts short our old, self-willed nature to make way for our new nature in Christ, which works in willing cooperation with Him. Thus, the Spirit moves to attain God’s ends by His own means. This is the goal of all God’s dealings with His own. Our salvation (justification) is entirely from God. And if this is true of the beginning of our salvation, it is also true of all that follows as we are sanctified. If the source of our life is in God, so also is everything that follows. Nothing starts from us.  The Lord both sought and saved us. And victory over sin and temptation is the same; it is received, not worked for.

 The daily life of the Christian can be summed up in one word: ‘Receive’.

 Just as God once opened our eyes to see our sins laid upon Christ, so once again He must open our eyes to see our own selves in Christ, and this is something He delights to do. It is when our thigh (natural strength) has been touched that we can hold God the closest (Genesis 32:25-26). We are strongest when we are weakest (2 Corinthians 12:10).

 With an abundance of natural strength and resources, we are useless to God. With no strength at all we can hold on to Him. And with His strength flowing through us, “we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).

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