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crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]September 26[/b]

[u]The Word of Authority by Which We Can Die[/u]

[i]These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them Hebrews 11:13[/i]

THERE IS NOT ONE WORD PUBLISHED on the North American continent today that I would want to die by!

If I knew that tomorrow evening was to be my last, and that I would never see another sunrise, there isn’t a newspaper published anywhere in the world that I would want to see.

There hasn’t been a book published this year that I would want to read. There hasn’t been a word uttered in the United Nations that I would want to hear. There is no authority anywhere.

Everybody is writing and talking, but for dying men there is not one word of authority anywhere, except as you hear the sure, true, terrifying words of Jesus Christ! The only authoritative word ever published is that which comes from the Holy Scriptures.

“Holy” books that have been compounded out of all the high, fine, lofty thoughts of mankind since the beginning do not change the basic facts and the basic problems.

Jesus alone could teach: “I am the Light of the world and he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.”

You are responsible to the Light—and to the authority of the Word of God. You cannot hide behind differences of opinion, behind church politics, behind the philosophies of men. Neither can you hide behind this crazy relativity of morals now being taught in the schools.

If you quench the light, and dim it down, how great will be the darkness!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/9/26 23:14Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]September 27[/b]

[u]Christlike Conduct: The Goal of Christian Faith[/u]

[i]Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect. James 2:22[/i]

RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD, FAITH IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE for moral conduct but a means toward it.

The tree does not serve in lieu of fruit but as an agent by which fruit is secured. Fruit, not trees, is what God has in mind in yonder orchard; so Christlike conduct is the end of the Christian faith! To oppose faith to works is to make the fruit the enemy to the tree; yet that is exactly what we have managed to do and the consequences have been disastrous!

In practice we may detect the subtle (and often unconscious) substitution when we hear a Christian assure someone that he will “pray over his problem,” knowing full well that he intends to use prayer as a substitute for service. It is much easier to pray that a poor friend’s needs may be supplied than to supply them! The mystical John noted the incongruity involved in substituting religion for action: “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

A proper understanding of our spiritual foundation will destroy the false and artificial “either/or.” Then we will have not less faith but more godly works; not less praying but more serving; not fewer words but more holy deeds; not weaker profession but more courageous possession; not a religion as a substitute for action but religion in faith-filled action! And what is that but to say that we will have come again to the teaching of the New Testament!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/9/28 15:12Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]September 28[/b]

[u]God’s Spirit Bears Witness Within[/u]

[i]Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8[/i]

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CHRISTIAN I had my Bible and a hymnbook and a few other books, including Andrew Murray and Thomas á Kempis and I got myself educated as well as I could by reading books. I read the philosophy of all the great minds—and many of those men did not believe in God, you know—and they did not believe in Christ.

I remember reading White’s Warfare of Science with Christianity, and if any man can read that and still say he is saved, he isn’t saved by his reading; he is saved by the Holy Ghost within him telling him that he is saved!

Do you know what I would do after I would read a chapter or two and find arguments that I could not possibly defeat? I would get down on my knees and with tears I would thank God with joy that no matter what the books said, “I know Thee, my Saviour and my Lord!”

I didn’t have it in my head—I had it in my heart! There is a great difference, you see.

If we have it only in our heads, then philosophy may be of some help to us; but if we have it in our hearts, there is not much philosophy can do except stand aside reverently, hat in hand, and say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!”

In short, if you have to be reasoned into Christianity, some wise fellow can reason you out of it, as well!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/9/28 15:13Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]September 29[/b]

[u]We Should Always Seek to Know Christ Better[/u]

[i]Seek ye the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Psalm 105:4[/i]

ARE YOU AWARE THAT WE HAVE BEEN SNARED in the coils of a modern spurious logic which insists that if we have found Christ we need no more seek Him!

This is set before us as the last word in orthodoxy, and it is taken for granted that no Bible-taught Christian ever believed otherwise. Thus the whole testimony of the worshiping, seeking, singing Church on that subject is crisply set aside!

The experiential heart-theology of a grand army of fragrant saints is rejected in favor of a smug interpretation of Scripture which would certainly have sounded strange to an Augustine, a Rutherford or a Brainerd.

In the midst of this great chill there are some, I rejoice to acknowledge, who will not be content with shallow logic. They will admit the force of the argument, and then turn away with tears to hunt some lonely place and pray, “O God, show me Thy glory!” They want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God.

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted!

Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/9/30 10:25Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]September 30[/b]

[u]A Tragedy: Believers Arguing about Christ’s Return[/u]

[i]For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God 1 Thessalonians 4:16[/i]

THE BELIEVING CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE LIVING in joyful anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ, and that is such an important segment of truth that the devil has always been geared up to fight it and ridicule it. In fact, one of his big successes is being able to get people to argue and get mad about the details of the Second Coming—rather than looking and waiting for it.

Suppose a man has been overseas two or three years, away from his family. Suddenly a cable arrives for the family with the message: “My work completed here; I will be home today.”

After some hours he arrives at the front door with his bags. But in the house the family members are in turmoil. There has been a great argument as to whether he would arrive in the afternoon or evening and what transportation he would be using. So, no one is actually watching for his arrival.

You may say, “That is only an illustration.”

But what is the situation in the various segments of the Christian community?

They are fighting with one another and glaring at each other. They are debating whether He is coming and how He is coming. That is the work of the devil—to make Christian people argue about the details of His coming so they forget the most important thing!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/9/30 10:27Profile
crsschk
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Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]October 1[/b]

[u]You Cannot Worship God without Loving Him[/u]

[i]Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 21[/i]

BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS TEACH that the essence of true worship is the love of God.

Our Lord declared this to be the sum of the Law and the Prophets: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Now, love is both a principle and an emotion; it is something both felt and willed. It is capable of almost infinite degrees. Love in the human heart may begin so modestly as to be hardly perceptible and go on to become a raging torrent that sweeps its possessor before it in total helplessness.

Something like this must have been the experience of the Apostle Paul, for he felt it necessary to explain to his critics that his apparent madness was actually the love of God ravishing his willing heart!

In the love which any intelligent creature feels for God there must always be a measure of mystery. It is even possible that it is almost wholly mystery, and that our attempt to find reasons is merely a rationalizing of a love already mysteriously present in the heart as a result of some secret operation of the Spirit within us.

We can be certain that it is quite impossible to worship God without loving Him. Scripture and reason agree to declare this. And God is never satisfied with anything less than all. This may not at first be possible, but the inward operations of the Holy Spirit will enable us in His time to offer Him our poured-out fullness of love!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/10/1 9:15Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
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 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]October 2[/b]

[u]Encouragement: The Eternal Nature of Our Father[/u]

[i]The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms Deuteronomy 33:27[/i]

THE ETERNAL NATURE OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER should humble us and encourage us, too. It should humble us when we remember how frail we are, how utterly dependent upon God, and it should encourage us to know that when everything else has passed we may still have God no less surely than before!

The remembrance of this could save nations from many tragic and bloody decisions. Were notes written by statesmen against the background of such knowledge they might be less inflammatory; and were kings and dictators to think soberly on this truth, they would walk softly and speak less like gods. After all, they are not really important and the sphere of: their freedom is constricted more than they dream.

Shelley wrote of the traveler who saw in the desert two vast and trunkless legs of stone and nearby a shattered face half-buried in the sand. On the pedestal where once the proud image had stood were engraven these words: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.”

And, says the poet, “Nothing else remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Shelly was right except for one thing: Something else did remain! It was God. He had been there first to look in gentle pity upon the mad king who could boast so shamelessly in the shadow of the tomb. He was there when the swirling sands covered with a mantle of pity the evidence of human decay. God was there last!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/10/2 9:37Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]October 3[/b]

[u]Right Concept of Jesus—Savior and Judge[/u]

[i]In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Romans 2:16[/i]

WHAT IS YOUR CONCEPT OF JESUS CHRIST as Saviour and Judge!

If the “ten-cent-store Jesus” that is being preached by a lot of men, the plastic, painted Christ who has no spine and no justice and is pictured as a soft and pliable friend to everybody—if He is the only Christ there is, then we might as well close our books and bar our doors, and make a bakery or garage out of the church!

But that Christ that is being preached and pictured is not the Christ of God, nor the Christ of the Bible, nor the Christ we must deal with.

The Christ we must deal with will be the judge of mankind—and this is one of the neglected Bible doctrines in our day!

The Father judges no man. When the Lord, the Son of Man, shall come in the clouds of glory, then shall be gathered unto Him the nations, and He shall separate them.

God has given Him judgment, authority to judge mankind, so that He is both the Judge and Saviour of men.

That makes me both love Him and fear Him! I love Him because He is my Saviour and I fear Him because He is my Judge.

God Almighty is never going to judge the race of mankind and allow a mistake to enter. The judge must be one who has all wisdom. Therefore, I appeal away from St. Paul; I appeal away from Moses and Elijah; I appeal away from all men because no man knows me well enough to judge me, finally! Only Jesus Christ qualifies as one who is able to be the judge of all mankind.

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/10/3 15:25Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]October 4[/b]

[u]God Was First to Say, “You Are My Friends”[/u]

[i]Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13[/i]

THE IDEA OF THE DIVINE-HUMAN FRIENDSHIP originated with God. Had not God first said “Ye are my friends” it would be inexcusably brash for any man to say “I am a friend of God.”

But since He claims us for His friends it is an act of unbelief to ignore or deny the relationship!

Even though radically different from each other, two persons may enjoy the closest friendship for a lifetime; for it is not a requisite of friendship that the participants be alike in all things; it is enough that they be alike at the points where their personalities touch. Harmony is likeness at points of contact, and friendship is likeness where hearts merge.

For this reason the whole idea of the divine-human friendship is logical enough and entirely credible. The infinite God and the finite man can merge their personalities in the tenderest, most satisfying friendship. In such relationship there is no idea of equality; only of likeness where the heart of man meets the heart of God!

This likeness is possible because God at the first made man in His own image and is now remaking men in the image that was lost by sin. Perfection lies on God’s side but on man’s side there are weaknesses of purpose, lack of desire and small faith.

In spite of human frailties we can grow in grace and move progressively toward a more perfect experiential union with God, exercising robust faith in the truths revealed in the Scriptures!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/10/4 9:48Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Revisited ~ Renewed ~ Day By Day ~ Devotional ~ A.W. Tozer

[b]October 5[/b]

[u]Spiritual Fruit Comes Only from Spiritual Life[/u]

[i]For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21[/i]

WATER CANNOT RISE ABOVE ITS OWN LEVEL, and neither can a Christian by any sudden, spasmodic effort rise above the level of his own spiritual life!

I have seen in my own experience how a man of God will let his tongue go all day in light, frivolous conversation; let his interest roam abroad among the idle pleasures of this world; and then under the necessity of preaching at night, seek a last minute reprieve just before the service by cramming desperately in prayer to put himself in a position where the spirit of the prophet will descend upon him as he enters the pulpit.

Men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. The fruit of a tree is determined by the tree, and the fruit of life by the kind of life it is. What a man is interested in to the point of absorption both decides and reveals what kind of man he is; and the kind of man he is by a secret law of the soul decides the kind of fruit he will bear.

The catch is that we are often unable to discover the true quality of our fruit until it is too late!

Of what do we think when we are free to think of what we will?

What object gives us inward pleasure as we brood over it?

Over what do we muse in our free moments?

To what does our imagination return again and again?

When we have answered these questions honestly we will know what kind of persons we are, and when we have discovered what kind of persons we are we may deduce the kind of fruit we will bear. If we would do holy deeds we must be holy men and women!

A.W. Tozer


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Mike Balog

 2007/10/6 0:26Profile





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