What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul.
Your soul is the most precious thing on Earth. It is worth more than hard currencies. It is worth more than Business opportunities. It is worth more than carnal pleasure.
Do not lose your soul. Do not lose your faith. Hold unto it. Keep it! Guard it with all diligence!
And,
Cherish it.
Cherish your Faith ❣️
Watch, and be blessed.
We are living in an age where people are losing the sense of need for christian fellowship. In some parts of the U.S, church attendances are dropping. Our youths are leaving the church one after the other.
Even when souls are being won to join the church, we cannot help but cry at the souls who have not just left the church, but have left the sheepfold. But as I wrote in one of my previous posts, The Bible has something to say about instances like this.
Let us see what it has to say:
Hebrews 10:25 (TLB) "Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do"
Even in the days of Paul, athere were persons who neglected church meetings. But the Apostle spoke vehemently against such.
Is there a power that is hidden underneath Church meetings? What makes it so powerful that it must not be neglected?
Every great revival that ever took place in history, took place while God’s people congregated together in worship to God.
Acts 1:13-14
13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Jesus had left His disciples. But He left with an instruction; He instructed them to remain in Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus could have told them to be dispersed across the nation of Israel.
But He knew the importance of communal living and togetherness if the Holy Spirit must be poured out in His fullness.
The disciples obeyed His instruction. They did not just wait idly for the promise of the Spirit, they prayed constantly. They had prayer time at different sections of the day.
In Acts 2, we are told that while they were together, observing the feast of the Pentecost, in piety, the Holy Spirit descended upon them and set their hearts ablaze for the Gospel. There is nothing that prompts the move of the Spirit faster than corporate worship and prayer meetings by believers.
One of the ways Satan uses to get a Christian out of faith is to get him out of the church. The moment that believer stops going to the church, is the moment he is exposed to the prowling of the enemy.
Ninety per-cent of genuine conversions that ever happened in Christendom, happened in church gatherings.
In Matthew 18, Jesus told a parable of how a Sheep left the 99 sheep, in a shepherd’s sheepfold, and wandered about in the wilderness.
Although that passage is used as a salvation message for sinners, it is also very applicable to believers.
The sheepfold represents the communal body of Christ. It signifies the congregation of Christians.
The sheep that left signifies those believers who leave their various churches, for worldly living. It refers to those Christians, who feel too proud to identify with other saints in the church.
So they rather live their lives the way they want it, in the world, than to be governed by the counsel and doctrines of the Body of Christ.
The Shepherd in the parable ran after the sheep, and providentially found it. The shepherd was concerned about that sheep that wandered out, because he knew outside the sheepfold, that sheep is the most vulnerable creature in the forest.
No matter how smart you think you are. No matter how strong you think you are, as long as you choose to believe in God, to be God’s sheep, you cannot afford to ignore church meetings. Do not decline to belong to a church where God’s word is taught with soundness and purity.
Every saint who’d ever backslid first got tired of the church, before he got tired of God. He first got tired of worshipping in the church, before he got tired of worshipping God.
But there is protection, when we identify with one another in our various denominations and assemblies. There is a sense of belonging and identification that it creates within us. We are protected from several dangers; because we are in a place, where everyone prays for everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 : “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
Romans 1:12 “That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”
It was Watchman Nee who said, ‘Fellowship means among other things that we are ready to receive of Christ from others. Other believers minister Christ to me, and I am ready to receive.’
In fellowship, we are gingered up to serve more with more fervency. Seeing the passion with which the pastor preaches the Gospel, and the accuracy of the pianist’s fingers, as well as the sincere worship from the lips of the congregation, has a way of challenging a believer to serve God better.
How about when you see a poor widow in your neighborhood, serving God in joy within and outside the church,
Or you sight that poor family, seated together at the front pew, in sincere, corporate worship, certainly, your heart will be touched.
And if you are wise, you will say within yourself, “If this poor widow, can serve God in her poverty and loneliness, then what excuse do I have not to serve God”.
Ephesians 4:11 to 14
11. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12. to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13. until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
15. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
God knew there would be a rise of wrong and deceitful doctrine, to lead believers astray from the true doctrine as taught in God’s word.
So in every generation, God raises men who would be custodians of the true doctrine of Christ. These men belong to what we know as the five-fold ministry.
But they do not work independently. They work with God, in ministering life and sound doctrine to believers. If you do not belong to a church, how can you hear sound doctrine? And if you do not hear the sound doctrine of Christ, how can you grow?
It’s time to keep your sentiments aside, humble yourself, and identify with a Church, where the undiluted word of God is taught. Receive that word with meekness; fellowship with the saints there, and you will be amazed at the great change you will witness in your Christian life.
Resolve, by God’s help, to shun everything which may prove an occasion of sin.
It is an excellent saying, “He that would be safe from the acts of evil, must widely avoid the occasions.”
There is an old fable, that the butterfly once asked the owl how she should deal with the fire, which had singed her wings; and the owl counseled her, in reply, not to even look at its smoke. It is not enough that we determine not to commit sin, we must carefully keep at a distance from all approaches to it.
By this test we ought to examine the ways we spend our time–the books that we read, the friends that we visit, the part of society which we interact with. We must not be content with saying, “There is nothing wrong here;” we must go further, and say, “Is there anything here which may cause me to sin?”
This is one great reason why idleness is to be avoided. It is not that doing nothing is of itself so wicked; it is the opportunity it affords to evil and empty thoughts; it is the wide door it opens for Satan to throw in the seeds of bad things; it is this which is mainly to be feared.
If David had not given opportunity to the devil, by walking on his house-top in Jerusalem with nothing to do, he probably never would have seen Bathsheba bathing, nor murdered her husband Uriah.
This, too, is one good reason why worldly entertainments are so objectionable. It may be difficult, in some instances, to show that they are, in themselves, positively unscriptural and wrong. But there is little difficulty in showing that the tendency of almost all of them is most injurious to the soul.
They sow the seeds of an earthly and sensual frame of mind. They war against the life of faith. They promote an unhealthy and unnatural craving after excitement. They minister to the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.
They dim the view of heaven and eternity, and give a false color to the things of time. They take away time for private prayer, and Scripture reading, and calm communion with God.
The man who mingles in them is like one who gives Satan an advantage. He has a battle to fight, and he gives his enemy the help of sun, and wind, and hill. It would indeed be strange if he did not find himself continually overcome.
Young men, endeavor, as much as you can, to keep clear of everything which may prove injurious to your soul. People may say you are too conscientious, too particular, and ask where is the great harm of such and such things? But don’t listen to them.
It is dangerous to play tricks with sharp tools: it is far more dangerous to take liberties with your immortal soul. He that would be safe must not come near the brink of danger. He must look on his heart as a barrel of gunpowder, and be cautious not to handle one spark of temptation more than he can help.
What is the use of your praying, “Lord keep me from temptation,” unless you are careful not to run into it and “keep me from evil,” unless you show a desire to keep out of its way? Take an example from Joseph–Not merely did he refuse solicitation to sin from his master’s wife, but he showed his prudence in refusing to even be “with her” (Genesis 39:10).
Take to heart the advice of Solomon, not only to “Not set foot on the path of the wicked,” but to “Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go your way” (Proverbs 4:15); “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!” (Proverbs 23:31).
The man who took the vow of a Nazarite in Israel, not only took no wine, but be even abstained from grapes in any shape whatever. “Hate what is evil,” says Paul to the Romans (Romans 12:9); not merely not to do it; “Flee the evil desires of youth,” he writes to Timothy; get away from them as far as possible (2 Timothy 2:22).
Oh, how needful are such cautions! Dinah just had go out among the wicked Shechemites, to see their ways, and she lost her virginity. Lot just had pitched his tent near sinful Sodom, and he lost everything but his life.
Young men, be wise with your time. Do not always be trying to see how near you can allow the enemy of souls to come, and yet escape him. Hold him at arm’s length. Try to keep clear of temptation as far as possible, and this will be one great help to keep clear of sin.
~ JC Ryle
Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Faith is confidence in God’s promises. It is a strong persuasion that God will fulfill everything He has promised.
The Life we live is a life of faith. It is a life of absolute trust and dependence on God. Faith is the pillar of Christian living.
This is why Satan is desperately after the faith of believers. The reason he stirs men against them is not mainly because he hates them. He would never have disturbed them that much if they were in the world.
Satan is after you, because of your faith in God. Everything he does against you, is done to cripple your faith. Because once your faith has been crippled, Satan finds it easy to dominate your life.
Churches were locked up, and many believe it is because of the Pandemic. The question is,
Ever since the churches got locked up, has the pandemic’s mortalities increased or reduced?
Whether we accept it or not, it doesn’t deny the fact that the locking up of Churches is part of Satan’s attempt to weaken the faith of believers.
Because our Faith is strengthened when we gather as a Body in fellowship.
But there’s little we can do to get our churches opened back in times like this, other than to pray.
So how does one build up his faith. How does one stay strong even when there is no reason to be strong.
How does one keep living, when everyone he’s ever loved, are dying?
1. THE WORD OF GOD IS OUR FAITH FEED
Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”
God’s word is the feed of faith. God’s Word feeds our faith. It strengthens it and makes it to blossom.
HOW TO STUDY THE WORD
A. Study the lives of those who have been in similar conditions as you are. Are you facing persecution for your faith? Are you living a place where Christianity is banned, and the punishment for bring a Christian is torture or death?
There are people in the Bible days who experienced the same thing.
People like James, who was killed by Herod.
People like Peter, who was arrested and thrown in jail for the Gospel.
Stephen, who was stoned to death for preaching the Gospel.
Or shall I speak of Paul, who suffered from several assassination attempts because of his resolve to preach the Gospel.
The Book of Acts is full of stories about the travails of the Early Church. Create time to read it; it will bless you beyond doubt.
If your faith isn’t wavering because of persecution, but because of the harsh conditions and circumstances of life. The Life of David and that of Joseph is worth reading.
Joseph – Genesis 35 down to the end
David – 1 Samuel – 1 Chronicles
No matter the situation you find yourself in, God’s word has something to say about it. Spend time digging it up.
B. LISTEN TO SERMONS
God speaks faith to us through His Prophets.
1 Thessalonians 2:13: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
The Word of God that we receive from genuine men of God, has a way of working faith into our spirits. When you’re depressed, confused, not knowing what to do, instead of listening to the complaints of your mind and emotions, listening to the word of faith from your pastor.
But, be careful the kind of Pastors you listen to. The Bible instructs us to, ‘Test all spirits’.
The true word of God will make you love God more. It will boost your faith and make you cling unto God. It will instruct you and guide you in the path of light.
Only Pastors whose teaching can work this into your spirit should be given ears to.
Music is one of the greatest gifts of God to man. Good music has a way of lifting the heavy burdens of grief away from our souls.
Good Music puts our thoughts and our emotions in order. It is like a good mistress, that massages our turbulent emotional storms into tranquility.
Good Music helps, Godly music helps better. Godly music doesn’t just soothe our soul, it edifies our spirit.
Godly music is like the balm of Gilead that heals the broken hearted. When your faith is weakening, and you’re falling into despair, saturate your Atmosphere with songs of praise and worship to God.
This was David’s secret to surviving the greatest of his challenges.
He had a lifestyle of singing Melody to the Lord. He strengthened himself through his songs.
Act 16:25: “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”
Paul and Silas were beaten severely for casting a demon out of a slave girl.
Have you ever been tortured for doing the right thing? Have you ever been persecuted just because the right thing you did negatively affected other people?
Paul and Silas were in such condition. They were not just beaten, they were thrown into a dark prison and held bound by chains and painful cuffs.
Imagine Paul and Silas, two educated preachers of the Gospel, in the prison, with criminals.
Picture the blood flowing from their lips, the stripes on their bodies and the swelling on their legs.
Yet, in the midst of these, at the midnight, they lifted up their voice and sang unto the Lord.
They had the option to complain and wail faithlessly. But they heard songs in their spirit, and they released these songs of praise to the Lord.
When you are the depressed, and weak in faith, that is the time to praise God more. That’s the time to play songs of worship and sing along with them.
Because Praise exalts God above our condition. The Psalmist called it, ‘Magnifying the Lord’.
Praise makes us see the light in the tunnel. And nothing strengthens faith than seeing God in the midst of darkness.
1 Kings 18:41: “Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.”
1 Kings 18:42: “So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees,”
1 Kings 18:43: “and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea. So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”
What befuddles me in the aforementioned text, is that when Elijah told Ahab that there was the sound of rain (Verse 41), there was no evidence of rain anywhere.
Normally, it is the downpour of the rain that causes the sound. But in this text, Elijah was hearing the sound, even before there was any evidence of rain.
This is what Faith is all about. In the midst of the drought, famine and hunger, he heard in his spirit, that it was about to rain.
He sensed it in his spirit.
He sent his servant to check the clouds for any sign of rain, while he prayed.
But his servant checked six times and saw nothing.
Sometimes, your can be in a situation where your spirit is bubbling even when there is complaining all around you.
God’s word in you at that moment, could be rising up to keep you strong, that something better is coming.
But when you talk to your neighbors or even church members, their statement almost renders you hopeless.
Like Elijah, you heard the sound of the rain in your spirit,
You heard God’s word in your spirit, that you will not be struck by the plague.
But no other person could feel what you felt in your spirit.
Every other person claims there is no sign of hope.
The clouds are empty,
as well as our stomachs,
And our bank accounts
They wail.
In conditions like this, be like Elijah. Choose not to let listen to the voice of people when it is contrary to the voice of your spirit.
Those things only cripple your faith. Know how to look into your spirit and hold unto what the voice of the Lord is speaking to you.
Born April 21, 1897, in the mountainous region of western Pennsylvania, Aiden Wilson Tozer influenced his generation like no other individual.
During his lifetime, Tozer, as he preferred, earned the reputation of a twentieth-century prophet. His spiritual gifts afforded him a degree of insight regarding biblical truth and the nature and state of the evangelical church in his day.
Able to express his perceptions in a beautiful, simple, forceful manner, Tozer was often the voice of God when the words of others were but echoes. He saw through the fog of modern Christianity, pointing out the rocks on which it might flounder if it continued its course.
Just before his 17th birthday, Tozer heard a street preacher on a corner in Akron, Ohio, as he walked home from his job at a rubber factory. He could not shake off the simple message. “If you don’t know how to be saved,” the preacher said, “just call on God, saying, ‘Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.'” Wrestling with God for some time at home, Tozer emerged from his attic sanctuary a new creature in Christ.
Under the tutelage of his future mother-in-law, Tozer progressed rapidly in the things of God. She encouraged him to read good books, study the Bible, and pray. She also urged him to preach, often gathering people in her home to hear him.
In 1919, without formal education, they called Tozer to pastor a small storefront church in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. In these humble beginnings Tozer and his new bride, Ada Cecilia Pfaust, launched a ministry that was to span some forty-four years in The Christian and Missionary Alliance. Other churches in Indiana and Ohio would follow.
In 1928 Tozer received a call from The Southside Alliance Church in Chicago. Not too anxious to leave his congregation in Indianapolis, he pushed aside the invitation. After some persuasion Tozer agreed to go and preach, but he offered no guarantees.
That first Sunday in Chicago was notable. Francis Chase, a commercial illustrator, and close friend of Tozer’s, remembered that first service. “He said very little and I didn’t expect much.
He was slight with plenty of black hair, and certainly not a fashion plate as we say. He wore a black tie about 1 1/4 inches in width. His shoes were even then outmoded; high tops with hooks part way up. I introduced him and left the platform.
He said nothing about being pleased to be there or any other pat phrases usually given on such occasions, but simply introduced his sermon topic, which was, “God’s Westminister Abbey,” based on the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.”
Writing to a friend after accepting the call to Chicago, Tozer confided, “As soon as I passed the city limits of Indianapolis I had a favorable earnest of my decision. There swept over my soul a sweet peace and I knew that I was in the will of God.”
From the first, his approach to preaching captivated the congregation – with superior language and phrases – and his splendid voice and diction. Numbering around eighty people when Tozer began, the congregation had to build larger facilities in 1941 to accommodate about 800.
Many felt there were only two great churches in Chicago: Moody Memorial Church with Harry Ironside and Southside Alliance Church where Tozer pastored. Hundreds of people, especially nearby college students, flocked to his services.
From 1951 to 1959 Tozer’s ministry enlarged when WMBI, the Moody radio station, broadcast a weekly program originating from his church study. His ministry to the nearby Bible colleges was his special delight. Tozer pastored the Southside Alliance Church from 1928 until 1959, when he accepted the call from the Avenue Road Alliance Church in Toronto, Canada.
Tozer was fond of saying, “I refuse to allow any man to put his glasses on me and force me to see everything in his light.” He literally burned the midnight oil in his quest for truth. Giving himself to the study of the great classics in religion, philosophy, literature, poetry, the church fathers and Christian mystics.
His special love for poetry and the hymns of the church gave wings to his preaching and writing. A voracious reader, he would read a bit, then think and meditated on what he had read. He often said, “You should think ten times more than you read.” He never read a book merely to say he had read it.
Always a book was to lead him on in his quest for God. In an editorial on the subject Tozer said that the best book was the one that starts the reader on a train of thought and then bows out, its work finished.
In 1950 Tozer was elected editor of the Alliance Weekly, now the Alliance Life, official magazine of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. The committee that presented Tozer’s name said of him, “His clear and forceful style and Bible-loving Christians will approve his unique presentation of a Christ-centered gospel . . . everywhere.”
That proved prophetic, as under Tozer’s leadership the magazine doubled in circulation. The Alliance Weekly, more than anything else, helped establish Tozer as a spokesman to the evangelical church at large.
Someone observed that the Alliance Weekly was the only magazine subscribed to solely for its editorials. Many subscribed to the Alliance Weekly simply for Tozer’s pungent editorials and insightful articles.
They simultaneously published his editorials in Great Britain. H.F. Stevenson, editor of The Life of Faith magazine in London, England, said, “His survey of the contemporary scene was as relevant to Britain as to his own country, so that his articles and books were read avidly here also.”
Tozer’s forte was his prayer life. He often said, “As a man prayed so is he.” To him the worship of God was paramount in his life and ministry. He believed that true service would flow out of pure worship. His preaching and his writings were but extensions of his prayer life. What he discovered in prayer soon found its way into his sermons, then articles and editorials and finally into his many books.
Tozer greatly appreciated craftsmanship and excellence. His writings reveal that he demanded the utmost from himself. Wide reading and a disciplined mind provided him tremendous resources for the apt expressions that flowed from his tongue and pen. Often he would say, “There’s a right word; use it.” Invariably he had the right word at his fingertips.
The great care with which he produced his books established him as a devotional writer of a classic nature who will long be read when we forget his spoken ministry. He labored diligently to develop a style and strength of expression that continually attracted attentions.
Tozer’s lively imagination and descriptive powers gave force and vividness to his presentations. He spent hours meticulously producing sermons that we could describe as majestic and profound. Instead of shouting, he used crisp, precise, climatic sentences. His voice and delivery were rather quiet, but the sermon penetrated the soul.
Through his preaching and writing Tozer issued a clarion call for evangelicals to return to authentic, biblical, personal and inward positions that characterized the Christian church when she was most faithful to Christ and His Word. As he expounded the Scriptures, analyzing, or explaining a biblical truth, listeners were brought face to face with decisions they would never forget or regret.
As an intellectual beast of prey, Tozer could tear the faulty arguments of an author to pieces. He seemed to have a spiritual intuition enabling him to scent error, name it for what it was and reject it in one decisive act.
Francis Chase, close friend for more than thirty years, shares this insight into his work habits. “He told me once that he would often go to that little dismal loft in the church to write some editorials. He said his heart and mind were as dry and uninspired as a burnt shingle.
He would open his Bible, possibly a hymnbook, kneel at that old couch, pick up a pencil, and then the Holy Spirit would come upon him . . .. To keep up with what flooded his soul he would have to write ferociously. Four or five editorials would be completed at one time.”
The freshness of his writings amazes some. A close friend and colleague, Dr. Nathan Bailey, late president of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, explains, “In his writings he left the superficial and the obvious and the trivial for others to toss around, giving himself to the discipline of study and prayer that resulted in articles and books that reached deep into the hearts of men.”
Tozer’s method of preaching was the strong declaration of biblical principles, never merely an involvement in word studies, clever outlines or statistics. Listening to his recorded sermons or reading any of his books, the observer will notice the absence of alliteration. He thought alliteration was artificial. His style was the simple unfolding of truth as naturally as a flower unfolding in the sunlight.
Much like that of Will Rogers, we can describe Tozer’s humor as good, honest, homespun wit. He was not a storyteller or joke-teller, but in the turn of a phrase, a sharp observation through satire or a homely illustration, he got his point across.
Of course too much humor can be ruinous to any sermon, and Tozer struggled to keep his humor under control. Raymond McAfee, long time associate of Tozer in Chicago, said, “I could always tell by the content of humor in his preaching just how tired he was. When his discourse convulsed the audience, he was tired, his guard was down, and humor sneaked through.”
In the true and best sense of the word, Tozer was a mystic. He placed great emphasis on the contemplation of divine things resulting in the God consciouslife.
The last literary project of Tozer’s, completed just before his death and published several months after, was THE CHRISTIAN BOOK OF MYSTICAL VERSE. This was a compilation of a wealth of mystic poetry that had warmed and blessed Tozer’s heart throughout the years. In their introductions of that book he defined his meaning of the term mystic.
“The word ‘mystic’ as it occurs in the title of this book refers to that personal spiritual experience common to the saints of Bible times and well known to multitudes of persons in the post biblical era. I refer to the evangelical mystic who has been brought by the gospel into intimate fellowship with the Godhead.
His theology is no less and no more than is taught in the Christian Scriptures. He walks the high road of truth where walked of old prophets and apostles, and where down the centuries walked martyrs, reformers, Puritans, evangelists and missionaries of the cross.
He differs from the ordinary orthodox Christian only because he experiences his faith down in the depths of his sentient being while the other does not. He exists in a world of spiritual reality. He is quietly, deeply, and sometimes almost ecstatically aware of the Presence God in his own nature and in the world around him.
His religious experience is something elemental, as old as time and the creation. It is immediate acquaintance with God by union with the Eternal Son. It is to know that which passes knowledge.” (THE CHRISTIAN BOOK OF MYSTICAL VERSE, Christian Publications, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania).
In his daily walk and ministry Tozer had a sense of God that enveloped him in reverence and adoration. His one daily exercise was the practice of the presence of God, pursuing Him with all his strength and energy. To him, Jesus Christ was a daily wonder, a recurring astonishment, a continual amazement of love and grace.
Toward the end of his life Tozer remarked, “I have found God to be cordial and generous and in every way easy to live with.” For almost fifty years Tozer lived in God. He was not a perfect man; He had his faults and “warts,” possessed a disposition that caused him grief and heartache. Although never nasty or venomous, at times he had to apologize to those he inadvertently hurt when he spontaneously popped their balloons of pretense, pomposity and posturing.
Toward the end of his ministry he requested of his congregation: “Pray for me in the light of the pressures of our times. Pray that I will not just come to a wearied end ?- an exhausted, tired old preacher, interested only in hunting a place to roost. Pray that I will be willing to let my Christian experience and Christian standards cost me something right down to the last gasp!”
On May 12, 1963, A.W. Tozer’s earthly labors ended. His faith in God’s majesty became sight as he entered His presence. At the funeral his daughter Becky said something typical of what Tozer himself would have said. “I can’t feel sad; I know Dad’s happy; he’s lived for this all his life.” And so he had. Although his physical presence is far removed from us, Tozer will continue to minister to those thirsty for the things of God.
Source: awtozerclassic.com
Charles Spurgeon was a unique combination of personality and prayer. His multifaceted ministry life fell into orbit around his devotional life.
But how did Spurgeon remain devoted to God in the midst of all the distractions that constantly pulled at his attention?
How did Spurgeon keep his focus on Jesus Christ admist the crashing waves of life?
Here are several lessons from Spurgeon about maintaining intimacy with God in the busyiness and routine of everyday life.
1. Experience intimacy with God through the personality He has given you.
Spurgeon had a marvelous and magnetic personality. He was winsome, profound, easy to speak with, and he never forgot a face.
He once told his students, “I once counted eight sets of thoughts which were going on in my brain simultaneously, or at least within the space of the same second.”
No doubt, his memory assisted his pastorate that contained nearly 6,000 members. It was, indeed, a “megachurch” long before that word ever came into the vernacular.
Spurgeon provided oversight to sixty-six organizations, preached multiple times each week, and was a voracious reader. How, then, did he carve out time for prayer and personal devotion?
“I quarry out the truth when I read, but I smelt the ore and get the pure gold out of it when I meditate!”
Spurgeon was once told that a man spent three hours on his knees in prayer.
Spurgeon reponded, “I could not do it if my eternity depended on it!” Then his friend, William, recalled Spurgeon saying,
“I go to God with a promise, which is in reality a cheque issued by God Himself on the bank of heaven. He cashes it for me, and then I go and use what He has given me, to His glory. . . I think I can say that seldom many minutes elapse without my heart speaking to God in either prayer or praise.”
The key to Spurgeon’s prayer life was saturation. By living in a constant atmosphere of prayer and devotion, Spurgeon permeated his life with prayer and that shaped his personality.
2. Allow God to Speak
Another unique aspect of Spurgeon’s walk with God is found in his daily entry into His presence.
He said, “Be much with God in holy dialogue, letting Him speak to you by His Word while you speak back to Him by your prayers and praises.” He understood that “thought is the backbone of study.”
By allowing God to guide our thoughts, Spurgeon focused on responding to God leading. He explained:
“I have spread the Bible on my chair, kneeled down, put my finger upon the passage, and sought of God instruction. I have thought that when I have risen from my knees I understood it far better than before.”
Spurgeon liked to linger on a particular Scripture passage while prayerfully listening as the Holy Spirit illuminated its message.
Of course, there is a always a tendency for us to rush into God’s presence with personal agendas and self-centered to-do lists.
But, when God initiates his conversation with us through Scripture, prayer become God-centered and kingdom-focused.
3. Build an Entry Ramp and Drop an Anchor
Spurgeon not only spoke of meditating upon the Word of God, but he also spoke of meditating on the God of the Word.
When we enter into a conversation with our bosses and superiors, it’s always wise to listen more than we speak.
Likewise, when we approach the throne of God in prayer, we must prioritize the contemplation of the One with whom we encounter.
Spurgeon told his congregation:
“O that you were busy after the true riches, and could step aside awhile to enrich yourselves in solitude, and make your hearts vigorous by feeding upon the person and work of your ever blessed Lord! You miss a heaven below by a too eager pursuit of earth. You cannot know these joyful raptures if meditation be pushed into a corner.”
“You cannot measure a fire by the bushel, nor prayers by their length.”
When we feed upon the person and presence of Jesus Christ, we become satisfied, nourished, and empowered.
Thus, the entry ramp into Scripture intake, prayer, and meditation is not one of religious obligations but intimacy.
Prayerful meditation throughout the day anchors our lives, helps us discover our center, which is Jesus Christ, and launches us into a living relationship with the ultimate Superior.
4. Stay logged in
We often encounter the website message: “Do you want to stay logged in?” In that moment, we have the option of remaining connected or logging out.
Prayer works like that, too. Throughout the day, we can unconsciously log out of prayer with a flippant “amen” and continue on with our busy lives.
However, Spurgeon would challenge us, as Scripture does, to stay logged in.
To stay attentive to God’s voice no matter where our day will lead us. Look at how Spurgeon maintained an open-ended conversation with God.
Peter Morden explains:
“His basic pattern was to pray morning and evening. . . Sometimes he would pray with his family . . . sometimes he would be alone. But his prayer life certainly did not stop there;
Spurgeon wanted to maintain continued communion with God throughout the day.
One of the ways he sought to do this was by praying short, one-sentence prayers as he went about his daily work. . . These short, pithy prayers are what have been called ‘arrow prayers’, prayers addressed to God in the midst of a day full of all sorts of different tasks.”
Fostering communion with God allowed Spurgeon to inject into each of his tasks, decisions, and relationships the guidance, discernment, and blessing that comes directly from Christ.
With Spurgeon, may each of us use our God-given personality to carve out time over the course of our routine to focus on encountering Christ through Scripture intake, prayer, and meditation.
Source: Spurgeon.com
If 2020 was to be classified as a movie, it would fall under the category of Horror and Tragedy. This year was definitely a hell of a year; full of ups and downs, pandemics, lockdown, deaths, inflation, hunger, loneliness and depression.
Many lost their loved ones. Some lost their businesses, their investments, their life savings.
Almost everyone lost something or someone precious this year.
Some have recovered, some are recovering, but there are those, who are still in grief, not because they enjoy grieving, but they just do not know how to come out of it.
As humans, our first impulse to the loss of a loved one is to cry bitterly, and experience pain and sorrow. Crying is good, and sometimes, healthy, but when it should only be a temporal reaction and not a permanent mood or temperament.
Many have lost hope of ever recovering from the grief they are experiencing presently; many have lost faith and the courage to move on, irrespective of the evils around them.
Maybe you fall into that category, or you know someone who falls into into that category, cherish this post, it will go a long way to helping you.
Sometimes, engaging in a self-evaluation goes a long way in helping us come out of the shell of grief. Why exactly are you grieving? Who are you grieving? What are you grieving? The loss of a loved one? Poverty? Loss of Business opportunities? Identify the root cause of your grief, identify the root cause of your pain.
2. LET GO!
This is where the real battle lies in. There are people who know why they are grieving; they know they’ve lost a loved one, but they just can’t let him go.
They keep holding on to past memories and experiences with the one who they have lost. They imagine living with the lost one still present.
Some even sleep every night, meditating on the image and person of the lost loved one. One of the common mistakes people make in grief is that they blame themselves for the loss.
“If only I was there on time”… ‘If only I had enough money…’ they blame themselves for the loss. It’s time to man up and stop acting in such childish manner. It is childish to blame yourself for things that were beyond your control in the name of grief.
Let go, and move on. No amount of tears would ever bring that person back; no amount of tears would bring that business back; no amount of imagining would bring the late back.
It would only give you a false and unreal experience with the imaginative figment of that person.
These are hard truths I allowed to sink into my heart when I found myself slipping into anguish and pain. You can never be liberated from pain until you let these hard truths break those chains.
Let go! Let go of that past memory! He has left you, to join the immortals in the world beyond this world, you should equally leave him, by moving on with life.
3. ENOUGH OF THE PITIES
This doesn’t mean you totally forget about him, it just means you are strong enough to live life meaningfully, with or without him.
Sympathy and consolation is very important at the initial stage of grieving a loss. When others sympathize with us, it has a way of making us feel we are not alone in the pain we bear.
It helps us understand we are not alone in the grief we are experiencing.
But you can’t keep getting sympathies and pities weeks and months after your loss! You cannot afford to allow this.
As innocent as they might be, when allowed for too long, they form a dark, moody temperament in us.
A temperament that expects only pity from people; a temperament that wishes to display pain and grief so as to earn the sympathies of onlookers; a temperament that only draws close to those who can show pity on it!
This temperament will obscure your vision, destroy your creativity and clog your potentials!
It is the temperament that will render you emotionally unstable and mentally imbalanced.
Change your atmosphere. Surround yourself with creative thinkers.
Read books that will stir up hope and clarity of vision, and not poems that make you more depressed.
Delete those songs of hurt from your mobile phone.
Get your gadget filled with bright songs of optimism and love; start seeing the world from a more optimistic view.
3. DEVELOP FRESH, HEALTHY HABITS
Eat well. Medical research has shown that one’s habits have a high influence on ones disposition, whether melancholic or cheerful.
Develop habits that are healthy to both your body, mind and soul. Eat well; go on a walk at sunrise.
Develop the habit of ever confessing positiveness. Develop the habit of hanging out with intelligent friends and engaging in sound discussions with them.
Lastly, I want you to know that you can do all these and still feel the tinges of grief.
They do not eliminate grief; they do not remove grief, but they remove you from the grief. Do them consistently, and turn your world turn colorful again.
Before wrapping this up, let me show you something from the Holy Bible which will definitely be helpful to you.
2 Samuel 12:15-20
16 David prayed to God for the baby. David fasted and went into his house and stayed there, lying on the ground all night.
17 The elders of David’s family came to him and tried to pull him up from the ground, but he refused to get up or to eat food with them.
18 On the seventh day the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead..
19 When David saw his servants whispering, he knew that the baby was dead. So he asked them, “Is the baby dead?” They answered, “Yes, he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the floor, washed himself, put lotions on, and changed his clothes. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. After that, he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.
Bathsheba had put to birth, a lovely, bouncing baby boy for King David, a baby which came as a result of David’s mistake.
At birth, this baby boy was probably strong and energetic, full of so much potential, but days later, he became weak.
The little baby fell sick. The sickness was so serious, that David went on a fast to plead for mercy on the baby’s life.
Imagine how the King felt, seeing that baby, emaciating and slipping away from life daily. He must have loved that baby greatly, for him to have fasted and prayed fervently for the baby’s life. Yet, the baby died.
Despite the fasting, and the prayers, and the weeping in the church, crying to God to save his child, the child still died.
How do you think David should have felt? Depressed. Sad. Angry at God for taking his baby. Losing faith in prayers and fasting. The ordinary man would have felt these.
But not David; David was a man with a mighty inner strength to bear the greatest of disappointments.
As soon as he heard of the news of his child’s death, instead of lamenting and seeking sympathy, he washed his hands, worshiped the Lord and went to eat.
This is one of the greatest Bible paradoxes I have ever read. One thing we learn from it, is that in all things, we must give thanks to God. In pain and in pleasure, in the hills and in the valleys, in all things, we must give thanks to God!
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Shalom!
As a believer, prayer is the saintliest duty you can ever perform. No believer is above prayer; from the newest convert to the aged fathers, no saint is ever above prayer.
Prayer is not only a medium of fellowship with God, it is also a medium by which we can receive the manifestation of God’s working power in our lives. Prayer is the secret place in which we dwell under the shadow of the Almighty, free from the enemy’s threat.
In a world like this, where plagues can be contacted despite the adherence to strict health protocols; in which death has become a trend, in a world like this, you must train yourself on how to seek and receive God’s protection for you and your loved ones.
God has laid out principles that the believer should adhere to in order to pray effectively in cases like this. The Father does not want us to pray out of panic or fear or anxiety, rather, He wants us to pray confidently, with faith as sons who know their identity.
The Psalm of David is one which you can use to pray for GOD’S protection. Study it closely, meditate on it, and pray with it.
1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer- it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right.
3 Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have planned no evil; my mouth has not transgressed.
4 Though people tried to bribe me, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent through what your lips have commanded.
5 My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled.
6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
Amen 🙏
One of our fans had sent a message to our email, asking how he could be free from homosexual feelings. This comic was inspired by that question. You can be free! Look beyond the animations, and see the message God has passed through this comic. God bless you.
You can ask your questions at our comment section at your convenience, and if we cannot send a reply immediately, we’ll definitely make a detailed expository post on it.
GOD BLESS YOU!
What do you do when you find yourself amidst a storm?
Do you run away from the storm?
Do you let the storm engulf you or eat you up?
Or do you calm the storm, look for ways to calm the storm or call on someone to help you calm the storm?
Running away from a storm is not a good idea. Running away from the storm can save you, but not for too long.
Running away from the storm would only bring disparage in our hearts, because we will eventually keep running from it all the days of our lives.
There comes a time in our lives as humans when we face storms; a variety of unfortunate events and troubles. A storm is anything that comes to threaten your peace, make you restless, and give you instability by making you get stuck in sadness, displeasure or a deep kind of pain.
A storm can be anything; a pandemic, a disappointment, insurgency, insecurity, fear, lack of hope, poverty, injustice or whatever stands to disturb your peace.
During a storm, we’re likely to lose hope, especially when the situation is really intense or critical. We are likely to sink in to depression, lose faith and feel that we have lost it all; in the time of illness, pandemic, insecurity, the loss of our loved ones, poverty, rejection and pain.
But in the midst of these, I want you to know that there’s only one person, who can calm all the storms of life. His name is Jesus.
It was He who died for us all and He will always calm the storms in our lives if we call on to him!
In Matthew 8:23-27, His disciples were faced with a great sea storm while with Jesus. They were afraid, they were scared, they lost their faith and were already sinking in to total pain of the body and mind.
That illustrates that anyone can be scared in tough times and that it is not a crime to be scared.
Jesus was asleep, yet, they woke him up because they knew very well only him could calm the storm. When Jesus woke up, He rebuked the storm and it became still, and the disciples were at peace again.
Sometimes, even as disciples of Jesus, the storms of life can make us panic and anxious; you might be in such situation right now.
The storms of the virus, inflation and bad economic situation, might be so fierce that it seems like you’ll sink.
I have good news for you. Jesus is with you even in the boat! In the midst of the turmoil, the casting down and the streaks of lightning, Jesus is with you.
But Jesus will not calm the storm if you don’t wake him up! Our God never sleeps nor slumbers, but the sleeping of Jesus in the boat is an analogy from which we learn that God will be silent if you do not take a step of faith.
Jesus is willing to calm the storm in your life! Wake him up with your faith, with a cry of faith!
Give God a sign that you’re in for it, and don’t be discouraged while waiting.
He’ll never leave you nor forsake you. God says “I will be with you till the end of time” – Matthew 28:20. Believe it!
I know it’s tough. Maybe, you have gotten tired of hoping already, you don’t see any escape route but listen Jesus has not forgotten about you.
God still has your name in the middle of his palm and He is saying,
“I am in your boat! Do not be afraid! Wake me up! Call upon me and I will calm the storm in your life! I love you and I will always be with you!”
Don’t forget that you’re loved beyond measure.
May the peace of the lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen!
We are in a world where thorns and pain seems to be our daily bread; where sorrow is like a friend banging on the door, and we have no choice but to open up to it.
It’s a dark world filled with gross darkness, so much that we have to do almost everything with uncertainty.
“What if this is just the end of this strange life?”
Our trust and confidence have been taken for granted numerous times.
When we look back, it’s a big regret of so many wrong decisions we have made due to pressure and fear.
It’s pain in me! It’s pain in you!
It’s pain in us all!
“What if this is just the end of this strange life?”
While we live on, truth is, we have longed died inside of us.
Pain, fear and sorrow have put us in a place worse than the grave itself, a state of depression and confusion, and we count towards a time and a moment when we will finally live life or probably LEAVE THIS LIFE.
“But, What if this is just the end of this strange life we are living?”
Yes! It’s the end of this strange life friend!
A life without God brings all these; a life void of the presence of the Loving Father, full of grace and mercy.
So how about we come to the end of this strange life now,
How about we embrace the One in whom true life and peace dwells.
For strange life is a life outside the Lord,
But TRUE LIFE is one found and established in CHRIST JESUS!
Embrace Jesus now. Receive His true life and cast you cares upon Him!
Shalom
© Precious Wilfred.
KOINONIA ART 