Andrew Murray writes: "It's the humility that brings a soul to be nothing before God that also removes every hindrance to faith. . . Have we not here the cause of failure in the pursuit of holiness? . . . We had no idea to what an extent pride and self were still secretly working within us, and how Christ alone by His incoming and His mighty power could cast them out. We did not understand that nothing bythe new and divine nature, taking entirely the place of the old self, could make us really humble. We did not know that absolute, unceasing, universal humility must be the basic attitude of every prayer and every approach to God, as well as of every dealing with people. Nor did we know that we might as well attempt to see without eyes or live without breath, as to believe or draw near to God or dwell in His love without an all-pervading humility and lowliness of heart."

In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus shares with us the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. As the story goes, both of these men were together in the same place - the Temple - at the same time doing the same thing - talking to God. But that is where the similarity ends. The Pharisee was busy pointing out to God his own personal goodness - 'I'm not a robber, or adulterer, or any other kind of evil-doer, and I am certainly better than this Tax Collector who is kneeling over here and can't even look you square in the eye like I certainly can.' Me, me, me. The Tax Collector, on the other hand, was busy too - busy begging God for mercy for his poor, miserable, sinful self. Jesus' verdict: "I tell you that this man (the Tax Collector), rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14) NIV

Father, I am nothing - you are everything. You must increase - I must decrease. You must be exalted - I must submit. Lord, let me never forget that every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day of my walk with you - whether I have been walking with you 1 day or 100 years - I must have and know and feel your mercy - or I will consistently and without fail fall and fail You. Amen

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The great 18th century English evangelist, George Whitefield, preached: "How do you and I wish we had known Jesus sooner, and that we had more of His love? It is amazing love, it is forgiving love, it is dying love, it is exalted and interceding love, and it is glorified love. I am talking of the love of Jesus Christ who loved me before I loved Him. He saw me polluted in blood, full of sores, a slave to sin, death, and hell, running to destruction. Then He said unto my soul, 'Live.' He snatched me as a brand plucked from the burning. It was love that saved me. It was all of the free grace of God and that only."

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:1-7) NIV

Father, I think that I know that I am nothing without you and your love. Please, never cease reminding me - for what do I really know? - that I am nothing without you and your love. Without your life-changing, life-giving Spirit working to keep me in step with His own gracious and divine purposes in my life, I am as lost as I ever was. Father, thank you for loving me. Please help me to truly love you. Amen

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Andrew Murray writes:

"Satan is an already conquered enemy. He has nothing, absolutely nothing to say against one who belongs to the Lord Jesus. By my unbelief or ignorance or letting go of my hold of the victory of Jesus, I may give Satan authority over me which otherwise he does not possess. But when I know by a living faith that I am one with the Lord Jesus and that the Lord lives in me, maintaining and carrying on in me that victory, Satan has no power over me. Victory 'through the blood of the Lamb' is the strength of my life. . . We need only to have our souls filled with the vision of Satan being cast our of heaven by Jesus to maintain the power and victory of His blood. We need only be filled with faith in the blood and that He Himself is with us. Then we also are 'more than conquerors through Him who loved us' (Rom. 8:37)."

Why are we more than conquerors? Paul finishes his thought in Rom. 8:38,39:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." NIV

Father, I love you today and I declare my total allegance to you as Lord. Lord, over and over and over again remind me that your victory for me - over my temptations, over my faithlessness, over my selfishness, over my sinfulness, over me - is an accomplished fact, ready for me to claim daily, hourly, minutely and even 'secondly' in Jesus. I do not need to wait on some 'down-the -road', extra experience of spiritual power to happen whenever or however in my life. I need,rather, in every situation today to 'be still and know that You are God' and to claim the promised victory in Jesus that was gifted to me when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and to 'wait on Him to renew my strength in Him.' What I need is total obedience. Help me, Lord, to want to want that obedience more than anything else in my world. Make me obedient. Amen

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Menno Simons, the 16th century Christian leader from whom the modern-day Mennonites claim their spiritual and theological heritage, prayed this prayer:

"O Lord of hosts, when I am buoyed up in the waters of Your grace, I find that I can neither fathom nor measure them, for Your mercies are greater than all Your works. Who, dear Lord, ever came to You with a pious heart and was rejected? Who ever sought You and found You not? Who ever sought help from You and did not obtain it? Who ever prayed for Your grace and did not receive it? Who ever called upon You without being heard? Yes, dear Lord, how many did You accept in grace who otherwise by Your stern justice merited otherwise?

Adam departed from You and believed the counsel of the serpent; he transgressed Your commandments and became a child of death before You. But Your fatherly kindness did not reject him. In grace You sought him, called and reproved him, covered his nakedness with coats of skin, and graciously comforted him with the promised seed.

Your fatherly grace did not forsake me, a miserable sinner, but in love received me, converted me to another mind, led me with the right hand, and taught me by the Holy Spirit until of my own choice I delared war upon the world, the flesh, and the devil, and renounced all my ease, peace, glory, desire, and physical prosperity, and willingly submitted to the heavy cross of my Lord Jesus Christ that I might inherit the promised kingdom with all the soldiers of God and the disciples of Christ."

In Jeremiah 32:38-40 God makes these promises about how He will change the hearts and desires of first the Hebrews of the time in which this is written, and then any and all of His followers of any place or time to come:

"They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me."

Father, I love you and I exalt you as my Lord. As my brother Menno of so many years ago, I also need the continual hand of your Holy Spirit in my life causing me 'of my own choice to declare war upon the world, the flesh, and the devil'. I need to 'of my own choice' want to renounce all my ease, peace, glory, desire, and physical prosperity for your kingdom. I need to 'of my own choice' want to submit to the heavy cross of my Lord Jesus Christ that I might inherit the promised kingdom with all the soldiers of God and the disciples of Christ. Father, as you well know, these are not natural desires with me. Unless today you give me the promised 'singleness of heart and action' so that I will always fear you; unless today you give me the promised 'inspiration to fear you so that I will never turn away from you' - I will not fear you as I should; I will turn away from you; I will sink like a rock into the sin of my own selfishness. I can do nothing else. Please make me, above all else, to want to want to put you first in my life right now. Amen

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Alphonsus Liguori, an 18th century Bishop in the Catholic church working in both his native Naples and France, wrote these words:

"Let us bend all our energies to serve God in the way he wishes. This remark is made so that we may avoid the mistake of him who wastes his time in idle daydreaming. Such a one says, 'If I were to become a hermit, I would become a saint'; or 'If I were to enter a monastery, I would practice penance'; or 'If I were to go away from here, leaving friends and companions, I would devote long hours to prayer.' If, If, If - all these if's! In the meantime such a person goes from bad to worse.

These idle fancies are often temptations of the devil, because they are not in accord with God's will. Hence we should dismiss them summarily and rouse ourselves to serve God only in that way which he has marked out for us. Doing his holy will, we shall certainly become holy in those surroundings in which he has placed us.

Let us will always and ever only what God wills; for so doing, he will press us to his heart. To this end let us familiarize ourselves with certain texts of sacred Scripture that invite us to unite ourselves constantly with the divine will."

In the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus prepared for Calvary, He prayed these words:

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Mt. 26:39). Then again 3 verses later: "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be
taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." (Mt. 26:42)

Father, today, above all else, right here in my life where you have put me, help me "always and ever only to will what you will" in every situation, in every thought, in every attitude, in every desire of my life. Father, may the first concern of my life not be where I'm at, what I am doing, or who I am. Rather, am I in the center of God's will. Amen

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Counseling a young christian, the great French pastor and churchman Francois Feneloin wrote these words:

"There is something about your suffering which is very subtle and perhaps hard for you to understand. For even though you are convinced that your first concern is the glory of God, yet in your inmost soul it is the old self which keeps causing you so much trouble. The way I see the problem is this: I think that you really do want God to be glorified in your life, but you think that this is going to be accomplished by becoming more and more perfect. And in doing this you still are thinking of your own personal worth. So if you would truly derive profit from the discovery of your imperfections, I would suggest two things. First of all, never try to justify yourself before God. And second, do not condemn yourself. Instead, why not quietly lay your imperfections before God? And if, at that moment, there are some things you cannot understand about His will, simply tell Him that you are willing to conform your will to His in all things. And then go on in peace. For you must understand that peace is the will of God for you in every situation."

It was many, many years after I first accepted Christ as my Savior that I first read this quote by a man whose thoughts and writings about walking with Jesus have come to mean so much to me. For most of my spiritual journey - finding the Lord at age 12; attending a christian college and seminary; pastoring 3 churches, assisting at 2 others, and serving my church and country as a military chaplain, enjoying 29 years of marriage to the same woman; fathering 2 great kids, 2 crazy dogs, and 27 adorable cats - my thoughts and energies have been consumed with intense, constant, and continual daily and even hourly introspection - Am I saved? Am I sanctified? What does it mean to be sanctified? Am I perfect? What does it mean to be perfect? Am I holy? What does it mean to be holy? I can't do this, I better not do that - and, ultimately and ironically, through it all - where is the peace, the joy, the power that I believe God's Word promises to all His 'new creatures'? I'm not saying that we as Christians - and especially I as a minister - should not be concerned about these questions and their answers. Nor am I saying that in 45 years of following Jesus I never experienced peace, rest, and joy.

What I am saying is this: As I am learning to be less and less concerned about whether or not on a daily basis I am holy - about whether or not I have had some 'experience' that has once and for all made me sanctified and holy - and more and more about whether I am submissive, honestly denying nothing of my sinfulness in His Presence, but laying at His feet - a lump of clay, desperately needing His Potter-touch - I have found a peace and contentment - on a daily basis - that I have never known. I believe that the journey of my life has become a journey toward the joy and rest of honest appraisal - "Here I am, God. Please do with me whatever you will because if you don't change me, it's not going to happen" - and peaceful submission. I'm going to let God worry about whether or not I'm holy. What I need is more and more of His mercy - WHICH HE GRACIOUSLY, GRACIOUSLY, GRACIOUSLY GIVES!!! Praise His Name.

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The Blessing of God's Grace
Scripture - Eph. 2:1-10
Text - Eph. 2:9

1. The Blessing of God's grace in our lives is externally generated - Our salvation is totally a gift from God - There is nothing we can do to earn it.

   For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. -Eph. 2:8,9 NIV

2. The Blessing of God's grace in our lives is authentically produced - We literally become new creatures in Christ.

   . . . Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions . . . And God raised us up with Christ. . . -Eph. 2:3-6 NIV

3. The Blessing of God's grace in our lives is outwardly evidenced - Objective, identifiable changes will begin to occur in the believer's life as a result of the Spirit's gracious activity in that life.

   For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph. 2:10 NIV

4. The Blessing of God's grace in our lives is eternally guaranteed - The believer can have no clue concerning the graciousness that God has in store for His children for eternity to come.

   And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:6,7 NIV

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