Acquaint Thyself With God

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory." (Psalm 24:9-10)

When viewed from the perspective of eternity, the most critical need of this hour may well be that the Church should be brought back from her long Babylonian captivity and the name of God be glorified in her again as of old. Yet we must not think of the Church as an anonymous body, a mystical religious abstraction. We Christians are the Church and whatever we do is what the Church is doing. The matter, therefore, is for each of us a personal one. Any forward step in the Church must begin with the individual.

What can we plain Christians do to bring back the departed glory? Is there some secret we may learn? Is there a formula for personal revival we can apply to the present situation, to our own situation? The answer to these questions is "YES."

The secret is an open one which the wayfaring man may read. It is simply the old and ever-new counsel: "Acquaint thyself with God." To regain her lost power the Church must see heaven opened and have a transforming vision of God.

Lord, give me a glimpse of Your glory and then help me to live in the light of that glory, exhibiting a transformed life and representing a renewed Church. Amen

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Both Easy and Difficult

"To the only wise God our Saviour; be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen (Jude 25)

But the God we must see is not the utilitarian God who is having such a run of popularity today, whose chief claim to men's attentions is His ability to bring them success in their various undertakings and who for that reason is being cajoled and flattered by everyone who wants a favor. The God we must learn to know is the Majesty in the heavens, God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, the only wise God our Saviour.

Knowledge of such a Being cannot be gained by study alone. It comes by a wisdom the natural man knows nothing of, neither can know, because it is spiritually discerned. To know God is at once the easiest and the most difficult thing in the world. It is easy because the knowledge is not won by hard mental toil, but is something freely given. As sunlight falls free on the open field, so the knowledge of the holy God is a free gift to men who are open to receive it. But this knowledge is difficult because there are conditions to be met and the obstinate nature of fallen man does not take kindly to them.

Lord, deliver me from viewing You as simply a utilitarian God and give to me the spiritual wisdom that defies my obstinacy and leads me to true knowledge of You. Amen

~A. W. Tozer~