Not Waste But Glory

"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God" (Psalm 84:2)

In our private prayers and in our public services we are forever asking God to do things that He either has already done or cannot do because of our unbelief. We plead for Him to speak when He has already spoken and is at that very moment speaking.  We ask Him to come when He is already present and waiting for us to recognize Him. We beg the Holy Spirit to fill us while all the time we are preventing Him by our doubts.

Of course the Christian can hope for no manifestation of God while he lives in a state of disobedience. Let a man refuse to obey God on some clear point, let him set his will stubbornly to resist any commandment of Christ, and the rest of his religious activities will be wasted. "To obey is better than sacrifice." (1 Samuel 15:22). I need only add that all this tragic waste is unnecessary. The believing Christian will relish every moment in church and will profit by it. The instructed, obedient Christian will yield to God as the clay to the potter, and the result will be not waste but glory everlasting.

Speak, Thy servant heareth,
Be not silent, Lord; 
Waits my soul upon Thee
For the quickening word.

~A. W. Tozer~

_____________________

Pruning Comes Before Fruit

"Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13)

I want to emphasize the manner in which the apostles were Spirit-led. They were not known as men of rash impulsive moods, constantly changing decisions and judgments. Led by the Spirit of God, they wanted always to do what God wanted them to do. As a result, the things that God wanted them to do always seemed to fit perfectly into the total scheme of redemption and the whole will of God in the New Testament.

This allows me to say that Peter was of little use to God until he got the victory over being whimsical and temperamental and impulsive.

But when Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and received a divine vision and began to suffer for Jesus' sake, he got leveled down and became the great apostle, second only to Paul in the New Testament. But God had to take those lightening charges out of Peter and stabilize him in the harness where he would work effectively and fruitfully for the Lord.

We must recognize the true character of our self-life. We must consent to its destruction and lay it at the feet of God in willing sacrifice.

~A. W. Tozer~