Power In Action

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6)

The greatest event in history was the coming of Jesus Christ into the world to live and to die for mankind. The next greatest event was the going forth of the Church to embody the life of Christ and to spread the knowledge of His salvation throughout the earth.

It was not an easy task which the Church faced. To carry on the work of a man who was known to have died ... to persuade others that this man had risen again from the dead and that He was the Son of God and Saviour: this mission was, in the nature of it, doomed to failure from the start. Who would credit such a fantastic story?

That the Church did not perish was due entirely to the miraculous element within her. That element was supplied by the Holy Spirit who came at Pentecost to empower her for her task.

The same God who led Israel with pillar of cloud and fire, who spoke at Pentecost through the tongues of flame, who opened Peter's prison doors, it waiting to work the greater wonders of His grace for us.

~A. W. Tozer~

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God Is The Deeper Life

"Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:24)

The deeper life has been called the "victorious life," but I do not like that term. It appears to me that it focuses attention exclusively upon one feature of the Christian life, that of personal victory over sin, when actually this is just one aspect of the deeper life - an important on, to be sure, but only one.

That life in the Spirit that is denoted by the term "deeper life" is far wider and richer than mere victory over sin, however vital that victory may be. It also includes the thought of the indwelling of Christ, acute God-consciousness, rapturous worship, separation from the world, the joyous surrender of everything to God, internal union with the Trinity, the practice of the presence of God, the communion of saints and prayer without ceasing.

No one seems to want to know and love God for Himself! God is the deeper life! Jesus Christ Himself is the deeper life! This means that there is less of me and more of God - thus my spiritual life deepens, and I am strengthened in the knowledge of His will.

~A. W. Tozer~