A Supernatural Radiance

"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11)

One distinguishing mark of those first Christians was a supernatural radiance that shined out from within them. The sun had come up in their hearts and its warmth and light made unnecessary any secondary sources of assurance.

They had the inner witness. They knew with an immediate awareness that required no jockeying of evidence to give them a feeling of certainty. Great power and great grace marked their lives, enabling them to rejoice to suffer shame for the name of Jesus.

It is obvious that the average evangelical Christian today is without this radiance. The efforts of some of our teachers to cheer up our drooping spirits are futile because those same teachers reject the very phenomenon that would naturally produce joy, namely, the inner witness: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself" (1 John 5:10).

Divine joy is the privilege of all consecrated believers. The world must see the light of heaven in our faces if it would believe in the reality of our religion.

~A. W. Tozer~

_______________________

Altogether His

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind" (Luke 10:27)

Lord, I would trust Thee completely; I would be altogether Thine; I would exalt Thee above all.

I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee. I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing presence and to hear Thy speaking voice.

I long to live in restful sincerity of heart.

I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thoughts may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the words of Thy great servant of old, "I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee."

And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen

A distinguishing characteristic of true love to God is that it is supreme. "No man can serve two masters." There cannot be two objects of supreme regard. The love of God is paramount to every other principle... every desire subservient to that of promoting His glory.

~A. W. Tozer~