Establishing the Direction

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen" (2 Peter 3:18)

Once the Holy Spirit's work in our heart begins, grace, forgiveness, cleansing take on a form of almost bodily clearness.

Prayer loses its unmeaning quality and becomes a sweet conversation with Someone actually there. Love for God and for the children of God take possession of the soul. We feel ourselves near to heaven and it is now the earth and the world that begin to seem unreal.

Then the whole life changes to suit the new reality and the change is permanent. Slight fluctuations there may be like the rise and dip of the line on a graph, but the established direction is upward and the ground taken is held.

This is not all, but it will give a fair idea of what is meant when the New Testament speaks of "Power", and perhaps by contrast we may learn how little of the power we enjoy.

In every thing that belongs to the excellence of real religion, the true believer is in a state of progression. He seeks and strives, he wrestles and fights. He is ever aiming at the prize. His obedience, though not perfect, is habitual.

~A. W. Tozer~

_____________________

Power - The Great Need

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal" (1 Corinthians 12:7)

I think that there can be no doubt that the need above all other needs in the Church of God at this moment is the power of the Holy Spirit. More education, better organization, finer equipment, more advanced methods - all are unavailing.

It is like bringing a better respirator after the patient is dead. Good as these are they can never give life. "It is the spirit that quickeneth" (John 6:63). Good as they are they can never bring power. "Power belongeth unto God" (Psalm 62:11).

Protestantism is on the wrong road when it tries to win merely by means of a "united front." It is not organizational unity we need most; the great need is power.

The power of God is at our disposal, waiting for us to call it into action by meeting the conditions which are plainly laid down. God is ready to send down floods of blessings upon us as we begin to obey His plain instructions.

There is no divine incoming until there is the human emptying. How it is possible to fill us until we are first emptied? Emptied first, filled afterward is the order.

~T. W. Tozer~