The Essential Of Cleanness Before God
God is holy, and as such, must be worshipped with clean hands and a pure heart. The Spirit of God is given to every believer that he or she should worship Christ in Spirit and truth. As long as the believer trusts Christ to cleanse him from sin, walking in the light as He is in the light, there is fellowship with God.
In The Spirit By The Spirit
It is one thing to be IN the Spirit, baptized into Christ, IN HIM. It is quite another to be filled with the Spirit where the Spirit is at perfect liberty to meet every need of the believer, especially that of being able to worship Christ in Spirit and truth. We are in the Spirit by virtue of our union with Christ. We are filled with the Spirit by virtue of the faith that God gives us to trust Him moment by moment for it.
How Real Is Christ To You
Christianity is not just a knowledge of the truth which concerns Christ, and that expressed by Him, by word and deed. It is a knowledge communicated by the Spirit, made real by Him, as one seeks to know Christ, and abide in Him by faith. In truly following Christ, Christ becomes to the believer an increasing reality as the Spirit reveals Him to the heart and soul.
Focusing On The Prize
The great prize of running the life of faith is to know Christ, and as the Apostle Paul wrote: "...to apprehend that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me." It will be as the Apostle, and every believer since him, pursues Christ, to know Him by abiding in Him, and following Him, will come to know Him increasingly, and this by the revelation by the Spirit of God to his heart.
Today's Sufficient Grace
The grace of God is declared by the Scriptures as being abundant, and abounding. This simply means that it is not only ample to meet the needs of men, in heart, soul, spirit, and body, but it is more than abundant in its supply to honor and glorify God in the doing of His will. Grace abounds to the one who can and will receive it. God's throne is a throne of grace.
Thirsting After God
To have a desire to know God, to strongly seek Him, is the result of the Spirit of God working in the heart, creating a thirst for Him. It is a blessed thirst, for it comes from God, from heaven. That which accompanies this blessed thirst, is the fact that God is working in the heart to draw out the soul to Him, so that the soul can truly know Him. This is encouraging indeed.
The Reward Of Waiting Upon God
God is the Rewarder of those who seek Him. To know Him is not just coming to a clear understanding of who He is but coming to know the reality that He hears prayer and intervenes in circumstances and people's hearts to change things for the good, bringing about His perfect will.
Steady In The Storm
The resilience of the believer to face the storms of life, and travers them in a manner that glorifies God, is found in only one place, or rather, in one Person. Christ is the Life of the believer the day that he is born again. From that day forward, the Rock of All Ages is present in the heart to be the steadfastness of the believer, his security, and steadfastness.
Christ Our Sanctification
Sanctification is not just a process, a walk, and an objective. It is primarily a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. How is this so? Everything concerning sanctification, that position, state, and reality of being totally holy, set apart to God, is the objective truth. When Christ died on Calvary, He took all who would trust in Him, and be born again, unto Himself. They became holy as He is holy in the sight of the Father. The full realization of this work of Christ, and the communicating of His sanctified, holy life, is accomplished at the moment one goes to be forever with the Lord. The believer is being sanctified in his walk on earth, every day becoming what he already is in the sight of God in Christ.
Three Men One Mission
Ultimately God works in the hearts of men for the same reason. It is first of all that His glory should be known, for by that knowledge man is blessed beyond measure and this for eternity. But secondly, He works that man will become a receiver of His Life and Power, so that by His grace and wisdom, many will come to a saving knowledge of Christ by the written testimony of the Scriptures, and by the revealed life of Christ by the Spirit dwelling in the hearts of men.