Tozer Tuesdays

Another edition of Tozer Tuesdays, prayers from his book The Pursuit of God They have profoundly impacted me and I hope they challenge and move you as you pray them too.

O Lord, I have heard a good word inviting me to look away to Thee and be satisfied.  My heart longs to respond, but sin has clouded my vision till I see Thee but dimly.  Be pleased to cleanse me in Thine own precious blood, and make me inwardly pure, so that I may with unveiled eyes gaze upon Thee all the days of my earthly pilgrimage.  Then shall I be prepared to behold Thee in full splendor in the day when Thou shalt appear to be glorified in Thy saints and admired in all them that believe.

Amen


Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to my blog by Clicking here.

Free Indeed

Let’s admit it.  We seldom walk in the total freedom that Christ bought for us.

I recently came across this video made from an old recording of Paris Reidhead preaching.  I shared it on Twitter and wanted to share it with you here.  I have a difficult time watching it without tearing up as I reflect on what Jesus did for me and how I often respond to it as if it were something less.

I know what you’re thinking. “I don’t have time to watch a seven and a half minute video!”  Do yourself a favor.  Turn off the phone, quiet your heart, and let the Holy Spirit speak to you through this.

When you’re done, ask yourself, “Do I ever settle for less than all that Christ gave me?” and “Have I ever acted like the slave girl?”

God’s humongous blessings on you!

* My apologies to all those who commented on this post.  I lost it during maintenance and had to repost it.  Feel free to comment again!

The Forgiveness Dispenser

Ever found yourself in a situation like this? You’re tempted.  You want to look at that image, vent criticism, gossip, cross that line, bend the truth, or whatever it is your flesh wants to indulge in.  But you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, “Don’t go there!” Maybe you don’t hear a voice but you know it’s wrong.  Right about then, that other voice kicks in saying, “He’ll forgive you.”  Somewhere in the back of your mind you assure yourself of the mercy of God and it comforts you to know that He’ll still love and forgive you if you choose to do the wrong thing… and that comfort usually leads to the wrong decision.

I think sometimes when we struggle with a pattern of sin (secret or public) the answer can simply be found in how we view JesusIf we stop at Savior, we’re missing so much of what He has for us. We have to accept and view Him as Lord, King, Giver of Life, Best Thing of All!  When we approach him simply as a free ticket to heaven, mere fire insurance, we miss out.  Plain and simple.  He’s so much more and when we give Him Lordship, we receive that abundant life He spoke of.  In the end, it’s not so much of a sin problem as it is a Lordship problem.  Lordship leads to who and what we bend our lives around.

How do you view Jesus?  A.W. Tozer once wrote  “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  How you view Jesus will change how you live, where you live, and whether you truly live but you have to want more than simply a forgiveness dispenser.

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.” – Philippians 3:8-9a

* My apologies to all those who commented on this post.  I lost it during maintenance and had to repost it.  Feel free to comment again!

The Hard Stuff

For a long time I’ve believed that the truly hard things in Life were the “big” things.  You know, taking that missions trip, making that financial pledge, praying like crazy every day.  Something really adventurous might be starting a ministry or learning a new skill.  Lately I’ve come to realize that those things aren’t really that hard at all and that the things I once considered no brainers are actually quite soul-wrenching.  Here are a few examples of what I mean…

Forgiving others.  Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to truly forgive someone?  We say the words but the pain is still there.  Letting go of the bitterness, anger, and feelings of betrayal can feel exhausting at times.  These things are like the neighborhood cat that won’t stay away from your house!  You get rid of them, and you never hear them sneak back up on you.

Letting dreams go.  Eventually, we have to just let some dreams die.  The truth is, there is only so much room in our lives and, if we’re going to be faithful in the position God has placed us in, we have to let some things go.  Let’s face it, can we really be a good father, husband, or whatever and still pursue all our “great ideas”.  That’s not to say some dreams aren’t God given and He will give them back to us, but the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.

Trust.  Do we really trust God with everything?  We’ve sang about trusting, declared our dependence, and spoken confidently about giving everything to Him.  The truth is, we don’t mean it.  When the rubber hits the road and a real life choice is before us, we chicken out, rationalize, or make excuses.  We hold on to relationships we don’t belong in, we stay in jobs that aren’t right for us, and we hold on to our money because we’ve financially overextended ourselves.

Be loved.  Why is allowing ourselves to simply be loved so difficult?  Here we are the very center of Abba’s affection and we won’t just let him lavish His love on us.  How do we do this? I’ll tell you how…

By forgiving others, we allow God to heal the pain they’ve caused us.  We release them from judgment and His love just seems to settle on us like a tailored coat.

Letting go of our dreams allows God to lead us in new directions.  He longs to take us by the hand and walk with us to new places.

Trust is the truest sign of love.  As we trust God with everything, I mean really truly, holding nothing back everything, we experience God’s love in a whole new way.  Trusting God is like saying, “I receive your love.  Let’s do life together!”

The great thing about receiving God’s love is that it makes it so much easier to love other people.  It’s unselfish love because it doesn’t have to be returned or reciprocated.  It doesn’t have to be returned because no love, that any person gives us, can be compared to The Father’s love.

So choose to do the hard stuff.  Forgive, let go, trust, and receive His love.  The rest will seem like cake!