I had a hard weekend physically. Didn't feel very well. Pretty much stayed in the entire weekend. What better time than this to spend reading the writings of a man whose life was spent in chasing after this God who had saved him. The man? A.W. Tozer. The book? The Pursuit of God.
Downloaded some audio messages and feasted on them for a number of hours. Now when I say feasted, what I really mean is that Tozer had a way of making you look at yourself through the eyes of God. Seeing yourself as you truly are, not as you wish you were.
One particular chapter caught my attention with the heading of The Blessedness Of Possessing Nothing. Opening with the words of Matthew 5:3 ( Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.), Tozer points out that when we are saved our very lives are no longer out own, but are directed ty the very One who has forgiven and saved us. The One who paid the sin-debt we owed yet were unable to pay. This of course would be Jesus.
There is no room in our hearts (the center of who we truly are ---will, intellect, emotion) for cohabitation of God's Holy Spirit and those things that "SELF" want to possess. We don't get to pigeon hole small parts of God, placing in the way we want to. We don't get to be judge and jury over what we will or will not do. This is not something that is taught a lot in some churches. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "The world (church) offers only salvation and grace of God, expecting nothing in return from those who receive such. In other words, come and get your sins forgiven, but nothing is required to change in the way you live.
I've seen this played out many times in those who are struggling with addiction. I've seen some get gloriously saved only to continue in their old lifestyle. Refusing to surrender toxic relationships that you know is not good for this new life.
In some ways, we all must have a Genesis 22 moment in our life. In Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to take his son, Isaac, and sacrifice him. The very son that you could call a son of "promise"....not was targeted to be sacrificed. This whole event was truly about Abraham. Could it have been that God was testing Abraham to see where his heart truly lay? Would Abraham obey, or would he refuse to obey?
In the end Abraham obeyed God. But God intervened just as Abraham was about to plunge the knife into his son. This entire episode was not so God could see how Abraham would respond, it was about Abraham understanding his own heart, and that he there wasn't any possession, person, place or thing that he would put ahead of God. Such an event as we read about in Genesis 22 sounds cruel and archaic. We would even go as far as saying that God would never do such a thing in our day and time. Really? It might not be one of your children that God is calling you to sacrifice, but there are other things that we must be willing to give over to God. In order for me to grow in Him, I truly must empty myself of anything that we seek to take God's place in my life.
I know this is pretty heady stuff for a Monday morning, but I do believe that we must ask ourselves. "Am I poor in Spirit" or do I seek to collect the things of this world and fill my life with them.
Think on this....
God on you...
mbb
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