Wednesday, January 11, 2006

A Heavenly Language

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

"I am crucified with Christ..." -Galatians 2:20


How beautiful it is to see christians stand up and declare, with such a great boldness that, "I am crucified with Christ," after thirty minutes of being under the voice of an inspiring Man of God. Sometimes, with an aura too overwhelming, a tear escapes the confines of my eyes as I join them in afffirmation of Apostle Paul's words. Funny isn't it that the atmosphere we find ourselves in, when in Church, takes an upheaval immediately we breathe in fresh air the wind brings on our way home. Sometimes it takes only an hour (to be truthful, most times less) only to have almost forgotten today was a Sunday. Ha! I hope you no longer wonder what Jesus meant when He said that, "the word of the Lord is like a seed; some land on the floor and the birds come and pick it up..."
Dearly beloved, how innocent you are of this! For those who have attained unto righteousness by works will not have a clue of what I'm talking about, but for us who know, of a truth, that,"our sufficiency is not of ourselves," can say we've have been found guilty of this unfortunate tragedy.
Do you ever wonder the frame of mind of Paul when he beat his chest to declare such heavenly tongues of mystery: "I am crucified with Christ!"
Without ever seeing Paul, I could vouch that he meant that there should be an exclamation at that point; a pause of thought; a silence of all human wisdom; a letting go of worries that seem to cloud the present; a centurion's order to halt while every inclination of his subordinates is to obey, without understanding; a divine order for all hearts to stop in defiance of nature- for a revelation has just being made! When Paul said, "I know a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know, who was caught up in the heavens and heard things unfit for a man to hear," atleast, we now have an idea what he meant.
Try saying it, O saint of God, "I am crucified with Christ!" Again. One more time. It ain't gonna hurt yah; it won't kill you mate; wa guan, say it; make una say am... Irrespective of the languages of mankind, it will come to a time that as you meditate on those words and say it, you will come to feel a strong clutch on the reins of your heart, and come to experience the superiority of the nudging over the feeling; then you will find yourself in the upper room with the disciples on Pentecost-the endueing power of His Spirit. Atlas! those tongues of fire will purge you and in all truthfulness, and with all sincerity, you have learnt another, of the language of the heavens: one is 'Halleluyah,' and another, "I am crucified with Christ!" Come on. Don't wait for me. Go on. Finish it.
"Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me, and the life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."
What better time to start learning the language you will find yourself overwhelmed with, when you finally get to the place filled with jasper and streets paved with gold and precious stones! And beyond the billions of angels and saints and the beauty of beauties, that blind out the former world from the windows of your soul, coupled with the enchanting orchestra of praise crying, "Holy! Holy!! Holy!!!"- there lies the One. This time you won't forget, for He is the Christ you claimed to be crucified with... the one you truly were crucified with!

Selah!

The prisoner of Christ

Saturday, January 07, 2006

For me to live is Christ!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!


"For me to live is Christ."
- Phi_1:21
The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for him; to his glory we would live, and in defence of his gospel we would die; he is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character. Paul’s words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim and end of his life was Christ-nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ? Your business-are you doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self- aggrandizement and for family advantage? Do you ask, "Is that a mean reason?" For the Christian it is. He professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without committing a spiritual adultery? Many there are who carry out this principle in some measure; but who is there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for Christ as the apostle did? Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian-its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one word-Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, "Ready for either."

Charles Spurgeon

Friday, January 06, 2006

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!


"Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening."
- Eze_33:22
In the way of judgment this may be the case, and, if so, be it mine to consider the reason of such a visitation, and bear the rod and him that hath appointed it. I am not the only one who is chastened in the night season; let me cheerfully submit to the affliction, and carefully endeavour to be profited thereby. But the hand of the Lord may also be felt in another manner, strengthening the soul and lifting the spirit upward towards eternal things. O that I may in this sense feel the Lord dealing with me! A sense of the divine presence and indwelling bears the soul towards heaven as upon the wings of eagles. At such times we are full to the brim with spiritual joy, and forget the cares and sorrows of earth; the invisible is near, and the visible loses its power over us; servant-body waits at the foot of the hill, and the master-spirit worships upon the summit in the presence of the Lord. O that a hallowed season of divine communion may be vouchsafed to me this evening! The Lord knows that I need it very greatly. My graces languish, my corruptions rage, my faith is weak, my devotion is cold; all these are reasons why his healing hand should be laid upon me. His hand can cool the heat of my burning brow, and stay the tumult of my palpitating heart. That glorious right hand which moulded the world can new-create my mind; the unwearied hand which bears the earth’s huge pillars up can sustain my spirit; the loving hand which incloses all the saints can cherish me; and the mighty hand which breaketh in pieces the enemy can subdue my sins. Why should I not feel that hand touching me this evening? Come, my soul, address thy God with the potent plea, that Jesus’ hands were pierced for thy redemption, and thou shalt surely feel that same hand upon thee which once touched Daniel and set him upon his knees that he might see visions of God.

Charles Spurgeon