"For I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:19 (ASV)
The very nature of the Christian life requires that we spend time with the Lord, because the Christian life is a supplied life. It is a life that is supplied to us. It has nothing to do with our own resources or any potential in ourselves. It has everything to do with our opening up to Another life to be supplied by that life from beginning to end. The Christian life is a life that has been prepared for us and is then furnished to us by God. He intends to continually supply Himself to us. It is for this reason that we need to spend time with the Lord--to receive the supply. When we hear the truth from the Scriptures or from others, we may take it as a personal demand upon us and feel threatened. We may think, "I'm not like that. I could never do that. I can't imagine that I could ever feel that way. I just can't live up to that." With these kinds of thoughts and feelings, if we do not realize that the Christian life is a supplied life, we may conclude that this life is not for us and give up. But listen to this. Every word that God has spoken in the Bible, whatever it is, whatever apparent demand it brings, God wants to supply that very thing into our being. It is not that we are expected to "measure up," or come up with the ability to perform in ourselves. No, God intends to continually supply Himself to us. We must understand the Christian life in this way--it is a supplied life. From beginning to end, it is supplied to us. And this supply comes to us and is dispensed into us in a very special and enjoyable way--by spending time with the Lord.
God is in your desire
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:12-13
We may live for years having desires to spend time with the Lord in a regular way. We may experience these desires to a greater or lesser degree, depending upon our spiritual situation. Nevertheless, we may not be aware of the fact that the very existence of these desires stirring within us is God operating in us. God works in your will to incline you to spend time with Him. He operates to that extent. But He does not take us over, obliterating our faculties and human responsibility and forcing us to spend time with Him. He works in us to a point. Then it is up to us to take the initiative to follow through by cooperating with His worked-in inclinations and desires. In other words, God's part is to supply the desire and the inclination to be with Him. Our part is to find a private place, set the alarm clock, rise up from our bed, wash our face, get our Bible, hymnal, and other spiritual books, and begin to wait upon the Lord by reading, praying, singing, or just quietly being in His presence to enjoy Him and behold Him. We need to realize that our desires to be with the Lord are God Himself. It is not just you. It is not just your desire. It is not merely your own thought that you should spend time with the Lord. It is God! God is in your desire! God is in your inclination! God is in your thought! Now you must work out what God has worked in. Just go along with that still small voice, that slight sensation that you should withdraw yourself to pray and spend time with Him. If you obey those small nudges, you are obeying God operating within you.
No comments:
Post a Comment