Leaving space on my to-do list for God’s direction . . .

In today’s devotional reading, Dr. Tozer writes that some ‘Christians’ devise a quota system for their witnessing, such as two a week, etc. This certainly true of at least one cult. Their ‘rules’ state that their people must ‘witness’ to their beliefs and they measure this by how many pamphlets are distributed. Some go door-to-door while others hand them out on street corners.

Tozer says he’d hate to be someone’s quota for the day because sharing the Gospel requires the guidance and concern of God through the Holy Spirit. The enemy blinds human minds to the reality of the spiritual world. The Holy Spirit can bring light into that darkness and often uses the witness of an obedient Christian. For this to happen, we need to pay attention to God’s leading so our words and our timing coincide with what the Spirit is doing.

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:3–6)

That said, unless God speaks plainly, we have no idea what He is going to do or who He intends to give His light to, only that we must say what He puts on our hearts to say. I’ve also learned that I must not gauge the results by how the person responds. They might resist, argue, even ignore what I said yet the Holy Spirit is at work. This is the importance of listening and obedience.

Prayer is a vital part of this challenge to witness as well. Tozer says, “When seeking to bring the lost to Christ we must pray continually that they may receive the gift of seeing. And we must pit our prayer against that dark spirit who blinds the hearts of men.”

Sometimes I think I’m praying to persuade God, but God wants people to hear and respond to the Gospel more than I do. Prayer is spiritual war.

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Lord Jesus, my prayer time today is cut short by two appointments. Nevertheless, I’m thankful for this reminder and encouragement to keep on praying, not to convince You but to battle against that old liar who wants people to perish in their sin. Help me today to pray without ceasing, even in waiting rooms and while moving about. Also prompt me if You desire me to do or say something to another person about You or their spiritual condition. Their eternal destiny could be at stake.

A new way to define love. . .

Many Bible scholars think there is little distinction between the various words for ‘love’ in the Bible. The main difference is only one of them is used in verses that tell Christians to love one another. This Greek word is agape and its variations. It can mean care, affection and loyalty. This includes the attitude of the Pharisees for about their popularity and prominence; they loved (agape) their privileges. However, it is mostly used in verses like these:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16)

In other words, the love I’m to have for other believers is to be like the love Jesus has for me: self-sacrificial, wanting my eternal well-being, thoughtful in every way, even willing to give His life for me. This love is not about anyone deserving it. It is unconditional rather than being about my enjoyment of someone or something. My Bible dictionary says it means to have a strong, non-sexual affection and love for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character; especially characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges in another person’s behalf.

Regardless of dictionary meanings, the best way to understand this word is in each context where it is used. John 3:16 says God loved the world and the rest of the verse describes how He demonstrated that love: He gave His Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life.

This is a powerful kind of love. It was in the heart of God before the world was created. Some say He created humanity to have an object for His great love — people made in His image upon which to love!

Most of us don’t love like that. Our love may flow out of kinship or attraction, or from compassion or empathy. It is rare to see anyone willing to die for their friends, never mind make the ultimate sacrifice for people who have rejected them, yet Jesus did that. His love is eternal and knows no bounds. The new commandment He gave was not new as far as agape goes, but it is new in that we have a new way to define it — its meaning is found in Jesus Christ.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7–12)

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Jesus, You are my example of how to love AND my source for the power to be able to do it. I realize my sinful nature is selfish and not interested in sacrificing much of anything for someone else. Without You in my life, this is not merely difficult, but impossible. Giving up my plans and so on is not so difficult when I do it for family or friends, but You loved us and made the ultimate sacrifice that we might have an eternal inheritance — while we were sinners who had no value or qualities that made us loveable. Help me be less choosy and more like You!

Can a person be too smart?

Most of us think that intelligence is a good thing. Those who lack it struggle with life. Those who have an above average IQ may not, but they are at a disadvantage. For instance, can be too easy to assume that knowing God is not important.

I grew up with praise for good marks in school and a strong emphasis on being smart. Medals and awards did not lessen my quest to always be learning. However, the negatives outweigh the positives. For one thing, my class mates expected achievement and if I didn’t make it, they ridiculed me. This soon became my value system; I had to be excellent in school and was driven to serious study so that I would feel accepted.

After being a Christian for decades, I realize a large part of God’s training has been to show me that I am not as smart as I thought and that being without knowledge is an advantage. In the wisdom of God, He wants His people to realize that He is the source of wisdom and knowledge, not we ourselves, our IQ or our education:

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)

This verse and others like it reveal that God reveals wisdom and understanding to those who are not stuck on their own brain power.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–29)

How foolish to boast about intellect before Almighty God. When He spoke to Job, His first question was: “Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?” (Job 40:9) Of course no one is like God who knows all things, including the number of hairs on my head! (Matthew 10:30)

The wisdom to live with grace and power comes from God. He not only created us but gave us an “owner’s manual” that gives us true spiritual life and instruction on how to live it.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7)

By reading the Word of God He has shown me that, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.” (John 3:27)

As Tozer says, “Divine truth is of the nature of the Holy Spirit, and for that reason it can be received only by spiritual revelation.” None of the wisdom of God is available to the simple or to the genius unless the Holy Spirit reveals it. This is one reason why John wrote, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Unless I decrease in thinking of myself above what I ought to think, Jesus and His great wisdom will not increase in my life.

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33–36)

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Oh Jesus, I’ve been so slow to learn that it is not only okay to be of a simple-mind but this also gives me a distinct advantage — You reveal things to me that I could never figure out by my own reasoning. Thank You. May the wisdom You grant always be credited to the One who gave it. May I glorify You forever!