The book that informs us without inspiring us may be indispensable to the scientist, the lawyer, the physician, but mere information is not enough for the minister.
If knowledge about things constituted learning, the encyclopedia would be all the library one needed for a fruitful ministry.
The successful Christian, however, must know God, himself and his fellow men.
Such knowledge is not gained by assembling data but by sympathetic contact, by intuition, by meditation, by silence, by inspiration, by prayer and long communion.
I therefore recommend reading, not for diversion, nor for information alone, but for communion with great minds.
The book that leads the soul out into the sunlight, points upward and bows out is always the best book.
The man who can teach me to teach myself will help me more in the long run than the man who spoon-feeds me and makes me dependent upon him.
The teacher's best service is to make himself unnecessary.
The book that serves as a ramp from which my mind can take off is the best book for me.
The book that follows me into the pulpit and intrudes itself into my sermon is my enemy and an enemy to my hearers
. The book that frees me to think my own inspired thoughts is my friend.
verse
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ . . .
— Colossians 2:2-3
thought
It is in Christ that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. Books by those who walk with God can aid us in knowing Him and so grow in understanding:
prayer
Thank You, Lord, for the books of those who have walked with You and who teach me to teach myself.
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https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
When the noted scholar Dr. Samuel Johnson visited the king, the two sat for a while before the fire in silence.
Then the king said, "I suppose, Dr. Johnson, that you read a great deal." "Yes, Sire," replied Johnson, "but I think a great deal more."
One of the English poets I believe it was Coleridge boasted to a Quaker lady about his study habits.
He began his studies the instant he got up in the morning: while he dressed he memorized poetry; he studied his Greek vocabulary while he shaved; and so to the end of the day. The lady was unimpressed. "Friend," she asked reproachfully, "when does thee think
Apart from technical information which, of course, must be received from others, a man can teach himself much more than he can learn from books. A good book should do no more than prime the pump. After that the water will flow up from within as long as we keep the handle working and long after the original cup of water has been forgotten.
All else being equal it is desirable that Christians, especially ministers of the gospel, should be widely read.
It is a disagreeable experience to present oneself before a teacher for religious instruction and discover in less than three minutes that the said teacher should have changed places with his listeners and learned from them rather than they from him.
If he is a humble man and sticks close to the small plot of ground with which he is familiar, he may, if he loves God and men, succeed in ministering to the spiritual needs of his flock. If, however, his ignorance is exceeded by his arrogance, then God help his hearers.
If he boasts of his ignorance and scorns learning, show me the nearest exit!
I can learn more from a child laughing on the lawn or a cloud passing overhead.
verse
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.
— Romans 12:2
thought
Thinking is an integral part of mind renewal. Good reading incites thinking , raises questions, suggests answers, expands horizons, strengthens foundations, reveals models of godly pilgirms.
prayer
Lord, I want to strengthen the discipline of good reading, even at the expense of TV watching and internet surfing.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . Well, here are some suggestions which anyone can follow and which, I am convinced, will result in a wonderfully improved Christian life. . . .
8. Deliberately narrow your interests. The jack-of-all-trades is the master of none.
The Christian life requires that we be specialists. Too many projects use up time and energy without bringing us nearer to God.
If you will narrow your interests, God will enlarge your heart. "Jesus only" seems to the unconverted man to be the motto of death, but a great company of happy men and women can testify that it became to them a way into a world infinitely wider and richer than anything they had ever known before.
Christ is the essence of all wisdom, beauty and virtue.
To know Him in growing intimacy is to increase in appreciation of all things good and beautiful.
The mansions of the heart will become larger when their doors are thrown open to Christ and closed against the world and sin.
Try it.
9. Begin to witness. Find something to do for God and your fellow men.
Refuse to rust out.
Make yourself available to your pastor and do anything you are asked to do.
Do not insist upon a place of leadership.
Learn to obey. Take the low place until such time as God sees fit to set you in a higher one.
Back your new intentions with your money and your gifts, such as they are.
10. Have faith in God.
Begin to expect.
Look up toward the throne where your Advocate sits at the right hand of God.
All heaven is on your side. God will not disappoint you. If you will follow these suggestions you will most surely experience revival in your own heart.
And who can tell how far it may spread?
God knows how desperately the church needs a spiritual resurrection. And it can only come through the revived individual.
verse
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
— Second Timothy 1:7
thought
Implementation of change in personal habits and life patterns can be difficult when we are acting alone. But if we are to have personal revival we must follow God's will regardless of what others do.
prayer
O God, I trust You for determination and enablement to implement the changes You want me to make. In Jesus' name.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . Well, here are some suggestions which anyone can follow and which, I am convinced, will result in a wonderfully improved Christian life. . . .
6. Bring your life into accord with the Sermon on the Mount and such other New Testament Scriptures as are designed to instruct us in the way of righteousness.
An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly.
I recommend that the self-examination be made on our knees, rising to obey God's commandments as they are revealed to us from the Word.
There is nothing romantic or colorful about this plain, downright way of dealing with ourselves, but it gets the work done. Isaac's workmen did not look like heroic figures as they digged in the valley, but they got the wells open, and that was what they had set out to do.
7. Be serious-minded.
You can well afford to see fewer comedy shows on TV. Unless you break away from the funny boys, every spiritual impression will continue to be lost to your heart, and that right in your own living room. The people of the world used to go to the movies to escape serious thinking about God and religion.
You would not join them there, but you now enjoy spiritual communion with them in your own home.
The devil's ideals, moral standards and mental attitudes are being accepted by you without your knowing it.
And you wonder why you can make no progress in your Christian life.
Your interior climate is not favorable to the growth of spiritual graces.
There must be a radical change in your habits or there will not be any permanent improvement in your interior life.
verse
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.
— Lamentations 3:40
thought
Personal revival will mean thoughtful personal application of God's Word and counter-culture living. Living counter to the world about us but, in some instances, counter to current evangelical culture, as well.
prayer
Father, show me what must be discarded from my present life patterns and what needs to be added.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . Well, here are some suggestions which anyone can follow and which, I am convinced, will result in a wonderfully improved Christian life. . . .
3. Put yourself in the way of the blessing.
It is a mistake to look for grace to visit us as a kind of benign magic, or to expect God's help to come as a windfall apart from conditions known and met.
There are plainly marked paths which lead straight to the green pastures; let us walk in them.
To desire revival, for instance, and at the same time to neglect prayer and devotion is to wish one way and walk another.
4. Do a thorough job of repenting.
Do not hurry to get it over with.
Hasty repentance means shallow spiritual experience and lack of certainty in the whole life.
Let godly sorrow do her healing work. Until we allow the consciousness of sin to wound us, we will never develop a fear of evil. It is our wretched habit of tolerating sin that keeps us in our half-dead condition.
5. Make restitution whenever possible.
If you owe a debt, pay it, or at least have a frank understanding with your creditor about your intention to pay, so your honesty will be above question.
If you have quarreled with anyone, go as far as you can in an effort to achieve reconciliation.
As fully as possible make the crooked things straight.
verse
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
— Matthew 3:8
thought
Repentance and restitution result when we seriously reflect on what God shows us in His Word. What is it of which we need to repent and is there restitution to be made?
prayer
My tendency, Lord, is not to take seriously my sin that hurts other people and to leave unrepaired the damage I have left in the lives of others. Make me sensitive, Lord!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
I have previously shown that any Christian who desires to may at any time experience a radical spiritual renaissance, and this altogether independent of the attitude of his fellow Christians.
The important question now is, How?.
Well, here are some suggestions which anyone can follow and which, I am convinced, will result in a wonderfully improved Christian life.
1. Get thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself.
Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress.
The contented soul is the stagnant soul.
When speaking of earthly goods Paul could say, "I have learned to be content" (Philippians 4:11); but when referring to his spiritual life he testified, "I press on toward the goal" (3:14). "So stir up the gift of God that is in thee" (2 Timothy 1:6, KJV).
2. Set your face like a flint toward a sweeping transformation of your life.
Timid experimenters are tagged for failure before they start.
We must throw our whole soul into our desire for God. "The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it" (Matthew 11:12).
verse
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
— Jeremiah 29:13
thought
A holy dissatisfaction arises when we look in the mirror of God's Word. What He has for us is far beyond what we have so far experienced. But when we seek to know God with all our heart, He will be found.
prayer
Lord, I want to grow not just tomorrow or in the the years ahead but now, today. Show me what it means to seek You with all my heart.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
No matter what I write here, thousands of pastors will continue to call their people to prayer in the forlorn hope that God will finally relent and send revival if only His people wear themselves out in intercession.
To such people God must indeed appear to be a hard taskmaster, for the years pass and the young get old and the aged die and still no help comes.
The prayer meeting room becomes a wailing wall and the lights burn long, and still the rains tarry.
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Let any reader begin to obey and he will have the answer. "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21).
Isn't that what we want after all?
verse
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
— John 14:21
thought
Obedience is the truest expression of our love to Christ. Not our emotional bursts of "worship" or our tears or solemn promises or extended hours of prayer. No, love expressed is obedience to His will as He has revealed it to us.
prayer
O Christ, Your will for me personally You have revealed. I rise up to lovingly obey You.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
It is almost unbelievable how far we will go to avoid obeying God.
We call Jesus "Lord" and beg Him to rejuvenate our souls, but we are careful to do not the things He says.
When faced with a sin, a confession or a moral alteration in our life, we find it much easier to pray half a night than to obey God.
Intensity of prayer is no criterion of its effectiveness.
A man may throw himself on his face and sob out his troubles to the Lord and yet have no intention to obey the commandments of Christ.
Strong emotion and tears may be no more than the outcropping of a vexed spirit, evidence of stubborn resistance to God's known will.
Jacob wrestled against the angel through one whole night. It was only after he had been defeated that he became the aggressor and refused to let go of God.
Why did Jacob resist so long?
Because he was ashamed to confess his name to the angel.
When he finally broke down and admitted that he was the supplanter, the victory was won. He triumphed in defeat.
verse
But Samuel replied: 'Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.'
— First Samuel 15:22
thought
Extended prayer, material sacrifice, devoted service we may offer as substitutes for simple obedience. But there is no substitute for obedience.
prayer
O God, You have made it clear and simple that what You ask of me is obedience, full obedience. That is what opens me to the blowing of Your Spirit.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Granted that the man who seeks revival has stopped thinking in plurals and has narrowed his faith down to one single individual, himself, what then?
How can he find that after which his soul is yearning?
How can he cooperate with his hungers to the end that he may indeed be filled?
He must rid his mind of the false notion that prayer alone will bring the blessing.
Normally all transactions between the soul and God are carried on by prayer. It is right and scriptural and according to the testimony of all the saints that any spiritual advance on any front, any deliverance, any purification, any enduement of power, comes by the prayer of faith.
Our error is that we try to secure these benefits by prayer alone.
The correction of this error is extremely difficult for it entails more than a mere adjustment of our doctrinal beliefs; it strikes at the whole Adam-life and requires self-abnegation, humility and cross-carrying.
In short it requires obedience.
And that we will do anything to escape.
verse
He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'
— Luke 11:28
thought
Prayerful Bible study exposes us to God's will for us. Knowing His will, praying about it, is not enough. Personal revival comes as we obey His will.
prayer
Forgive me, Lord, for trying to substitute prayer and other religious activity for simple obedience to your will as You reveal it to me.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/