Credulity and faith are like toadstools and mushrooms respectively, near enough in appearance to be mistaken for each other, but so wholly unlike that their effects are exactly opposite. The true man of faith is seldom credulous, and the credulous man seldom has real faith. Faith belongs to the simple-hearted, credulity to the simple-minded. They are worlds apart.
The one honors God by believing His promises against all evidence; the other is a child of superstition and honors nobody. Rather, he reveals untidy mental habits and lack of spiritual insight. It is astonishing what some people will believe when they get going.
They properly hold it a sin to doubt the Bible, so they refuse to doubt anything that is served up along with the Bible, however ridiculous and unscriptural it may be. If the story has a flavor of wonder about it, these uncritical friends will accept it without question and repeat it in an awed voice with much solemn shaking of the bowed head.
Multiply such people in any given church, and you have a perfect soil for the growth of every kind of false teaching and fanatical excess.
verse
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
— First John 4:1
thought
Satan delights to deceive by means of what is falsely biblical and apparently miraculous. Is it what it pretends to be? Our responsibility is to test the spirits and the teaching.
prayer
Lord, keep me from the counterfeit and the false. Lead me in the way of faith rooted in You and Your Word.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The man of true faith may live in the absolute assurance that his steps are ordered by the Lord. For him, misfortune is outside the bounds of possibility.
He cannot be torn from this earth one hour ahead of the time which God has appointed, and he cannot be detained on earth one moment after God is done with him here. He is not a waif of the wide world, a foundling of time and space, but a saint of the Lord and the darling of His particular care. All this is not mere dreaming, not a comforting creed woven as a garment to warm the shivering hearts of lonely, frightened souls in a dark and unfriendly world.
Rather it is of the essence of truth, a fair summation of the teaching of the Bible on the subject and should be received reverently and joyously along with everything else which is taught in the Scriptures of truth.
Here then I doubt no more, But in His pleasure rest, Whose wisdom, love and truth, and power Engage to make me blest.
verse
My times are in your hands; . . . Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
— Psalm 31:15a-16
thought
We and our times are in God's hands of unfailing love whether we recognize it or not. How restful in the storms of life to sink by faith into His arms.
prayer
Lord, I sink back into Your everlasting arms. Thank You I am Yours!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
To the child of God, there is no such thing as accident. He travels an appointed way. The path he treads was chosen for him when as yet he was not, when as yet he had existence only in the mind of God.
Accidents may indeed appear to befall him and misfortune stalk his way; but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God's hidden providence and so cannot discover the ends at which He aims.
When true faith enters, chance and mischance go out for good. They have no jurisdiction over them that are born of the Spirit, for such as these are sons of the new creation and special charges of the Most High God.
While sojourning here below, these children of the eternal covenant may pay token tribute to nature; sickness, old age and death may levy upon them, and to the undiscerning eye, they may seem to be as other men. Here, as in all its other judgments upon Christianity, the world is completely fooled by appearances, for it cannot see that these believing ones are hid with Christ in God.
verse
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.
— Isaiah 42:16
thought
Wrote William Cowper: ''Ye fearful saints fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. . . . Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan His work in vain: God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.'' God does move in mysterious ways!
prayer
Mysterious are Your ways, O Lord, but You are God and in You I may rest.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The true Christian, though he is in revolt against the world's efforts to brainwash him, is no mere rebel for rebellion's sake. He dissents from the world because he knows that it cannot make good on its promises. He has tasted the pleasures of society and he knows that they leave a bitter taste; and he has found that blessing of the Lord of which the wise man speaks, which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it.
And the Christian is not left without a "norm" to which he seeks to become adjusted. The Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the norm, the ideally perfect model, and the worshiping soul yearns to be like Him. Indeed the whole drive behind the Christian life is this longing to be conformed to the image of Christ. The energy with which the believing man revolts against conformity to the image of unregenerate society will be in exact proportion to the intensity of his yearning to be like Christ.
The classic expression of this burning desire to be Christlike is, of course, Paul's personal testimony in his letter to the Philippian Christians which begins, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ," and ends with the fervent declaration, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:7-14).
verse
"I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward ? to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back" (The Message).
— Philippians 3:14
thought
The more we run toward Christ and the closer we draw to Him, the more we light up this world and become salt in it. This is the way to become adjusted to Christ.
prayer
O God, I run toward Christ. Enable me to increasingly concentrate on that goal in all of my life.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . The truth is that the world does not know where it is going; it has not found life's summum bonum; it is not qualified as a model for the members of society to follow. It is instead puzzled, frightened and frustrated.
Generation follows generation into an uncertain future, completely beaten, disappointed and sick at heart.
It was to this kind of world that Jesus came, to save it from itself. He died for its sins and now lives for the salvation of all who will repudiate it, deny the validity of its philosophies and put their trust wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who do this no longer seek to be adjusted to society. They have renounced this world and have chosen a new model after which to pattern their lives. This is the aspect of the Christian life that most people do not like. They want comfort, blessing and peace, but they recoil from this radical, revolutionary break with the world. To follow Christ in this rough and thorough-going way is too much for them.
verse
''. . . For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. . . .''
— Second Corinthians 6:14, 17
thought
Saying ''yes'' to Christ and ''no'' to this world is not an emotional reaction or an intellectual exercise. It is a radical decision of the will to be ever exercised in the present tense.
prayer
O Lord, may I closely follow You as Your Spirit shows me Your way in Your Word.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
To be happy, adjust to the social norm. That is the popular notion but it will not hold up under examination. This norm to which we must adjust-where did it come from? What Moses brought it down from what mount?
Where are its credentials?
From whence its authority?
Since the world insists that I adjust to its beliefs, its moral standards and its practical working philosophies, it should be able to demonstrate that it knows where it is going, what it wants and why, and it should be able to come up with a few million happy men and women who by adjusting to its standards have found life's summum bonum.
Furthermore, nations that have had the benefit of such adjustment should be prosperous, peaceful, contented and happy.
These stipulations do not appear to me at all unreasonable considering how much depends upon the outcome and how much evangelistic zeal the world puts into the effort to get everyone properly adjusted.
But these simple tests show how phony the whole thing is. . . .
verse
''Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.''
— Romans 1:28
thought
Adjustment to American societal norms promise success, financial stability, relatively high standard of living and freedom from absolutes. Adjustment also means acceptance of sexual promiscuity, abortion, homosexual lifestyle, assisted suicide and ''me first-ism.''
prayer
I see it all around me. Heart serenity is not found in adjustment to this world's values and standards. It is found only in You, Christ.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . advertising, at least in the United States, is the most powerful educational agent extant. Those who write the advertising copy probably do more to determine the way the average person thinks than the school and church combined.
The reasons for this are two. One is that men may flee from the admonitions of parents and the good counsel of the church, but where can anyone hide from the advertiser? He is as near to being ubiquitous as anything on earth except gravity.
The second reason the advertiser exercises such incredibly powerful influence is that he has learned to perfection the art of communication. He may be lying, and often is, but he does get his ideas across; and that is more than can be said for the school and the church.
The big problem with Christians is that they come to Christ with their minds already made up on one point, viz., to stay sane they must remain adjusted to society. This notion has been drilled into them from their playpen, and it never occurs to them to question it. There is a norm out there somewhere to which they must conform, and that norm is above criticism. Their success and happiness depend upon how well they adjust to it. And Christianity, though it may add something to it, must never disagree with the main idea.
verse
''But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ . . .''
— Philippians 3:20
thought
We all suffer from artful media invasion so much so that we are hardly aware of its influence. We live in this world but our citizenship is in heaven. It is to the kingdom of God that we are to adjust.
prayer
I am constantly bombarded by this world's influence, Lord. May I take time daily to wait before You and so bring into focus kingdom adjustment.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
A word that is being greatly overused in modern society is adjust.
I am certainly not the first one to complain about it, but my objection to its overuse is, I believe, on a little higher level, for most persons who register their objections are thinking only about its social effects while I am concerned with its effect in the spiritual realm.
Thinking persons who deplore the present mania for adjustment point out that almost all adjustment is made downward to bring people into harmony with the common and the mediocre, so that society is educated toward a dead level with ordinariness as its ultimate end.
This passion to be mediocre and to make everyone else the same begins with the parent in the home, spreads to the schools and is propagated with missionary zeal by the advertisers. And advertising, at least in the United States, is the most powerful educational agent extant. Those who write the advertising copy probably do more to determine the way the average person thinks than the school and church combined.
verse
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
— James 1:27
thought
Adjusting can be helpful, even needful. It depends on what one adjusts to. Societal adjustment may result in spiritual maldjustment ? adjustment to evil and error, to this world system.
prayer
Lord, pressure is on to adjust to this world system, its values and lifestyle. Keep me from world pollution and may I not forget those in distress.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
In recent years the Bible has been recommended for many other purposes than the one for which it was written. The peace of mind cults, for instance, manage to find in it oil for the troubled waters of the soul; but to make it work they must pick, choose, misunderstand and misapply quite literally to their heart's content. Now, the Bible when read honestly and responsibly does bring peace of mind, but only after it has first brought the heart to a repentance that is often anything but peaceful. When the entire life has been morally transformed and the heart purified from sin, then the seeker can know real and legitimate peace. Any manipulation of the Scriptures to make them speak peace to the natural man is evil and can only lead to ruin.
A few years ago it was fairly popular practice for Bible teachers to claim to find in the Scriptures confirmation of almost every new discovery made by science. Apparently no one noticed that the scientist had to find it before the Bible teacher could, and it never seemed to occur to anyone to wonder why, if it was there in the Bible in such plain sight, it took several thousand years and the help of science before anyone saw it.
Now, I believe that everything in the Bible is true, but to attempt to make it a textbook for science is to misunderstand it completely and tragically. The purpose of the Bible is to bring men to Christ, to make them holy and prepare them for heaven. In this it is unique among books, and it always fulfills its purpose when it is read in faith and obedience.
verse
''For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.''
— First Peter 1:23
thought
Some view the Bible as great literature. Others treat it as something of a fetish to keep away evil. But the Bible's purpose is to change us as we read it, believe it and obey it.
prayer
Forgive me, Lord, for misuse of Your Word. May I listen to Your voice through it and so be changed by it.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/