Hey Everyone!
Hope and pray all is well with you. I've prayed for each of you by name. The passage that's been prayed on your behalf is Ephesians 1:17 - "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." Interestingly enough, if you've read chapters 3 and 4 of Tozer this week then you know that's EXACTLY what Tozer is zeroing in on - knowing God!
I don't know about you, but chapters 3 and 4 have really captured my heart's attention. So much so, I am going to make an executive decision to veer off our previously determined reading schedule. Instead of moving on to chapter 5 this week, I'd like to declare a "bye" week. Let's press pause! If you have fallen behind a bit in your reading, this week is a chance for you to catch up and read through chapter 4. If you are right on track, and you've finished chapter 4 already, I encourage you to take this week and re-read any portions or chapters that you would like to revisit. I will personally be re-reading chapters 3 and 4 again. There were so many lines that captured my spirit, but I'll highlight 3 of them -
1) "Now He waits to show Himself in ravishing fullness to the humble of soul and pure in heart." Ch 3, p 36 (in my book) - My prayer is this - Lord, help me to have a humble soul and a pure heart, so that I might see You in ravishing fullness!
2) "There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work with us." Ch 3, p 43 (in my book) - one word, wow.
3) "Most people... do not know God in personal experience. ...They go through life trying to love an ideal and be loyal to a mere principle." Ch 4, p 48 (in my book) - This is a statement that brought me great affirmation and yet utter humility at the same time. If this statement is true, what is my role as a pastor or our role as church leaders? This reality, to me, changes everything.
I'll be spending the next week seeking the Lord's face and heart on these issues. Please pray for me. I'll be praying for you!
Feel free to share your impressions from these chapters by replying to this email or posting on the blog!
Kevin
Assignment this week:
Reading - If you've fallen behind on your reading a bit, no problem! Take advantage of this "bye" week and catch up with us. Read through chapter 4. If you've read through chapter 4 already, take the time this week to pause and re-read any chapters or portions you would like to revisit.
Journal & Prayer - Simply take time this week, if you haven't already, to write down a few prayers. Maybe it would be helpful for you to write down questions you have for the Lord or requests you have for the Lord. One prayer request I'll be writing in my journal is the one I mentioned above - "Lord, help me to have a humble soul and a pure heart, so that I might see You in ravishing fullness!"
1 comment:
Chapter 3 is blowing my mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pg. 22 - Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever... the loss of which is the cause of our unceasing restlessness.
I had two initial thoughts about this statement.
1) It reminded me of Matthew 11:30 where Jesus says 'my yoke is easy and burden is light'. It's REALLY easy to complicate our relationship with God, but it's not that complicated. Glorify him. Period.
2) And how can I shift my prayers so rather than continuously requesting things, I simply rest in Him?
My prayer from this is to understand that God is my chief end (another request, haha).
On pg 23, Tozer used the word prevenient. I had to look it up. It means 'coming before, preceding, expectant'. Just in case I wasn't the only one.
On pg 26 - 'No one need be downcast, for Jesus is the joy of heaven, and it is His joy to enter into sinful hearts.'
1)Praise the Lord!
2)I agree with Tozer wholeheartedly. How can we not beam with excitement for what God's done for us? It's incomprehensible.
Finally, on pg 28 he discussed the self-sins. He specifically points out self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, and self-love.
I think some self-sins that we Christians can easily suffer from but disguise as humility are also self-consciousness, self-doubt, self hate and plain old insecurity. It's all self centered.
Tozer goes on to tell us 'we must bring our self sins to the cross for judgement.' and 'self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.'
What a challenge we have to die to ourselves everyday. It's HARD! But at least it's not complicated. :)
Thanks for the Bye week!!!
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