Day: November 13, 2013

Faith or Experience?

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Oswald Chambers Imageby Oswald Chambers

. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

by Oswald Chambers

If You Can’t See, Look!

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Vance Havner Imageby Vance Havner

Looking unto Jesus. Hebrews 12:2

We are looking unto Jesus, not at Him. There is a world of difference. F. B. Meyer says something to the effect that if we cannot see Him we can look in the direction where we know Him to be. Alexander Whyte puts it: “He does not say, See; He says only, Look.”

The snake-bitten Israelite, far to the rear in the multitude, may not have been able to make out clearly the outline of the serpent, but he looked that way. What matters most is not how clearly we perceive Jesus but the utter dependence of our look. If a friend should assume a debt for us, we would look, not at him, but unto him, to meet the obligation. Sometimes our view grows dim and we cannot feel or think with satisfaction. Darkness veils Jesus’ lovely face, but if we rest on His unchanging grace, looking His way in the fog, that is it.

Look His way, face His direction, as you move through the mist. Look unto Him, even though you cannot look at Him. He will not fail, though you cannot feel. He abideth faithful.

by Vance Havner