God Always Acts Like Himself
...recovering a reverence for God in ministry
A.W. Tozer has always been a favorite of mine. He is not a flatter; he certainly is not politically correct in any way; he spoke the truth in love without thought of himself and the inevitable fallout to his popularity. He served an Audience of ONE and we are grateful for the faithfulness in ministry this dear man of God has passed on to us.The following devotional from him goes along the theme of recovering a reverence for God in ministry. So little is being done these days on the glory, majesty and character of God without the anthropomorphic tag line of "personal esteem."
I commend this highly to you in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
By His grace and for His glory,
by A.W. Tozer
By His grace and for His glory,
Campi
2 Cor. 3:5
"To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him? An idol!
A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays
it with gold and casts for it silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wool
that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might
he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings(AO) like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
or what likeness compare with him? An idol!
A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays
it with gold and casts for it silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wool
that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might
he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings(AO) like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
-Isaiah 40:18-20; 25-26; 28-31
by A.W. Tozer
Since true faith rests upon what God is, it is of utmost importance that, to the limit of our comprehension, we know what He is. "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee" (Psalm 9:10). The name of God is the verbal expression of His character, and confidence always rises or falls with known character. What the psalmist said was simply that they who know God to be the kind of God He is will put their confidence in Him. This is not a special virtue, I repeat, but the normal direction any mind takes when confronted with the fact. We are so made that we trust good character and distrust its opposite.
That is why unbelief is so intensely wicked. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar" (1 John 5:10). The character of God is the Christian's final ground of assurance and the solution of many, if not most, of his practical religious problems. Some persons, for instance, believe that God answered prayer in Bible times but will not do so today, and others hold that the miracles of olden days can never be repeated. To believe so is to deny or at least to ignore almost everything God has revealed about Himself. We must remember that God always acts like Himself. He has never at any time anywhere in the vast universe acted otherwise than in character with His infinite perfections.
This knowledge should be a warning to the enemies of God, and it cannot but be an immense consolation to His friends.
Prayer
You are my resting place. The more I know You the more I trust You. I can trust You even when I do not understand.
Scripture
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
— Hebrews 13:8
Thought
Horatius Bonar understood it well when he wrote: "I change, He changes not, the Christ can never die; His love, not mine, the resting place; His truth, not mine, the tie."
Source:
That Incredible Christian
Chapter # Six
Faith's Foundation Is God
Listen to Tozer's Sermons online here.
That is why unbelief is so intensely wicked. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar" (1 John 5:10). The character of God is the Christian's final ground of assurance and the solution of many, if not most, of his practical religious problems. Some persons, for instance, believe that God answered prayer in Bible times but will not do so today, and others hold that the miracles of olden days can never be repeated. To believe so is to deny or at least to ignore almost everything God has revealed about Himself. We must remember that God always acts like Himself. He has never at any time anywhere in the vast universe acted otherwise than in character with His infinite perfections.
This knowledge should be a warning to the enemies of God, and it cannot but be an immense consolation to His friends.
Prayer
You are my resting place. The more I know You the more I trust You. I can trust You even when I do not understand.
Scripture
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
— Hebrews 13:8
Thought
Horatius Bonar understood it well when he wrote: "I change, He changes not, the Christ can never die; His love, not mine, the resting place; His truth, not mine, the tie."
Source:
That Incredible Christian
Chapter # Six
Faith's Foundation Is God
Listen to Tozer's Sermons online here.
