At that time I was deeply involved in a study of the epistle to the Ephesians. I thought I could connect the teaching of the epistle with my thoughts on spiritual living to give some help for the believer's quiet time with the Lord. (Google image, The Sufficiency of God)
I am deeply conscious of my imperfections in expressing what I have seen of the treasures God has stored in this epistle for His Church. Nevertheless, I have compiled my thoughts in this book in the hope that God may use them to help some of His children realize the standard of the true Christian life.
God is able and willing to make all the spiritual blessings and power that Paul's letter contains come true in our experience.
I send this book out with the prayer of Paul in his epistle, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" (Ephesians 1:7).
Unless that Spirit is sought, received, and yielded to, the truths of the epistle will remain a mystery. With the Spirit's teaching, we will
"be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Colossians 1:9).
We will discover that His power is actually able to do in us far above what we can ask or think. Andrew Murray
Preface, pp. 5, 6 of original 1984 printing,
Living to Please God
New release cover:
by Andrew Murray
by Whitaker House.
Use by permission of Whitaker House.
Let's pray-
Father, as Andrew shares with us his thoughts on spiritual living in his book with new title, Receiving Power from God, may we gather helpful information for our quiet times with You.
You are able and willing to make all the spiritual blessings and power that Paul's letter to the Ephesians tells us about, to come true in our own experiences.
You are able and willing to make all the spiritual blessings and power that Paul's letter to the Ephesians tells us about, to come true in our own experiences.
We so need the spirit of wisdom, revelation and knowledge of You to guide us today!
We seek, receive and yield to the truths we read, so we will be filled with the knowledge of Your will, and gain all wisdom and spiritual understanding, to actually be able to do far above what we can ask or think.
We thank You for the help we will receive from Mr. Murray's book in the following Tuesday and Thursday's blog posts.
It is our prayer that we will be inspired as we read and study his messages.
In the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen
Today's Bible verses-
1 John 5: 14, 15 (NKJV) "Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears
us. (v. 15) And if we know that He hears us,
whatever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we have asked of Him."
1 Peter 5:6, 7 (NKJV) "Therefore humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time, (v. 7)
casting all your care upon him, for He cares
for you."
Heb. 11:6 (NKJV) "But without faith it is
impossible to please Him for he who comes
to God must believe that He is, and that He
is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
1 John 5: 14, 15 (NKJV) "Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears
us. (v. 15) And if we know that He hears us,
whatever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we have asked of Him."
1 Peter 5:6, 7 (NKJV) "Therefore humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time, (v. 7)
casting all your care upon him, for He cares
for you."
Heb. 11:6 (NKJV) "But without faith it is
impossible to please Him for he who comes
to God must believe that He is, and that He
is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
Today's quote-
~ Oswald Chambers- "Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life.
Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament.
We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself." (From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition)
Words of wisdom-
~ We're not being punished when things go "wrong." Instead of a negative response, let's view difficulties as blessings in disguise, trusting God to see what He will do.
~ Because the Lord is always with us, our relationship provides a solid foundation for our lives. We have nothing to fear as He is with us for all time and eternity.
Marriage hint:
7 Ways to Stay Connected When You're Apart
by Jill Savage
[Great suggestions for married couples when there are times of temporary separation, when it's necessary to be away from each other.]
by Jill Savage
[Great suggestions for married couples when there are times of temporary separation, when it's necessary to be away from each other.]
List of recent sermons of CFC ministers. CFC Potsdam NY church has a live service at 10 am Sunday's for shut-ins. If for some reason you can't make it to the church you usually attend, click on the above link, and still get fed!
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
Helpful ways the Lord helped me in my marriage
Upcoming posts-
#2 The Spirit of Devotion
3rd.- Thursday's post by Andrew Murray10 Prayers God Always Answers
5th- Saturday's post by Carrie Lowrance
#3 The New Testament Standard
8th- Tuesday's post by Andrew Murray
#4 Stepping Into Spiritual Life
10th- Thursday's post by Andrew Murray
 |
| Prayer is not a preparation for battle, it is the battle! Pixabay.com |
Jean, great article. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete