A BLAST FROM THE PAST

Today I would like to share a small section of writing with you from the book Absolute Surrender written in 1895 by Andrew Murray. He shares these thoughts based upon John 15:5, which says this: "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

He says this:
"The Christian life is a life of absolute dependence. At Hampton Court there was a vine that sometimes bore a couple thousand clusters of grapes. People were amazed at its productivity. later the secret was discovered. Not too far from Hampton Court flows the River Thames. The had stretched its roots hundreds of yards under the ground until it came to the riverbed. There, in all the nutrients of the river bottom, it found rich nourishment and moisture. The roots drew the sap all that distance to the branches.

The vine had the work to do. The branches simply had to depend upon the vine and receive what it gave.

That is exactly what Christ desires you to understand. Christ desires that in all your work, the very foundation should be the simple acceptance that Christ must care for all.

As you depend on Him He supplies your needs by sending down the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants you to be dependent as you serve Him. Day by day, hour by hour, in everything you do, simply abide before Him. Live in total helplessness of one who can do nothing.

Absolute dependence upon God is the secret of power in work. You and I have nothing unless we receive it from Jesus."

We are weak, but He is strong

It's nearly 10:00 as I sit in my living room sipping my coffee and contemplating what to write about this morning. I could tell you a number of things . . . like the bird that was so confused as to why he could not fly through the glass into our living room this morning or about our lettuce that is so tall and green we might accidentally use it for our Christmas tree this year. But, I don't exactly know what the spiritual connection would be.

So instead, I'll write regarding a little phrase that struck me this morning from Hebrews 11. This chapter, "God's Hall of Faith", serves as both an encouragement and a challenge to me. As I read about those who have come before us with such faith, I can't help but feel inspired to boldly walk in faith. Towards the end of the chapter, the author begins to lump many of these faithful followers of the LORD into a single section, creating a list of the faith actions they accomplished. Found in the list are things like conquering kingdoms, shutting the mouths of lions, and escaping the edge of the sword (Hebrews 11:33-34) - all pretty brave, bold, adventurous stuff. But amongst these, there lies a phrase perhaps too easily skimmed over because of its simplicity -

"From weakness were made strong" (Hebrews 11:34)

When we face times of trial, when we struggle and despair, it is definitely no fun. But it is during such times that we grow. How can the Lord prove His strength unless given opportunity? How are we to give Him that opportunity when life is all sunshine and roses for us? In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes regarding our weaknesses and the Lord's strength.

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Difficulties, distresses, trials, whatever word you place on them, do indeed come. We often want those times to go much quicker than they do. But next time you find yourself in a desperate situation, remember to lean on the Lord. Remember that He is perfecting you into the person He wants you to be. He is strengthening your faith - adding you to the "cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1) of faithful believers.

Marriage is what brings us together today...

I love weddings. There's just something about them that has always captured my heart. The pretty dresses, the decorations, and the beaming couple ready to begin their life as one. Yesterday I was blessed to attend one such wedding. As I thought of my love of weddings and romance in general, I was reminded that we are to be married to Christ one day.

In Hosea 2 it says "And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord."

Last week my church sang Chris Tomlin's song "Enough" and there's a line in it that says "You satisfy me with Your love". Before we sang, our leader Becky Skramstad spoke on how marriage is a great blessing from the Lord, but ultimately our love has to be satisfied in God alone. There is absolutely no way that another human being could ever satisfy all of our needs. These verses speak of the future that God has for those who love Him. He's waiting as our bridegroom and wants our hearts to belong solely to Him.

The last line of verse 20 has always stuck out to me here. In other passages of Scripture when the phrase so and so "knew" someone, it implied conception. Adam "knew" Eve, Abraham "knew" Sarah; it is a very intimate term to describe the closest relationship possible. This passage says that one day we will also know the Lord. Can you imagine the closeness we will have with the Creator of the universe?

But God doesn't want us to wait until that day to get to know Him in a personal, intimate way. He wants that to begin now. As we grow older and face all of life's trials, the Lord is the only constant, and He is waiting patiently for us to embrace the wonderful relationship He has waiting for us with Him.

So I ask you this tonight: where does your satisfaction come from?