Dear Ones:
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he speaks of God’s work in us. First of all, he declares that he is confident of a specific thing: “He that hath begun a good work in you, WILL PERFORM it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1.6) The other passage is found in Phil. 2:13 where he writes, “…For it is God who is at work in you both to WILL and to DO of His good pleasure.” The first passage deals with God’s commitment, His resolve, to form Christ in us. He brings us to Christ, keeps us IN Christ, and transforms us into the image of Christ. All of His dealings with us are to this end, and this He will perform, until and including that moment when we shall be transformed completely and forever at His coming, or our going to be with Him. The second passage has to do with our response to His working, for it involves our “willing” and “doing.” To this end, He is ever seeking to make us into men and women of faith, whose whole hope and expectation is in Christ. How then does He work? What is His method in dealing with us to bring us to this point, to this experience of Him?
The Nez Perce Indians of Idaho, who befriended Lewis and Clark during their expedition and exploration of the West, were exposed to the teaching of the Bible concerning God. There were certain members of the tribe who were discontented about their religion, their form of worship. They were not convinced that they knew the truth about God. They sent four members of the tribe to St. Louis to hear more of this God, as they knew that Lewis and Clark had returned there. Several years later, missionaries were sent to them, and many came to Christ. How did God deal with them? He created a longing in their hearts for the truth, for the conviction of reality, for the experience of the peace and love of God. God then provided the TRUTH of Himself, the vision of Christ and His work. It would be as the Nez Perce would grasp the truth of Christ, and commit themselves to Him, that the change would come, that the work of God would move forward towards the goal of being transformed into the same image as Christ. God also sent to the Nez Perce a woman missionary whose name was Kate McBeth to be a living testimony to the reality of Christ. It was written of Ms. McBeth, “…the little intrepid missionary…the woman whose Christ-like life is a miracle in this land.” Not only did God give the knowledge of Christ through the pages of the Bible, but in and through the life of one of His servants, who would live among the Nez Perce.
There is a very important principle that we must see if we would understand something of God’s dealings with us. It is the principle of appropriation. All through the Psalms we find where the Psalmists are speaking of God being a refuge, our strength, our light, our salvation…and much more. Here again, God deals with the Psalmist as He deals with the Nez Perce, and as He deals with us. He REVEALS to us the truth of Himself. He gives us a “vision” of Himself (…by vision I mean a clear perception of Himself according to the truth.) Secondly, He reveals to us that we must take Him as such by faith. For example, we know that the Lord is the Great Shepherd, but have we made Him by faith OUR, MY Shepherd? Is He MY refuge and strength, or is He simply THE refuge. He is not mine in the way that He desires to be unless I take Him by faith according to the truth. It is, as we walk on the two feet of “surrender” and “faith,” that He works in us His blessed work. I surrender to Him my false concepts, petty thoughts, in order to embrace Him by faith, according to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus is known by His truth, and that truth indeed sets us free.
Dear Father, work in us the willing and the doing of Thy good pleasure. Draw out our hearts to Thee by giving to us a hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Reveal the truth of Thyself to our hearts, and strengthen us to surrender the ashes of our false ideas, and twisted concepts, in order to grasp the hem of Thy garment, believing Thee according to the truth. Then we shall KNOW Thee more and more, and Thou shalt dwell in our hearts in an ever increasing measure for Thy glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad