Dear Ones:
In heaven there is no change with respect to God, His nature and character. And as we glimpse something of the immutable, perfect work of Christ, we see that there is not only ALWAYS a fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness, but there is an unchanging, living (ever fresh) way to God that Christ has opened, and maintains. He is the very Guardian and Minister of that new and living way. The access to the throne of God, this throne of Grace, is also immutable, unalterable. Every day, every second of every day…it remains intact and divinely viable. What does change though is our attitude of heart, grasp of the truth, and appropriation of the blessing by faith, with respect to this reality. If the “blessing of God” in Christ is always there, and in tact, then how is it that we are such feeble beneficiaries of it? The answer begins with the knowledge of the truth, the vision of things AS THEY ARE from heaven’s standpoint. The second aspect of the answer has to do with the disciplined appropriation of the blessing by faith. It is one thing to come to Christ. It is another to live, abiding in Him, deriving all from Him, and this, in an ever-increasing manner.
I have mentioned before the book, “Practicing the Promises,” by H. Moule. He brings out the importance of grasping three concepts which need to be considered in our walk with Christ in this world. The first has to do with AIMS. Aims are those aspirations, hopes, desires, and the setting of the will, to pursue a certain objective. Now, if we would align our minds and hearts with that of Christ, then we must aim at perfection. Christ preached perfection consistently, as He preached only that which was aboslute. God, because He is God, cannot demand less than perfection. So, every promise, commandment, and truth in the word of God is to be aimed at with perfection in mind. The second aspect which Moule elaborates on has to do with LIMITS. How can an imperfect creature, even a sinner, attain to the perfection of God? This was only possible by Christ, and this because He had a perfect faith, able to appropriate fully the blessing of God, and accomplish His work. Unlike Christ, our limits reveal themselves by our weakness, sinfulness, and/or faithlessness. In essence, our limits are “limits of faith.” We do not possess perfect, consistent faith. The faith that we have is often in fierce conflict with the world, flesh, and the devil…hence, we discover our “littleness of faith,” doubt, and fear at times. Our limits of faith become very evident at times. This being said, we come to the last point mentioned by Moule, and it is POSSIBILITIES. Because of the living Christ within the heart, and the truths of our union with Him, and our access to the Father by Him, the possibilities of believing God, even for the impossible from a human standpoint, are exceptional. “Unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above ALL that we can ask or think according to the power that worketh in us…” (Eph. 3:20) As Wesley put it, “All things are possible to Christ, the power of Christ in me. Lord I no more blasmpheme, I can, I do believe in Thee.”
Finally, we come to the matter of consistency…how do we live like this consistently? When the Apostle Paul wrote to his “son” Timothy, concerning the way forward and the fulfilling of his ministry, he declared: “…for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7) We have in this verse everything that we need for living consistently…in a disciplined manner, with eyes heavenward, and the truth in our hearts. We see clearly that any “spirit of fear” does NOT belong to us. On the contrary, the Spirit of God is our very power, love, and “soundness of mind,” or self-control. It is as we learn to depend upon the Spirit of God for everything, that we begin to appropriate the Lord Jesus more consistently. Godly men and women are those who are such, not because of some natural capacity. They are such because they have learned that there is only ONE source for all blessing, and it is in Christ…ever in Christ. And there they have learned to go, and drink of Him consistently.
Dear Lord Jesus, enable us to KNOW the truth of our union with Thee, and to grasp something of this immutable work of Thine which is the basis of being able to come to the Father at any minute of any day or night. Enable us to drink from this constant STREAM which is Thyself, deriving from Thee all that we need. Give us this blessed Spirit of discipline whereby we learn to, and do drink of Thee more consistently every day. We thank Thee for Thy marvelous provision for us, and the most wonderful revelation of the “possibilities” that are ours by the Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Love, Dad