The Doctors Weekly Tonic
By Paul Moody
Week One
Daily Food
Look at Jesus CONSIDER "this is My Son.... hear ye Him"
The keynote to the Epistle to the Hebrews is "consider Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Messiah." It admonishes us to set our heart on Him. "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (Hebrews 3:1),
The word "consider" (katanoeo) literally means, "to direct one's whole mind to an
object, to immerse oneself in it and hence to apprehend it in its whole compass"
In order to grow spiritually, we must fix our mind on Christ. It is imperative that we consider carefully and understand fully the person and work of Jesus Christ. The word
"consider" is formed from the root of the Latin word "star" and originally means to contemplate with the idea of a quiet, patient, persevering concentrated gazing in order to study the stars. The writer of Hebrews admonishes his readers to gaze upon Jesus and contemplate Him, therefore increasing our knowledge, devotion, and faith in Him. What does he wish for us to
"consider?"
He wants us to see the significance and thoroughly weigh the evidence of Christ's superiority over the prophets, angels, and the patriarchs of Israel. Because of the greatness of His person, the effectiveness of His redemptive work will be pleasing to God the Father.
The writer of Hebrews is addressing Christians calling them "holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling" (v.l).
Believers in Jesus Christ are saints. We are "holy brethren" in our standing with God because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. We are holy in Christ.
It is Jesus who makes us holy. The word "holy" in this verse is emphasizing our position in salvation. We have been
"set apart for God." Christian believers are saints, set apart ones. Sainthood does not take place in some distant future. The believer is already a saint because He is
"in Christ." This perfect standing with God should be the greatest incentive to make every effort to live a godly life before Him (Phil. 3:14). He has made a perfect propitiation for the sins of His people (1John 2:21; 4:10). The believer is holy because God has made him so (Heb. 2:11). We "share in the heavenly calling" because God "is bringing 'us' to glory" (2:10). We share in Jesus Christ ((Heb.3 14; Eph. 5:30). We are "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Heb. 4:14; 10:23). "The call comes from heaven and is to heaven in its appeal," .
Jesus Christ is both "The Apostle and High Priest" of Christians. Jesus is "The Apostle" because He was sent by God the Father to be His spokesman and
revealer
(Heb. 1:1-3; Jn. 3:17, 34; 5:36, 38; 6:29; 8:42; 10:36; 11:42; 13:3; Matt. 17:5; Deut.18:15, 18).
Because He is God's ambassador, we need to consider carefully and fully understand what He has revealed to us about a right relationship with God.
Jesus is also our great High Priest (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:14).He represents God before men and man before a holy God.
As an apostle. He is close to me; as Priest, He is close to God. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2Cor.5:19).
Christianity is Christ. Therefore it behoves us to contemplate and meditate on Him. Lord Jesus, will I see you today? The Lord is not ashamed to call us His brethren (Heb. 2: 12). May we never be afraid or embarrassed to call Him our
Lord and Master (Matt. 10:32-33).
God has done something marvellous for sinners. Because of our vital union with Christ, He has imputed to us His righteousness. We are partakers of the heavenly calling. "What He has, we have. Where He is, we are. He is the Holy One of God; therefore, we are holy. He has been made higher than the heavens; therefore, we are partakers of the heavenly calling." No passing glance of Christ will do. Understand and learn the lesson that God wants to teach you.
"Consider attentively and thoughtfully the Apostle and High Priest of our confession Jesus"
Week Two
New
Covenant in Christ Jesus
....
To live with nothing coming from us and everything coming from God is to live in
the Spirit, who is continually giving Life . . , It is the secret which produced
the confident spirit that characterized Paul and made him spread the fragrance
of the knowledge of Christ everywhere he went. The language he used reminds us
immediately of the words of Jesus to His disciples: "Without Me, you can do
nothing" (John 15:5). . . . What Jesus and Paul both teach is that
activity, which depends upon human resources for its success, will, in the end,
accomplish nothing. It will have no permanent value. Men may praise it and
emulate it, but God will count it for what it is -- wasted effort. . . .
There
are, according to Paul, two covenants at work in human life. One is the new,
which he describes as "nothing coming from me, everything from God."
The
other is the old, which is in direct contrast to the new and can therefore be
described as everything coming from me and nothing coming from God.
"Such
confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in
ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is
from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the
letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life"
[These
Gentiles] were "without Christ," and "now in Christ Jesus you are
..."
Formerly,
they were dead. They walked according to this world, under the prince of the
power of the air. Now they were alive, quickened, risen, and seated with
Christ
in the heavenlies. Now they were nigh unto God. Formerly they were "without
Christ." Now they were "in Christ Jesus." Formerly they were
"afar off," now they were "made nigh" to God in Christ.
Christ's
position is one of nearness to God. He makes us nigh to God. He gives us our
place in the commonwealth.
Week Three
Daily
Bread
God
imparts His life to us and He will live it through us (Rom. 5:10). Jesus said,
"He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life" (John
6:54). We have God's life by appropriating the Lamb of God (John 6:27).
Everything is centred on Jesus Christ. He is all we ever need for this new life
in Christ. The only life that pleases God is His life and the life of His Son.
If
anyone eats of this bread, be will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I
will give for the life of the world" (John 48-51).
How
do you feed upon the Lamb of God? It means to believe on Jesus and commit your
life to Him. By faith you take Jesus into your heart that He becomes a part of
you, and you of Him. To know Jesus Christ is to have eternal life. It is a
relationship with a person, the Son of God.
Week Four
Daily
food
Job
No
wonder the people found Him amazing! No wonder the scribes and Pharisees found
Him unbearable! Hypocrisy despises truth. Religiosity hates simple faith.
Have
you forgotten that spiritual activity is merely the expression of faith, the
outworking of your relationship with the Almighty? Check your motivation. Why do
you go to church? Why do you read your Bible? Why do you have a regular quiet
time with God? What's your objective? To please God . . . or to know God?
"Behold,
as for the proud one. His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will
live by his faith."
Week Five
Daily
Food Oct 2005
The
Feast of the First Fruits
Leviticus
23:9-14
1
Corinthians 15:20
God
claims the first fruits of everything. He has first claim on our lives.
The
feast of the first fruits Is closely associated with the Passover and the
unleavened bread They were held consecutively on the fourteenth, fifteenth and
sixteenth days of the first month of the Jewish calendar.
Although
the Passover was established the night Israel left Egypt, it was not celebrated
until forty years later in the Promised Land. The feast of first fruits was not
observed until the nation entered the Promised Land. The feast of first fruits
was a celebration of God's provision in the Land. For forty years they had eaten
manna, the food of the wilderness Journey. Now it was time to celebrate the
promise of God's abundant harvest in the land of provision.
The
Jewish people at the time of the sowing of seed would mark off certain barley in
the field. When the time of the harvest season arrived, men would carry a sickle
and basket and on command reap the specially designated grain The men would
march to the Tabernacle bringing a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest to
the priest The priest would wave the sheaf accompanied by burnt and meal
offerings "He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted;
on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave It. Now on the day when you
wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a
burnt offering to the Lord" (w. 11-12).
Our
Great High Priest was waving the first fruits of the resurrection harvest! Our
lord Jesus Christ Is in the presence of the Father in heaven as the
representative of the whole church that is still in the field waiting the
harvest. The first fruits is a living testimony to God's sovereignty and says to
a watching world. "Because 1 live, you shall live also."
Even
so, come, Lord Jesus. Even today.
Week Six
"My
Cup is Running Over"
God's
saving and sustaining grace is always like that. His grace is always in
fullness, abundance and all-sufficiency.
The
woman of Samaria met Jesus at Jacob's well on a hot day. Jesus did not have a
rope and a bucket to draw the water from the well so He asked the woman for a
drink of water to quench His thirst. In the course of the conversation with the
woman Jesus said, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to
you, 'Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you
living water'"
Jesus
is the source of a spring of living water that is always bubbling up, unfailing
source, ever fresh. The idea is of water leaping, springing up. It is full of
action, not a stagnant pool of water, but water gushing up with energy.
Jesus
puts the well within us. The well springs up, and it goes on springing up from
within into everlasting life.
Jesus
a few chapters later tells us, "If any man is thirsty, let Him come to Me
and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, 'from his innermost
being shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38). These are rivers
from the inside depths of one's being.
Jesus
did not say just a trickle now and then, but rivers gushing forth from within
you. In the next verse Jesus tells us this is the work of the Holy Spirit.
My
cup runs over because He "is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all
that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us" (v. 20).
That is the believer who has received the fullness of God, and grace upon grace.
It is the superabundance of life that we receive through the Spirit in Christ
Jesus. This is the fullness of life Jesus gives and it causes our cups to run
over with the fullness of joy. No Christian is poor while Christ is rich.
Because
of our intimate vital union with Christ we enjoy all His riches of His glory. We
can never be poor spiritually when we enjoy "the unsearchable riches of
Christ." "My cup runs over!"
One
of the great principles of the Christian life is the more you receive, the more
you want. If your cup is overflowing, you want more of Him, and the wonderful
thing is it will never run dry. All you have to do is come and drink. This super
abounding life in Christ is ever growing, expanding and increasing as we are
"changed from glory into glory" (2 Cor. 3:18). Our cup overflows by
drinking a life that changes us "from glory to glory."
Another
great principle is the more you give away the more you get. There is no more
effective way of serving Christ than when your cup is running over. When you
serve Him from the overflow you have a ministry that will impact eternity. Oh,
Lord cleanse, and fill me until I run out all over the place with the fullness
of your grace.
Selah!
Week Seven
Jesus
Comes To Church And He Looks Around
Mark
11:11
I.
HE LOOKS AT THE PLACE OF WORSHIP
Trans.
Not only does He look at the place of worship, but
a.
for each other b. for Him
a.
our witness b. our works
a.
to the Word of God b. to the Work of God
Application:
Does Jesus see these qualities in you?
but
I. At the Place of Worship
II.
At the People Who Worship
III.
At the Preacher Who Leads in Worship
The
church at Pergamos (Rev. 2:16) 'repent'
The
church at Sardis (Rev. 3:3) 'repent'
The
church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:19) 'repent'
Week Eight
BIRTH AND OUR NEW BIRTH
"Behold, a virgin shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Isaiah 7:14 (R.V.)
His Birth in History.
"Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35.) Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not evolve out of history; He came into history from the: outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being, He is a Being Who cannot be accounted for by the human race at ail. He is not man becoming God, but. God Incarnate, God coming into human flesh, coming into it from outside- His life is the Highest and the Holiest entering in at the Lowliest door. Our Lord's birth was an advent.
His Birth in Me.
"Of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." (Gal.4:19.] Just as Our Lord came into human history from outside, so He must come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a "Bethlehem" for the Son of God? I cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless I am born from above by a birth totally unlike natural birth, "Ye must be born again." This is not a command, it is a foundation fact- The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me.
Immediately Christ is formed in me. His nature begins to work through me. God manifest in the flesh - that is what is made profoundly possible for you and me by the Redemption.
THE DELIGHT OF SACRIFICE
"I will very gladly spend and be spent for you;" 2 Corinthians 12:15
When the Spirit of God has shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, we begin deliberately to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ's interests in other people, and Jesus Christ is interested in every kind of man there is- We have no right in Christian work to be guided by our affinities; this is one of the biggest tests of our relationship to Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, not fling it away, but deliberately lay my life out for Him and His interests in other people, not for a cause, Paul spent himself for one purpose only - that he might win men to Jesus Christ, Paul attracted to Jesus all the time, never to himself. "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." When a man says he must develop a holy life alone with God, he is of no more use to his fellow men: he puts himself on a pedestal, away from the common run of men. Paul became a sacramental personality; wherever he went, Jesus Christ helped Himself to his life. Many of us are after our own ends, and Jesus Christ cannot help Himself to our lives. If we are abandoned to Jesus, we have no ends of our own to serve. Paul said he knew how to be a "door-mat" without resenting it, because the mainspring of his life was devotion to Jesus. We are apt to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which emancipate us spiritually. That was not Paul's motive. "I could wish my self were accursed from Christ for my brethren" - wild, extravagant - is it? When a man is in love it is not an exaggeration to talk in that way, and Paul is in love with Jesus Christ.
DESERTER OR DISCIPLE?
"From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." John 6:66
When God gives a vision by His Spirit through His word of what He wants, and your mind and soul thrill to it, if you do not walk in the light of that vision, you will sink into servitude to a point of view which Our Lord never had. Disobedience in mind to the heavenly vision will make you a slave to points of view that are alien to Jesus Christ, Do not look at someone else and say - Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why cannot I? You have to walk in the light of the vision that has been given to you and not compare yourself with others or judge them, that is between them and God, When yon find that a point of view in which you have been delighting clashes with the heavenly vision and you debate, certain things will begin to develop in you - a sense of property and a sense of personal right, things of which Jesus Christ made nothing. He was always against these things as being the root of everything alien to Himself. "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth. If we do not recognize this, it is because we are ignoring the undercurrent of Our Lord's teaching. We are apt to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we have had. If there is one standard in the New Testament revealed by the light of God and you do not come up to it, and do not feel inclined to come up to it, that is the beginning of backsliding, because it means your conscience does not answer to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you for going on as a more true disciple of Jesus Christ or for going back as a deserter,
Week Nine
The Strength
Of the Lamb
P.Moody Feb 2007
No tree can grow except on the root from which it sprang. And what is the
root and essence of the character of our Redeemer? There can he but one answer:
it is His humility. What is the Incarnation but His heavenly humility, His
emptying Himself and becoming man? What is His life on earth but taking the
form of a servant? And what is His atonement but humility? "He humbled Himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil.
2:8) And what is His ascension and His glory but humility exalted to the
throne and crowned with glory? "He humbled Himself.... Therefore also God
highly
exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name." (Phil.
2:8,9) In Heaven (where He was with the Father), in His birth, in His life,
in His death, in His sitting on the throne - it is nothing but humility.
Christ is the humility of God embodied in human nature, the Eternal Love
humbling
itself, clothing itself in meekness and gentleness to win and serve and save
us. As the love and humility of God make Him the helper and servant of all,
so Jesus was the Incarnate Humility. And so He is still in the midst of the
throne, the meek and lowly Lamb of God.
Our First Priority
If this be the root of the tree, its nature must be seen in every branch
and leaf and fruit. If humility be the first, the all-inclusive grace of the
life of Jesus - if humility be the secret of His atonement - then the health
and strength of our spiritual lives will entirely depend upon our giving this
grace first priority in our lives. We need to make humility the chief thing we
admire in Him, the chief thing we ask of Him, and the one thing for which we
sacrifice all else. Is it any wonder that the Christian life is so often
feeble and fruitless when the very root of Christ's life is neglected, is
unknown? We must have a humility in which we rest in nothing less than the end
and
death of self. A humility which gives up all the honour of men, as Jesus
did, to seek the honour that comes from God alone. A humility which absolutely
makes and counts itself nothing so that God may be all and the Lord alone may
be exalted. In the Gospel of John we have the inner life of our Lord laid
open to us. Jesus speaks frequently of His relation to the Father, of the
motives by which He is guided, and of His consciousness of the power and spirit
in
which He acts. Though the word "humble" does not occur in the Gospel of John,
we shall nowhere else in Scripture see the humility of Jesus so clearly
represented. We have already said that this grace is in truth nothing but the
simple consent of the creature to let God be all, surrendering itself to His
working alone. In Jesus we shall see how both as the Son of God in heaven, and
as a man upon earth, He willingly took an inferior position in order to give
God the honour and glory due only to Him.
The Humility Of Jesus
And what Jesus taught His disciples was always true of Himself: "He who
humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11) Listen to the words in which
our
Lord speaks of His relation to the Father, and see how unceasingly He uses
the words not - and nothing – of Himself. The not I in which Paul expresses
his
relation to Christ is the very spirit of what Christ says of His relation to
the Father.
"The Son can do nothing of Himself..." (John 5:19) "I have come down from
heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John
6:38) "My teaching is not Mine" (John 7:16) "I do nothing of Myself" (John
8:28 KJV) "I have not come of Myself but He sent Me." (John 8:42 KJV) "I seek
not Mine own glory" (John 8:50 KJV) "The words that I say, I speak not
from Myself" (John 14:10 KJV)
These words open to us the deepest roots of Christ's life and work. They
tell us how it was that the Almighty God was able to work His mightily
redemptive work through Jesus. They teach us what the essential nature of that
redemption is which Christ accomplished and still communicates to us. It is
this: He
was nothing, that God might be all. He resigned Himself, by His will and His
powers, entirely for the Father to work in Him. Of His own power, own will,
and His own glory, of His whole mission with all His works and His teachings
- of all this He said: It is not I. I am nothing. I have given Myself ,to the
Father to, work and I am nothing. The Father is all. Christ found this life
of absolute submission and dependence upon the Father's will to be one of
perfect peace and joy. He lost nothing by giving all to God. God honoured His
trust, and did all for Him, and then exalted Him to His own right hand in
glory. And because Christ had thus humbled Himself before God, and God was ever
before Him, He found it possible to humble Himself before men and become the
Servant of all. Jesus' humility was simply the surrender of Himself to God, to
allow the Father to do in Him what He pleased - no matter what men said about
Him or what they did to Him.
Blessed Are The Meek We have seen humility in the life of Christ as He laid
open His heart to us - now let us listen to His teaching. There we shall
hear how He speaks of it and how far He expects men (especially His disciples)
to be humble as He was. Let us carefully study the scriptures below to receive
the full impression of how often and how earnestly He taught about humility:
Look at the commencement of His ministry. In the Beatitudes with which the
Sermon on the Mount opens, He speaks: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth."( Matt. .5:3,5) The very first words of His proclamation of the
Kingdom of heaven reveal the open gate through which we must enter. The poor
who
have nothing in themselves - to them the Kingdom comes, the meek who seek
nothing in themselves - theirs the earth shall be. The blessings of heaven and
earth are for the lowly. For the heavenly and the earthly life, humility is
the secret of blessing. "Take My, yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for ,your souls." (Matt.
11 :29) Jesus offers Himself as Teacher. He tells us what the spirit is which
we shall find in Him as Teacher and which we can learn and receive from Him.
Meekness and lowliness is the one thing He offers us, for in it we shall find
perfect rest of soul. Humility is to be our salvation. The disciples had
been disputing who would be the greatest in the Kingdom, and had agreed to ask
the Master. He set a child in their midst and said, " Whoever then humbles
himself as this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." (Matt.
18:4) Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? That question is indeed a
far-reaching one. What will be the chief distinction in the heavenly Kingdom?
The answer - none but Jesus would have given. The chief glory of heaven. the
true heavenly-mindedness, the chief of the graces, is humility. "For he who is
least among you, this is the one who is great.."' (Luke 9:48) The sons of
Zebedee had asked Jesus in sit on His right and left, the highest place in the
Kingdom. Jesus said it was not His to give but the Father's who would give it
to those for whom it was prepared. They must not look or ask for it. And
then He added, "Who ever wishes to become great among you shall be your
servant...just as the Son of Man did not come to he served, but to serve ... (
,Matt.
20:26-28) Humility, as it is the mark of Christ the heavenly, will be the
one standard of glory in heaven - the lowliest is the nearest to God. Speaking
to the multitude and the disciples of, the Pharisees and their love of the
chief seats, Christ said once again: "But the greatest among you shall be your
servant." (Matt. 23:11) Humility he only ladder to ladder to honour in God's
Kingdom. In relating the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, Christ
explained, "For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who
humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 18:14) In the temple and presence and
worship of God, everything is worthless that is not pervaded by deep, true
humility toward God and men. After washing the disciples' feet, Jesus said, "If
I
then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another's feet." (John 13:14) By His own words it is clear that Jesus
considered humility to be one of the first and most essential elements of
discipleship. At the Last Supper table, the disciples still disputed who should
be the
greatest. Jesus said, "Let him who is the greatest among you become as the
youngest, and the leader as the servant." (Luke 22:26) The pain in which Jesus
walked, and the power and spirit in which He accomplished our salvation, is
ever the humility that makes me the servant of all. How little this is
preached! How little it is practiced! How little the lack of it is felt or
confessed! I do not say how few attain to some measure of likeness to Jesus in
His
humility - but rather how few ever even think of making humility the distinct
object of their continual desire or prayer! How little the world has seen it!
How little has it been seen even in the inner circle of the Church. Yield
Yourself To God "Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your
servant."
(Matt. 20:26) We all know what the character of a faithful servant or slave
implies: devotion to the master's interests, thoughtful study and care to
please him, delight in his prosperity and honour and happiness. There have been
servants on earth in whom these qualities have been seen, and for these men
and women the name of "servant" has never been anything but a glory. To how
many of us has it not been a new joy in the Christian life to know that we may
yield ourselves as servants, as slaves to God, and to find that His service is
our highest liberty - indeed, the liberty from sin and self? We need now to
learn another lesson, and that is that Jesus calls us to be servants of one
another. And as we come to accept it whole heartedly, this service too will
be a most blessed one, a new and fuller liberty from sin and self. At first it
may appear hard, but this is only because of the pride which still counts
itself something of importance. If once we learn that to be nothing before God
is the glory of the creature, the spirit of Jesus, the joy of Heaven - then
we shall welcome with our whole heart the discipline we may have in serving
even those who try to trouble us. When our own heart is set upon this, the true
sanctification, we shall study the words that Jesus spoke on "humbling
oneself"' with new eagerness. Then no place will be too inferior, and no
stooping
too deep, and no service too lowly or too long continued, if we may but share
and prove the fellowship with Him who said, "I am among you as the one who
serves." (Luke 22:27)Seek The Higher Love Brethren, here is the path to the
higher life. Down, lower down! This was what Jesus said to the disciples who
were thinking of being great in the Kingdom. Seek not, ask not for exaltation -
that is God's work. Look to it that you consistently lower and humble
yourselves, and take no place before God or man but that of a servant. That is
your
work, and let that be your one purpose and prayer. God is faithful. Just as
water ever seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds the
creature humbled and empty, His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless.
He
that humbles himself - that must be our one care - shall be exalted. The
rest is God's concern, and by His mighty power and in His great love, He will
do it. Men sometimes speak as if humility and meekness would rob us of what is
noble and bold and manlike. Oh, that we would believe that to be humble is
the nobility of the Kingdom of heaven - that this is the royal spirit that the
King of heaven Himself displayed! That to humble oneself and to become the
servant of all is God-like! This is the path to the gladness and the glory of
Christ's presence ever in us, His power ever resting on us. Jesus, the meek
and lowly One, calls us to learn of Him the path to God. Let us study the
words we have been reading until our heart is filled with the thought: My one
need is humility. And let us believe that what Jesus shows, He gives. And what
He is, He imparts to us. As the meek and lowly One, He will come and indwell
every human heart that is longing for Him. I will give you here an infallible
piece of advice. With all the strength of your heart, stand all this month,
as continually as you can, in the following form of prayer to God: Ask Him to
make known to you, and take from your heart, every form and degree of pride -
whether it be from evil spirits or from your own corrupt nature. Pray that
He would awaken in you the deepest depth and truth of that humility which can
make you capable of His light and Holy Spirit. And when the Lamb of God has
brought forth a real birth of His own meekness, humility, and full resignation
to God in your soul, then it will be the birthday of the Spirit of love
within you. Then your soul will be filled with great peace and joy in God - and
this new life will blot out even the memory of what you felt to be peace and
joy before.