He that eateth my flesh,
and drinketh my blood,
dwelleth in me,
and I in him.

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The Want for True Leadership

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."   I Corinthians 11:1

"Where are the apostolic leaders who can put God's people to praying? Let them come to the front and do the work, and it will be the greatest work which can be done. None but praying leaders can have praying followers. Praying apostles will beget praying saints. A praying pulpit will beget praying pews."   — E. M. Bounds

The church is in desperate need of true leadership, not just in word, but in example. Paul told Timothy, "...be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."   I Timothy 4:12

Today we have big name preachers who are no different than the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day when he said, "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men..."   Matthew 23:2-5

These men set no personal example for the flock, they love to rule and be seen of men, but as Jesus said of them, "ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."   Luke 11:52   He calls them "blind guides".

Jesus Christ was the first fruit, the original pattern and example for every Christian to follow. But His example was not in word only for men to hear, but in life for men to see and imitate."...Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."   1 Peter 2:21   Jesus was a true leader.

Paul followed the original pattern of Christ, then admonished men to "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."  Not just in word, but in the example of Christ likeness that he lived before them. True leadership leads by example. I was told as a young leader in the military, "don't ask your men to do anything that you have not or would not do yourself. If you lead by example, your men will follow."

Where are the men who come straight from the prayer closet to the pulpit, and cry out that men should pray without ceasing. Where are the men who live holy lives, then command men to walk in the spirit. Where are the men who humble themselves before God, then say to men they must turn the other cheek.

Where are the true leaders that walk after Christ setting the example for others. Who can say, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."   Let him lead the way, and not these charlatan would be leaders of the modern church who have stripped away the foundations of what we hold dear.

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Scripture Studies

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."   Galatians 5:16

This I say then, walk in the Spirit,... The advice the apostle thinks fit to give, and which he would have observed, is, to "walk in the Spirit", that is, either after the Spirit of God; making the word inspired by him the rule of behaviour, which as it is the standard of faith, so of practice, and is the lamp unto our feet, and the light unto our path; taking him himself for a guide, who not only guides into all truth, but in the way of holiness and righteousness unto the land of uprightness; and depending upon his grace and strength for assistance throughout the whole of our walk and conversation: or in the exercise of the graces of the Spirit of God; as in the exercise of faith upon the person and grace of Christ, of which the Spirit is the author; and in love to God, Christ, and one another, which is a fruit of the Spirit; and in humility, lowliness of mind, meekness and condescension; all which is to walk in the Spirit, or spiritually, and strengthens the argument for love the apostle is upon: and this he encourages to by observing,

and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh; he does not say there shall be no flesh, nor any lust of the flesh in them if they walk spiritually; or that the flesh should not act and operate in them; or that they should do no sinful action; all which is only true of Christ; and the contrary is to be found and observed in all true Christians, though ever so spiritual; but that they should not fulfil or perfect the lust of the flesh; should not give up themselves entirely to the power and dictates of the flesh, so as to be under it and at its command, and be obedient servants and slaves unto it; for, in this sense only, such that are spiritual do not, commit sin, they do not make a trade of it, it is not their constant employ or course of conversation.

— John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

"Knowing God Through Prayer"
by An Unknown Christian

Prayer is much more than merely asking God for something, although that is a very valuable part of prayer if only because it reminds us of our utter dependence upon God. It is also communion with God - talking with Him, not only to Him. We get to know people by talking with them. We get to know God in like manner. The highest result of prayer is not deliverance from evil, or the securing of some coveted thing, but knowledge of God.

"And this is life eternal, that they should know Thee, the only true God" (John 17:3). Yes, prayer discovers more of God, and that is the soul's greatest discovery. Men still cry out, "O, that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat!" (Job 23:3).

The kneeling Christian always "finds" Him, and is found of Him. The heavenly vision of the Lord Jesus blinded the eyes of Saul of Tarsus on his downward course, but he tells us, later on, that when he was praying in the temple at Jerusalem he fell into a trance and saw Jesus. "I... saw Him" (Acts 22:18). Then it was that Christ gave him his great commission to go to the Gentiles. Vision is always a precursor of vocation and venture. It was so with Isaiah. "I saw the Lord... high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple" (Isa. 6:1). The prophet was evidently in the sanctuary praying when this happened. This vision also was a prelude to a call to service, "Go..." Now, we cannot get a vision of God unless we pray. And where there is no vision the soul perishes.

Message Continued

Also by
E. M. Bounds

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Prayer and Devotion
by E. M. Bounds

DEVOTION has a religious signification. The root of devotion is to devote to a sacred use. So that devotion in its true sense has to do with religious worship. It stands intimately connected with true prayer. Devotion is the particular frame of mind found in one entirely devoted to God. It is the spirit of reverence, of awe, of godly fear. It is a state of heart which appears before God in prayer and worship. It is foreign to everything like lightness of spirit, and is opposed to levity and noise and bluster. Devotion dwells in the realm of quietness and is still before God. It is serious, thoughtful, meditative.

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God's Word in Our Hearts
by Thomas Manton

"Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" Psalms 119:11

The duty of God's children is to hide His Word in their hearts, and in so doing there must be a right end; their knowledge of it and delight in it is to be directed to practice.

One duty and necessary practice of God's children is to hide the Word in their hearts. See it confirmed by a Scripture or two: "This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (Josh. 1:8); "Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth, and lay up His words in thy heart" (Job 22:22). Lay up His words as we would do choice things, that they may not be lost; and lay them up as a treasure to be used upon all occasions.

In the heart let them not swim in the brain or memory only, but let the affections be moved therewith, "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col. 3:16): be so diligent in the study of the Scripture that it may become familiar with us, by frequent hearing, reading, meditating, conferring about it. As a stranger, let it not stand at the door, but receive it into an inner room; be as familiar as those that dwell with you. God complaineth of His people "I have written to him [Ephraim] the great things of My Law, but they were counted as a strange thing" (Hosea 8:12). To be strangers to the Word of God, and little conversant in it, is a great evil.

What is it to hide the Word in our hearts? (1) To understand it, to get a competent knowledge of it; we take in things into the soul by the understanding: "When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul" (Prov. 2:10). (2) When it is assented unto by faith. The Word is settled in the heart by faith, otherwise it soon vanisheth: "The Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it " (Heb. 4:2). (3) When it is kindly entertained. Christ complained "Ye seek to kill Me, because My Word hath no place in you" (John 8:37).

Men are so possessed with lust and prejudice, that there is no room for Christ's Word. Though it break in upon the heart with evidence and power, yet it is not entertained there but cast out again as an unwelcome guest. (4) When it is deeply rooted. Many men have flashes for a time: their affections may be much aloft, and they may have great elevations of joy, but no sound grace: "ye rejoiced in his light for a season" (John 5:35). The Word must be settled into a standing affection, if we would have comfort and profit from it. We read of "The engrafted Word" (James 1:21): till there be the root of the matter in us, in vain do we expect fruit.

Message Continued

Also by
A. W. Tozer

The Law of Surrender
by A. W. Tozer

The Bible says that we are to present our bodies "as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God." Of course, if you give your body, you give everything it contains. That means giving yourself wholly to God, and the idea of giving yourself wholly to God contains three laws.

The first law is the law of surrender. If you do not surrender, it will be totally impossible for the Lord to do anything for you. Surgeons have to have the surrender of their patients. If I went to a surgeon and insisted that I was going to tell him how to do the job and not only that but stay awake and resist him, the surgeon could not work. It would be impossible. Surgeons must put their patients to sleep so they cannot resist, so they are in a state of surrender. That is the law of surrender.

A more beautiful and biblical description is the story of the potter and the clay, which illustrates the law of surrender further. The potter has soft, yielding clay, but if the clay does not surrender, the potter cannot do a thing with it. If there are burnt places, hard places or unsurrendered places in the clay, though the potter be a genius in making vessels, the artist still could not make anything useful and beautiful out of an unyielding blob of clay. It is possible for an object to be useful but not beautiful, like a garbage can. It is also entirely possible to be beautiful and not useful, like the lily.

The lily has no utilitarian place in the world. It is possible to have a vessel that is useful without being beautiful. The old cream crocks in our spring house on the farm were useful all right. You could pour the milk in them, wait for the cream to rise and skim it off. They were not beautiful, but they were quite useful. Everybody has in their home beautiful little knickknacks. They are utterly useless, simply to be enjoyed for their beauty. But God wants His vessels to be both useful and beautiful.

If God is going to make those kinds of vessels out of us, however, we are going to have to yield to the law of surrender. Give yourself to God as a living sacrifice and let Him have you, all of you.

Previous Manna

Also by
Andrew Murray

Abide in Christ
by Andrew Murray

As Your Strength

"All power is given UNTO ME in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18

"Be strong IN THE LORD, and in the power of his might." Ephesians 6:10

"My power is made perfect in weakness." II Corinthians 12:9 (R.V.) [The word power in this verse is properly authority (R.V.), but the two ideas are so closely linked, and the authority as a living divine reality is so inseparable from the power, that I have felt at liberty to retain the word power.]

There is no truth more generally admitted among earnest Christians than that of their utter weakness. There is no truth more generally misunderstood and abused. Here, as elsewhere, God's thoughts are heaven-high above man's thoughts.

The Christian often tries to forget his weakness: God wants us to remember it, to feel it deeply. The Christian wants to conquer his weakness and to be freed from it: God wants us to rest and even rejoice in it. The Christian mourns over his weakness: Christ teaches His servant to say, "I take pleasure in infirmities; most gladly will I glory in my infirmities."

The Christian thinks his weakness his greatest hindrance in the life and service of God: God tells us that it is the secret of strength and success. It is our weakness, heartily accepted and continually realized, that gives us our claim and access to the strength of Him who has said, "My strength is made perfect in weakness."

When our Lord was about to take His seat upon the throne, one of His last words was: "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth." Just as His taking His place at the right hand of the power of God was something new and true a real advance in the history of the God-man so was this clothing with all power.

Omnipotence was now entrusted to the man Christ Jesus, that from henceforth through the channels of human nature it might put forth its mighty energies. Hence He connected with this revelation of what He was to receive, the promise of the share that His disciples would have in it: When I am ascended, ye shall receive power from on high (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). It is in the power of the omnipotent Saviour that the believer must find his strength for life and for work.

Continued

Also by
T. Austin Sparks

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The School of Christ     by T. Austin Sparks
The Governing Law of Divine Love     Chapter VIII

The Governing Law – The Glory of God

Divine love is bound by a law. Love has a law where God is concerned. God's love is under a law. God's love is under the law of the glory of God, and He can show His love only in so far as showing His love is going to be to His glory. He is governed by that. In all the showings of His love, His object is that He may be glorified, and the glory of God is bound up with resurrection.

The Imitation of Christ
by Thomas À Kempis

The Imitation of Christ     by Thomas À Kempis
Internal Consolation     Book III

Four Things Which Bring Great Peace
The Voice of Christ
MY CHILD, I will teach you now the way of peace and true liberty.
Seek, child, to do the will of others rather than your own.
Always choose to have less rather than more.
Look always for the last place and seek to be beneath all others.
Always wish and pray that the will of God be fully carried out in you.
Behold, such will enter into the realm of peace and rest.

The Disciple
O Lord, this brief discourse of Yours contains much perfection. It is short in words but full of meaning and abounding in fruit. Certainly if I could only keep it faithfully, I should not be so easily disturbed. For as often as I find myself troubled and dejected, I find that I have departed from this teaching. But You Who can do all things, and Who always love what is for my soul's welfare, give me increase of grace that I may keep Your words and accomplish my salvation.

A Prayer Against Bad Thoughts
O Lord my God, be not far from me. O my God, hasten to help me, for varied thoughts and great fears have risen up within me, afflicting my soul. How shall I escape them unharmed? How shall I dispel them?

"I will go before you," says the Lord, "and will humble the great ones of earth. I will open the doors of the prison, and will reveal to you hidden secrets."

Do as You say, Lord, and let all evil thoughts fly from Your face. This is my hope and my only comfort, to fly to You in all tribulation, to confide in You, and to call on You from the depths of my heart and to await patiently for Your consolation.

Continued

Henry Drummond   (1851-1897)
"Author of the multi-million selling inspirational meditation."

Who was Henry Drummond? Born in Scotland in 1851, he was a man of varied talents. Perhaps best remembered as a gifted evangelist who assisted Dwight L. Moody during his revival campaigns, he was also a lecturer in natural science. Although he never received a degree, he was an ordained minister and a professor of theology. He also wrote several books. "Natural Law in the Spiritual World", published in 1883, sold 70,000 copies in five years and made him famous. He published another popular book, "Tropical Africa", after making a geological survey of southern Africa. "The Ascent of Man" was also a significant book during his lifetime.

However, "The Greatest Thing in the World", a meditation he wrote in 1874 that illuminates the importance of I Corinthians 13, is the one that assured he would be remembered by later generations. Widely read and quoted during his lifetime, it went on to sell over 12 million copies and it continues today to influence people to follow God's two great commandments: to love God and to love each other.

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The Word

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Scripture Studies       Mark 12:28-34   MH Comm.
Click on the links for commentary study.

28.   And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?   JG Expo.

29.   And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:   JG Expo.

30.   And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.   JG Expo.

31.   And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.   JG Expo.

32.   And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:   JG Expo.

33.   And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.   JG Expo.

34.   And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.   JG Expo.

"Dying to Self"
By Author Unknown

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence... that's dying to self. When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, or any annoyance; when you stand face-to-face with waste, silly extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus did... that's dying to self.

When you are content with any food, any offering, any climate, any society, any clothing, any interrogation, any interruption by the will of God... that's dying to self. When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to defend your own beliefs, your own good works, or itch for commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown... that's dying to self.

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit, and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and in more desperate circumstances... that's dying to self. When you receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, and can humbly submit inwardly, as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion, retaliation, self-sympathy, self-defense, self-vindication, self-justification, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness in heart... that's dying to self!

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Season Archives

They That Walk In Pride   Author Unknown

"...and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." Daniel 4:37

"A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." Proverbs 29:23

The life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ is a standing rebuke to every form of pride to which men are liable:

Pride of birth and rank, "Is not this the carpenter's son?"
Pride of wealth, "The Son of man hath not where to lay His head."
Pride of respectability, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
Pride of reputation, "A friend of publicans and sinners."
Pride of learning, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?"
Pride of success, "He was despised and rejected of men."
Pride of superiority, "I am among you as he that serveth."
Pride of ability, "I can of mine own self do nothing."
Pride of self-will, "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."
Pride of intellect, "As my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."
Pride in death, "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

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Quotes by Thomas Brooks   "One of the most quoted Puritans"

"Let those be thy choicest companions who have made Christ their chief companion."

"The lives of ministers oftentimes convince more strongly than their words; their tongues may persuade, but their lives command."

"Christ choosing solitude for private prayer, doth not only hint to us the danger of distraction and deviation of thoughts in prayer, but how necessary it is for us to choose the most convenient places we can for private prayer. Our own fickleness and Satan's restlessness call upon us to get into such places where we may freely pour out our soul into the bosom of God [Mark 1.35]."

"Suffering times are sealing times. The primitive Christians found them so, and the suffering saints in Mary's days found them so. When the furnace is seven times hotter than ordinary, the Spirit of the Lord comes and seals up a man's pardon in his bosom, his peace with God, and his title to heaven. Blessed Bradford looked upon his sufferings as an evidence to him that he was on the right way to heaven."

"It is better to have a sore than a seared conscience."

"God sees us in secret, therefore, let, us seek his face in secret. Though heaven be God's palace, yet it is not his prison."

"God's hearing of our prayers doth not depend upon sanctification, but upon Christ's intercession; not upon what we are in ourselves, but what' we are in the Lord Jesus; both our persons and our prayers are acceptable in the beloved [Eph 1.6]."

"Christ is the sun, and all the watches of our lives should be set by the dial of his motion."

"An idle life and a holy heart is a contradiction."

"Repentance is a grace, and must have its daily operation, as well as other graces. A true penitent must go on from faith to faith, from strength to strength; he must never stand still or turn back. True repentance is a continued spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing. 'My sin is ever before me'."

"It was a choice saying of Augustine, 'Every saint is God's temple, and he who carries his temple about him, may go to prayer when he pleaseth'."

"Prayer is nothing but the breathing that out before the Lord, that was first breathed into us by the Spirit of the Lord."

"Those years, months, weeks, days, and hours, that are not filled up with God, with Christ, with grace, and with duty, will certainly be filled up with vanity and folly. The neglect of one day, of one duty, of one hour, would undo us, if we had not an Advocate with the Father."

"You had better be a poor man and a rich Christian, than a rich man and a poor Christian. You had better do anything, bear anything, and be anything rather than be a dwarf in grace."

"Much faith will yield unto us here our heaven, but any faith, if true, will yield us heaven hereafter."

"A man's most glorious actions will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he hath made himself, and not the glory of God, the end of those actions."

"The two poles could sooner meet, than the love of Christ and the love of the world."

"'My sin is ever before me' [Psalm 51.3]. A humble soul sees that he can stay no more from sin, than the heart can from panting, and the pulse from beating. He sees his heart and life to be fuller of sin, than the firmament is of stars; and this keeps him low. He sees that sin is so bred in the bone, that till his bones, as Joseph's, be carried out of the Egypt of this world, it will not out. Though sin and grace were never born together, and though they shall not die together, yet while the believer lives, these two must live together; and this keeps him humble."

"The only way to avoid cannon shot is to fall down. No such way to be freed from temptation as to keep low."

"The best and sweetest flowers of Paradise God gives to his people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is the gate of heaven, a key to let us in to Paradise."

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The Martyrs

Fox's Book of Martyrs

Claes Van Armentierss, and Lijntgen, a young maiden  (A. D. 1575)

In the year 1575 there was burnt alive at Antwerp, for the faith of the truth and the testimony of Jesus, a God-fearing, pious brother, named Claes van Armentiers, a lace-maker; and with him, a young maiden, named Lijntgen, a servant maid. Claes van Armentiers, having been imprisoned first, said Lijntgen called to him into prison, "Strive valiantly, my dear brother, for you have the genuine truth."

Being apprehended upon this, she was offered up four or five days afterwards, both being burnt alive together. And as they, for the truth of Christ (as behooves obedient sheep of their only, eternal Shepherd), patiently and in true obedience suffered temporal burning in their temporal and corruptible bodies, they are hereby saved and delivered from the eternal and unquenchable fire of hell prepared for the devil and all his followers.

These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. II Thess. 1:9; Mark 9:44. On the other hand, these faithful followers of the truth may expect to hear from the mouth of Jesus, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

At that time they shall again in great glory, receive these members, which they here for the testimony of Jesus delivered to the burning, being like, in immortality unto the glorious body of our Lord Jesus, and shall live with Him in unspeakable joy and glory, forever and ever.   — From "Martyrs Mirror"

Scripture Memory

The Word

Jude 1:20-25   Authorized King James Version

20. "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22. And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."