Sword of the Spirit

“When God sets out to really make a superior Christian, He is compelled to strip the man of everything that might serve as a false refuge, a secondary trust. He must shut the man up to Himself only, or He must give him up to be a second-rate saint.” -- A.W. Tozer  

God will have to bring us very low down; there will have to come upon us a sense of emptiness and despair and nothingness. It is when we sink down in utter helplessness that the everlasting God will reveal himself in His power, and that our hearts will learn to trust God alone. - Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender

In the beginning of the faith -life, faith is struggling, but as long as faith is struggling, faith has not attained its strength. When faith in its struggling gets to the end of itself , and just throws itself upon God and r ests on Him , then comes joy and victory . - Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender  

A word of Knowledge: What Good Tidings of Jesus Christ? Mark 1:1 KJV The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; What are the main good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ? Isaiah 53:5 KJV 1. But he was wounded for our transgressions,  2. he was bruised for our iniquities:  3. the chastisement of our peace was upon him;  4. and with his stripes we are healed. 1. The first good news is that our transgressions or sins have been atoned by Christ. We are forgiven of our sins.  This is the gospel of Salvation from sins that is commonly and sadly, the only thing that is being proclaimed in the modern Church. The modern Church knows little or are even ignorant of the 3 other good news. 2.  Our iniquities or evil was atoned by Christ. Evil can now be removed by believing in Christ. The evil in the fallen man can now be cleansed through the regeneration or our spirit being born again in the Spirit.  We are given a new spirit that is free from evil inwardly. With the inward evil being

There is a difference between the power of the Spirit as a gift , and the power of the Spirit for the grace of a holy life . A man may often have a measure of the power of the Spirit, but if there be not a large measure of the Spirit as the Spirit of grace and holiness , the defect will be manifest in his work. He may be made the means of conversion, but he never will help people on to a higher standard of spiritual life, and when he passes away, a great deal of his work may pass away, too. But a man who is separated unto the Holy Ghost is a man who is given up to say: "Father, let the Holy Ghost have full dominion over me, in my home, in my temper, in every word of my tongue, in every thought of my heart, in every feeling toward my fellow men; let the Holy Spirit have entire possession." "Nothing will help you unless you come to understand that you must live every day under the power of the Holy Ghost." God wants you to be a vessel in whom the power of the Spiri

Ministers of the Spirit By Andrew Murray, Living a Prayerful Life What is the meaning of the expression ‘‘The minister of the gospel is a minister of the Spirit’’? (2 Corinthians 3:6–8.) It means: 1. The preacher is entirely under the power and control of the Holy Spirit, so that he may be led and used by the Spirit as He wills. 2. Many pray for the Spirit that they may make use of Him and His power for their work. This is an entirely wrong concept. It is He who must use you. Your relationship toward Him must be one of deep dependence and utter submission. The Spirit must have you completely and always and in all things under His power. 3. There are many who think they must only preach the Word, and that the Spirit will make the Word fruitful. They do not understand that it is the Spirit, in and through the preacher, who will bring the Word to the heart of the listeners. I must not be satisfied with praying to God to bless through the operation of His Spirit the Word that I preach. The

God's holiness is His highest glory.  In His holiness, His righteousness and His love are united.  His holiness is the flaming fire of His zeal against all that is sin.  This is how He keeps Himself free from sin, and in love makes others also free from it. - Andrew Murray, The New Life  

Some have referred to healing. deliverance, and gifts of the Spirit as “apostolic doctrine,” meaning that those gifts were for the apostles, not for the modern believer.  I would simply say to that, then being born again was only for Nicodemus and the Sermon on the Mount was only for those present.  The argument that healing, deliverance, and gifts of the Spirit is “apostolic doctrine” is weak and only reflects the disbelief of the one making this claim. - Don Dickerman,  When Pigs Move In: How to sweep ckean the demonic influences impacting your life and the lives of others. 

Unbelief is not a mental thing at all, but a moral thing.  Unbelief is always sinful because it almost presupposes an immoral condition of the heart before it can exist. Unbelief is not the failure of the mind to grasp the truth;  it is not a bad conclusion drawn from logical premises;  and it is not the failure of unsoundness of a logical premise.  It is a moral sin. - A.W. Tozer  

Humility (Excerpts) By Andrew Murray We need only think for a moment what faith is.  Is it not the confession of nothingness and helplessness, the surrender and the waiting to let God work?  Is it not in itself the most humbling thing there can be, the acceptance of our place as dependents, who can claim or get or do nothing but what grace bestows? Humility is simply the disposition which prepares the soul for living on trust.  And every, even the most secret breathing of pride, in self-seeking, self-will, self-confidence, or self-exaltation,  is just the strengthening of that self which cannot enter the kingdom, or possess the things of the kingdom, because it refuses to allow God to be what He is and must be there - the All in All.

“It is the Spirit of Christ in us that will draw Satan’s fire.  The people of the world will not much care what we believe, and they will stare vacantly at our religious forms, but there is one thing they will never forgive us, the presence of God’s Spirit in our hearts." -- A.W. Tozer 

If You Desire Excerpts from "The Imitation of Christ". By Thomas à Kempis Follow Me: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Without the Way there is no going, without the Truth there is no knowing, without the Life there is no living. I am the Way that you must follow, the Truth that you must believe, the Life that you must hope for. If you desire to enter into life, keep My commandments.  If you desire to know the truth,  believe in Me. If you desire to be perfect, sell all. If you desire to be My disciple,  deny yourself. If you desire to possess a blessed life, despise this present life. If you desire to be exalted in heaven, humble yourself in this world. If you desire to reign with Me, bear the cross with Me. For only the disciples of the cross find the Way of blessedness and of true light.  

Obedience Only Path to Glory of God Obedience is the only path that leads to the glory of God.  Obedience doesn't replace faith or supply its shortcomings.  But faith's obedience gives access to all the blessings our God has for us. In the Gospel of John,  1) the baptism of the Spirit,   2) the manifestation of the Son, 3) the indwelling of the Father,  4) the abiding in Christ's love, 5) the privilege of His holy friendship, and 6) the power of effective prayer,  all wait for the obedient.  - Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer  

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.   The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L - Oswald Chambers 

Lord,  I would trust Thee completely;  I would be altogether Thine;  I would exalt Thee above all.  I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee.  I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing Presence and to hear Thy speaking Voice. I long to live in restful sincerity of heart. I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thought may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every part of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the word of Thy great servant of old,  "I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee." And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen.  - A.W. Tozer