Humility and utter self-despair, with the resignation to God’s mighty working in simple faith, is the infallible way to be delivered from self, and have the Spirit of Love born in the heart.
— Andrew Murray
— Andrew Murray
For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
G_d, through the apostle Paul, in Philippians 3.
G_d, through the apostle Paul, in Philippians 3.
Beloved, the richest man on the planet might just be the one writing to you here. He has been slammed by the Grace of G_d. His life is exceedingly happy, joyous and free.
Here is what permeates his life: The deep-overwhelming Love of The One Who is Love itself, Joy in spilling-over fullness, Peace beyond any understanding, waitful Patience not human, unforced Kindness, surprising Goodness, well-tethered Faithfulness, tempered Gentleness, and inexplicable self-control.
How did he get all this wonderful fruit!?!? Sounds like what any of us is looking for (it is, isn’t it?).
He lost everything… Literally. And found… Jesus. No, silly, not the jesus we think about sometimes, not the not the jesus we pretend to follow when we go to church a couple times a week. He found Jesus. The One. The Way, The Truth and The Life.
Yeah, reader, the Real Jesus is real. And He is really Good. He is really Strong. He is devastatingly Beautiful. He is Noble, blindingly Holy, and Wonderful beyond words. And this writer is now His friend.
“That’s nice,” say some of you. “It’s nice to know jesus. It’s important to believe in jesus, isn’t it?” “How did you say you found Him again?”
I said that I lost everything.
“Oh, that’s nice, isn’t it? We’ve all got to give that extra something to god to show our love for him, don’t we?” “What, exactly though, do you mean by everything? Surely, that is just a figure of speech.”
No, friend, it means everything. And it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.
“Oh, uh, well that’s slightly different breed of cat, isn’t it? What, uh, again, do you mean by everything?”
Now that i’m on the other side of it, it doesn’t seem like all that much. Really not much in light of what He has put back into the whole deal. But here goes a few of the high-points:
· Money: All gone, bankruptcy, and no income for over a year.
· Possessions: Homes, cars, computers, tools, furniture, just about everything but a few things and some clothes.
· Health: Mental and physical health devastated. Was lying – perhaps dying – in a hospital bed.
· Freedom: Gone. Incarcerated due to my own lawlessness; then homeless.
· Career: Over.
· Family and relationships: Train-wrecked, and estranged.
· Religion: Useless. Sincerity found only to be hypocrisy.
· Hope: Desperate.
Looking back, it was actually a perfect place for Him to start. He replaced EVERYTHING in my life. He did not repair me, or rebuild me. He took what was left of a devastating wreck and destroyed it. Then, He threw that wreckage as far away as the East is from the West, and replaced it with the only thing that was needed in the first place: Himself.
He then started to live His beautiful Life actually in and through me, unencumbered by the rubbish of my old life. Yeah, even the good stuff is rubbish in comparison to Him.
He’s Gorgeous beloved. His life is lavish, adventurous, wide-open, and flat-out Powerful. Wouldn’t trade it for the world; i guess because i already did.
Oh by the way. All those things mentioned above that i “lost” to find Him? He gives them back. He gives them back in His way, in His time. But, He does it in ways breathtaking and graceful – ways unexpected yet fully welcome. He’s way better at orchestrating the circumstance of life than we are.
Yeah, i’m the richest man in the world. Won’t even argue the point.
But, i will tell you one secret. He never runs out of riches. Not ever. His storehouse is endless in supply. ALL of what He has given to one is available ALL. Trust Him friends! Give Him everything, and let Him give you back all you will ever need: Himself.
All we want in Christ, we shall find in Christ. If we want little, we shall find little. If we want much, we shall find much; but if, in utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ, he will be to us the whole treasury of God.
Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822–1901)
Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822–1901)
