Hungry Heart Daily Devotional Anthology -mjs

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5-20. SPIRIT-MOTIVATED SURRENDER

"Keep on seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:7, Wms.).

When the Spirit of Christ has the hungry heart prepared, there will be surrender. No struggle; no questions. "We reason when we ought to repose; we doubt when we ought to depend. Confidence in our Father's love is the true corrective in all things.""For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him" (2 Timothy 1:12).

"If a believer surrenders or lays aside anything without an adequate divine motive, he will either secretly hanker after it, and probably long to return to it, or he will take credit to himself for having given it up, and will thus reveal self-righteousness and spiritual pride.

"A certain school of religious teachers make much of 'surrender' as the way to attain blessing, but it ends in self-sufficiency, because the only motive that is presented for it is the acquisition of a better spiritual state, or power for service, or something of that kind. A divine motive and attraction is needed if souls are to be drawn into the race and prepared to surrender in a truly spiritual way, and this divine motive and attraction is our risen Lord in Glory." -C.A.C.

"Communion with the Lord Jesus requires our coming to Him in the Word. Meditating upon His person and His work requires the prayerful study of His Word. Many fail to abide in Him because they habitually fast instead of feast." -J.H.T.

"Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us; but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy name" (Isaiah 26:12, 13).

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"To know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).

Our Father's fullness of supply infinitely exceeds the sum of our needs. Positionally it is so: "For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." Conditionally it is so: "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Colossians 2:9, 10; Romans 8:32).

"As to the Gospel and the work of the Lord Jesus, I do not find that it is adequately apprehended that the benefit conferred by the Father is far beyond the need of the sinner. You cannot measure the benefit by the need. You may ask, 'Does it not cover the need?' It does; but you get no clue to the benefit from the measure of the need. You cannot find it in your own thoughts or expectations; it cannot be found anywhere save in our Father's heart. It is 'above all that we ask or think. . . . '

"How little, indeed, do we enter into the fullness of the benefits of the Gospel! The elder brother in Luke 15 did not object to his brother being forgiven, but it was unwelcome to him to see the wonderful excess of grace bestowed on him by the Father. 'Thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.' Many have the sense of forgiveness without the knowledge of His abundance." -J.B.S.

"We shall never be able to glorify God, if we only take what we need."

"Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory" (Ephesians 3:20, 21).

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5-23. GOD WILL DO IT

"For it is God who works in you both will and deed" (Philippians 2:13, Cony.)

As we mature we come to see more and more clearly that our Father just as fully controls our lives as He does the universe. As C.A. Fox said, "Climb on, and you will find the correcting, the chastening, the cleansing, the calming of the deep affection of God."

"All the testing and trying is to first deal with, by the Cross, that which can never stand the stress and which must be forever failure to the Lord, and then to develop that which is Christ within us. That is the spiritual life--Christ in us in all His fullness. 'I will make him a pillar.' 'I will write upon him the name of my God.' He is going to do it. All the striving will never bring that end about, but He will do it.

"The great majority of us would say, 'If it all depends on me, then it is a bad lookout!' Well, of course, that is true, but let us look at the blessing of Joseph--'The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob . . . even by the God of thy father' (Genesis 49:24, 25)." -C.O.

"Let a man renounce himself, and see himself as crucified with Christ, and soon another Himself--the Lord Jesus Christ--will take the central place in the heart, and quietly bring all things under His sway."

"It is a great thing to offer the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour to sinful man, but it is still greater to express Him in a world where He is rejected." -J.B.S.

"According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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5-24. GRACE CROWN

"The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect (mature), establish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:10).

At first, the old nature hides from us. Then, we try to hide from it. But when we begin to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, we are able to face up to the awful facts concerning the old man and his condemnation at the Cross. As the Holy Spirit reveals the old man (Colossians 3:9), we count upon death; as He reveals the new man (Colossians 3:10), we count upon life (Romans 6:11).

"The believer, at the opening of his course, never knows his own heart; indeed, he could not bear the full knowledge of it; he would be overwhelmed thereby. 'The Lord leads us not by the way of the Philistines lest we should see war, and so be plunged into despair. But He graciously leads us by a circuitous route, in order that our apprehension of His grace may keep pace with our growing self-knowledge." -C.H.M.

"It was not for nothing that God let Satan loose upon His dear servant, Job. God loved Job with a perfect love; a love that could take account of everything, and, looking below the surface, could see the deep moral roots in the heart of His servant--roots which Job had never seen, and, therefore, never judged. What a mercy to have to do with such a God! to be in the hands of One who will spare no pains in order to subdue everything in us which is contrary to Himself, and to bring out in us His own blessed image!"

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you" (1 Peter 5:6, 7).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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I wanted to mention, which I think I should have done at the outset of these messages, that those who would like to reply with comments or questions may please feel free to do so and it's also fine if you have no questions or comments! God's blessings to your Families and "Blessed be God"!

5-22. FROM MILK TO MEAT

"By people who live on milk I mean those who are imperfectly acquainted with the teaching concerning righteousness. Such persons are mere babes" (Hebrews 5:13, Wey.).

Promises and blessings have mainly to do with the milk of the Word. In order for a believer to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, he must fellowship with Him in the Word. There is general Bible study, and there is feeding upon the Lord Jesus in the Word of life. The former serves for foundation, the latter is needed for growth.

"People may receive 'blessings' and temporary 'deliverances' in answer to prayer, for God is merciful to His children and His Spirit refreshes and blesses us even apart from the real walk of faith ("real walk" meaning "a mature walk" - comment - NC). But it is of greater benefit finally to us, and much greater glory to God, if we simply accept His Word and learn to walk in the power of it by naked faith; which asks no longer certain ecstasies, but being sure of God's truth because it is His truth, maintains an attitude of faith therein; attitude--a fixed heart.

"Faith, when once we see the truth, consists of a believing attitude of the will toward God. This involves a negative attitude toward all doubt of His promises or anything that would raise a doubt; and it also involves a continued refusal to rest upon appearances or feelings, even though these may come in great abundance. It is God's written Word that supplies strength to the heart of faith." -W.R.N.

"It is an easy thing to set sail and get fairly out into the ocean; but when many days have passed and no land is in sight, one is apt to weary. If the heart is not fully occupied with the Lord in the Word, something is taken on board to fill up the void."

"Nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:6).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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5-25. STAND WHERE YOU ARE!

"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us . . . hath made us alive together with Christ . . . and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6).

Believers are not occupying their position! At best, most are trying to attain a victorious position by means of prayer, Bible study, commitment, reconsecration, surrender, and so forth. But the answer is simply to abide where we have already been placed--in our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Abide above, and keep looking down!

"Our Father has taken us over Jordan and placed us in Canaan, but the reality of it is never known until by faith we accept the fact on the basis of having died with Christ, and that therefore heaven is our place, and we know it to be our place now; and that this side is not our place, and we know that it is not.

"The more we abide in the Lord on the other side, the less disappointed we will be here, for when we are there we import new joys and new hopes into this old world, from an entirely new one, and we therefore in every way surpass the inhabitants of this lost world."
-J.B.S.
"You must abide in Christ in heaven before you can descend with heavenly ability to act for Him down here. The great secret of all blessing is to come from the Lord. Most Christians go to Him."

"Christian experience is our measure of apprehension of that which is already true of us in the Lord Jesus Christ." -A.J.

"Stand fast in the Lord" (Philippians 4:7).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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5-26. "GOOD GROUND"

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee" (John 1:48).

"And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bore fruit an hundredfold" (Luke 8:. The more fully and thoroughly hearts are cultivated before conversion the more healthy and fruitful they will be after conversion. Many Christians hurriedly seek to plant the seed in unprepared soil, and then wonder why it is so soon withered, choked, or snatched away. "Good ground are they who. . . having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Luke 8:15).

"I believe that a work of God sometimes goes on behind a particular man or family, village or district before the knowledge of the truth ever reaches them. It is a silent, unsuspected work, not in mind and heart, but in the unseen realm behind these. Then, when the light of the Gospel is brought, there is no difficulty, no conflict. The battle has been won.

"It is, then, simply a case of 'stand still and see the salvation of God.' This should give us confidence in praying intelligently for those who are far from Gospel light. The longer the preparation, the deeper the work. The deeper the root, the firmer the plant when once it springs above the ground. I do not believe that any deep work of God takes root without long preparation somewhere." -J.O.F.

"Concentrate your prayers on behalf of some soul or souls and pray for such, night and day, until they come to Christ. Then continue to pray for them until Christ is formed in them!" (Galatians 4:19).

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me" (Malachi 3:1).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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5-27. SLOW BUT SURE

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself" (Psalm 37:7).

Our Father moves on the basis of His finished work, therefore hurry is not a factor with Him nor should it be with us. We are to 'walk in the Spirit,' and the blessed Holy Spirit will see to it that we obtain all that our Father has for us, step by step. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in His way" (Psalm 37:23). Don't be discouraged--Enoch walked with God for three hundred years before he was translated!

"We cannot become spiritual all at once; we must be content to begin as babes. Spiritual maturity and strength do not come by effort but by growth; and growth is the result of being nourished by proper food. But if we do not grow by effort it is important to remember that we do not grow without exercise.

"God begins by giving our hearts a sense of the blessedness of the grace in which He has called us, that we may be awakened and enhungered to pursue the knowledge of all this with purpose of heart and prayerful study." -C.A.C.

"Whatever we do accurately must take time and collectedness of mind, and there is no accuracy in all the world like keeping company with God, and yet nothing so free from bondage or tediousness. By going slow with the Lord we accomplish more than by going with a rush, because what we do is done so much better and does not have to be undone. It is done in a better spirit, with deeper motives, and bears fruit far out in the future, when all mushroom performances have been dissipated forever." -G.B.W.

"Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart" (Psalm 37:4).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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I've heard it said that "one can be too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly good". On the other hand, I've also heard it said that "one can be too earthly-minded to be of any heavenly good".
 
I'm my opinion, one cannot be "too heavenly-minded" because we're to contemplate it as much as lies within us (Col 3:2), and to be truly "heavenly-minded" is to be focused on neighborly-love, “especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:10), and neighborly-love is the primary maturity-gauge (1 John 4:20).
 
Every growth-hungry Christian is aware that the more we think on the Lord, the more we are comforted. No thought on the heart of a believer can surpass that of the one which is fixed on Him who won it. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isa 26:3).
 
Our Father has so identified us with His Son that They are here with us in our condition, while we are there with Them in our position. So when we pray, instead of going to the Throne, we can come from it. Therefore—“Keep Looking Down”!
-NC

 5-28. HEAVEN NOW AND FOREVER

"[God] hath raised us up together; and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6).

In the first stage of our Christian life we seek to bring the Lord Jesus down to our level, for our use; later on we learn to take our position in Him at His level, for His use.

"The desire of many and the tendency of all is to connect the Lord Jesus with ourselves on this earth, instead of accepting that we are in living union with Him in heaven. The Lord give us to apprehend the reality of our true position; that we are outside this scene when we are in our true place. We are thankful that Christ was here, and that He made a pathway through the wilderness, but we have properly to come from Him in glory to learn the path and to find His succor in it."

"If you do not know your union with the Lord Jesus in heaven, you cannot come out in the power of the heavenly Man to act from Him on earth, to be descriptive of Him. You can never be heavenly by effort. Many seek to be heavenly by prayer, reading the Word, devotedness, but the only pathway to it is to be brought by the Holy Spirit to realize union with our risen Lord. You are heavenly by union, by nature. Abide in Him."

"Are we prepared to accept our union with the crucified and risen Lord, not only as the basis of being received by the Father, but also as the way we walk day by day? If this question was honestly faced, and answered affirmatively by the members of our churches, there would be no need to endeavor to whip up a 'revival.' There would be a spontaneous upsurge of life and blessing--the direct work of the Spirit of God Himself." -J.C.M.
"Risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead" (Colossians 2:12).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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5-29. CHRISTO-CENTRIC

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).

Just whose side are we on? The enemy who would occupy us with ourselves, or the Comforter who would occupy us with the risen Lord Jesus? The spirit of death, or the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus? "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16).

"If we have only learned the Lord at our own side, the tendency is to be occupied with ourselves, or to seek to be an object of consideration; whereas if we have been led by the Spirit to His side, His interests and concerns will singularly occupy us."

"The natural inclination is to make oneself the center of everything passing, how it pains or cheers oneself, even musing on oneself as if one were the one solitary object for the sunshine or the cloud to rest on. If I am a hero, or a martyr to myself, I look at and regard divine things as they suit my thinking about myself, and not as answering to what He is thinking of me. I am confining the Lord to myself instead of rising up and seeing myself lost in Him, and then following Him in all the greatness and blessedness of His work and ways down here." -J.B.S.

"We may love as Jonathan, and follow as Ruth, but until we know that we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, we will not be free enough from our own interests, to take up His."

"[Who] made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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When we are undergoing a trial, it’s helpful to know and remember that its purpose is to “glorify God on this behalf” (1 Pet 4:14, 16).
 
Here is an encouraging thought from J.B. Stoney: “I come to a wall and I say I would like to have a door here. The Lord says, ‘if I were simply for you I would make one, but I am in you and you must go over the wall.’ That power is the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. When sorrow, or trial, or weakness comes, the thing is to look for grace to be above it. If trial is impending, it is better to be quiet. I have association and fellowship with the Lord Jesus where He is, and I have the power of my Lord where He is not. If you want to be effective, to have practical power while walking down here, it must be by abiding above, by fellowship with the Lord Jesus where He is.”
 
"My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor 12:9). “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:1, 2).
 

5-30. "LOVE NEVER FAILETH"

"And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).

God led the children of Israel into the desert with its thirst, that He might bless them. "For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). It is for no less a reason that He takes us into the desert at times. "How shall He not with Him [Christ] also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:2).

"Our Father disciplines us that we may be more fully free from the old nature, and find everything in the Lord Jesus. But He begins the lesson with the assurance, 'I love you perfectly.'

"'I bring you into the desert to learn what you are, and what I am; but it is as those I have brought to Myself!' He gives us a place with the Lord Jesus, but then shows us what He is and what we are. The discipline of the way teaches this; but if He, in His love, strikes the furrows in the heart, it is that He may sow the seed which shall ripen in glory."

"Those who receive deliverance from their troubles never grow like those who get strengthened in the difficulties."

"How slowly one learns that His sympathy is not expressed in removing the affliction but in raising one above it to Himself, so that He becomes so endeared to the heart that He is more an object to the heart than oneself." -J.B.S.

"The hand of God never deals but in concert with His heart of infinite love towards us." -J.N.D.

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised by it" (Hebrews 12:11).
MJS/WithChrist.org.

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5-31. ETERNALLY NIGH

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who once were far off are made near by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13).

Until we know our position in the risen Lord Jesus, we can never really face up to the sinfulness of our old nature. But "hidden with Christ in God," we can both face up to and face away from the old, "looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter [marg.] of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

"God sets me in nearness to Himself in the Lord Jesus; and as I learn my nearness to Him, I am prepared for the exposure of my natural distance from Him, and I am, through grace, morally apart and sheltered from it (Romans 8:9), at the very moment when I see it. The greater my height, the greater the enormity of the depth appears; but I am safe from it. As a consequence I'rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh' (Philippians 3:3)."

"Two things mark spiritual growth; one is a deeper sense of the sinful old nature, the other is a greater longing after the Lord Jesus Christ. The sinfulness is discovered and felt as the power of the Holy Spirit increases; for many a thought and act passes without pain to the conscience where the Lord Jesus is less before the soul, which will be refused and condemned as the knowledge of the Lord increases in spiritual power within." -J.B.S.

"When the Lord Jesus Christ is enjoyed, things unlike Him drop off like fading leaves."

"For the word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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6-1. TIME TO GROW

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7).

Lincoln said that "a short speech requires great preparation; a long speech can be given anytime on short notice. "Now, are we going to "spend our years as a tale that is told" (Psalm 90:9); or are we going to settle down and grow in the image of our eternal Lord?

"In our spiritual experience we often find that not least of our trials is the fact that God seems so slow to respond; sometimes it would appear that He is careless or indifferent--and that just when our needs are most acute. Two of the major elements in the spiritual life and experience of His own are the seemingly slow and hidden ways of God, and the demand for persistent faith in His servants." -T. A-S.

"The work of God in the lives of His people is designed to make them 'partakers of His holiness.' He undertakes their training in His school with the intention that, however difficult in practice the course may be, it will yield 'the peaceable fruit of righteousness' in the lives of those who undergo it.

"This evidently represents His norm--no shortcuts and no exceptions. At least, He did not make an exception of Abraham, or Joseph, or Moses, or any of the great men and women whose names are listed in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Their training lasted for decades and led them into painful situations and difficult places. But their lives, as a result, were incomparably fruitful." -J.P.

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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6-2. CROSS OF LOVE

"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).

John 3:16: The Saviour laid down His life for His enemies. 1 John 3:16: We are to "lay down our lives for the brethren." The death of the Cross spells love for both friend and enemy.

"If we get a wrong idea about the inward working of the Cross we shall lose our own enjoyment of God's love and fail to manifest that love to others. We have no doubt that, for the sinner, the Cross is the outstanding expression of God's love, but unless we realize that it brings us, as believers, into a very personal experience of being crucified together with Christ, we are apt to lose sight of the love of God.

"We set our teeth, as though making up our minds that from now on everything is going to be grim and harsh. It almost seems that the carnal Christian may be cheerful and happy, but the crucified ones must expect to pass into a gloomier experience. Nothing is farther from the truth. The Cross will always bring us back to the love of God in ever-increasing fullness."

"The challenge of the Cross, the insistence that we have been crucified with Christ, may sometimes appear to be a dark and forbidding message. The Cross is not the end: It is the way through to His end. God is working for something beyond the immediate; He is working towards the glory." -H.F.

"I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11).
MJS/WithChrist.org

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6-4. GAZE AND GROW

"Who (Jesus), being the brightness of His (God's) glory, and the express image of His person" (Hebrews 1:3).

Basically, the Bible is the Biography of the Beloved. Its primary object is to provide the Object for our contemplation and conformity.

"Many a Christian has not got beyond this: Christ is a shelter for me, and takes care of me. Souls look for their barrel of meal not to waste, and their cruse of oil not to fail. But is that all? Is it that Christ comes and dwells with me and cares for me?

"I make bold to say it is not. Is it shelter only? No! You are mutilating Christianity if you confine it to that. God says: I have saved you by My own Son, and now another factor must come in; you are to live by the One who has saved you; My purpose is that you are to be conformed to His blessed image."

"There comes a moment when the soul knows union with Christ. Has your soul ever got a glimpse, by the Spirit, of Christ risen? Of 'the mark' of which Paul speaks? It is Christ in heaven; He is my Object!

"Practically it is what souls have lost sight of. They do not look for acquaintance with Christ Risen. The first thing is the education of the Word; the second, Christ Himself must be seen (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Word delights the heart, but till the eye of your spirit has rested on the Person of Christ, you have not the model for the Word to take; there is no formation."

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).
WithChrist.org/MJS