I Give My Back to the Smiters

            Jesus had nothing else to give that His enemies wanted.  They would not receive His grace, nor would they avail themselves of His healing virtue.  They wished to insult Him, to cause Him the anguish of social ostracism and of bodily pain.  A little later they clamored for His life: “Away with Him.”

            Jesus did not need to suffer these personal indignities.  He, the Lord of glory, could embarrass and frustrate his enemies through the intervention of angels (Matt 26:53), not to speak of His own power.

            But “the Son of man (did) not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them’ (Luke 9:56).  Though He opened the eyes of the blind, He never inflicted blindness on anyone; though He raised their dead, He suffered them to slay Him.

            What a gift to men: “I gave my back.”  He also gave His face “to them that plucked off the hair.”  Why did He do it?  The answer is “By His stripes we are healed.”  Dare we wish to heal the hurts of others?  Dare we offer our backs to the smiters?  Dare we forego repaying evil with evil and railing with railing?  Dare we give ourselves on to blessing?

--George E. Failing

The Song of the Lord

            The World Today is filled with the harsh, grating sounds of coming destruction.  Jazz, rock-and-roll, and other forms of sonic deformity, through the medium of radio and TV, literally fill the air.  The significant fact in this is that these musical perversions arise out of minds and hearts that are so filled with lust, hatred and fear  they overflow and spread their own moral disease far and wide.

           The shrill cries of class distinctions, national enmities and racial hatreds fill the present economic and political scene with a hideous din.  Added to all of this, the air above us is rent asunder by the mighty jets as they scream like some prehistoric monster in dire pain.

            After a time the mind becomes numb and the very soul becomes sick.  It is small wonder that under these conditions so many folks have such misgivings as to the past, such uncertainty as to the present and such foreboding concerning the future.

            At such a time what an unspeakable relief to turn to the Word of God and to the hymns which have blessed and purified believers all through the ages.  In leafing through the hymnal the observant reader is soon struck with the “wholeness” that shines forth from every page.  The character of God shines with a fadeless luster that does not admit of any darkness at all.  The depths of Christ’s sufferings, the sharpness of His death, the utter triumph of His resurrection and ascension and the glory of His second coming are set forth with a wholeness of power and glory which lifts the soul above the things of time and sense.

            This principle of “wholeness” appears very conspicuously in those hymns which have to do with faith, writing on such themes in terms of entire abandonment, the heart of the writer becomes lifted with the “song of the Lord” and therefore love, praise, and majesty flow from the pen as from a crystal fountain.

            There is a very profound connection here between the “wholeness” of faith, repentance, obedience and consecration and the inspiring “song of the Lord.”  During the great revival in the reign of Hezekiah, the priests did not lift the silver trumpets to their lips until the burnt offering was set ablaze.  When the smoke of this offering, typifying total abandonment to God, began to curl heavenward, the surrounding hills and vales were filled with the melodious “song of the Lord.”

            Peter declared that God who knoweth the hearts gave the sanctifying Holy Ghost to the Gentiles.  He who brings the very purity of the victorious God-man and the joy which stirred Heaven when he returned in triumph from Calvary will not come to nor abide in any heart that is not wholly abandoned to God and the work of saving lost souls.  When any part of the heart, no matter how small, is bolted against Christ, the “song of the Lord” cannot be sung.

            Troubled heart, do you desire a song of triumph in the midst of all the sorrows which now engulf this world?  Do you long for the great privilege of blowing the silver trumpet of salvation until all around are melted to tears of deep contrition of holy triumph?  Of this one thing then be very sure:  God will not place the trumpet in your hand until and unless there is a “wholeness” of surrender to Him and His holy purpose for your life.  God gave all and He demands all.  We can never know His pardoning favor nor His sanctifying fullness short of full surrender to Him.

            The biographies of the great hymn writers of the Christian faith reveal that in many cases their lives were filled with trial, sorrow and above all, entire consecration to the glory of God.  They did not allow their heart’s love to be divided but presented it in its “wholeness” to God.  If you desire to be filled with the joyous “song of the Lord” and to lead others to Him, pay the full price and receive the full blessing.

--Royal S. Woodhead 1959

Rest of Faith

            I have not a fear or a doubt or a care or a shadow of a shadow upon the sunshine of my heart.  Every day brings some quite new cause for praise.  My whole heart says, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”

            I never feel eager even for usefulness now; I am happier to leave it all to Him, and I always pray. “Use me, Lord, or not use me, just as Thou wilt.”

            The blessing not only lasts but increases.  It is even having a great effect upon my health; for all touch of worry, care, anxiety, and fidget about anything earthly or heavenly is all gone.  Jesus takes it all, and the rest of faith is more perfect and uninterrupted than I imagined it possible for anyone of my nervous, high-strung temperament to enjoy.

            Now, “Thy will be done” is not a sigh but a song.  It is such a glorious life, this life of utter surrender, continual cleansing, absolute trust, and implicit obedience.

            The really leaving everything to Him is so inexpressibly sweet, and surely He does arrange so much better than we could for ourselves when we leave it all to Him.  Is it not delicious to know that he chooses every bit of our work, and orders every moment of our waiting?  What a Master we have!

            “Great is thy faithfulness” shines out upon the past, and “I will fear no evil” upon the future.  There seems no room for the word “disappointment’ in the happy life of entire trust in Jesus and satisfaction with His perfect and glorious will.

--Frances Ridley Havergal

Give Us Sober Men

Give us sober men for leaders—

  Men who never take a drink;

Men who love our God and country,

  And whose minds are clear to think;

Men who strive to do their duty

  In places that they fill;

Men who can’t be bought with money,

  Nor with evils that would thrill.

Give us sober men in business,

  Whom, as patrons, we can trust;

Men whose characters are spotless

  And whose plans are fair and just;

Men who live the truth and tell it—

  Free from pretense and disguise;

Men whose aim and work and purpose

  Is to help their fellows rise.

Give us sober men as statesmen—

  Men who love our country’s laws;

Men who stand for righteous freedom

  And for every noble cause;

Men with hearts both kind and tender

  Toward their fellows that are down;

Men who wouldn’t sell their nation

  For a throne and robe and crown.

Give us sober men as fathers,

  Sober teachers for our schools;

Men with sound, exalted standards,

  Far removed from those of fools;

Men who love the Holy Bible

  And obey it, day by day;

Give us men to lead us upward—

  Men who watch and fast and pray.

--Walter E. Isenhour

The Decline In Good Reading

            The reading habits of the average evangelical Christian in the United States, as far as I have been able to observe them, are so wretchedly bad as actually to arrest the spiritual development of the individual believer and block the progress of the faith he professes to hold.

            So powerful is the effect of the printed page on human character that the reading of good books is not only a privilege but an obligation, and the habitual reading of poor ones a positive tragedy.

            Of course I do not here refer to the output of the yellow press.  I think we may safely assume that no true Christian would stoop to read the under-the-counter literary obscenities of the corner newsstand or the hole-in-the-wall bookstore.  By “poor” books I mean the religious trash being turned out these days by the various publishers under the name of Christian.  Tons of this stuff is produced each year to satisfy a market which a previous output has in large measure helped to create.

            This religious rubbish is mostly fiction and serves three ends: it helps to fatten the bank account of the evangelical “novelist” who writes it; it keeps the publishers in business; and it feeds the depraved, or at least underdeveloped, appetites of the demi-Christians who find serious reading hard going but who lap up the denatured pabulum of the press as avidly as a kitten laps cream.  And if I were allowed a choice I would go along with the kitten, for cream is both tasty and nutritious, while the average religious novel is wholly lacking in nutriment and is found palatable only by those person whose taste buds have been debauched by prolonged exposure to Christian literature which is, if the truth were told, neither Christian no literature.

            Were a Christian to backslide and read a bad book secretly, as a proverbial schoolboy is said to read the dime novel behind his geography book, one could hope that he might later come to himself and leave the swine pen for the father’s house; but what are we to say when bad books become part of the approved curriculum for evangelical Christians in almost all churches?  What can we do when books of a mental level not above nine years are hailed as master works and given rave reviews in the religious press?  What are we to say when the melodramatic love stories and spine-chilling adventures of a generation ago are retold by modern religious writers with a bit of pious dialogue sandwiched in between torrid love embraces or “drop-the-gun-powder” artificialities to sanctify what would otherwise be a wholly evil production?

            Being free from external compulsion, the Christian public quite naturally reads what it likes; and apparently it likes inferior religious literature.  Should the conscience protest against the waste of time and energy involved in chronic addiction to literary trivialities, it is soon subverted by the argument that practically everyone approves such stuff, most religious publishers produce it and all the bookstores sell it.  So what chance does one feeble conscience have against such tremendous odds?

            All this accords with the false philosophy current among us which holds that to read anything religious is better than nothing, so we continue to produce literary mediocrities, vapid, amateurish, illiterate, and dedicated to the proposition that anything goes if only somewhere in the book someone makes the point that everybody ought to be born again.   No matter how impossible the book in style and substance, if it puts in a dutiful plug for the gospel now and then, the evangelical leaders will bless it with their imprimatur and nihil obstat.  Indeed it is hardly too much to say that illiterate religious literature has now become the earmark of evangelism.  It is lamentable that we are content to leave quality to the Catholic and the liberal.

            Why does the gospel Christian of today find the readying of great books almost beyond him?  Is the intellectual capacity of the evangelical of 1959 inferior to that of his spiritual progenitor of two hundred years ago?

            The answer to the first question is somewhat complicated, but the second can be answered easily and correctly with an emphatic “No.”  Intellectual powers do not wane from one generation to another. We are as smart as our forefathers.  Any thought they could entertain if we are sufficiently interested to make the effort.

            The major cause of the decline in the quality of current Christian literature is not intellectual; it is spiritual.  To enjoy a great religious work requires a degree of consecration to God and detachment from the world that few modern Christians have experienced.  The early Christian fathers, the mystics, the Puritans, are not hard to understand, but they inhabit the highlands where the air is crisp and rarified and none but the God-enamored can come.

            Rather than climb the mountain we choose to dig our shallow caves a few feet above the floor of the valley.  Our spiritual moods and emotions are degraded.  We eat and drink and rise up to play.  We take our religious instruction in the forms of stories, and anything that requires meditation bores us.  And writers and publishers contribute to our delinquency by providing us with plenty of religious nothing to satisfy our carnal appetite.

            O ye Americans, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged!

            “Give attendance to reading …” (I Timothy 4:13)

--Dr. A. W. Tozer 1959

The Blessed Man

The blessed man is known for some negatives—three “nots.”

            Prohibition is power.  To be able to say “No” to the wrong thing is supreme wisdom.

            Prohibition is blessedness.  The Christian must place his happiness on God’s altar—whether happenings please or displease, he can be and is blessed.  Blessedness is the conscious sense of communion with God, of real union with Christ.

            Prohibition relates to people—“the ungodly—the sinner—the scornful.”  Not many would be sinners if they had to go it alone.  One of the enticements of sin is that it links you up to people of power, popularity, influence, wealth.  The real “death” involved in dying to sin is in dying to sinners.

            Sinners sort themselves in three groups—and they maintain the division pretty well:

            The “ungodly” are the moral, prudent.  They simply “forget God,” disregard Him!

            The “sinners” are those who take risks, make trespasses into forbidden paths.  They do not think so highly of morality, and yet they disdain the “scorner.”

            The “scorner” casts off restraint, Divine and human.  They fear not to blaspheme the Divine nor to cherish the devilish.

            The blessed man is warned against joining the company of these.

            Man departs from God by first “walking” with the ungodly, then by “standing” with the sinner, then by “sitting” with the scornful.  Spiritual life then comes to a full halt.

            Negative virtues of themselves bring blessings, but they do not constitute a righteous man’s entire blessing—“His delight is the law of the Lord… he shall be like a tree planted…”

--George E. Failing

1959

A Remedy for Complaining

“When the people complained, it displease the Lord” (Num 11:1).

            It always does!  Complaining is discontentment with what God has given-or allowed.

            Paul never complained, though he certainly must have been tempted to do so.  Instead, he testified that “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, there with to be content.”

            Jesus never complained!  Pressures from Satan were many.  He was often tired, and He was constantly misunderstood.  In Gethsemane he asked for the cup to pass from Him, but He never complained at his Father’s will.

            Moses complained once:  “Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (Num 20:10).  God charged Moses with failing to sanctify (honor) Him before Israel, and prohibited Moses from entering the land of Promise!

            Complaining is costly.  “The anger of the Lord was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them.”  It was not a fire of purity but of judgment.

            God’s word is clear:  “Do all things without murmurings and disputing” (Phil 2:14).  He who complains draws God’s judgments upon his soul and body.  (See I Cor 11:30-32)

            The remedy? “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20).

--George E. Failing

The Important Things Of Life

            The “Inquiring Photographer” of the New York News asked six persons: “What is the most important thing in your daily life?”

            The first person said: “Meeting people, all kinds of people”; the second: “My girl Theresa”; the third: “Driving a truck through the streets of the city without having an accident”; the fourth: “Serving a full house of diners their food”; the fifth: “My daily work”; and the sixth: “Rejoining my family after the day’s work is done!”

            It is singular how not one of the six placed his spiritual condition first.  The Lord Jesus said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt 6:33).

            Yet the report is true to human behavior.  God’s complaint against the people of Noah’s day is true now, and will be true when Christ  returns: “Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the flood came” (Matt 24:38).  It is a persistent trait in human nature to allow secondary matters to crowd out the things of real importance.

            A believer could say, in the language of Jude: “The most important thing in my daily life is the building up of myself on my most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping myself in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

            Young Timothy might have put the same thought in these words, “exercising myself unto godliness.”  Surely the spiritual is more important than the physical!  “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Tim 4:8).

--Tom M. Olson

Prayer Life

            Nothing is more vital to the Christian life than prayer.

            Satan seeks to hinder the prayer life of the believer by every means possible.

            Knowing Satan’s approach to the life of prayer, the Apostle Paul wrote:  “Continuing steadfast in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving” (Col 4:2)

            As I read the first four words I ask myself-Why is it so difficult to maintain a zest for prayer?  I then turned to Moffatt’s translation and read: “Maintain your zeal for prayer through thanksgiving.”   Maybe this is the secret of a deep prayer life.  The thankful soul will be a praying soul.

            I have discovered when prayer is difficult, to begin a hymn of praise and thanksgiving helps.

            Prayer is essential to the ongoing of the Kingdom of God.  Therefore we must pray.  Prayer is necessary for the soul to keep in line with God’s will.  Therefore keep praying.

            Prayer is the soul opening itself to the voice of God.  It is the human spirit seeking to lose itself in the will of the Divine Spirit.

            We must be motivated in our prayer life by our passion—to know God and fellowship with Him.  To pray for a manifestation of the power of God without earnestly desiring God’s presence Is dangerous and selfish.  We should pray for hearts that thirst for God, that seek constantly His honor, His glorification.

            Prayer is a cleansing force.  Living victoriously requires diligence and alertness.  Prayer is a holy stimulant to holy living.

            Unbelief, complacency, egoism, worldliness, littleness are foes against which the soul must wage constant warfare.  The spirit of God in answer to sincere prayer can cleanse all these hideous traits away.

            Prayer is a creative force.  It will create a tender spirit—an inflexible opposition to sin but a compassionate attitude toward the sinner.  It will create a spirit of sacrifice—a desire to spend and be spent for Christ.  Prayer is a conquering force.

            John Randolph wrote: “I believe I should have been swept by the flood of French infidelity if it had not been for one thing—the remembrance of the time when my sainted mother used to make me kneel by her side taking my little hand in hers and cause me to repeat the Lord’s prayer.

            “They who have steeped their souls in prayer can ever anguish calmly bear.”

            John R. Mott, the great Christian of the other generation, said:  “Prayer is the greatest force that we can wield.  It is the greatest talent God has given us.  There is a democracy in this matter.  We may differ among ourselves as to our wealth, as to our social position, as to our educational equipment, as to our native ability, as to our inherent characteristics, but in the matter of exercising the greatest force that is at work in the world today we are on the same footing.”

            At all hazards culture your prayer life.  You know not what you may face of burdens, of chastisement, of affliction, of sorrows, but if you are schooled in the art of prayer, you may take hold of the great arm of god and Draw strength and courage and fortitude and victory from His might.

--Oliver G. Wilson

True Piety

            True piety is simple, free, without ostentation.  It has nothing that condones sin and is free from any “holier-than-thou” attitude.  It is joyous, easy to live with, and is ever ready to lend a hand.

            The real saint studies to keep from adding to the burden of others, and by word and deed endeavors to allay fear, suspicion and mistrust.

            Rumor has little place in the life of true piety.  It believes a damaging report only upon undisputable evidence and then does not disclose the story only as far as is necessary to protect truth and justice.

            The life of true piety is marked by a consuming desire to make Christ known.  Obstacles may arise but the truly pious soul will not be deterred.  If there is no way to remove the difficulty then a way is sought to cause the obstacle to work for God.

            “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8).  This was the standard of piety desired in the Old Testament.

            The New Testament says: “And to love him [God] with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices’ (Mark 12:33).

            Here is the whole gospel message set forth in easily understood language.  It demands full abandonment to Christ.  It leaves no place for selfish gain, and closes the door on all personal place and praise seeking.

            To the truly pious soul the essentials of salvation are all things that in any way help to make Christ known—in His compassion, in His tenderness, in His purity and simplicity.  It is unthinkable that a follower of the Christ would be careless in his language, immodest in his dress and unkind in his attitudes.

            True piety is Christ-likeness in the details of life.

--Oliver G. Wilson

The Leakage of Spiritual Power

            That Man Of God and lover of souls, James Caughey, tells in one of his books how he was invited out to tea one evening; and though there was nothing harmful in the talk of the hour, yet when he went into the meeting at night his soul was like a loosely strung bow.  He couldn’t shoot the King’s arrows into the hearts of the King’s enemies, for he had no power.  It had been lost at the tea-table.

            I knew an officer once who let all his spiritual power leak out, until he was as dry as an old bone when he got into the meeting.  It was in this way.  We had to ride three miles in a street car to get to the hall, and all the way there he was talking about things that had no bearing upon the coming meeting.  There was nothing wrong or trifling said, but it was not to the point; it turned his mind from God and the souls he was so soon to face and plead with to be reconciled to Him; and the result was that , instead of going before the people clothed with power, he went stripped of power.  I remember the meeting well.  His prayer was good, but there was no power in it.  It was words, words, words!  The Bible-reading and talk were good.  He said many true and excellent things, but there was no power in them.  The soldiers looked indifferent, the sinners looked careless and sleepy, and altogether the meeting was a dull affair.

            Now, the officer was not a backslider; he had a good experience.  Nor was he a dull stupid officer; on the contrary he was one of the brightest, keenest officers I know.  The trouble was that, instead of keeping quiet and communing with God in his own heart on that care, until his soul was ablaze with faith and hope and love and holy expectation, he had wasted his power in useless talk.

            God says: “If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth” (Jer. 15:19).  Think of it!  That officer might have gone into that meeting filled with power, and his mouth should have been to those people as the mouth of God, and his words should have been “quick 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 proving to be “a discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart” (Heb 4:12).  But instead of that, he was Like Samson after his locks were shorn by Delilah—he was powerless as other men.

            There are many ways of letting power leak away.  I knew a soldier who came to the hall very early every evening, and instead of getting his soul keyed up to a high pitch of faith and love, spent the time playing soft dreamy music on his violin, and though faithfully, lovingly warned, continued that practice till he openly backslid.

            I have known men whose power leaked out through a joke.  They believed in having things go with a swing, and so they told funny stories and played the clown to make things lively, but it was not with Divine life.  It was the liveliness of mere animal spirits, and not of the Holy Spirit.  I do not mean by this that a man who is filled with the power of the Spirit will never make men laugh.  He will. He may say tremendously funny things.  But he will not be doing it just to have a good time.  It will come naturally.  It will not be “dragged in on all fours,” and it will be done in the fear of God, and not in a spirit of lightness and jesting.

            He who wants a meeting of life and power should remember that there is no substitute for the Holy Ghost.  He is life.  He is power.  And if He is sought in earnest faithful prayer, He will come, and when He comes the little meeting will be mighty in its results.

            The Holy Spirit should be earnestly sought in earnest secret prayer.  Jesus said, “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt 6:6).  He will do it; bless His holy name!

            I know of a man who, if possible, gets alone with God for an hour before every meeting, and when he speaks it is with the power and demonstration of the Spirit.

            The man who wants power, just when it is most needed, must walk with God.  He must be a friend of God.  He must keep the way always open between his heart and God.  God will be the friend of such a man, and will show him how to get at the hearts of men.  God will make dark things light and crooked places straight and rough places smooth for that man.  God will be on his side and help him.

            Such a man must keep a constant watch over his mouth and his heart.  David prayed: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips (Ps 141:3); and Solomon said: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov 4:23).   He must walk in unbroken communion with God.  He must cultivate a spirit of joyful recollection by which he will be always conscious that he is in the presence of God.

            “Delight thyself also in the Lord” (Ps 37:4), said the Psalmist.  Oh, how happy is that man who finds God to be his delight; who is never lonely, because He knows God, talks with God, delights in God, and gives himself up to loving, serving, trusting God with all his heart!

            Comrade, “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess 5:19), and He will lead you thus to know and love God, and God will make you the instrument of His own power.

--Samuel Logan Brengle

Commissioner in The Salvation Army

Keep The Fire Burning

Keep the altar of private prayer burning. This is the very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here, therefore let this burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer of vital and experiential religion.

Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet-seasons be, if possible, regular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual prayer availeth much.

Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplication.

-Spurgeon

Not Accepting Deliverance

            We all know that faith claims and accepts deliverance.  But here (Heb 11:35) it is stated that faith at times rejects deliverance.  And perhaps the faith that rejects deliverance is greater than the faith that accepts it!

            This “faith chapter’ is full of rejections.  Abel refused to offer a sacrifice that would please his brother—and forfeited his life.  Was he the loser?

            Noah refused to listen to those who must have ridiculed him for building an ark.  He was “out of step” with his generation for 120 years.  Was his choice wise?

            Abraham refused to let natural desire (to spare Isaac) interfere with God’s plain command.  So he offered up Isaac,” in his heart!  The reward?  God restored Isaac to him as one that had been reaised from the dead—and promised him greater blessings than before (Gen 22:16-18).

            Moses refused the wealth and honor that was his as the Prince of Egypt.  He chose to “suffer affliction with the people of God” and thus received from God “Greater riches than the treasure in Egypt.”

            It takes a person with great faith to reject “deliverances” that interfere with a “better resurrection.”

--George E. Failing

Fractional Living

What a difference there is in the seeing yourself as a pauper or as a millionaire! The pauper feels he has been cheated, left out; the millionaire flourishes in abundance, has more than he can use.

For the Christian, the difference lies not chiefly in dollars but in mental and spiritual health. Some who have access to great wealth, insist on fractional living. Some laymen in the Corinthian Church preferred Peter's preaching and therefore rejected all other preachers. Paul rebuked them for their prejudices and narrow appreciations "all the apostles are yours, Peter, Paul, Apollos, and your are richer because you have them all."

What a difference there is between the earthworm and the bird! The worm eats his way through a small piece of earth--that's all he knows. But all the earth belongs to the bird. Actually, the bird doesn't own any more than the earthworm, but from his height he claims it all. The bird who completes a 25,000 mile migration possesses the earth from pole to pole. All is his.

Fractional living recoils from life. The small attitude impressions the soul. In the Castleton Gardens of Jamaica I saw the sensitive plant. Touch its leaves and they instantly droop. The plant seems to say, "Anything that gets near enough to touch me threatens my existence." (In a few hours, though, the plant quits "pouting" and perks up again.) This "shrinking" attitude toward life invites defeat. Had no the guide known the peculiar sensitivity of the plant, I would not have touched it.

Fractional living is immobile. Such a life dares not venture. One who claims only one country as his mission field would never have told the Romans as Paul did, that he wanted to visit them and go on to Spain. Paul never reached Spain but Spain belonged to him; he claimed Spain for Christ.

"All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas...all are yours"--(I Cor. 3:22)


--George E. Failing

Christ Shall Be Magnified

Phil 1:20

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."

Both Christ and self cannot be equally conspicuous in my life. Either Christ must be magnified or self will be magnified.

No argument is needed to prove that men and nations, individuals and society, are tortured with inordinate desires to magnify self. In fact, human pride extends so far that it is impossible for others not to trample upon it at times. And when they do, we are resentful and peeved.

Not until Jesus came did there appear among men One who by nature preferred his Father's will to his own, who preferred others' pleasure to His own. For "Christ pleased not Himself."

Jesus seemed utterly unconcerned about His own pleasure, convenience, safety. The praise or hate of men never betrayed Him into heady arrogance or into sinking defeat. With an even step Christ traveled over life's uneven road with one purpose--to magnify His Father.

Paul determined to have a life like Christ's. He purposed to so live that Christ would be conspicuous, his own desires and preferences either submerged or crucified. He knew that release from pride is great rest, and that likeness to Christ is great reward.

When Christ is magnified, then nothing else matters--to the crucified soul. Come life or death, poverty or wealth, honor or dishonor, activity or retirement, there is neither personal exultation or personal irritation. It is enough that Christ is all in all.

What a searching question to ask myself--When others think of me do they think of me first or of Christ in me? Which one is really magnified?

By George E. Failing

1959