Tozer Devotional

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Fri, June 26, 2015
The Last Chapter
The four Gospels tell the story of the life and ministry of Jesus, and in so doing, they follow accurately the ordinary course of biography, giving the facts of His birth, growth, work, death and burial. That is the way with biography: the very word itself suggests it, for it comes from bios, life, and graphein, to write, and means the written history of a person's life. So says Noah Webster. Now, when we look at the Gospels we note an odd--and wonderful--thing. An extra chapter is added. Why? Biography, by its own definition, must confine itself to the record of the life of an individual. That part of the book which deals with the family tree is not biography, but history, and that part which follows the record of the subject's death is not biography either. It may be appraisal, or eulogy, or criticism, but not biography, for the reason that the "bios" is gone: the subject is dead. The part that tells of his death is properly the last chapter. The only place in world literature where this order is broken is in the four Gospels. They record the story of the man Jesus from birth to death, and end like every other book of biography has ended since the art of writing was invented. . . . They all agree: Jesus was dead. The life about which they had been writing was gone. The biography was ended. Then, for the only time in this history of human thought, a biographer adds to his book a new section which is authentic biography and begins to write a chapter to follow the last chapter. . . .

Verse
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
1 Corinthians 15:17-18

Thought
If Christ had not risen from that tomb of death our faith and that of millions of believers over the centuries would be utterly futile. There would be no hope, absolutely none.

Prayer
O Risen Christ, my faith looks up to You. Because You live so may I. Hallelujah!

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Thu, June 25, 2015
A PRAYER OF CONCERN
Gracious Father in heaven, I am a pastor in the flock of God and I confess that I am a troubled man. It is too late in my ministry for me to be engaged week after week with men and women who do not hear Thy pleading voice. O Lord, we often wonder if Thou wilt be forced to turn from those who have heard all of the Bible truths over and over again, in order to find willing and responsive listeners elsewhere? We recognize that Thou hast given us plain warnings in Thy Word. We remember all too well that the Jews of Jesus' day held stubbornly to their attitudes of presumption: "We are Abraham's descendents. We know who we are. If God is going to bless anyone, He is going to bless us." Yet at that very time those same self-serving men were planning to kill their promised Messiah, the eternal Son whom Thou hadst sent in the fullness of time. We pray earnestly, 0 God, that we may not be found among those with hardened hearts, no longer able to hear Thy voice.

Prayer
We pray earnestly, 0 God, that we may not be found among those with hardened hearts, no longer able to hear Thy voice.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Wed, June 24, 2015
CHRIST WILL RULE
I am not surprised that I still meet people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth. In fact, some of them, armed with their own Bibles and interpretations, are insistent on setting me "straight." One gentleman has written saying that I have it all wrong, and that Paul did not mean what I had said he meant, as I applied Paul's statement to everyday life. I took time to write a reply: "When it comes to saying what he meant, Paul's batting average has been pretty good up to now. So, I will string along with what Paul plainly, clearly said." I did not figure I needed someone to straighten me out-particularly someone who had decided the Bible does not mean what it says. No one is going to argue me out of my faith in what God has revealed and what God has said. As far as I am concerned, it is a fact that Jesus is coming again! The question I do raise is this: Are we prepared spiritually for His coming? Are we tolerating conditions in our midst that will cause us embarrassment when He does come?

Verse
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23

Thought
"When it comes to saying what he meant, Paul's batting average has been pretty good up to now. So, I will string along with what Paul plainly, clearly said."

Prayer
Dear Lord I pray that you make the words you have inspired and on which we depend so heavily a solid foundation and a brightly burning beacon. I thank you for your words so reassuring and true.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Tue, June 23, 2015
A BELIEVING REMNANT
What is God trying to do with His believing people?-the Bible calls us a remnant according to grace, believers taken out of the great, teeming swarm of so-called religious people in today's world. I am inclined to join others in wondering if the Lord is postponing His coming because He is trying to get His Bride ready? For years it has been the popular idea in evangelical Christianity that the whole body of believers in Christ would rise like a flock of frightened birds when the Lord comes. But A.B. Simpson and William MacArthur and others in the past generation said, "Oh no! The Lord will take with Him those who are prepared and ready for His coming!" I do not presume to give an answer satisfying to everyone in our churches. But I know that many Christians are too smug about this, saying in effect: "I am converted to Christ through grace, so I can live as I please!" Of some things we cannot be dogmatic; but we know this for sure-God has no halfway house between heaven and hell where He takes us to fumigate us!

Verse
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Romans 11:5

Thought
The Bible calls us a remnant according to grace, believers taken out of the great, teeming swarm of so-called religious people in today's world.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for this reminder that you have a distinct and good purpose for my life. Thank you for setting me appart. Help me to remember how special that responsibility is.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Mon, June 22, 2015
MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH
Not all of the pooled efforts of any church can make a Christian out of a lost man! The Christian life begins with the individual; a soul has a saving encounter with God and the new life is born. All else being equal, every individual. Christian will find in the communion of a local church the most perfect atmosphere for the fullest development of his spiritual life. There he will also find the best arena for the largest exercise of those gifts and powers with which God may have endowed him. Unfortunately, the word "church" has taken on meanings which it did not originally have. The meaning of the word for the true Christian was fixed by our Lord and His apostles, and no man and no angel has authority to change it! The universal Church is the Body of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb, the habitation of God through the Spirit, the pillar and the ground of the Truth. Without doubt, the most important body on earth is the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood!

Verse
The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1 Timothy 3:15

Thought
The Christian life begins with the individual; a soul has a saving encounter with God and the new life is born.

Prayer
Lord, I understand just how personal my salvation is, and I am very proud to be a part of the universal body we call the Church.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Sun, June 21, 2015
WE GET AROUND IT
The Lordship of Jesus is not quite forgotten among Christians, but it has been relegated to our hymn book, where all responsibility toward it may be comfortably discharged in a glow of pleasant religious emotion. The idea that the Man Christ Jesus has absolute and final authority over all its members in every detail of their lives is simply not accepted as true by the rank and file of evangelical Christians. To avoid the necessity of either obeying or rejecting the plain instruction of our Lord in the New Testament, we take refuge in a liberal interpretation of them. We find ways to avoid the sharp point of obedience, comfort carnality and make the words of Christ of none effect. And the essence of it all is that "Christ simply could not have meant what He said." Dare we admit that His teachings are accepted even theoretically only after they have been weakened by "interpretation"? Dare we confess that even in our public worship, the influence of the Lord is very small? We sing of Him and preach about Him, but He must not interfere!

Verse
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
John 13:14

Thought
Dare we confess that even in our public worship, the influence of the Lord is very small? We sing of Him and preach about Him, but He must not interfere!

Prayer
Lord, I pray that you will not let me forget that you are the Lord of my life no matter what reminders you may need to bring into my life.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Sat, June 20, 2015
JOURNEY OF THE HEART
I object to the charge that "Tozer preaches experience." I preach Christ, the Savior-that is my calling! But I am positive about the validity, the reality and the value of genuine Christian experience. We can talk to Jesus just as we talk to our other friends. As a boy, I was not a Christian. I did not have the privilege of growing up in a home where Christ was known and loved. God spoke to me through a street preacher who quoted the word of Jesus, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That invitation let me know that Jesus is still calling "Come now!" I went home and up into the attic. There in earnest prayer I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. My feet had taken me home and into the attic. But it was my heart that went to Jesus! Within my heart I consented to go to Jesus. I have been a Christian ever since that moment.

Verse
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Acts 16:31

Thought
My feet had taken me home and into the attic. But it was my heart that went to Jesus!

Prayer
Lord, I pray that you will remind me daily of the joy that filled my life when I took my journey of the heart.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Fri, June 19, 2015
SPIRITUAL READINESS
When the Bible says that God is calling a special people out of the nations to bear the name of His eternal Son, I believe it - and His name is Jesus! Our pious forefathers believed in spiritual preparation, and they said so. They saw themselves as a bride being prepared to meet the Bridegroom. They regarded this earth as the dressing room to outfit themselves for heaven. The evangelical church has come through a period when nearly everyone has believed that there is just one prerequisite to readiness: being born again. We have made being born again almost like receiving a pass to a special event-when Jesus returns we whip out the pass to prove our readiness. Frankly, I do not think it will be like that. I do not believe that all professed believers are automatically ready to meet the Lord. Our Savior Himself was joined by Peter and John and Paul in warning and pleading that we should live and watch and pray, so to be ready for Jesus' coming.

Verse
The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
1 Peter 4:7

Thought
Our pious forefathers believed in spiritual preparation, and they said so.

Prayer
Lord, I am not so pious as I might be, and I know not all that I could learn, nor do all that I should do, but I pray that your transforming love will show through when you wonderful day arrives.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Thu, June 18, 2015
BRINGING US TO GLORY
As Christian believers (I am assuming you are a believer), you and I know how we have been changed and regenerated and assured of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning death. On the other hand, where this good news of salvation by faith is not known, religion becomes an actual bondage. If Christianity is known only as a religious institution, it may well become merely a legalistic system of religion, and the hope of eternal life becomes a delusion. I have said this much about reality and assurance to counter the shock you may feel when I add that God wants to fully prepare you in your daily Christian life so that you will be ready indeed for heaven! Many of us have been in God's household for a long time. Remember that God has been trying to do something special within our beings day after day, year after year. Why? Because His purpose is to bring many sons - and daughters too - unto glory!

Verse
For it became him... bringing many sons unto glory.
Hebrews 2:10

Thought
If Christianity is known only as a religious institution, it may well become merely a legalistic system of religion, and the hope of eternal life becomes a delusion.

Prayer
Lord, I am so glad that life with you is not a hypnotic delusional repetitious drudge, but a wonderfully special relationship with joys springing new each day.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Wed, June 17, 2015
MAJESTY-AND MEEKNESS
When the prophets try to describe for me the attributes, the graces, the worthiness of the God who appeared to them and dealt with them, I feel that I can kneel down and follow their admonition: "He is thy Lord-worship thou Him!" They described Him as radiantly beautiful and fair. They said that He was royal and that He was gracious. They described Him as a mysterious being, and yet they noted His meekness. The meekness was His humanity. The majesty was His deity. You find them everlastingly united in Him. So meek that He nursed at His mother's breast, cried like any baby and needed all the human care that every child needs. But He was also God, and in His majesty He stood before Herod and before Pilate. When He returns, coming down from the sky, it will be in His majesty, the majesty of God; yet it will be in the majesty of the Man who is God! This is our Lord Jesus Christ. Before His foes He stands in majesty. Before His friends, He stands in meekness!

Verse
I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
Psalm 145:5

Thought
The meekness was His humanity. The majesty was His deity. You find them everlastingly united in Him.

Prayer
Lord, I worship you in all of your majesty, and I thank you for making yourself known to me in humanity. Thank you for truly being 'God with us.'

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Tue, June 16, 2015
GUIDANCE IS BY THE SPIRIT
We can always trust the moving and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives and experiences, but we cannot always trust our human leanings and our fleshly and carnal desires. That calls for another word of balance. We know that the emotional life is a proper and noble part of our total personality. But by its very nature, it is of secondary importance, for religion lies in the will, and so does righteousness. God never intended that such a being as mankind should become the mere plaything of his or her feelings. The only good that God recognizes is the willed good. The only valid holiness is a willed holiness. That is why I am always a little suspicious of the overly bubbly Christian who talks too much about himself or herself-and not enough about Jesus. That is also why I am more than a little concerned about the professing Christian whose experience does not seem to have resulted in a true inner longing to be more like Jesus every day in thought, word and deed!

Verse
Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5

Thought
We know that the emotional life is a proper and noble part of our total personality. But by its very nature, it is of secondary importance, for religion lies in the will, and so does righteousness.

Prayer
Lord, make in me the will to do good, and to be holy, and make me strong enough to carry out what I will do.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Mon, June 15, 2015
THE TRUE SON OF MAN
The Christian message has ceased to be a pronouncement and has become instead a proposition. Scarcely anyone catches the imperious note in the words spoken by Jesus Christ. The invitational element of the Christian message has been pressed far out of proportion in the total scriptural scene. Christ with His lantern, His apologetic stance and His weak pleading face has taken the place of the true Son of Man whom John saw-His eyes as a flame of fire, His feet like burnished brass and His voice as the sound of many waters. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal our Lord as He really is, and He does not paint in oils. He manifests Christ to the human spirit, not to our physical eyes. These are strenuous times and men and women are being recruited to devote themselves to one or another master. But anything short of complete devotion to Christ is inadequate and must end in futility and loss.

Verse
One like unto the Son of man... out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.
Revelation 1:13, 16

Thought
Only the Holy Spirit can reveal our Lord as He really is, and He does not paint in oils. He manifests Christ to the human spirit, not to our physical eyes.

Prayer
Lord, I will strive todfay as always to make you my one devotion, and I thank you for being the only one worthy of our worship.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Sun, June 14, 2015
GOD'S FAITHFUL VOICE
In a day when judgments are soon to come upon the earth, we are often warned by doctors that we eat too much-and that we worry too much. More of us suffer from mental illness than suffer from major physical illnesses. In our self-centered lives, even those who are professing believers are prone to think they will hear the trumpets of woe in time to do something about all this. But at that time, it will be too late! The voice of God is a quiet voice. The voice of God's love and grace is constant-never strident, never compulsive. God has sent His messengers to every generation. He has spoken urgently and faithfully through His prophets; through the concerns of preachers and evangelists; even through the sweet voices of the gospel singers. Further, God has spoken through witnessing men and women: plain, sincere, loving men and women transformed by a spiritual birth which is from above. This is the voice of God we hear in this day of grace-the voice of the Savior calling wandering sinners home.

Verse
And take heed to yourselves... and cares of this life.
Luke 21:34

Thought
The voice of God is a quiet voice. The voice of God's love and grace is constant-never strident, never compulsive.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for the strong clear and active voice that called me to you. Thank you for your amazing grace.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Sat, June 13, 2015
SALVATION'S PRICE
Too many Christian leaders, acting like enthusiastic promoters, are teaching that the essence of faith is this: "Come to Jesus-it will cost you nothing!" The price has all been paid - "it will cost you nothing!" Brethren, that is a dangerous half-truth. There is always a price connected with salvation and with discipleship. God's grace is free, no doubt about that. No one in the wide world can make any human payment towards the plan of salvation or the forgiveness of sins. I take issue on Bible grounds with the statement that "everyone in the world has faith - all you have to do is turn your faith loose." That is truly a misconception of what the Bible teaches about men and God and faith. Actually, faith is a rare and wonderful plant that lives and grows only in the penitent soul. The teaching that every one has faith is simply a form of humanism in the guise of Christianity. I warn you that any faith that belongs to everybody is not the faith that saves. It is not that faith which is a gift of God to the broken and contrite heart!

Verse
But without faith it is impossible to please him.
Hebrews 11:6

Thought
The teaching that every one has faith is simply a form of humanism in the guise of Christianity.

Prayer
Lord, may my faith grow stronger with the realization of how special it really is.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Fri, June 12, 2015
FAITH AND OBEDIENCE
What is our answer to the many confused persons who keep asking: "How can we know that we have come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ?" First, we stand together on the basic truth that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. A second fact is that men and women are saved by faith in Christ, alone; without works and without our merit. However, the fact that Christ came to save sinners is not enough-that fact in itself cannot save us. Now, in our day, the issues of believing faith and the gift of eternal life are clouded and confused by an "easy acceptance" that has been fatal to millions who may have stopped short in matters of faith and obedience. Faith is believing and receiving, as in Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved;" and as in John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name."

Verse
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:13

Thought
Faith is believing and receiving.

Prayer
Lord, I am so thankful that you chose in your own wonderful way to save me, and I pray that the choice I made to serve you will be evident to those I would hope to win for you.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Wed, June 10, 2015
GOD SETS NO LIMIT
Do you know that there are Bible "interpreters" now who believe they can set rules as to how much we can have of God? However, the Lord Himself has promised that as far as He is concerned, He is willing to keep the candles of my soul brightly burning! So, my heart tells me to ignore the modern scribes whose interpretations, 1 fear, are forcing the Spirit, the blessed Dove, to fold His wings and be silent. I turn rather to one of Dr. A.B. Simpson's hymns rarely sung now, probably because very few believers have this experience of which he wrote: I take the hand of love divine, I count each precious promise mine With this eternal countersign - I take - He undertakes! I take Thee, blessed Lord, I give myself to Thee; And Thou, according to Thy Word Dost undertake for me!

Verse
Let no man deceive you with vain words.
Ephesians 5:6

Thought
The Lord Himself has promised that as far as He is concerned, He is willing to keep the candles of my soul brightly burning!

Prayer
Lord, thank you for giving yourself to me more than I could ever understand, and thank you undertaking for me.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Thu, June 11, 2015
EXPLORE GOD'S WORD
What a strange paradox! The atheistic free-thinker rants and raves about the Bible being a "dangerous" book at the very same time that the Word of God is speaking life to my soul! Strange indeed that some humans have the idea that the Word of God can only be approached with shivering fears. But that is true only of those who love their sin and hate their Savior. The blessed truth is that if I hate my sin and love my Savior, the Word of God is a wonderful revelation, indeed, and a trustworthy guide. We need to be aware always that if we do not keep the Word of God on our side, we will be miserable in our souls continually. It is up to us. What do we sincerely will to do with God and His revealed Word? Years ago, the saintly George Mueller said he had read the Bible hundreds of times, and then he added: "with meditation!" Let us see to it that we read the Word. More than that, we should actually explore it!

Verse
Thy word have I hid in mine heart.
Psalm 119:11

Thought
The blessed truth is that if I hate my sin and love my Savior, the Word of God is a wonderful revelation, indeed, and a trustworthy guide.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for your Holy Bible. May I seek every day as I learn from it to not only read and meditate, but constantly apply the wisdom I gain.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Tue, June 09, 2015
Our Life Is In Christ
Certainly not all of the mystery of the Godhead can be known by man. But just as certainly, all that men can know of God in this life is revealed in Jesus Christ! When the apostle Paul said with yearning, "That I may know Him," he was not speaking of intellectual knowledge. Paul was speaking of the reality of an experience of knowing God personally and consciously, spirit touching spirit and heart touching heart. We know that people spend a lot of time talking about a deeper Christian life, but few seem to want to know and love God for Himself. The precious fact is that God is the deeper life! Jesus Christ Himself is the deeper life, and as I plunge on into the knowledge of the triune God, my heart moves on into the blessedness of His fellowship. This means that there is less of me and more of God—thus, my spiritual life deepens, and I am strengthened in the knowledge of His will!

Verse
Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14

Thought
All that men can know of God in this life is revealed in Jesus Christ!

Prayer
Lord, let me decrease that You may increase. Let me learn that to know You is to live life more fully.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Mon, June 08, 2015
The Wonder of Redemption
My brethren in the Christian faith, stand with me in defense of this basic doctrine: The living God did not degrade Himself in the Incarnation. When the Word was made flesh, there was no compromise on God's part! It is plain in the ancient Athanasian Creed that the early church fathers were cautious at this point of doctrine. They would not allow us to believe that God, in the Incarnation, became flesh by a coming down of the Deity into flesh, but rather by the taking of mankind into God. That is the wonder of redemption! In the past, the mythical gods of the nations were not strangers to compromise. But the holy God who is God, our heavenly Father, could never compromise Himself! He remained ever God and everything else remained not God. That gulf still existed even after Jesus Christ had become man and dwelt among us. This much, then, we can know about the acts of God—He will never back out of His bargain. This amazing union of man with God is effected unto perpetuity!

Verse
For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:9

Thought
The living God did not degrade Himself in the Incarnation. When the Word was made flesh, there was no compromise on God's part!

Prayer
Lord, I am amazed, and do not claim to understand how You could take on the form of man and yet still be completely yourself. Though I do not understand, I am truly thankful, because it allowed me to know You better.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Sun, June 07, 2015
Love Without Measure
I once wrote something about how God loves us and how dear we are to Him. I was not sure I should put it down on paper, but God knows what I meant. I wrote, "The only eccentricity that I can discover in the heart of God is the fact that a God such as He is should love sinners such as we are!" On this earth, a mother will love the son who has betrayed her and shamed her and is now on his way to a life in prison. That seems to be a natural thing for a mother. But there is nothing natural about this love of God. It is a divine thing. It is forced out by the inward pressure within the heart of the God of all grace. That is why He waits for us, puts up with us, desires to lead us on—He loves us! My brethren, this should be our greatest encouragement in view of all that we know about ourselves: God loves us without measure, and He is so keenly interested in our spiritual growth and progress that He stands by in faithfulness to teach and instruct and discipline us as His own dear children!

Verse
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

Thought
The only eccentricity that I can discover in the heart of God is the fact that a God such as He is should love sinners such as we are!

Prayer
Dear Lord, Thank You so much for love so extreme that, to me, it seems so unnatural. But I know that to You, it is Your very nature.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Sat, June 06, 2015
Dealing With Sin
Many evangelical teachers insist so strongly upon free, unconditional grace as to create the impression that sin is not a serious matter and that God cares very little about it! They make it seem that God is only concerned with our escaping the consequences. The gospel then, in practical application, means little more than a way to escape the fruits of our past! But the heart that has felt the weight of its own sin and has seen the dread whiteness of the Most High God will never believe that a message of forgiveness without transformation is a message of good news. To remit a man's past without transforming his present is to violate the moral sincerity of his own heart. To that kind of thing God will be no party! For to offer a sinner the gift of salvation based upon the work of Christ, while at the same time allowing him to retain the idea that the gift carries with it no moral implications, is to do him untold injury where it hurts him most!

Verse
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life.
Romans 6:23

Thought
To remit a man's past without transforming his present is to violate the moral sincerity of his own heart.

Prayer
Lord, let me remember now the incredible cost of the grace You so freely give, and remind me always of the death that must daily take place in my life so that I may truly live.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Thu, June 04, 2015
Grace Can Be Costly
Christians all around us are trying every shortcut they can think of, to get "something for nothing" in the Kingdom of God. Talk to them and they will predictably flare up: "Isn't grace something for nothing?" That depends upon what kind of grace we are talking about. Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave his life as a martyr in Hitler's Germany, but he left a book now known around the world: The Cost of Discipleship. He pointed out a sharp distinction between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." Although God's grace has been given freely to humans who do not deserve it, Bonhoeffer believed it rightly could be called "costly grace" because it cost our Lord Jesus Christ even the suffering of death. Some men and women have actually turned God's grace into lasciviousness. They do not know what the word grace means—that God gives us out of His rich and full goodness although we are unworthy of it. When I preach about the grace of God and point out that Jesus commanded us to take up our cross and follow Him, those who do not know the meaning of grace respond: "Oh, Tozer is now preaching legalism."

Verse
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace . . . grace be with you all. Amen.
Hebrews 13:9, 25

Thought
Some men and women have actually turned God's grace into lasciviousness.

Prayer
Lord, thank You for the reminder that Your grace does not come cheap, and help me to remember the dear cost of what You give so freely.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Fri, June 05, 2015
United With Christ
The Spirit of God has impelled me to preach and write much about the believer's conscious union with Christ—a union that must be felt and experienced. I will never be through talking about the union of the soul with the Savior, the conscious union of the believer's heart with Jesus. Remember, I am not talking about a "theological union" only. I am speaking also of a conscious union, a union that is felt and experienced. I have never been ashamed to tell my congregations that I believe in feelings. I surely believe in what Jonathan Edwards termed "religious affections." That is man's perspective. I am aware also that from God's perspective there are qualities in the Divine Being that can only be known by the heart; never by the intellect! Long ago, John wrote: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). So it is best for us to confess that as humans we have difficulty in understanding what God has said when He says that He loves us!

Verse
We are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:20

Thought
We have difficulty in understanding what God has said when He says that He loves us.

Prayer
Lord, I do not claim to understand how You could want to be united with a man like me, but I cherish the fact that You do.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Wed, June 03, 2015
God's Gracious Act
We do well to remember that mankind is only one order of God's beings or creatures. So we wonder: How could the Infinite ever become finite? And: How could the Limitless One deliberately impose limitations upon Himself? In the Book of Hebrews, we learn to our amazement that God took not upon Him the nature of angels, but He took upon Him the seed of Abraham. We would suppose that God in stepping down would step down just as little as possible. But instead, He came down to the lowest order and took upon Himself the nature of Abraham—the seed of Abraham. I like what John Wesley said concerning this mysterious act of God in stooping down to tabernacle with us: we should be sure to distinguish the act from the method by which the act is performed. Do not reject a fact because we do not know how it was done, Wesley advised. With the saints of all ages, we do well just to throw up our hands and confess: "Oh Lord, Thou knowest!"

Verse
The Word was made flesh . . . and dwelt among us.
John 1:14

Thought
God took not upon Him the nature of angels, but He took upon Him the seed of Abraham.

Prayer
Dearest Lord, I will not know how You could stoop to be with us, until I can look through the eyes of unfailing grace. I am just so grateful that You chose to dwell with me.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Tue, June 02, 2015
BENEFITS OF GRACE
Only a believing Christian can testify, "I am a sinner-saved by the grace of God!" But that is not the whole story. All that we have is cut of His grace. Jesus Christ, the eternal Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, is the open channel through whom God moves to provide all the benefits He gives, both to saints and to sinners-yes, even to sinners! Even though you may still be unconverted and going your own way, you have received much out of the ocean of His fullness. You have received the pulsing life that beats in your bosom. You have received the brilliant mind and the brain without which you could not function. You have received a memory that strings the events you cherish as a jeweler strings pearls into a necklace. When we say to an unbelieving man, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," we are actually saying to him: "Believe on the One who sustains you and upholds you and who has given you life. Believe in the One who pities you and spares you and keeps you. Believe on the One out of whom you came!"

Verse
But now in Christ Jesus. . ye are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:12

Thought
All that we have is cut of His grace. Jesus Christ, the eternal Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, is the open channel through whom God moves to provide all the benefits He gives, both to saints and to sinners-yes, even to sinners!

Prayer
Lord, your grace is so amazing to me, and the greatest grace ever afforded any man was given me when you saved me while I was yet completely opposed to you. Thank you for making me in your image, even when I was not yet even your child.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Mon, June 01, 2015
RICHES OF GRACE
Would it startle you if I dared to say that the living God has never done anything in His universe apart from Jesus Christ? Christians seem to be woefully unaware of the full meaning and measure of the grace of God. Why should we question God's provision when the Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle John that the Word who became flesh is "full of grace and truth"? Brethren, the stars in their courses, the frogs that croak beside the lake, the angels in heaven above and men and women on earth below-all came out of the channel we call the eternal Word! In the book of Revelation, John bears record of the whole universe joining to give praise to the Lamb that was slain. Under the earth and on the earth, and above the earth John heard creatures praising Jesus Christ, all joining in a great chorus: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing!" Yes, surely the entire universe is beneficiary of God's rich grace in Jesus Christ!

Verse
God hath in these last days spoken by his Son... by whom also he made the worlds.
Hebrews 1:2

Thought
Brethren, the stars in their courses, the frogs that croak beside the lake, the angels in heaven above and men and women on earth below-all came out of the channel we call the eternal Word!

Prayer
Dearest Lord, I am reminded once again of the cornerstone of our faith which is Jesus Christ, and the grace with which we are blessed to have such an example.

TOZER DEVOTIONAL
Sun, May 31, 2015
YES, GOD LOVES US
If we are to have any satisfying and lasting understanding of life, it must be divinely given. It begins with the confession that it is indeed the God who has revealed Himself to us who is the central pillar bearing up the universe. Believing that, we then go on to acknowledge that we have discovered His great eternal purpose for men and women made in His own image. I heard a brilliant Canadian author being interviewed on the radio concerning world conditions, and he said: "I confess that our biggest mistake is the fond belief that we humans are special pets of Almighty God and that God has a special fondness for us as people." We have a good answer: man as he was originally created is God's beloved. Man in that sense is the beloved of the universe. God said, "I have made man in My image and man is to be above all other creatures. Redeemed man is to be even above the angels in the heavens. He is to enter into My presence pardoned and unashamed, to worship me and to look on My face while the ages roll on!" No wonder we believe that God is the only certain foundation!

Verse
We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19

Thought
Man as he was originally created is God's beloved. Man in that sense is the beloved of the universe.

Prayer
Dearest Lord, thank you so much for the rich love that no man could ever deserve, but that you give so freely.