Meditation Chip Brogden

August 11
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3).
Everything is upheld by His power, and all things are working together according to His Purpose. The Spirit searches all things and reveals them for what they are. Before Him everything is manifest, and there is nothing hidden from Him. There is no darkness that He does not penetrate, no deception that He cannot illuminate, no evil that He will not eradicate.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/all-things-in-christ.html

August 12
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
Christ is ever increasing in order to fill all things, conforming them to His image, so that His glory is manifest in every corner of Creation - and He begins with individual disciples. The increasing of Christ and the decreasing of Self in every individual disciple is but a fragment of an ultimate Plan which extends from each disciple, to "two or three gathered together", to the Church, and finally to all Creation. We should be able to look at each disciple and see a demonstration of Christ filling All in All: "Look, this is what I intend to do with all Creation." He will continue to increase, and everything outside of Him will continue to decrease, until there will remain nothing outside of Him. He is Lord!

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/all-things-in-christ.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 10
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"God resists the proud" (James 4:6ff).
The automatic assumption is that anything which resists us or hinders us is of satanic origin. That is, if we encounter difficulty in our spiritual walk, our first reaction is to rebuke the devil, or ask the saints to pray for us to have a clear way. Certainly the devil will attempt to hinder us from anything we undertake that glorifies God and threatens the darkness. Yet we learn from James 4:6 that there is Someone else who can resist us. There is Another Who carefully watches what we do, and frequently hinders us from making progress.
It comes as a shock and surprise to some Christians to see one day that God, not the devil, is resisting them. The Lord Himself resists us, closes doors, causes things to be unfruitful, and spoils all our plans. How so? Because "God resists the proud." This resistance from God is insurmountable. It is a fearful thing to fight the Lord. We spend most of our lives wrestling with God instead of cooperating with God, and in the end we have nothing to show for it. So much time and effort is wasted because we proceed in our own, stubborn way. We attribute all difficulties to the devil, or to other people, or our circumstances, or our environment, and fail to recognize that the Lord Himself is resisting us.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-secret-of-spiritual-power.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 9
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him" (Hebrews 2:8a).
This possession and subjection of all things to Christ is not a passive, disinterested, distant, absentee ownership, like a clock that was once wound and now ticks all by itself long after the watchmaker has left it. Make no mistake: at the core of this spiritual and physical universe is a living, powerful, proactive Personality at work to bring fallen creation back to its original state, back into line with God's Purpose, Heart, Mind, Desire, and Plan, which is CHRIST FILLING ALL THINGS, CHRIST UPHOLDING ALL THINGS, CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS! Come quickly Lord Jesus! May Your Kingdom be manifest!

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/all-things-in-christ.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 8
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel" (I Corinthians 4:15).
Paul saw himself as a father caring for the needs of his children. He entered right into the heart of God, because that is exactly the way God sees it. That is why Paul was able to love them more even as they loved him less. There is a vacuum of that kind of leadership in the Body of Christ today. We have people who cannot even be good brothers and sisters and yet they aspire to be spiritual fathers and leaders, apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers. Instead of serving people WITH their gift they expect people to serve them BECAUSE of their gift. It is seen in things so seemingly insignificant as the pastor's reserved parking space right by the front door.
In recent months I have prayed, "God, take away my calling, take away my gifts, take away my revelation, but give me a heart of love." Really friends, we have plenty of gifted brothers and sisters. But where are the Pauls and the Peters and the Johns of our generation? Where are the spiritual fathers, the leaders, the elders, the ones giving a godly example to those who follow after? An example is most definitely being given, but all too often it is an example of what NOT to do.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-missing-ingredient.html

Ã'©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 7
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Martha, Martha. You are worried and troubled over many things: but only one thing is needed. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41,42).
We have written elsewhere concerning the One Thing which is needed. We will not repeat ourselves again, except to say that this One Thing relates to Christ filling all things as the Preeminent One. If we see that God is working all things together according to this Purpose of summing up everything into Christ, towards the One Thing, then we will naturally seek those things which are conducive to this, and we will naturally shun those things which are not.
Later we see Martha continues serving, but everything is all right - there is no complaining about Mary, and everything seems to go on as it should. It is not that service, fellowship, or preparing meals is a bad thing: it simply has to be in the right order. It is not that we cannot perform many good works and spiritual duties: but the work of the Lord must never have preeminence over the Lord of the work. In our experience, most strife and discord between Christians is the result of becoming embroiled in the "many things" and forgetting that "only one thing is needed."

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/a-place-for-the-lord.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 6
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"In my prosperity I said, 'I shall never be moved'" (Psalms 30:6).
It should be obvious that God will not give us grace while we are still proud. Why? Because He will allow no flesh to glory in His presence. He desires us to be thoroughly emptied of ourselves. When we cease doing what we cannot do then He begins to do what we cannot. The problem is that we still think we can do so many things. We must learn sooner, rather than later, that "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5b). Nothing!
But it is human nature to try and do it ourselves. This human nature is the flesh. It prevents us from entering into Grace. God cannot save someone who is still trying to save themselves. Similarly, God cannot do what we are still trying to do. He will wait - weeks, months, or years - until we have exhausted our strength. When our strength is completely gone and we finally go to Him in weakness, He becomes our strength and we find Grace is there to do the impossible. Then we know it was not us, but the Lord. All praise goes to Him, and we retain nothing for ourselves.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-secret-of-spiritual-power.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 5
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And she answered and said unto [Jesus], 'Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs'" (Mark 7:28).
The ones who seek bread from the Lord will be temporarily filled, but all who seek the Lord as Bread will be constantly satisfied. What is more, they will have resources from which to feed others. It is a shame that many Christians only seek to be filled, and still they are never satisfied. They are content with a meager pittance, for a few crumbs from the table. They are constantly obsessed with being filled. To such ones we can only say that it is time to seek the Lord, not for what He can give you, but for Himself.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-gift-of-christ.html

August 4
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41).
The purpose of prayer is to get aligned with the Mind, Will, Heart, Desire, Purpose, and Aim of God Himself. It is a fight and a struggle just to get to Gethsemane. It is a battle to get your brethren to stay awake with you for even one hour; and it is an all-out war to "pray thrice" or ten times or twenty times or one hundred times, as the case may be, until you have gotten the victory over yourself, and come away soaked with the blood, sweat, and tears of that early morning wrestling. But once the outcome is decided in God's favor, what awesome power and Life one receives, to drink that Cup that looked so impossible before, and to go forth bearing the Cross in the strength and power of God Himself, to do whatever He requires!

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/a-house-of-prayer-for-all-nations.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 3
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"The Father gives you the True Bread from Heaven... I am the Bread of Life" (John 6:32b, 35a).
Why are we following the Lord? Is it for what He can do for us? Is it so we can enjoy His blessing? Is it because He supplies our needs? Do we want the gifts or the Gift? If our motivation is for blessings then we will soon be disappointed. Indeed, from this time forward, many of His disciples turned back and stopped following Him. How many of us will continue to follow when the Lord fails to respond to us in the way we have grown accustomed?
The Lord may provide you with bread for a season, but there is a difference between looking to the Lord for bread and looking to the Lord as bread. May God show us the difference. The Gift of God is not what Christ can do for you, but Who He Himself is.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-gift-of-christ.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

August 2
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (II Corinthians 4:17).
There are some who want the full-knowledge of Christ and want to advance along the narrow path. But they resist the dealings of God which are meant to push them farther along and deeper into Christ. On the one hand they want more of God, but on the other hand they do not want to experience what they must experience in order to see Him. Hence, they unnecessarily delay the work of the Cross. They find fault with their circumstances, murmur, complain, and resist every contrary thing. After ten, twenty, or thirty years of being dealt with they are still as stubborn and headstrong as ever.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/enter-the-kingdom.html

August 1
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing" (Romans 7:18a).
Before he saw the Lord, Paul was self-confident and dangerous. Those who trust in themselves have neither seen themselves nor seen the Lord. I am afraid that many people have the idea that Jesus came only to lend them a hand and help them feel more successful and fulfilled. Today the most popular Christian books tell us how to have a better life, how to prosper, how to be a "winner", how to improve our circumstances, and how to think nice, positive, encouraging thoughts about ourselves.
The focus appears to be on making life here on earth more enjoyable and making believers more self-reliant and self-confident. This may not be the stated intention but it is the inevitable result - and if a few Scriptures can be used in the process, so much the better. It would be a mistake to equate holiness with misery and drudgery; but it is an even greater mistake to tell someone how wonderful they are until they have first despaired of themselves and learned the lesson that Paul learned: "In me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing."
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/no-good-thing.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 29
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).
If we wish to evaluate someone who claims to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher, we can apply the same test: is this person centered on Jesus Christ? And when they do whatever it is that they do (preach, teach, prophesy, sing, plant churches, etc.), does it bring people into a deeper, more experiential knowing of Him?
Some may think that kind of test is too severe. Why, if we applied this criteria to every minister and ministry in the world (they say) then we would probably disqualify a majority of workers and works that are doing the Church and mankind a great service. Yes, we probably would. Yet in terms of value to the Kingdom of God, if the work is not Christ-centered and does nothing to bring people into a mature relationship with Him then it has no value to God and is worthless in His sight. If we are not preaching Christ then we are preaching something or someone else; and if we are not bringing people into the depths of Jesus with our life and work then we are either leaving them as they are or leaving them worse than when we found them. We become a distraction and a hindrance to the spiritual growth of others.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-perfecting-of-the-saints.html

July 28
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"...Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17).
Here, Jesus contrasts "flesh and blood" knowledge with Truth which is revealed by God (and of course, Jesus is Truth [John 14:6]). The two are as different as night and day. In the matter of flesh and blood knowledge obtained from human, earthly sources we may have reason to boast in our ability to study, investigate, reason, and decide. This is the Tree of Knowledge.
In the case of revelation, we have definitely no room to boast, for revelation is simply that which is revealed to us from heaven by the Lord. We cannot work to obtain it nor do we merit it. Additionally, no man may give it to us. Its source is God working in us through His Holy Spirit. This is the Tree of Life.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/revelation-is-sufficient.html

July 27
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (II Timothy 3:7).
If in our quest for spiritual growth our idea is only to learn a few facts about the Bible, glean tidbits of information from this preacher and that teacher, fill our brains with facts and fill our libraries with more books and magazines, we run the risk of fooling ourselves into thinking that we know and understand God - when it could be that we are ever learning "truths" without knowing the Truth.
Have you met someone like this? They seem to have all the right answers, but they have the wrong spirit. They tenaciously cling to their minute opinions and cannot be persuaded otherwise. Their knowledge has not changed them, except to make them worse: for now they are puffed up in the vanity of their own mind (I Corinthians 8:1,2). True spiritual growth is characterized by grace (not works) and an increased knowledge of Jesus Christ (II Peter 3:18). And, we maintain that this knowledge of Jesus Christ cannot be obtained by study, but is only granted by way of revelation.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/revelation-is-sufficient.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).
Indeed, the corporate Life of God's people will only rise as high as the individuals represented. That is to say, if there is no spirit-and-truth worship in our prayer closet at home, we cannot expect spirit-and-truth worship when we gather together. So often we come to a gathering expecting to "enter in" to a place in God. Instead, the gathering of believers should be the celebration and continuation of Who we have already entered into.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/a-place-for-the-lord.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 25
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Look! I am standing at the door, knocking! If anyone can hear Me, open the door! I will come in to you, and we will have fellowship with one another" (Revelation 3:20).
We have often quoted this verse in the context of salvation, but it should be noted that Jesus spoke these words, not to lost sinners, but to the Church of Laodicea. Even with His own people He does not force the door open, but He patiently knocks, and waits.
Before we can prepare a place for the Lord as a Body of believers, He must have ready and frequent access to us as individual disciples. In Laodicea the situation is so bad that the Lord makes His appeal to the individual heart to take Him in. We are in much the same condition today. The issue is not salvation, but fellowship and communion.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/a-place-for-the-lord.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 24
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).
We don't have to imitate His Life, we only have to trust His Life! Trust in His Life to do it in, through, and on behalf of us who cannot do it! And I will tell you something else: if you can Trust in His Life to keep you from losing your temper once, you can do it a million times. Hear what I am saying. If you have ever once trusted in His Life to keep you from losing your temper, you can trust in His Life every single time you are confronted with it, and He will bring you through. Without exception.
Along those lines, I can say with all confidence, that if you can trust His Life to overwhelm your temper, you can trust His Life for everything else. What do you need? Do you worry too much? Are you fearful? Are you bitter? His Life indwells you right now, and longs to make you into something totally new, to transfigure you into something entirely different than what you are now. Thank the Lord that I don't have to be the way I am, but there is hope for me, and there is hope for you, and there is hope for the worst sinner on the face of the earth, because it is not a question of my effort, but of His sufficiency!
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/trust-in-my-life.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 23
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved" (II Corinthians 12:15).
Paul gave us an example to follow. Don't just look at his calling and his gifting and his revelation. Look at his heart of love. He gave all - not just for the Lord, but for the Lord's people. And they were a most carnal, unappreciative bunch of people. Even so, the heart of a father is demonstrated. That is the reason he had authority. I tell you his authority was not in his title, his position, or his status as having founded the church. His authority was not in his calling, gift, or revelation. His authority was in the abundant love he showed.
Make no mistake: I am not there yet. I still struggle with how to be a good brother, much less a spiritual father with abundant love for everyone. I obviously have a long way to go, but now I see the missing ingredient and I am following after love. How about you?
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-missing-ingredient.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 22
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief... some will enter that rest, but they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of their disobedience" (Hebrews 3:19; 4:6).
The Hebrews' immediate concern was to get out of Egypt, but God's concern was getting them to enter the Promised Land. It was relatively simple to get them out of Egypt, but only two men out of several million of that first generation reached God's goal and crossed the Jordan. I think the problem is this: we have "going to heaven when we die" as the ultimate goal, and Christ has "entering the Kingdom of God" as the ultimate goal.
Do we want to "just" go to heaven when we die, or do we want the preeminence of Christ expressed in "Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done, on earth [now] AS IT IS in heaven"? If we continue to preach an easy Gospel and bring sinners to an easy Jesus by having them pray an easy prayer then we are guilty of propagating another gospel, a false gospel, a Gate without a Path. Thank God for the Gate, but there is also a Path, and neither one of them are wide, and neither one of them are easy. But do we preach this?
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/enter-the-kingdom.html

July 21
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"...pour out the oil into all the empty vessels" (II Kings 3:4ff).
There is no lack of supply with the Lord. There is only a lack of willing vessels. The oil kept flowing until there were no more vessels to fill. A willing vessel is both yielded and empty. A vessel which is unwilling to be used cannot receive of the Infinite Supply. And a vessel which is already full cannot receive. The Life of the Lord is always looking for expression through a willing vessel that is both yielded and empty.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-infinite-supply-of-the-lord.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 20
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6b).
The single requirement for grace is humility. But what is grace? Grace is more than just a theological term used to describe how we are saved. Grace is the power of God at work in my life to do what cannot be done in my own strength. Grace is energizing and proactive. When I have reached the end of myself then Grace Himself takes over and does what I am unable to do. In the first place, what I cannot do is save myself, and so I trust in the Grace of God, Jesus Christ, to save me.
But Grace will not only bring me through the Gate; He will bring me down the Path. Grace does not just get me started in the right direction, but goes along with me every step of the way. For Grace is a Man!
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-secret-of-spiritual-power.html
July 19
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7b).
We should see that Christ does more than restore what Adam lost. He goes beyond Adam, offering the Overcomers fruit from the tree of life, fruit Adam knows nothing about. Obviously this is symbolic language, but what does it mean? The tree of life represents the Cross, for from that Tree the Lord yielded up His Life for us all. Those who overcome have learned that fruitfulness and life come from death to Self, and that is what the Cross means. The Cross is a tree of life to those who embrace it.
Like Adam, we can choose to eat from either tree, but we cannot eat from both. Adam sinned when he fell into the flesh and yielded to his Self-life. He rejected the tree of life in favor of something that was "good... pleasant... and desirable" (Genesis 3:6ff). The Cross does not look like a tree of life at all. It is neither good, nor pleasant, nor desirable. It looks like death. Perhaps this is why Adam did not eat from it first. But God's End is not death, regardless of appearances: God's End is life out of death, which is resurrection. To eat of the fruit of the tree of life is to glory in the Cross of Jesus Christ and find life out of death. It is becoming popular to preach and teach about the Cross these days, but how many are eating of its fruit? Can we really see the Cross as the TREE OF LIFE, and are we eating of its fruit? We will know a true disciple of the Lord, not by words, but by fruit, and the Cross is the tree of life from which this fruit comes.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/to-him-that-overcomes.html
©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 18
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me" (John 15:4).
It is never a question of how to get the Life to flow, or how to get the Lord to move. To tap into the Infinite Supply it is only a matter of being yielded to the Lord and emptied of ourselves. When this happens then the Life will flow of its own accord.
On the negative side, this Life answers to every assault of the Adversary and stops his harassment against us. On the positive side, this Life supplies us with all the spiritual resources we need to maintain our abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus. With less of me, there will be more of the Lord: this is a spiritual law. Therefore, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-infinite-supply-of-the-lord.html

July 17
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
A disciple of the Lord Jesus is someone who enters the narrow gate and walks the narrow path until they come to the end of the narrow path and are left with nothing but Christ. As you can see, this is a very, very narrow way, which is why few find it, and fewer still remain on it once they find it. Nothing of self can be retained. All of self must be lost in order to gain Christ.
As we walk the narrow way we are being changed from glory to glory. Today we should reflect a little more of the glory of God than yesterday; tomorrow we will reflect yet more than we did today. This is growth. Growth is not more knowledge or increase of years: it is simply more of Him and less of me. He increases as I decrease. This is what it means to be a disciple.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-way-of-the-cross.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 16
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them" (Ezekiel 34:10).
Let me ask you this question: what do you think the Lord will do to an undershepherd who rules the Lord's flock with cruelty, abuses the sheep, scatters them in all directions, and lets the enemy come in to tear them apart? Will the Lord just shrug His shoulders, or will He visit that undershepherd and avenge the sheep? It is such a holy trust. We must tread lightly with the sheep and minister to them in fear and trembling. We dare not entertain thoughts of doing as we please with the Lord's possession. It is not a frivolous thing.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/one-flock-one-shepherd.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 15
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out" (Revelation 3:12a).
Overcomers are pillars in the temple of God. Like Anna, they do not depart from the temple, but they minister to the Lord day and night (Luke 2:37). Here is what makes someone an Overcomer. It is not a question of how many times can we "attend" something, but whether or not we are abiding at all times. Pillars are an integral part of the structure; if they were to suddenly "go out", the building would collapse.
What are we saying? That God's highest is not for us to come in and to go out, but to be a pillar. A pillar does not come in on Sunday morning and leave on Sunday night, but is always in the temple. And of course, we do not mean a physical building. Overcomers are pillars in the temple of God, and that is a heavenly matter. However you wish to interpret this, one thing is clear: they have learned how to minister to the Lord continually, regardless of time or place. It is Spirit and Truth worship the Father seeks, and they give Him what He is looking for. There is no holy day or sacred hour or special devotion. They do not have to "come into" the presence of the Lord because they LIVE IN the presence of the Lord continually. And so they overcome the earthly by abiding in the heavenly.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/to-him-that-overcomes.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 14
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Thanks be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57).
When God is pleased to reveal His Son to us, we will learn that Victory is not a thing, but a Person; that Victory is not an experience, but a Man; that God does not give me a thing called victory, but has given me His Son in the place of victory in order to be my Victory. Then Victory will never be future-tense and far-away, but Ever Present and Now. For Victory is Christ. And Victory lives within you.
Thus, Victory has nothing to do with the devil, and everything to do with Christ. Since most Christians have more faith, assurance and reverence for the devil than they do for the Lord Jesus, it is easy to see why so many are defeated.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/victory-is-a-man.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 13
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Not my will, but Your Will, be done" (Luke 22:42b).
The Cross demonstrates that we do not gain by trying to get, but by losing in order to gain. We cannot really receive from God until we have learned to give up unto God. It is the spirit which cries, "Not my will, but Thine be done" and "Father, into Thine Hand I commit my spirit."
These words are easily uttered, but we cannot appreciate them or really experience them until we have been through our Gethsemane experiences and our Golgotha experiences. Until that time we are merely reciting some words, but we do not truly know what it means to give ourselves up to God, to be completely consecrated and submitted to Him. The Cross prepares us to receive by first forcing us to give up. Therefore, the Cross is gaining through losing.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/back-to-the-cross.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 12
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Anyone who does not take up his own cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:38,39).
Like the child, we stubbornly refuse to relinquish our grip on our spiritual possessions. We tenaciously cling to things as a child would cling to a collection of broken toys. We collect teachings, experiences, and good deeds, pointing to these as proof that we are spiritually endowed. Until we are willing to part with our "riches" we will not be able to receive the true Riches of Christ in us.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/back-to-the-cross.html
<><
July 11
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I am the Bread of Life. He that comes to Me will never hunger, and he that believes on Me will never thirst" (John 6:35).
Here we have another principle of how the Law of Life operates. The presence of this Life within the believer will create hunger and thirst for Christ. What is more, this hunger and thirst for Christ cannot be filled or quenched with anything else - including blessings, power, spiritual gifts, or Christian service. It is hard to convince new converts of this, but those of us who have been around a long time should know by now that Christ is what makes a Christian.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-law-of-life.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 10
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside You" (Psalms 73:25).
Why are so many dissatisfied? Because they are looking for other things - even good things, spiritual things - to fill a void which only Christ can fill. I am not talking about sinners, I am talking about Christians who look for religious things to fill the void Christ was meant to fill. They are no different than sinners who look for sinful things to fill the same void.
This Life accepts no substitutes. It does not perpetuate itself through religious activity, spiritual experiences, hours of prayer, listening to sermons, or long periods of meditation. The Life is perpetuated when we touch the Living Christ directly. And once we know how, we may touch Him immediately and constantly.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/touching-the-living-christ.html

July 9
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Then Peter took Jesus, and began to scold Him, saying, 'Not so! May this never happen to You, Lord!' But Jesus turned, and spoke sharply to Peter, saying, 'Get out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, because you do not have God's interests in mind, but your own interests" (Matthew 16:22,23).
See how many times the disciples tried to correct the Lord. See how many times they argued with the Lord. See how many time their thoughts contradicted the Master. See how many times they urged Him to take action. And the Lord, ever patient, would correct them.
In every case we see that He is the Lord, and they are the disciples. The roles must never be confused. He is the Master, and we are His servants. We do not command Him, but He commands us. We do not direct Him, but He directs us. We do not lead Him, but He leads us. He was not created for us, but we were created for Him. He does not serve us according to our pleasure, but we serve Him according to His pleasure. So we must be adjusted to Him, and not the other way around. The Lord will never apologize to us and say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong. We'll do it your way." How laughable! How absurd! But we often live as if we expect Him to do that very thing. We have not humbled ourselves.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-secret-of-spiritual-power.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 8
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36).
We ought to meditate on this daily and ask the Lord to open our eyes to see the height, depth, width, length, and breadth of this JESUS Whom we say we serve. May God deliver us from our own idea, concept, perception, and illusion of a small Christ and give us revelation into the preeminence of His Son.
When we see Christ as All in All then it will be impossible for us to ever again be reduced to the small, the trivial, the petty things which occupy us and waste so much of our time. Our only hope is seeing a Christ that fills us, a Christ that is greater than us, a Christ that is larger than we can fathom, an indescribable Christ that overshadows, overwhelms, and consumes us through and through!
JOIN THE DISCUSSION

Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/all-things-in-christ.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

July 7
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other..." (Matthew 6:24a).
The context of this passage is talking about mammon (the love of, and the endless pursuit of, wealth). But the principle applies to everything else. There can only be one master in your life. You can only serve one thing at a time. You are not free to do as you please. Even if you say you serve no one, you are still serving Self. So which will it be? Jesus says if you love Him then you will hate everything else. What does that mean?
It means that you will allow nothing and no one to take the place of the One you love - not for a day, not for an hour, not for a minute. If our love for the Lord is strong then we will learn to hate everything which competes against Him. We will despise anything that seeks to hinder our relationship with Christ.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-gift-of-holy-hatred.html

©2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!