Meditation Chip Brogden

Readers please Note..

Unfortunately 6th April the link to read source of article
did not take to article but to join list. I had written to Chip and todays Meditation and further reading is working. You would be able to search for yourself if time is available to you.
Blessings Elaine.

April 6
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord' when you don't do what I say?" (Luke 6:46)

One of the greatest delusions today is the idea that you can accept Jesus as Savior without accepting Him as Lord. In other words, you can be assured of going to heaven when you die without having to actually live like a disciple of Jesus here and now.
Confessing Jesus as the LORD of your life means you are no longer free to live any way you please and "do your own thing". If you refuse Him as Lord NOW, you cannot claim Him as Savior THEN.
"Why do you call Me LORD if you aren't going to do what I say?" Either He is Lord OF all, or He's not Lord AT all.

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April 7
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto [Jesus], 'Are you the One that should come, or do we look for another?'" (Matthew 11:2,3).
I would suggest, brothers and sisters, that if Jesus is not Enough for us then we have not really met Him yet, or at the very least, we do not know Him very well. Corrie Ten Boom said, "You may never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have." That is the purpose of all God's dealings with us in this area of being decreased (or as I like to say, being reduced to Christ). Jesus is not quite all we HAVE, and so we are reluctant to say that Jesus is all we NEED. The problem, dear friends, is not that we have too little, but that we have too much. It is not that we need more of the Lord; I believe we already have all of Him. We just need less of everything else.


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April 5
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And He said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (II Corinthians 12:9).
All those who want power with God must see that His power is released through our weakness. Do realize that you are weak whether you admit it or not, but the power of humility is in recognizing and agreeing before God that we really can do nothing of our own selves. God's power is not for those with natural charisma, talent, leadership skills, education, training, or "connections". God is not looking for volunteers to serve at their own convenience as their schedule permits, but calls for disciples who will lay down their lives. The flesh counts for nothing in spiritual matters.


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April 4
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them" (Acts 16:6,7, NKJV).
Our destination, and well as our departure, must be governed by the Spirit. How intriguing that the Spirit actually forbade them to preach the word in Asia and Bithynia! This ought to be proof enough that "need", in and of itself, is insufficient guidance. The only thing that matters is being sent, and it is critical that we go only where the Spirit sends us.
The apostles were indeed sent forth by the Spirit, yet that same Spirit did not permit them to just go wherever they pleased. The Spirit prevented them twice before they understood that Macedonia, not Asia or Bithynia, was the intended destination. Later we see that Paul indeed went to Asia and a tremendous work was founded. This tells us that a "no" today does not mean a "no" is forever; nevertheless, when the Spirit forbids us, we dare not take matters into our own hands and go where we have not been sent.


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April 3
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And they overcame [the dragon] by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their Testimony, having loved not their own lives unto the death" (Revelation 12:11).
How many Christians would like to be described as overcomers? Here we see that there are three main characteristics of the one who overcomes. To overcome is the normal Christian life, and not for a select few to enjoy. It is a fact that few Christians live as overcomers; nevertheless, the Christian life is characterized by victory, not by defeat. If this is not our experience then we have much yet to learn. We should not accept things the way they are, but we should press into God and ask Him to show us the Truth.
It is helpful to identify the three enemies that present themselves to us, then the above verse will make even more sense. The overcomer must learn how to defeat each one. So what are they? First, there is the enemy of Sin. Second, the enemy of Self. Third, the enemy of Satan. All contrary things, whether they be of spiritual, natural, or human origin, find their root in one of these three sources.
The glorious thing of course is that God's provision meets all three enemies and defeats them in order to demonstrate the preeminence of Christ. This, in essence, is what it means to overcome. It is to demonstrate the preeminence of Christ over all things.

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April 1
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Of His fullness have all we received" (John 1:16).
If there is a seeming difference in the "level" of anointing or power or spirituality among believers it is definitely not because some have more of the Lord than others. Let this be an encouragement to you. Indeed, Christ is not divided, and of His fullness we all share. We are all baptized into the same Spirit. The difference is some saints are more broken than others. Some have passed through many seasons of tearing down and building up, while some after many years of experience are still resisting the Lord and refusing to lay down their lives. Some have recognized God's dealings and have submitted to them, while others have misunderstood or been totally ignorant of God's dealings with them.
The ones who have been sufficiently broken eventually manifest very little of their self, and very much of Christ. God must work long and hard with us to bring us to this place, but what a glorious day it is when we are able to bow our heads and finally surrender everything. What joy it is to look back over all that the Lord has led us through and realize His purpose in both the good times and the bad times, to behold the goodness and the severity of God in His dealings with us.


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April 2
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"The fruit of the Spirit is... meekness" (Galatians 5:22,23ff).
God's power is not revealed to us when we are proud, but when we are humble. Any demonstration of "power" manifesting itself through a proud man or a proud woman is, quite simply, not from God and cannot be trusted. Spiritual gifts may be counterfeited, but spiritual fruit cannot be faked. We will know the false from the true by their fruit, not their gifts (Matthew 7:20). Meekness is an essential quality of spiritual fruit. Gifts may accompany fruit, but gifts may never substitute for fruit.


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March 31
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all" (Psalms 34:18,19).
We must learn sooner rather than later that discipleship is a process of tearing down in order to build up. We cannot expect to have a single mountaintop experience with the Lord and then assume from henceforth the work of the Cross is completed in us. When we are standing with the Lord in the New Jerusalem we may lay down the Cross. Until then, we dare not entertain the thought that we have already been made perfect. We must deny ourselves and take up the Cross daily.
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March 30
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33).
To illustrate, let us imagine that we here on earth desire to reach the moon. That is a definitive goal which we can see. We can measure the distance and make plans to reach the moon. To us here on earth that is the ultimate in space exploration. Now let us imagine that one day we reach the moon. Just as we become acclimated to this enormous triumph, our eyes turn upward yet again and we see the vast expanse of space, the innumerable stars, planets, and galaxies, stretched out before us for more than 15,000,000,000 light years, and enlarging its borders faster than we could ever hope to keep up. We will never get to the end of it.
Suddenly, we realize all that we have accomplished in reaching the moon is but a drop in the bucket. In the grand scheme of the universe it is so small as to be infinitesimal. Of course you had no idea that the universe was this large while confined to the atmosphere of Earth, but now, having journeyed a bit beyond, you see just how large it is.
This, in a nutshell, is what it is to find ourselves lost in the depths of Christ. The edge of the universe is beyond our reach, but even it is finite in terms of size. This vast universe is summed up into Christ. The Creator is larger than the creation. So it follows that the more we know of Him, the less we realize we know. All the learning and spiritual experience of all the saints since the foundation of the world hardly makes a dent into the richness of Christ.


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March 29
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"When you are older, you will stretch out your arms and Someone Else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go" (John 21:18ff).
One characteristic of young disciples is their ability to dress and lead themselves. They find it very easy to go out and to come in. They are zealous and full of good works. If they see a need, they move at once to fill it. If they want to go somewhere, they simply go. If they want to say something, they simply say it. If they want to do something, they simply do it. They are full of plans and pursuits.
We are not suggesting that this is necessarily wrong, but we are suggesting that this is only the beginning stage of spiritual growth. The real question is not what need do I want to fill, or where do I want to go, or what do I want to say, or what do I want to do. The question is: what glorifies the Lord? Whenever "I" do something I consider spiritual and good, it is, nevertheless, "me" who does it. Often we do what glorifies us - the Lord and His Need are seldom considered. But when we ask what glorifies the Lord, we see (in this passage at least) that the Lord is glorified when He is able to dress us and lead us where HE wants us to go - with no interference from Self.

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March 27
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" (John 10:16).
A shepherd is a sheep-herder, and he herds sheep. Where does he herd them to? Into the One Flock under the One Shepherd, for the sheep are scattered all over the face of the earth and divided into their own sects and peculiarities. The One Flock is the Ecclesia, the called-out assembly of those who have the revelation of Christ, and the One Shepherd is Christ Himself. There is no other. Meditate on that and broaden your vision to encompass more than your little four walls.


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March 24
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And when [Jesus] saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, 'Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.' And presently the fig tree withered away" (Matthew 21:19).
It is not too difficult to find a meeting or a service in which you get a sense of death, not of Life. The music, preaching, and fellowship may be well and good: but you come away hungry and deflated because the Lord's Need is not met. The measure of the presence of the Lord or the blessing of the Lord upon a meeting, a work, or a people is always the Life. Let us not judge by outward appearances. Remember that it is not the leaves of the fig tree, but the figs, which contain the Life. The fruit of the Spirit is the outward manifestation of the inward Life.

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March 25
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And they overcame [the dragon] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Revelation 12:11).
The attack of the enemy is the basis upon which the Testimony is established. Just as there is no victory without a fight, no Crown without a Cross, so there is no Testimony without a devil. Our Testimony is not just "Hallelujah, I'm saved!". It is not a thing that is said but it is a LIFE that is lived. We overcome the Dragon by the word of this Testimony. This Testimony demonstrates the preeminence of Christ over sin, self, and satan: and it is a violent thing, a proactive thing, not a passive thing.
The Lord's Testimony is actually strengthened when the enemy comes against it, for in the end we see that Christ is, indeed, preeminent. If we are really demonstrating this then we should be getting stronger spiritually. That is not to say we will always feel good and always have a smile on our face while engaging the enemy. But regardless of our outward condition, our inward condition will be continually strengthened as we bear the Testimony of Jesus.
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March 26
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And [Jesus] said to them all, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me'" (Luke 9:23).
Resurrection Life is that which has died, but now lives. It has the mark of the Cross upon it. It has passed through death once, and death can no more touch it. If we have not already passed through death then we are constantly fearful of dying, but the one who has already died and lives again has nothing more to fear from death. As we are decreased through the daily carrying of our cross, Christ in us is increased, and the strength of His Life is matured through our weakness.


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March 22
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"As the fullness of God - all that He is and all that He has - dwells in Christ, so the fullness of Christ - all that He is and all that He has - dwells in you" (Colossians 2:9,10a).
I am afraid that we do not truly appreciate the fact that God has never given us THINGS, but has summed up everything into Christ, having poured Himself into His Son. Having the Son, possessing the Son, being one with the Son, we have and possess everything God is. It never has been a question of seeking ten, one hundred, or one thousand different things from God.
If we do not know from our experience, we should at least know from the Scriptures, that CHRIST IS THE GIFT OF GOD. Then our experience will come into line with God's Thought. If you are used to seeking spiritual "things" (love, joy, peace, anointing, power, blessing, etc.) then this message is particularly for you, but we all stand to benefit from being reminded constantly that Christ is God's One Gift.


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March 21
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I die daily" (I Corinthians 15:21b).
Paul might have buckled under the pressure. He certainly grew weary. He certainly was misunderstood, rejected, and persecuted. He suffered so much. What kept him going? Verse 29 of Colossians 1 says, "To this end I labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily." He labors, and he strives. That's the way Paul was. Laboring and striving, even when he was laboring and striving for the wrong things, he was absolutely dedicated to the mission.
But there is something more extraordinary at work in Paul, something more than sheer willpower or determination. I tell you willpower will only take you so far. Willpower is overrated. We need something else, something supernatural, something that does not rely upon my limited willpower. What was it? "I strive according to HIS WORKING which works in me mightily." It was not the strength of Paul, but the strength of Christ in Paul, and through this Christ, Paul said, "I can do all things" (Philippians 4:13). All things!

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March 20
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us" (I Thessalonians 2:18).
We ought to be able to tell the difference between the Lord preventing us and the devil hindering us. Some Christians throw everything together and treat it as all the same. They reason that if God wants them to be somewhere then He will work everything out in their favor. They think if it is God's will then it will just automatically happen without any trouble at all. Scripture and the experience of countless saints prove otherwise.
We should not expect things to always go as planned, even when we are indeed following the will of God, and especially when we are trying to do what we feel led to do. Sometimes it seems as if everything is rising up against us. Cars break down, people get sick, misunderstandings arise, businesses fail, things happen. We do not want to give the devil any glory and attribute everything to him. But we do want to discern the true operation of the enemy so we may dispose of him. We must exercise discernment and wisdom to know the difference between the hand of the Lord, the work of the enemy, and the natural environment. Otherwise we will suffer unnecessarily.
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March 19
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him... beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him..." (Colossians 2:6,8,9a)
If by the end of today there is less of me and more of Jesus then I am growing. Otherwise I am not. Jesus must become greater and greater in my life, and I must become lesser and lesser. This is the Path. Along this Path towards apprehending Christ as all in all there are many pitfalls, snares, hindrances, and detours.
Thus, Paul says we are to be on our guard and let no man spoil us. In this context, the word "spoil" means, "to destroy and strip of one's possessions; to deprive of something valuable by force." Every spiritual blessing heaven has to offer is found in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Each believer has an incredible fullness and completeness in the Person of Jesus Christ. Christ is THE Gift of God, the ultimate Gift, and this Gift is precious, valuable, and of great worth.


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March 18
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"That I may know Him" (Philippians 3:10).
It is the FULLNESS of Christ that we are after, the revelation of Christ as He IN FACT IS. For too many Christians the Lord Jesus is "merely" their Savior. Thank God He is our Savior, but there is a depth and a richness bound up into the personage of Christ that goes far, far beyond "mere" salvation. Salvation is the narrow gate - coming into the fullness of Christ is the narrow path. The gate is only the entrance to something larger.

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March 13
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And [Jesus] ordained twelve, that they should BE with Him, and that He MIGHT send them forth to preach" (Mark 3:14).
God does not want ministers or workers to begin with. We think these things are very important, for how can the Church get along without ministers and workers? What else does God want if not ministers and workers? Quite simply, He wants disciples first and foremost. There are many ministers and workers today and very few disciples. Everyone either has a ministry or wants a ministry. Everyone is expected to be a minister or a worker. We do not hear too much about being a disciple, yet this is what God must have before He can have anything in the Church.


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March 14
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Noah did everything that God commanded him to do" (Genesis 6:22).
I spent many years creating and executing my own plans, asking the Lord to bless them. One day I understood that instead of always trying to get the Lord to bless what I wanted to do, it was much simpler to find out what the Lord wanted to bless, and simply do THAT. Instead of trying to get God to come down to my level and do what I wanted, it was far better to come onto the Lord's ground and do what He wanted.
Great synergy and blessing is released when we simply cooperate with what God has already purposed to do. Heaven backs us up with tremendous power and authority. Instead of trying to make something happen, I simply flow in a current that already exists. The Lord will deny no request that is in agreement with what He Himself has originated.


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March 12
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"In [Christ] are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).
It is not that God gives us revelation into five, ten, one hundred, or one thousand things. None of these "things" by themselves really matter. Rather, He has placed all those "things" within Christ, and reveals Christ to us. He will not reveal anything to us apart from the Revelation of Jesus Christ. To possess the Son is to possess all that pertains to the Son, for the Scriptures declare, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). Christ is the sum of all spiritual things, the fullness of God in a bodily form (Colossians 2:9).
Again, it is not that God desires to give us revelation into these many things, but for us to have the Revelation of Jesus Christ. By apprehending Him we will subsequently gain insight in those "things". To seek revelation into the "things" apart from the Revelation of Christ fails to give Christ the preeminence. We dare not circumvent the knowledge of Him in the pursuit of "things", even spiritual things, for they are all summed up into Him.


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March 11
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him" (Luke 24:15,16, NASB).
So the question is: have you seen the Lord? I do not mean in a dream or a vision, but I mean have you seen the Lord because the Father has revealed Him in you? It is possible to pray a prayer, but not see the Lord. It is possible to perform good works, but not see the Lord. It is possible (and quite common) to attend church meetings all your life, but not see the Lord. Two men who claimed to know Jesus walked with Him on the road to Emmaus, but they did not know Who He was until their eyes were opened. Many people are in the same situation. We cannot see Him until the eyes of our heart are opened, and when we are thus illuminated from within, we will see Him, we will know Him.
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March 9
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?" (Matthew 7:22).
If you have read the Scriptures you know that many who say, "Lord, Lord" and do mighty things in the name of the Lord are, in fact, not known by Him at all, and will have no part in the Kingdom of God. This ought to bring us to our knees. This ought to cause us to search our hearts. Do we really know the Lord? Have we really seen Him? Has God revealed His Son to us?
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March 10
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister unto Me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God: they shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister unto Me, and they shall keep My charge" (Ezekiel 44:15,16).
What is significant about the sons of Zadok, and how is it applicable to us today? The sons of Zadok were selected to minister to the Lord because they "kept the charge" of the sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from the Lord and worshipped idols. In plain language it means this: when things began to decline and the temple was defiled, the sons of Zadok decided they would no longer try to keep the outer court sanctified, but they moved into the inner court and continued to minister to the Lord. When the outer court was defiled, they were determined to maintain the holiness of the inner court.
This is of extreme importance to us. It is no great thing to point out the many ways in which the outer court has fallen, although it surprises me that more people do not see it. Even so, being able to articulate all that is wrong is of very little use if we cannot with equal conviction state what our response to it should be. After we see the problems with the outer court, there seems to be only two viable options: stay where we are and try to change it, or forsake it and go deeper. It seems that all of us, at one time or another, have tried to "change the system" but sooner or later we have met with frustration and aggravation. Immediately when we receive light from the Lord we want everyone else to walk according to that light, but it does not happen. So the only real choice is to go deeper.


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March 8
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8).
It took five hundred years of walking with God, but Noah found grace, and that made it all worthwhile. Let us learn to do nothing apart from this amazing grace. It is better to wait five hundred years for grace than to work for five minutes without it.
What is grace? I teach people that Grace is a Man. Amazing Grace is simply Jesus living in me, doing what I cannot do. It does not matter if "what I cannot do" is save myself, overcome sin, love my neighbor, or build an ark. "For by Grace (Jesus) are you saved through faith (trusting Jesus to do what you cannot do); and that not of yourselves: it (He) is the Gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). I am insufficient; but His Grace (Jesus) is sufficient. His Grace (Jesus) is more than enough. His Grace (Jesus) is Infinite Supply! But "without Me you can do nothing" (cf. John 15:5b).

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March 7
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

Everyone who looks does not see. Everyone who hears does not listen. What are we looking for? What is it that we need to see? What would God reveal to us? There is but one desire of God for us, and that is that we may see Christ. God does not reveal one hundred, one thousand, or one million things to us. He is pleased to give us His Son, and He delights for us to look only to Him. Not even the things He gives, but to Him who is the Gift. We may pray for revelation into a great many matters, but only one thing is important to God, that is, that we may have revelation into the Son.
If we know the Son, if we possess the Son, if we see the Son, we know and possess and see all that God has and is, for He has deposited all of Himself into His Son, and all of His Son He deposited into us.

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http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-gift-of-christ.html
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March 6
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?" (Matthew 26:8).

We want to appear to be busy doing for God, busy at our "ministry." But there is a place where we simply "waste" ourselves on Him, and outwardly we appear to be doing nothing. Would that more believers would "waste" themselves more often, ministering to the Lord, sitting at His feet, hearing His word, ministering to Him in secret prayer and fasting! Then when they do rise up to work, how much more fruitful they will be!

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!