Meditation Chip Brogden

March 5
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"As Jesus was reclining at the table, a woman came to Him with a jar of expensive perfume and poured it on His head" (Matthew 26:7).
"Unto you who believe He is precious" (I Peter 2:7). To those who appreciate the exceeding preciousness of the Lord nothing is too much for Him. Nothing poured out upon Him is a waste. Whether He is anointed with tears, or with perfume - He is worthy of all. Now when Christ is revealed to us and we begin to grow up into Him, our hearts are illuminated and we begin to grasp something of the preciousness of the Lord. The natural response is spirit-and-truth worship. This cannot be achieved with better music or dynamic worship leaders. Apart from revelation, apart from seeing, we cannot value Him in any deep sense. Worship is our response to revelation.
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!

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).
According to God's thought, those who are called to serve the Body in these functions are supposed to be part of the SOME who have already entered into the unity of the faith, the full-knowledge of the Son of God, the fullness of Christ. Who is qualified to function as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher? It should be those who have walked with the Lord Jesus for some length of time and know Him to such a degree that they are more conformed to the image of Christ than their less experienced brothers and sisters. Having established a mature relationship with Christ, they can now turn their attention to serving and helping others to come to that same maturity.
I have qualified my words by saying "should be" and "supposed to be". I am expressing the ideal. We know that everyone who uses these functions as a title or office for lording over others are not who they claim to be. They can be quite gifted but remain spiritually immature and completely ignorant of what it means to bring people into the depths of Christ if they have yet to experience those depths for themselves. If a so-called ministry does nothing to bring people deeper into Christ then it really is not a ministry at all, and it is worthless insofar as the Kingdom of God is concerned. We might as well lay the axe to the root, chop that tree down and throw it into the fire. It is wood, hay, and stubble. Go ahead and kill it right now because it is dead already.


JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/till-we-all-come.html

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

February 28
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).
For most of my life as a Christian I sought God for THINGS. When depressed, I would seek joy. When worried, I would seek peace. When weak, I would seek strength. When angry, I would seek self-control. When defeated, I would seek victory. Most Christians are taught to approach God and seek these things when they are conscious of some lack. For a time it seems they are given what they ask for, but soon they are back asking for more of the same thing. Today we ask for patience, and tomorrow we ask again, and the day after that we have to ask yet again. So it is with peace, joy, victory, and everything else.
Eventually we must learn that we have everything in Christ already. That thing called "patience" that we are so diligently seeking is not a thing at all, it is Christ. "Victory" is no longer a "thing", it is a Man. And so it is with everything else we need. It is certainly possible to seek spiritual blessings from God apart from Christ, or in addition to Christ. What a difference it makes to realize that He HAS (past tense) blessed us already - not with three or five or twenty blessings - but with EVERY spiritual blessing. However many there may be, we have them all. Where and how has He done this? Thank God, it was done the moment we received Christ and entered into Him as our All in All. God would have us seek Him first, and not His things. To Him there is no "thing", for they are all summed up into Christ.

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!

February 27
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ" (Philemon 1a).
It is a glorious thing to be the prisoner of the Lord, for in our bonds we find liberty. In our weakness we find strength. In our foolishness we find wisdom. In our poverty we find prosperity. By losing everything we find everything. By giving up all things we inherit all things. By accepting the sentence of death we find the Life of the Lord. Let us stretch forth our hands and allow Him to dress us and lead us where He wishes us to go, in the way we would not choose for ourselves, for that is the Narrow Way, and it is the path of blessing, though it be disguised.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-prisoners-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!

February 26
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I, Paul, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you..." (Ephesians 4:1a).
To be the prisoner of the Lord means that we accept the sentence of death and are resigned to our fate. We are not the Lord's prisoner if we are still protesting our innocence. If we do not agree with the Lord that Self is worthy of death then we unnecessarily delay the inevitable. If we must take up the Cross and be crucified, it is better to submit ourselves to it as Christ did, giving up our spirit into the Father's hands, and bowing our head in peace. So let us drink the Cup that the Father gives us. If we struggle and protest, like the two thieves, then we only prolong our agony, and the soldiers must come and break our legs. Either way, the Cross means death. The sooner we surrender to it the sooner we find Resurrection.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-prisoners-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!

February 25
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I am with you always, even until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
It is true that "whenever two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am." Praise God for such truth. It is equally true that, "I am with YOU always (singular)." We do not want to be lone ranger Christians who do not seek fellowship with other members of Christ's Body. At the same time, we cannot allow the absence of such fellowship to make us despondent or depressed, should we be deprived of it. If it causes us to fall away, then perhaps this is the reason God allows us to go through periods of solitude, that we may be reduced to CHRIST as our Fellowship.
When we find ourselves in such a place, let us not be too quick to seek out others until we have reaped the benefits of being alone with God. Let us remember that Christ's Body is a spiritual Body. Being in the physical presence of other members does not make us more of a member, and being removed from the physical presence of other members does not make us any less a member. Of course the exact opposite is true for those meeting together as an institution; without their physical presence and support they lose place as a member. But not Christ's Body, the Church. We are not more or less of a member by reason of our physical contact or lack of physical contact with one another.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/lonely-but-never-alone.html
2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

February 24
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days, and there was no revelation" (I Samuel 3:1).
In every respect the times in which we live are comparable to I Samuel 3. A genuine word from God is rare, and there is no open vision. In other words, most of the people who see something do not have revelation to really know what they are seeing - hence, it remains closed, or worse, it is misinterpreted and becomes a delusion. There is an abundance of words, dreams, visions, and prophecies today, but I repeat: a GENUINE word from God is rare, and there is little REVELATION. Do you understand my meaning? And the priesthood as represented by Eli is old, fat, and blind: operating as always, still standing in the place of the priest, but already under judgment.
What is the problem? No one ministers to the Lord. Everyone is for themselves. Except for one child who ministers to the Lord - and THAT is the one to whom the Lord revealed Himself. There is no revelation apart from relationship. I learned this the hard way.


JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-priests-of-the-lord-part-1.html
2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears

February 20
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"...Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles..." (Luke 9:33ff).
The reason we do not attend or sponsor meetings with any regularity is simply because the Lord's Need is often not met in these meetings. Self permeates so much of what we do (or do not do), even in spiritual matters where Self is supposed to be denied. Peter is a man full of himself. So his reaction to the glory of the Lord is, "It is good for us! Let us build for You..."
This is how many works, denominations and ministries are begun. The Lord sovereignly reveals something of His glory to a handful of people, and they begin to build something - a church, a movement, a denomination - in order to contain that glory. Or, the Lord visits His people in a particular meeting or setting. It is good for us: so we decide to meet again the next week in hopes that we can experience more of the same. And so on. We believe if only we can find the right combination of music, or teaching, or worship, or people, then it will be "good for us" every time we meet. Soon, however, the Life is gone and the glory is departed, but the meetings continue!
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/good-for-us.html
-------
February 21
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"...Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles..." (Luke 9:33ff).
"I will build My Church," Jesus says. That is Life. "Let us build for You," Peter says. That is Death. To see if a thing is living or dead we need only trace its source. Not only is "let us build" wrong, but "let us build FOR YOU" is equally wrong. Each is motivated by the same thing: "It is good for us." What Peter did not realize, and what we, too, fail to perceive, is that the glory is in Christ, and not in a method, a meeting, or a movement: and it is for Him, and not for us. How quickly "It is good for us..." turns into "Let us build for You..." How subtle our flesh is! How often in the name of "fellowship" have we have built something "for" the Lord Jesus that really serves our own agenda?
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/good-for-us.html
-----

February 22
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I am the Vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, will produce much fruit: for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
It is amazing the number of Christians who believe it is up to them to produce fruit. This teaching is, to them, like trying to force a square peg through a round hole. They become obsessed with making something happen, thinking it is all up to their effort, their willpower, their determination, to grow up into Christ. To suggest that they cease from their labor is to make light of all their hard work up until now, and this offends them! They begin in the Spirit, but look to the flesh (self-effort) to complete the work. That is not the Christ-Life! The fruit will come of its own accord, provided we abide in Him.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-law-of-life.html
February 23
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).
The Law of Life is more powerful and active than anything generated or maintained by self-effort. With self-effort I am always at the mercy of how I feel. If I feel spiritual then I can pray for hours at a time. But if I do not feel spiritual then I cannot even pray five minutes. This is why so many believers live their lives like a roller-coaster. They do not live according to principle, according to the Law of Life. Thinking it is up to them to become Christlike, they turn an easy yoke and a light burden into a difficult yoke and a heavy burden - difficult and heavy for themselves, and for those who must live and work around them. The one who rests in Christ will produce more fruit than the one who strives with self-effort.

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!

February 17
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, opened his windows towards Jerusalem, and kneeled down three times a day to pray and give thanks to God, just as he always did" (Daniel 6:10).
I have found through personal experience that the lion's den usually comes about the same time as the revelation. The burden to pray comes with the edict forbidding prayer; Daniel labors for God's purpose while Daniel's enemies labor for his death; the answer comes along with a death sentence. This is not unusual, but quite common.
What is my point? Apostolic revelation and apostolic persecution go hand-in-hand. We cannot have one without the other. Revelation does not come to us apart from our circumstance, our environment, our struggle, our wrestling. Many want the revelation but they do not want the lion's den. They want the angels but not the enemies. Yet the depth of the revelation is measured by the depth of the suffering, and if our sufferings are light then our revelation is shallow.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-remnant-principle-part-5.html
February 18
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"As soon then as He had said unto them, 'I am He' they went backward, and fell to the ground" (John 18:6).
When they came to arrest the Lord Jesus in the garden, He asked, "Who are you looking for?" And they answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." He simply said, "I AM." When they heard this they fell over backwards to the ground. No one can stand before I AM and retain any of their strength. To the ground we will all go, for that ground is holy. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
This revealing of Christ is sufficient to bring saint and sinner alike into absolute surrender and submission. Friends and foes alike find themselves at His feet, quite unable to stand before Him. He does not have to raise His voice or call down fire from Heaven or do anything other than simply reveal Himself for Who He is. Every doubting Thomas eventually cries out, "My Lord and My God!" when they finally behold Him.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/feet-of-brass.html
February 19
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him" (Luke 9:32).
We can talk about His presence and His glory and His majesty - yes, we can even sing songs of worship which incorporate these words into the lyrics - but we do not really conceptualize or comprehend what it means. If we really did see something of the majesty and the glory of the Christ of God we would not be so casual. We would be reverent. We would not take the Presence for granted. If we can take Him for granted they we have failed to apprehend Him. We have not yet seen Him. We do not yet know Him. We need to spend some time sitting at His feet.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/feet-of-brass.html

2010 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.

February 15
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

February 16
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And when the servant of [Elisha] was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, 'Alas, my master! How shall we do?' And he answered, 'Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them'. And Elisha prayed, and said, 'Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see'. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" (II Kings 6:15-17).
To be an overcomer does not mean that we deny the existence of the enemy. We are not going to overcome by pretending we are not really surrounded. Denying the existence of the adversary will not make him disappear. We acknowledge and admit that there is a real enemy, a real spirit of Antichrist, that is out to destroy the Remnant and hinder the Testimony of Jesus. We also acknowledge and admit that more often than not, this spirit of Antichrist seems to get the advantage over us.
Even so, the issue is not the enemy. We may look at the enemy, study him, and build an entire movement around different ways to fight him. We can write books and hold seminars on "spiritual warfare". But when we look out from the mountain, what do we really see? Here is the difference between those who overcome and those who are defeated: it is not in their ability to fight, but in their ability to SEE, and this seeing is not of themselves, but is of God.

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

February 14
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of Sin and Death" (Romans 8:2).
Does a fish become a fish by swimming under the water, or does it swim under the water because it is a fish? Does it say to itself, "I am a fish, therefore, I must learn to act like a fish. I must remember to breathe through my gills and move my body back and forth." Absolutely not. Or what about a bird? Does a bird become a bird once it learns to fly through the air? Or does it fly through the air because it is a bird? Which is it? Of course, the bird is a bird, and therefore it flies. It does not have to be instructed per se, but when it is pushed out of the nest it flaps its wings. It is its nature to do so. So doing does not create being, doing flows out of being.
Now the Law of Life in Christ does not try to make us into something we are not. The very presence of the Life in us demonstrates that Christ already indwells us. We are not trying to be like Christ, and we are not trying to live like a Christian. Since we ARE in Him, we WALK in Him. Our works come from what we are, not what we are trying to be. We do not receive His Life so that we can work very hard to be like Jesus. That is like the fish having to remind itself that since it is a fish therefore it must swim. Or, like a bird having to keep telling itself through positive confession that it must remember to fly. Yet Christians keep reminding themselves, "Now that I am a Christian, I must remember to read the Bible, pray, and live a holy life. I must not forget to love my neighbor and smile no matter what happens." Can you see the problem here? With this mentality we cannot cooperate with the Life, because we would be depending on our life instead of His.


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!

February 13
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Are you going to leave Me, too?" (John 6:67).
When Jesus spoke to the multitude, He did not glory in how large the crowd was. He did not congratulate Himself on having such an influential ministry. Instead, He sought to thin the numbers out by sifting them with a difficult word, saying, "You must eat my flesh and drink my blood if you wish to be my disciples." At this saying, the multitude and many of His disciples turned aside and no longer followed Him. Instead of running after them in an effort to make Himself understood and accepted, He watched them go. Then, turning to the Twelve, He said, "Will you also go away?" Here is a Man who is not afraid to be misunderstood because He is not afraid of people, what they will think, or what they will say about Him unjustly.
WE can discern His meaning, but THEY could not. Why did He not explain what He meant? Because He had no love for Himself, no desire to be understood. He only called for those who had ears to hear. He spoke the Word and allowed the hearers to exercise their own judgment and spiritual discernment. He had no desire to be appreciated or accepted. He would not have them accept HIM while rejecting the WORD He brought. If they rejected His Word, they rejected Him. To overcome the fear of man, we must not only be willing to be misunderstood and unappreciated, we should expect it. Then we will be free to speak what God has given us and will not be troubled should others fail to grasp the significance of it.


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!

February 11
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life... he that overcomes will not be hurt by the second death" (Revelation 2:10b,11b).
Practically speaking, Resurrection Life can be seen in our actions and in our words. When some people open their mouths you sense death. Their presence contributes nothing living. Instead, you have a hollow, empty feeling when you are around them. The words may be correct, but there is no life in what they are saying. It is as though you are handling a dead thing. There is no Spirit and Life.
On the other hand, there are brothers and sisters who are naturally very excited, bold, gifted, talented and persuasive. They seem very much "alive", but this is not Resurrection Life either. How so? They have not passed through death yet, and you cannot be resurrected until you have died. They do not have the imprint of the Cross on what they are doing. They have never been broken. They may be naturally gifted at whatever they are doing for the Lord, but they have not yet died. Outwardly speaking they may appear to be doing some good, but the issue is not good versus bad, but life versus death.
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!
February 12
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11,12).
When the Lord revealed Himself to me I realized that such experiential, intimate knowledge cannot be found in a book, or I would have had it years ago. It cannot be found simply by reading the Bible, or everyone who has a Bible would know the Truth experientially, and we know that is simply not the case. It is a revelation of Truth as a Person, not as a philosophy, and from that day forward I understood that MAN cannot add to it or take away anything from it. That is when I stopped seeking the affirmation or confirmation of man.
I understood then (for the first time) that there is only one Teacher, and I am His disciple. I do not belong to anyone else, and no one else belongs to me. This was not something I would have understood automatically. As a pastor I was used to talking about "my sheep" and "my congregation" and "my church" as if I owned something. But when I discovered that there is One Flock guided by One Shepherd I knew then that I owned no one, and no one owned me. I belonged to Him, and they belonged to Him. What liberty! For me certainly, but more so, for the ones who were formerly "sitting under my teaching." People would come to me to be taught instead of others because they claimed they could not be fed by others, only by me. What a tragedy! Who is your source? Where did the manna come from? Moses? No, "Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the True Bread." When will we look away from Moses the man and towards Christ the Living Bread?
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!

February 10

Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I am the Bread of Life" (John 6:32b).

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.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION Read the source article or post your comments.

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

February 9
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"The Father gives you the True Bread from Heaven" (John 6:35a).
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!

February 8
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Jesus looked and saw a large crowd of people beginning to gather around Him. So He asked Philip, 'Where can we buy bread to feed these people?' He said this only to test Philip's reaction. Jesus already knew what He was about to do" (John 6:5,6).

Now the Lord does not tempt us with the intent of making us stumble. That is the way the adversary works. No, the Lord indeed tests us and proves us, but His Way is to strengthen us in the testing, whereas the devil wants to weaken us in the testing. It has been said that our circumstances will either leave us better or they will leave us bitter. Ultimately, the decision is ours. We should steadfastly resist the temptation of satan, but we should also learn to distinguish between the assault of the enemy and the proving of the Lord.
Jesus already knows what He is going to do. In His mind it is as good as done. But He waits, and He proves us. Not because He does not know us, but because we do not know ourselves.


JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.

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

February 7
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I know Whom I have believed" (II Timothy 1:12ff).

A certain brother was always emphatic about what he believed until someone with equal or greater argument confronted him. This occurred one day and someone pointed out several supposed "errors" in the Bible. This caused the brother to be very alarmed. He went to an elderly sister and informed her of these alleged errors and wanted to know her opinion. She simply stated that the knowledge of God did not depend upon the answering of these questions.
He thought, perhaps not to you, but to me it is important! So he spent the next year investigating what this other person had told him and found it to be untrue. But, had he simply known God He would not have found it necessary to study the whole thing and reason it out. The elderly sister was right, the knowledge of God did not depend upon the answering of those questions. If you know Who, knowing what and why become less significant.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/i-know-whom-i-have-believed.html

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

February 6

Today's Message from Chip Brogden


"As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions" (Romans 14:1).

My children are immature, but I cannot expect them to be anything other than immature so long as they are children. I am lovingly committed to their long-term growth. In the same way, let us not despise the spiritually immature or the weak in faith. Instead, the Word tells us to receive them and watch over them. For those of you who are further along, never forget how many years of God's dealings it took to bring you to the level of experience you take for granted today.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/i-know-whom-i-have-believed.html

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

February 5
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).
You see that Christ is revealed or hidden from men as He so desires. So many professed disciples of the Lord Jesus fail to recognize Him. The Lord tells them to go to Galilee, but they go to Emmaus. Many people sitting in church would not discern the Lord Jesus if He walked up the aisle and sat down on the altar. They are not really His sheep, therefore they cannot hear His voice, and they do not know Him.
Even His closest disciples are prone to doubt and unbelief. After the resurrection, Thomas declared, "I will not believe unless I see the scars and put my hand into the wound in His side." When Jesus therefore appeared to them He did not argue or try to convince Thomas. He simply said, "Behold! Look! See my hands and my feet!" When Thomas saw the Lord, he spontaneously cried out, "My Lord, and My God!" This is revelation. Revelation does not require any arguing or convincing, as if it all depends on how well we can make a defense of the Gospel. I see no argument in the Lord Jesus, I only see Him. Seeing Him, I am convinced, and no argument is necessary.


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

February 3
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"After they had eaten, Jesus asked Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these other things?'" (John 21:15).

When the simplest disciples grow tired of "just" being with Jesus, and begin to long for something bigger, something better, something greater, something more powerful, something other than what they have in Jesus already, then they are saying that Jesus is not enough. If Jesus was all you had, would Jesus be enough for you? Or do you have to have all the "trappings" of Christianity, all the bells and whistles, all the toys and trinkets?

Make no mistake: there is no life in the things that are ABOUT Jesus. There is life only in Jesus Himself. May I speak candidly? If you are dissatisfied and disappointed with your Christian walk today, it is only because of one thing: Jesus is not enough for you. Somewhere along the line, something else became more important than Jesus. Maybe you have become focused on the things ABOUT Jesus that are NOT Jesus.

There is only one solution. You do not need more of the Lord, because He has already given Himself completely to you already. You just need less of everything else.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/is-jesus-enough.html

February 4
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me - just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father - and I lay down My Life for the sheep. I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They will hear My Voice, and there will be One Flock, and One Shepherd" (John 10:14-16).

Jesus plainly said, "I am the Good Shepherd." In John 10 He tells us the difference between the Good Shepherd and the hireling. He even says that ALL who came before Him were thieves and robbers. That's why God sent the Son to Shepherd the flock for Him. No one else is worthy. Apart from Him we are all hirelings. We just love ourselves too much. In the same way that no one is worthy to open the seal and read the contents of the scroll except for Christ, so no one is worthy to shepherd the flock of God but Christ. The Lord declared that He would tend the flock Himself, and so He has done so and is doing so through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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!

February 2
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).
Let me explain how the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus relates to our work and ministry in the Lord. It is summed up in this maxim: God will not LEAD you where His grace cannot KEEP you. That is to say, when we undertake the work assigned to us by the Lord we will find the Life of the Lord is present to give us all the inner spiritual strength to see it through to completion.
I am not saying everything will go smoothly and you will never have any self-doubt or fear. Far from it. But listen to what Paul says: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (II Corinthians 4:8,9). His secret? "I labor according to His mighty power which works in me" (Colossian 1:29). Not I, but Christ. This is the secret to the Christian life and it is the key to all fruitful spiritual work.


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

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

February 1
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me" (John 12:32).
Jesus said if HE is lifted up then HE will draw all men to HIMSELF. Instead, we lift up religion and draw all men into an institution.
Are we suggesting that Christians should never have fellowship with others? Of course not. But we ask, can fellowship only occur in the context of a church meeting? Once we realize that our fellowship is supposed to be based on a relationship with Jesus, not a relationship with "church", we will discover that there are more opportunities for fellowship OUTSIDE the local church building than there are INSIDE.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/gathering-but-not-for-the-better.html

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

January 30
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).
Jesus did not say where the two or three had to be gathered together. He did not specify a church building or a living room meeting. And He did not say how many times a week they had to be gathered, or if the gatherings had to be structured or unstructured, open or closed, inside or outside.
By establishing His Presence in the midst of a group so small as two or three, Jesus repudiates our fascination with large numbers. Anyone can gather a crowd if you tell them what they want to hear. May I say that a large group has no more of the presence of Jesus than a small group. The numbers are irrelevant. Either Jesus is in the midst, or He is not. If Jesus is not in the midst of us then having a large group of people will not compensate for Him not being there.
I would rather sit on the living room floor with three people and have Jesus in the midst than sit in a service with three thousand people where Jesus is nowhere to be found. Of course, Jesus can sometimes be found in large groups of people, but as my wife says, He tends to get lost in the crowd.


JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/gathering-but-not-for-the-better.html
January 31
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"[Nebuchadnezzar] answered and said, Lo, I see FOUR men loose, walking about in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (Daniel 3:25).
Overcomers are those upon whose bodies the fire has no power (Daniel 3:27a). Put them in the fiery furnace and they are not consumed, only refined, only purified. It only makes them that much more conformed to the image of the Fourth Man, the Son of God, the Lord Christ.
The fire has no power over them because the fire has no power over Him, and there He is in the midst. They do not seek the fiery furnace, but neither do they shrink from it when it comes. They do not ask for temptation and testing, but they are not afraid of it. They do not look for the devil behind every rock, but when they find him they demonstrate the preeminence of Christ over all things and call for his submission to Him. This is the Testimony of Jesus and the ministry of the Overcomers.


JOIN THE DISCUSSION
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-remnant-principle-part-3.html
Read the source article or post your comments.

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

January 28
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!" (Psalms 23:1, NLT).
David looked ahead to this day and declared, "The Lord is my Shepherd." We might put it this way, for the meaning is the same: "The Lord is my Pastor." How does that sound? How would you like to have Jesus for a pastor? Psalm 23 is talking about the Church, and Jesus is your Pastor. Of course it's talking about our individual relationship with Christ, but remember He has more than one sheep. It is not just you and Jesus walking around by yourselves, hand in hand. There's a whole flock in mind here. It's talking about what it means to be under the Shepherd's care as one of many sheep. David is describing the One Flock with One Shepherd. How glorious and beautiful was his insight.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Read the source article or post your comments.http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/one-flock-one-shepherd.html
---
January 29
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"The meek are blessed, because they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).
The way of the world says that in order to be stronger, we must build ourselves up and seek strength and dominance over others. Christians everywhere are keenly interested in how to be increased, how to be stronger, how to take authority, how to rise up, how to get more. They look for methods, formulas, and techniques for becoming bigger and better. The results have been disappointing. Many mistakes have been made and many people have been hurt and disillusioned.
The Lord has a different approach for us to take. He invites us to accept weakness in order to be strengthened. We do not become strong by embracing strength, but by embracing weakness! This is the secret of all spiritual power. When Paul learned this secret he was able to say, "When I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:10b). This makes no sense to the natural man. I do not remember ever hearing anyone begin a teaching on spiritual warfare with this verse. It is no wonder, then, that these teachings never seem to produce any lasting fruit.
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!