AVOID AMBUSH*BY Miles Stanford

AVOID AMBUSH *
*BY Miles Stanford *
*
"I find therefore the law of my nature to be that when I desire to do
what is right, evil is lying in ambush for me" (Rom. 7:21, Wey.).
Struggle in yourself, and be trapped; rest in Him, and be free!
"Many Christians keep themselves in a perpetual foment through hoping
they will get into a situation where they can enjoy a better (and
easier) Christian life. They feel enclosed in a net of circumstances
from which they cannot escape. They are so wearied and baffled and
beaten by the continuous pressure about them that they wish and itch for
things to be different, quite sure that if they were only different
Christ would be more real. It has not dawned upon them that at the heart
of these very circumstances they are to find the Lord Jesus, find His
grace sufficient, find the life more abundant." -L.E.M.
"You might be secretly attempting to correct and improve yourself, and
suffering a good deal of private vexation and disappointment on account
of the futility of your struggles. It was at a moment when I was utterly
discouraged, and ready to give up the whole thing in complete despair,
that the Father showed me how I was attempting to work upon the old
material which He could only condemn, and had, and that my disgust and
despair as to myself were only a feeble echo of His.
"My Father was not looking for any good in me, and had the Lord Jesus
Christ before Him, the perfect and infinitely acceptable Object of His
heart. And I, in my nothingness, had ceased to look for good in myself,
and began tasting the deep joy of being in Christ, and free to have Him
as my Object; while as to life, I entered in some degree into the
blessedness of knowing that it was 'not I, but Christ liveth in me.'"
-C.A.C.
"For to me to live is Christ" (Phil 1:21).

O Holy Father, I humbly admit that I have frequently been so foolish as
to think that I could produce more godliness in me through my own best
efforts. Lord, I see that I need Your Spirit as much for spiritual
growth as I did previously for spiritual birth. As I seek You through
prayer and Your word, please take me on with You in growth and
sanctification by the work of Your Holy Spirit, through Christ, I pray,
Amen.