Being Filled

Being Filled

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness: for they shall be filled”
Matthew 5:6

Being filled is a spiritual state. It is the result of Grace and Love being the nature of God Himself. Grace is given on the basis of faith. Faith is the conduit through which God transacts His Being to us.

“By whom also we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand…”
Romans 5:5

Faith is the open door by which the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is poured without measure into the hearts of those who know deeply of their need for it. Hungering and thirsting after God is the result of the eyes of faith gazing into the riches of Christ and laying hold of its reality. Such lives cannot be contented with promissory notes, faith’s need is to acquire, to have, and to hold the real “substance” of God in our lives. Its very heartbeat is to “apprehend” to “lay hold” of the power of Him to live godly, purely, and freely unto Him in this darkened world.

Many in our day are content with words while the very language of faith as written in the New Covenant can be summed up in its exhortations to be held in the power and wonder of Christ. Where His grace is beckoning us to fullness, the richness of heart, and reality of His life gripping us and bringing us to full obedience to His Lordship.

A few examples… (please read the context of each that we might receive the full import of God’s heart)

“That I may apprehend…” Phil. 3:12

“So run, that ye may obtain…” 1 Cor. 9:24

“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.”
1 Cor. 9:25

“…that they may lay hold on eternal life” 1 Tim. 6:19

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. “
Phil. 3:12

“If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead…”
Phil. 3:11

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain”
2 Corinthians 6:1

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
1 Cor. 15:10

Grace received by faith produces a life filled with the dynamics of the Life of Christ to reach out, to press in, to labor abundantly for the glory of His Name.

May the Lord ever fill us with the fire to hunger and thirst after HIS righteousness. May we know the seeking of the true Kingdom where He is King over the unruly heart of man.

The promises of God are to the hungry.

The promises of God are to those who thirst.

The promises of God are to those who overcome.

“To Him that overcometh
will I give…”

See: Appropriating Life

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“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance;
to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him,
the greatest human achievement.”
– Augustine

BT

Burdens

Burdens

“For every man shall bear his own burden”
Galatians 6:5

There are many types of burdens in this life. Paul in this chapter of scripture illustrates two types, both of which are essential in the life of His own. The one quoted above concerns our own burden, it is a burden of life and of responsibility. This is a God-given one, which is ours to bear in faithfulness unto Him.

Paul knew of this burden personally and spoke of it in every epistle. It was a burden borne of the love of God.

“In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”
2 Corinthians 11:28

The burdens of the Lord pulsate with power and love. It is love that produces the burdens of the Spirit. When one cares for the life and well-being of another there is a wonder in it and a blessing to receive in our faithfulness to the call of God.

The unconcerned, the distant ones from the heart of God carry burdens that are selfish in nature and there will be no Paraclete (Greek: παράκλητος) to carry or be yoked to such. The burdens of Christ within an individual’s life are His burdens being shared with them. They are born of love, carried in love, and are filled with His presence. They can bring us to depths of prayer and intercession and straightness of spirit but there is always a dominion of peace within their garments.

The greater the self-less love of God that dwells within us the burdens of Him will be of equal weight. To go through this life without knowing the cry of the Lord for others is to miss out on the joy of being in Him.

No one can hold the love of God in their hearts and not know of His burden for others. If Christ the great intercessor for His people is ever offering prayers on our behalf and if we are in Him and He is in us then it would be incongruous to not know of His heart.

“He that saith he abideth in him
ought himself also so to walk,
even as he walked.”
1 John 2:6

See: His Word, His Burden

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“Pray not for a lighter load,
but for stronger shoulders.”
Augustine

Brian Troxel

Religion and Light

Religion and Light

 

Religion and Light

“Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
Matthew 15:12

We can only imagine how the disciples felt at the growing realization that their Master was becoming unpopular with the leadership of the religious order of that day. Here we see them seeking to “inform” Him of the rising animosity. Healings and miracles had drawn the common people to Him, for He walked among them, ate with them, and related to their everyday life in His parables.

But His words pierced the religious with the light of truth. They revealed the hypocrisy and the vanity of men drunk with pomp and self-proclaimed importance. As centuries passed they slowly twisted His Word to support their own darkened ways, resulting in a blindness that bolstered their own pride and filled them with contempt for the common man.

Jesus responded to His disciples’ concerns with:

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Matthew 15:13-14

The religious teachers of that day were not teachable. Their hard hearts and pride prevented the beauty of Truth from invading their consciousness. Their knowledge and pre-conceived ideas prevented them from seeing the Glory of the Father standing before them; moving, healing, forgiving, and pouring out the mercies of God to all who would come. Jesus made no attempt to reach such, for spiritual blindness is the result of obstinacy and self-will.

Religion is simply men seeking to make God in their own image. Religion defines God for themselves rather than seeking to discover who He is. The true in heart do not allow others to define them or their God. As they grow in Truth they see themselves as they are and become free in the light of Him.

God is true. He is who He is. Those who fashion their religious ideals to suit their own forms of brokenness and blindness will never find Him. To those who come in childlike faith and humility, He will show Himself in the wonder of His own way in the human heart.

“And ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:32

Truth alone restores the broken heart. Truth alone fills the unmet needs, cravings, and deep distress of the human race. Ideas, suppositions, and the banter of words will never alleviate the human condition.

Christ alone can set the captives free. In Him is Life and that Life is the healing balm for all who would come with their wounds, their lusts, and their sorrows. No one but Jesus can touch a life in the intimate places of the spirit.

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
John 10:10-11

He did not come to bring another teaching or to add to our knowledge. He came so that all who will receive Him have the right, the privilege, and the power to become the offspring of God!

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“But as many, as received Him, to them He gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:12-13

Brian Troxel

God Himself

God Himself

“It is more blessed to give
than to receive”
Acts 20:35

God, Himself is such. The great supplier of all things is most Blessed and Joyful. Our poverty is His joy. Our needs only bring Him greater Joy. If we knew His heart we would ask largely, we would stretch our faith to draw from Him the “riches of His Glory”.

Our imperfections are the means of His redemption. His grace desires to fill every empty vessel. His wisdom knocks on the door of the foolish heart. His Love sent His Son to this sin-ravaged world. To the broken, He offers healing, and to the lost, He sends the Great Shepherd. It is to those who open the doors of their hearts who find His unlimited giving.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed are they that mourn:
for they shall be comforted.”

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

God loves a cheerful giver
for such is He Himself.

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“There could be no riches but for need. God Himself is made rich by man’s necessity. By that He is rich to give; through that, we are rich by receiving”
– George MacDonald

Brian Troxel

Sanctified Lives

Sanctified Lives
A.W. Tozer

“Today more than ever we Christians need to learn how to sanctify the ordinary!

In this cynical generation, people have become overstimulated to the place where their nerves are jaded and their tastes corrupted. Everything is common and almost everything is boring. The sacred has been secularized, the holy vulgarized and worship converted into a form of entertainment”
– A.W. Tozer

“And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it…”
Isaiah 59:14-15

Please read: Being True

BT

2 Timothy 3:12

2 Timothy 3:12

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.”
2 Timothy 3:12

“Saints and persecution will juncture inevitably. It may range from a subtle remark with cutting propensity or out and out torture, but it will be recognizable persecution.”
– C.R. Oliver (From his book: “Called to be Saints”)

It is interesting to note that the onus of the scripture above is on the word “live” (“all who live godly shall suffer persecution”). The worldly and the religious have very few issues with the words and confessions of people. But persecution and strife come to those who LIVE godly in Christ Jesus. Wherever the light of Christ is expressed in terms of how one lives, the spirit of this world, ruling in the lives of those who love darkness will rise in hatred to oppose its shining. The light of truth exposes that which is false and pretentious in the darkness.

The Light has come and more importantly IS come to be in those who walk with Him in spirit and in truth.

“This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
John 3:19-21

True disciples “do the truth”; more than a confession it is a life filled with walking it out. In the doing of the truth, they come to THE LIGHT, grow in the light, and by their works reveal that they are of Him. It is the actual doing of the works of God that will cause the world to hate us.

“Marvel not, my brethren,
If the world hate you.”
1 John 3:13

Brian Troxel

 

Love’s Journey

Love’s Journey

Love’s Journey

We press in with all our might
to shrouded heights above.
Faith being our only sight
Heart’s captured by His Love.

Mists of reasoning cannot dissuade,
Stronger the Word to persuade.
For those who hear the Master’s voice,
Life is filled with servant’s choice.
Faith’s leading to run the race
Love alone governs our pace.
At journey’s end may we hear His Voice
Well done my child, — in this rejoice.
Brian Troxel

See: The Full Reward

 

 

The Remnant – Watchman Nee

The Remnant – Watchman Nee

“When at the incarnation God visited His people, but a handful of them looked for the redemption of Israel. They believed God was going to act, and through them and because of them He acted. Then in Jesus’ own lifetime multitudes followed Him, but again it was a much smaller group who protested: “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” And once more, before His ascension, He instructed His own to await the promise of the Father.

In practice, it seems to work out that God has always to move through a faithful remnant who, within the larger number and for the sake of God’s purpose in the whole, will be utter in their obedience to Him today.”
– Watchman Nee

BT

Fervent in Spirit

Fervent in Spirit

“Be Fervent in spirit”

“Do not be slothful in zeal,
be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”
Romans 12:11 (ESV)

To “be fervent in spirit” is the result of a heart that has touched Him, the touchstone of all creation.

Fervency in spirit is the Divine imprint upon a heart made alive by the fire of His being filling our own. Intensity is the fruit of love and abandonment. His fire within cannot coexist with apathy and lethargy. The true apprehension of us by Christ is described in the pure language of the scriptures.

“When He ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive…”
Ephesians 4:8

His resurrection is the basis of this captivation by Him. He took my addictions, my lost and captive heart and by the revelation of His wonder, those things lost their grip. Resurrection Life is the source of true freedom! There are no self-help strategies, no answers for the human condition other than Christ Himself. It is not the Christ of religion, words, and doctrines. It is only as the resurrected ONE reaches down from heaven’s Throne of Grace that men and women are set free.

Paul’s whole premise of faith was the Resurrected One; not words about Him but the very Life of Him. Who can behold Him and remain pragmatic, dispassionate, and satisfied with anything less than the fire of God burning within?

“And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain”
1 Corinthians 15:14

To all who struggle with sin, with failure within and without, come to Him, seek Him, for He will not turn away from a broken and contrite heart. He came and more importantly IS come, to set the captives free and to make them new creations filled with the vibrancy of His Life.

“For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved”
Romans 10:3

Addictions are simply our attempt to fill the emptiness, the hurt, the abandonment, and the sorrow of heart that comes to all in this broken world. Freedom is found in His love, His forgiveness, and His life filling us unto the true freedom for which He has redeemed us. When Christ fills the heart there is no room for other things! His fulness is our freedom.

Fervency of spirit is the resounding wonder of a life captivated by His beauty.

“Do not be slothful in zeal,
be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”
Romans 12:11 (ESV)

It is the fervent in spirit who serve the Lord.

See: Morning by Morning

Brian Troxel