Andrew Murray

ABIDING IN CHRIST

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CHRIST, THE CRUCIFIED ONE

“…Jesus was willing to become…a worm and no man [Ps 22:6].  And He did so, because that is what He saw us to be, worms having forfeited all rights by our sin, except to deserve hell.  And He now calls us to take our rightful place as worms for Him and with Him” Roy Hession (ref#97, p24, brackets mine).

“’Abide in the wounds of Jesus; there is the place of union, and life, and growth. There you shall see how His heart was opened to receive you; how His flesh was rent that the way might be opened for your being made one with Him, and having access to all the blessings flowing from His divine nature.’” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p76).

Thinking of a slip being grafted into a stem helps me see how close we become at the cross: To begin a graft the stem must be cut for room to place the newly cut slip.  Both stem and slip are injured.

“In the death of the Cross Christ was wounded, and in His opened wounds a place prepared where we might be grafted in…The wounded stem and the wounded graft are cut to fit into each other, into each other’s likeness.  There is a fellowship between Christ’s sufferings and your sufferings” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p76).

JESUS suffered on the Cross; and for me, my self-serving self must die.  “…when I follow Jesus…the old self-determining, self-absorbed me must be crucified” John Piper (ref#92, p95).  “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,” (Rom 6:5 NASB).

This is my goal: to be in His likeness in death as well as resurrection.  Only then will I be able to walk with Him in “newness of life” (Rom 6:4).

ABIDING IN CHRIST

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CHRIST MY SANCTIFICATION

As a new Christian I was anxious to begin my journey toward holiness (sanctification).  I thought of it like a box that I was commissioned to fill up with activities that where like CHRIST.  That seemed logical to me.

As I filled the box I figured I’d become more and more Christ-like.  Instead, I became more and more prideful and found little joy.  (FYI.  The joy of being a successful Christian is so short lived!)

“A superficial acquaintance with God’s plan leads to the view that while justification is God’s work…sanctification is our work, to be performed under the influence of the gratitude we feel for the deliverance we have experienced” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p62).  “…we commonly think that we must get an holy frame by producing it anew in ourselves, and by pursing it and working it out of our own heart” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p67).

“The establishing in Christ is His work…But this He can do with power only as we cease interrupting Him by our self-working…” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p82).  We are simply to receive that holy frame of spirit that is in CHRIST—to take it to ourselves. (ref#266, p67).

“There is no other way of our becoming holy, but by becoming partakers of the holiness of Christ.  And there is no other way of this taking place than by our personal spiritual union with Him, so that through His Holy Spirit His holy life flows into us”  Andrew Murray (ref#266, p62).

“…the Father…has grafted the life of Christ on your life.  That holy life is mightier than your evil life…that new life can keep down the working of the evil life within you” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p65).

“…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ…” (Rom 6:23 ESV, italics mine).  Eternal life is not through CHRIST, but in CHRIST.

FATHER, let me get it in my head again—it’s being not doing.  By fellowshipping with Christ I become like Him.  The difference between being and doing is this: when I pick out some noble thing to do and work at it, it is me alone trying to be holy, but if I continually seek to be in CHRIST’s presence, anything I do will be Christlike.

ABIDING IN CHRIST

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CHRIST AS MY WISDOM

“I the Preacher have…applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.  It is an unhappy business…all is vanity and a striving after wind” (Eccl 1:12-14 ESV).

Woe is me who can never hold very long the easy yoke of CHRIST (Matt 11:29-30).  I lapse back to my own yoke—incomplete and unable t follow You, FATHER.  Using my yoke makes tasks impossible yet over and over I forget that fact.

“Why is it that the Holy Spirit cannot teach us more effectually?  No reason but this: the wisdom of man prevents it…” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p59).

“Surrender all your own wisdom…be as a docile learner…Remember that the teaching and guidance come not from without: it is by His life in us that the divine wisdom does His work….” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p54).

“…without…abiding in Christ the knowledge does not really profit, but is often most hurtful.  The soul satisfies itself with thoughts which are but the forms and images of truth, without receiving the truth itself in its power….Man seeks the knowledge first, and often, alas! never gets beyond it.  God gives us Christ, and in Him hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p51).

“…let us be content to possess Christ, to dwell in Him, to make Him our life, and only in a deeper searching into Him,…find the knowledge we desire” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p51).

“We often forget that the Author of our faith must also be the Preserver of it….He who built the world also upholds it….He who made us Christians must maintain us by His Spirit….it is His own work of grace that we ask Him to strengthen…” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 15th PM).

“God has brought you out in conversion; it was God’s own life given you.  But you have defiled it with disobedience and unbelief.  Give it all up.  Give up all your own wisdom and thoughts about God’s work” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p59).

ABIDING IN CHRIST

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ABIDING THROUGH AFFLICTION

“Every sifting comes by divine command and permission” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, June 20th AM).

“God gets us alone by affliction, heartbreak, or temptation, by disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted affection, by broken friendship, or by a new friendship” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, Jan 13th).

“Delight yourself in the assurance that closer union with Him, and more abundant fruit through Him, are sure to be the results of trial” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p127).

“…prosperity and enjoyment all too easily satisfy us, dull our spiritual perception, and unfit us for full communion…It is an unspeakable mercy that the Father comes with His chastisement…and for a time lose our joy in what was becoming so dangerous.  He does it in the hope that, when we have found our rest in Christ in time of trouble, we shall learn to choose abiding in Him as our only portion; and when the affliction is removed, have so grown more firmly into Him, that in prosperity He still shall be our only joy….Christian! pray for grace to see in every trouble, small or great, the Father’s finger pointing to Jesus, and saying, Abide in Him” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p124).

“Communion with Christ is a certain cure for every ill.  Whether it is bitter sorrow or excessive pleasure, close fellowship with the Lord Jesus will remove the pain from the one and the imbalance from the other” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, March 9th PM).

“It is your greatest happiness to be impotent” Andrew Murray (ref#272, p57).

ABIDING IN CHRIST

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ABIDING BETTER THAN OBEYING

“Friendship is rare on earth.  It means identify in thought and heart and spirit.  The whole discipline of life is to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ.  We receive His blessings and know His word, but do we know Him” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, Jan 7th)?

“In order to maintain this friendship…we have to be more careful of our…relationship to Him than of any other thing, even of obedience.  Sometimes there is nothing to obey, the only thing to do is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, to see that nothing interferes with that….the greater part of the life is not conscious obedience but the maintenance of this relationship…” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, March 25th).

“Conformity to live with God, is a far higher and more divine life than to live simply in submission to God” E. M. Bounds (ref#54, p51-52).

“From eternity Christ and I were ordained for each other; inseparably we belong to each other; it is God’s will; I shall abide in Christ.  It is of God I am in Christ Jesus” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p47-48).

“Most essential to the abiding in Christ is the daily renewal of our faith’s assurance, ‘I am in Christ Jesus’” Andrew Murray (ref#266, p43).

FATHER, move my thinking toward abiding instead of obeying.  When I think of obeying I default to my natural abilities to carry out Your request.  But if I can keep my eyes on JESUS…  I will gladly obey because of my love for Him.  Obeying is a natural outcome of a loving relationship.

Abiding in CHRIST means to watch and wait—observe and be with Him, and then yield myself to the SPIRIT who will work mightily in me (ref#266, p119).

PRAYER

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MY RESPONSIBILITY AND JOY 

FATHER, You were ready to let Your wrath burn hot and consume the Israelites when they built and worshipped the golden calf (Ex 32:1-14), but because You were pleased with Your mediator, Moses (Ex 32:11-13), You turned from Your burning anger and relented (Ex 32:14).

And, how pleased You are with Your ultimate Mediator, JESUS.  And, because of His obedience now I, LORD, have the ability to be a suitable mediator (Rev 1:6).

I am Your fellow worker, FATHER.  And, the yet-to-be regenerated people around me are Your field (1 Cor 3:9).  Just as You sent Paul to people who had not heard, You sent Apollos to build up Your church—both were Your servants, even though You gave each a different assignment (1 Cor 3:5).  Paul planted, Apollos watered—but both were Your servants (1 Cor 3:6).

FATHER, You and You only have the ability to grow to maturity each plant in Your field (1 Cor 3:6) but You commission me to tend to Your crop (1 Cor 3:8).  You have allowed me to be Your fellow worker (1 Cor 3:9).

You, LORD, surrender Your work into the hands of Your Church; so real is the power You give me, a member of CHRIST’s church, that the number of laborers and the amount of harvest actually depends upon what I do (ref#19, NINTH LESSON).

FATHER, You instruct me to persevere in prayer as You persevere with the Jews who have heard but are presently rejecting yet will someday accept Your CHRIST.

Make it my top priority to sow the Gospel seed, that I may find contentment and joy in watching You gather Your elect.

“The great inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor.  Do I feel that sense of indebtedness to Christ in regard to every unsaved soul” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, July 15th)?

Help me be full of inventions if I can’t get sinners to CHRIST by ordinary means (ref#34, Sept 7th AM).  When my child is sick I use all my ingenuity to bring him back to health, disregarding the hazards.  I ask for boldness to use extraordinary means to bring the ones I pray for to faith.

PRAYER

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MY PRAYER 

FATHER, You are the Vine Dresser, and Your Son is the True Vine.  “He Himself lives in us. Because He prays, we pray too….His meditation on the throne is as indispensable as on the cross.  It engages all His time and powers; it is now His unceasing occupation at Your right hand” Andrew Murray (ref#19, TWENTY-SIXTH LESSON).

CHRIST has made me one of His branches that I may bear fruit (John 15:5).  I can ask whatever I wish and He will do it for me if I abide in Him (John 15:7).  So FATHER, I will form my prayers to You.

Through the cleanness of my hands You will deliver even the one who is not innocent (Job 22:30)! My hands stretched out in supplication can save the wicked.  “It is one of the innumerable blessings of being a child of God thus to be permitted to be the means of…saving sinners from ruin. All the friends of God…should plead without ceasing for the salvation of guilty and dying people” Barnes’ Notes (ref#16, [Job 22:30]).

Francis Chan, realizing the lost-ness of a group of his friends, prayed in anguish: “God, you can’t let these people go to hell.  I love them, Lord.  I love them. Do something please.  I know I can’t do anything for them ultimately.  But you say that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective, and so I want all the sin out of my life.  I want to be as righteous as I can.  I want you to hear me and save these people” John Piper (ref#122, p106).

FATHER, in the Gospel sense I am righteous; I do not love or approve of any iniquity (Ps 66:18).  I purpose to put great thought into my prayers making them energetic, earnest (ref#16, [James 5:16]) and fervent, pouring out of my heart, finding their foundation in faith (ref#18 [James 5:12-20]).  Then they will have great power, being assisted by the HOLY SPIRIT.  Being allowed to pray is the greatest reason to be righteous.

My GOD, I have no power to control You; I cannot dictate or prescribe to You; I cannot resist Your purposes, but I can ask what I desire and expect a blessing from You; You will show me favor (ref#16, [James 5:16]).

FATHER, considering the fate of my loved ones, it is necessary to pray consistently and never quit.  I desire to not to faint or lose heart in prayer (Luke 18:1).

PRAYER

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UNANSWERED PRAYER II 

“…our prayers are heard even though we have not seen an answer yet” John Calvin (ref#164, May 12th).

“I often find that when God doesn’t answer a prayer, he wants to expose something in me” Paul E. Miller (ref#62, p168).

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, [Paul’s thorn in his flesh] that it should leave me” (2 Cor 12:8 ESV).

“It may seem from this text that Paul has not prayed in faith, for we read everywhere in Scripture that we shall obtain whatever we ask in faith.  Paul prays, and does not obtain what he asks for….” John Calvin (ref#164, Aug 24th).  “…as there are different ways of asking, so there are different ways of obtaining.  We ask in simple terms for those things for which we have an express promise.  For example, we ask for the perfecting of God’s kingdom, the hallowing of his name (Matt 6:9), the remission of our sins, and everything that is advantageous to us.  But when we think that the kingdom of God can, indeed, must be advanced in this particular manner or in that, and what is necessary for the hallowing of his name, we are often mistaken in our opinion….We must pray for the grace to will what God wills and to leave it to his wisdom how he brings his will about” John Calvin (ref#164, Aug 24th).

FATHER, help me distinguish between asking and giving You directions.  My carnal mind naturally thinks about how to solve my prayer request.  It is essential that my mind be trained to think of needs not solutions.

“If no answer comes, we are not to sit down…and suppose that it is not God’s will to give an answer. No; there must be something in the prayer that is not as God would have it, childlike and believing; we must seek for grace to pray so that the answer may come.  It is far easier to the flesh to submit without the answer than to yield itself to be searched and purified by the Spirit, until it has learnt to pray the prayer of faith” Andrew Murray (ref#19, FIFTH LESSON).

“…every dream and desire of your heart that you express to God will in His time be answered in His way—and always beyond what you could imagine, even when the answer is no” Becky Tirabassi (ref#87, Personal Comments page).

FATHER, what an encouraging, faith-uplifting comment!  You, All-Love, could not approach Your covenant of prayer in any other way.  May You be praised!

PRAYER

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UNANSWERED PRAYER  I

“Surely God does not hear an empty cry…” (Job 35:13 ESV).

“Every one that asketh receiveth’…Yet…there are conditions and limitations….The unrestricted promises are hedged about with conditions….It is possible to ask and not receive (Ps 66:18; James 4:2-3)” Samuel Chadwick (ref#4, p126).

“There may be cases in which the answer is a refusal, because the request is not according to God’s Word, as when Moses asked to enter Canaan.  But still, there was an answer: God did not leave His servant in uncertainty as to His will” Andrew Murray (ref#19, FIFTH LESSON).

“…there are burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off, He wants us to roll them back on Him” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, April 13th). “…prayer is God’s answer to our poverty, not a power we exercise to obtain an answer” Oswald Chambers (ref#23, p397).

FATHER, this quote propels me to see that when I cry to You in my sympathies I cry to You in pride.  “I” want to be the one who moves You to answer my request.  All my prayer requests must be out of contriteness—praying because I can do nothing to answer the need.  Sin entangles me so that I forget that I am the needy creature and You are the providing Creator.  I thank You for Your longsuffering grace to teach me.  Praise befits You.

“God commands us to pray specifically for our desires, but our desires cannot command him” (Ps 37:4-5; Phil 4:6)” Bryan Chapell (ref#66, p109).

“God does not delay to hear our prayers, because he has no mind to give; but that, by enlarging our desires, he may give us the more largely” Anselm of Canterbury (ref#65, p96).

PRAYER

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PRAYING AMISS 

“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Prov 28:9 ESV).

“…if the Word of Christ be not dwelling in us ‘richly’ (Col 3:16), how can we expect to have the right petition to present to God in the hour of our need” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p147)!

“As long as in prayer we just pour out our hearts in a multitude of petitions, without taking time to see whether every petition is sent with the purpose and expectation of getting an answer, not many will reach the mark” Andrew Murray (ref#19, TENTH LESSON).

“It is impossible to intercede vitally unless we are perfectly sure of God, and the greatest dissipater of our relationship to God is personal sympathy and personal prejudice.  Identification is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with God, it is by sympathy, not by sin.  It is not likely that sin will interfere with our relationship to God, but sympathy will…” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, May 3rd).

“Sin is seen not only in selfishness, but in what men call unselfishness.  It is possible to have such sympathy with our fellowmen as to be guilty of red-handed rebellion against God” Oswald Chambers (ref#8, May 22nd).

“It must be, because I pray amiss, that my experience of answered prayer is not clearer.  It must be, because I live too little in the Spirit, that my prayer is too little in the Spirit, and that the power for the prayer of faith is wanting” Andrew Murray (ref#19, FIFTH LESSON).

FATHER, how surprising to me is that my sympathies for others in prayer may not be Your will.  Guess that is why You say, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts’ (Isa 55:9).  You are insistent that I establish a relationship with You.  Without it I go on thinking my desires are Your desires.  No wonder so much praying sees no asked-for answer.  Remind me that before I open my mouth in petition I need to get an okay from You.