er, when He said: "I can do nothing of
myself." We are called upon to live the life of Christ, and Christ comes to
live His life in us; but one thing must first take place; we must learn to
hate this self, and to deny it. As Peter said, when he denied Christ, "I
have nothing to do with him," so we must say, "I have nothing to do with
self," that Christ Jesus may be all in all. Let us humble ourselves at the
thought of what this self has done to us and how it has dishonored Jesus;
and let us pray very fervently: "Lord, by Thy light discover this self; we
beseech Thee to discover it to us. Open our eyes, that we may see what it
has done, and that it is the only hindrance that has been keeping us back."
Let us pray that fervently, and then let us wait upon God until we get away
from all our religious exercises, and from all our religious experience,
and from all our blessings, until we get close to God, with this one
prayer: "Lord God, self changed an archangel into a devil, and self ruined
my first parents, and brought them out of Paradise into darkness and
misery, and self has been the ruin of my life and the cause of every
failure; oh, discover it to me." And then comes the blessed exchange, that
a man is made willing and able to say: "Another will live the life for me,
another will live with me, another will do all for me," Nothing else will
do. Deny self; take up the cross, to die with Jesus; follow Him only. May
He give us the grace to understand, and to receive, and to live the Christ
life.
WAITING ON GOD
III.
_Psalms 62: 5_.--_My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is
from Him_.
The solemn question comes to us, "Is the God I have, a God that is to
me above all circumstances, nearer to me than any circumstance can be?"
Brother, have you learned to live your life having God so really with you
every moment, that in circumstances the most difficult He is always more
present and nearer than anything around you? All our knowledge of God's
Word will help us very little, unless that comes to be the question to
which we get an answer.
What can be the reason that so many of God's beloved children complain
continually: "My circumstances separate me from God; my trials, my
temptations, my character, my temper, my friends, my enemies, anything can
come between my God and me?" Is God not able so to take possession that He
can be nearer to me than anything in the world? Must riches or poverty, joy
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