“The Sharpest Tool of the Devil”

Every parent must know that what the child observes in them can be turned into the greatest rocket-thrust in the life of your child or the greatest deterrent to its true advancement. Who wants to trip up his or her own child? No one. From the strangest lips of very disadvantaged children, one hears the sad tale, ‘My dad loved me so much, but he never did overcome his tragic weakness or his addiction to ... ” Many dads and mums put a sad tale to tell in their children’s mouth and sure enough they do tell it to their children and their grandchildren too hear of it and tell their children. So on and on it goes — the tale of pride or temper, or self-indulgence or selfishness or divorce.

It breaks my heart when I hear people say, “My parents separated when I was seven...” or something like that. A tale of sadness!

Now the Bible says, “Tell ye your children of it and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. ” (Joel 1:3) Now that takes in five generations. Transmitting the great works of God to at least five generations does not seem like some impossible challenge. Yes, our children must hear of God’s judgements too as God tells the prophet Joel. Today’s generation thinks that life is a kind of lottery and there are no consequences to one’s thoughts, choices and actions.

Our God – the Living God – wants our children to know His works and His Almightiness. When the children of Israel crossed the river Jordan dry-shod, the Lord God commanded Joshua to have twelve men, one from each of the tribes of Israel to carry a stone from the midst of Jordan, out of the river bed.

Then Joshua said to them, “This … be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers, in time to come. What mean these stones? You shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the covenant of the Lord ...” (Joshua 4: 6, 7)

In other words, we should communicate to the generations to come, what we have tasted and experienced of the mighty works of the Lord.

Children today have a lot of information flung at them from all angles. When they return home from school, there is little let-up, for they hear their parents talk of things that they do not understand. Yes, they hear more of the ‘adult stuff ’ in their own homes.

Surely children today must be tired of hearing their parents incessantly talk of money, argue or fight over it. As an interlude, they turn on their children with equal fury and scream, “You must study hard and make a lot of money”.

The beauty and tranquility of the home is gone. The children receive little inspiration or instruction from their parents. Moreover, parents who do not have a walk with God are so tired and jaded after their day’s work, they have nothing elevating to share with their children. In fact many children today, all too quickly outgrow the time when they seek to learn from their parents. Soon they seem to detest or resent even the little input for good that their parents may attempt to put into them.

Now at such a critical time in a child’s development, parents get very angry and aggressive when even a teacher attempts to correct some misbehavior or misdemeanor of the child. As a parent, I always tried to take the side of well-meaning teachers and others when they brought strictures or complaints against my children. It was obvious to me and my wife that our children were no ‘saints’.

Now it is time we faced this, many of us parents are simply not giving a godly heritage to our children, such that they want to do exploits for Christ. Even ‘converted’ parents appear to be giving a lethal dose of their ‘pre-conversion worldliness’ to their children.

While I was growing up, especially as a teenager, I found the air around me to be full of the works of the Lord. This was the talk around me – the mighty works of the Lord. The Living Saviour was so real, whithersoever we turned we saw Him working. There were no glittering objects, or worldly goals before us. CHRIST was our focus. To lift Him high and see the spread of the revival which was burning around us, was all we cared for.

Now I ask every parent, Are you setting Eternal goals before your children and true riches which are more precious than fine gold before them? The Lord will surely ask you, What lasting legacy of righteousness have you left for your children?

Dear Dad, dear Mom, give your son or daughter a much-needed booster thrust of righteousness and godly goals, by repenting of the wrong input you have given, which is clearly indicated by the direction which is currently pleasing to them.

Oh, do not be a tool of the devil to drag your child down to the traditional or cultural values of your background or of today’s demented world.

— Joshua Daniel

“Behold, everything is new!”

What is conversion? It is called “New Birth”. It is birth into the Kingdom of the Son of God. It is a spiritual kingdom. That is, men who are born of the Spirit are in this kingdom. Everything in this kingdom is operated by the Spirit of God. It is a new kingdom with all new laws. In this kingdom God becomes your father. When you say “Father” you really feel He is your father. A sense of sonship is growing in your soul. “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). When we use the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Our Father who art in Heaven.” This sense of God’s fatherhood will begin when our sins are washed away. That means we have repented. When we repent we will get a broken and a contrite heart. Then God’s Spirit can work upon our soul. God cannot do anything with impenitent people. If He does anything it becomes a terrible punishment.

We have entered into a new kingdom. It is like a foreign land to you. Jesus who died and rose again has given you a passport into this kingdom. You have entered into a new covenant. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:25-27). Now by this covenant you have received a new heart. And God’s Spirit dwells within you, enabling you to follow His covenant and do His statutes with all your heart. It is a spontaneous obedience that springs within your soul. Your tastes are changed. Your inclinations and propensities are utterly renewed and changed. You do good without knowing why you are doing it. You speak the truth for you cannot help doing so. All the time a spiritual harmony is developing in you, reducing the tensions that once existed. Once there was a struggle in you when you wanted to do good. A force used to drag you down into evil action and evil thinking. Those forces become less and less. Your morning prayer becomes a time of communion revealing your day’s duties and coming temptations. The Word of God becomes a spiritual nourishment and, as it is life and spirit, your life in your soul becomes enriched. The Spirit that guides you gets intensified. If you are careful you will soon notice you are becoming more like your Master. You do not like evil companions and evil desires leave you. Your old friends do not feel at home with you. They leave you unmasked. The spirit in them is very much grieved when your spirit impinges upon theirs. Your relatives will give you the slip and behind you they criticize and before you they are silent. Your advice is always a whirlwind that shakes their balance. You will not find real fellowship in the men of the world. You are more and more estranged from this world of sin. And God’s children, however few they are, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, make you feel at home. You want to worship with them and pray with them. Nobody needs to compel you to do these things.

Before conversion you were your own master. Now you will say, “I can do of myself nothing.” “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). You acknowledge a higher authority, a superior mind that can guide you unerringly, a holy wisdom that makes you clever in an innocent way. You are wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Still the old man in you when you are careless wants to put up his head and create the worldly desires. But your faith in the Cross suddenly gives a stunning blow and the pride of life, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes are completely shattered. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6:6-8). Again and again this happens and so your habitual thinking and ambitions of life are changed. These are sorrows but they are not of the world, which creates sickness and death. The sorrow of this world, however justifiable and natural it is, is an enemy of the body. It saps out the greatest amount of energy from the body. But the sorrow of the spirit, in other words, the sorrow that comes through repentance, is a great blessing. When a bad thought occurs to you, you weep in your soul. The beautiful complexion of Christ in you suffers; the beauty of the Lord leaves you. It is like a beautiful woman getting a wound in her face and a permanent mark that mars her beauty and she feels so sad.

Your spiritual mirror, the Bible, and the inward light throw abundant illumination causing such deep grief within you. Sometimes you are grieved because you could not be happy at another man’s prosperity. You are full of sorrow for not rejoicing with those that rejoice. An impure thought makes you halt, sit and weep. You are suddenly awakened. For a long time you were free from such thoughts. If by any chance the devil can make you ruminate over that evil thought, the poison gets in. The Holy Spirit will teach you that you should not ponder over that evil thought. When your neighbour gets promotion, which you ought to get, you will always make an effort to rejoice in it. It is a great triumph. It is not worldly prosperity that keeps you healthy, happy and useful. But when God gives you promotion, as in the case of Joseph, you are a blessing to tens of thousands and you find yourself always spiritually resourceful. When you miss your promotion you will know in the long run it is a blessing in disguise. Your neighbour who never prays gets it and on that account is sent to another place where the envious around him harm him and he is crippled for life. You will then realize the promotion was not ultimately a blessing. You help your enemies, kiss your kith and kin with a forgiving love and show that great love of God in an unmistakable way to the world. You will feel sad when you are not able to help others. One thing you must know [is] that men and women in sin cannot be comforted or helped by you. There is nothing in you that satisfies a sinful heart. But you will pray for them and speak to them some words which they may not understand immediately, but the prayer of faith soon makes your thoughts penetrate the hearts that are encrusted with sin. One day they will come to your point of view.

It is a new world and God can trust you with the gifts of healing, prophesying, and He may even give you money. When money comes into your hand, you tremble to handle it lest at any time you make wrong use of it. It is a trust from the Lord. Some people may have an amount of money which they have never seen before, but it is a holy trust. Here many miss the way, for you become an object of respect and attention. Flattery sometimes brings poison into us. You must be guarded with much prayer and the spiritual fellowship of God’s servants will always save you. Your life must be a life in the open. You are not afraid of eavesdroppers; you are not afraid of people looking at your letters. Well, the envious will attack you. You can easily overcome such things.

— N. Daniel

“Stand up, Stand up for Jesus!”

Preaching against slavery was not a popular thing to do in many parts of the USA during the early 1850’s. An awful civil war, brought about by division over that very issue, was looming.

However, Dr. Dudley Tyng, the twenty-nine year old rector of the church of the Epiphany in Philadelphia, passionately believed that slavery was immoral and unchristian and so he denounced it.

He also believed that all men are sinners by nature and need to repent and be converted if they are ever to enter heaven.

Dudley Tyng was no ordinary church pastor and this bold, straightforward denunciation of sin disturbed his cultured and wealthy parishioners so much that by the end of his second year in the church many were demanding his removal.

Tyng resigned from the rich and fashionable assembly and formed his own ‘Church of the Covenant’ which met for worship in a little meeting hall. With his wife and boys, he went to live on the family farm outside Philadelphia.

At the same time he also began giving lectures at the Philadelphia YMCA. Interest grew and thousands were converted to the Saviour. At one particular meeting held in Jayne’s hall in March 1858, many thousands were present.

During his address Dr. Tyng said, “I must tell my Master’s errand and I would rather this right arm were amputated at the trunk than I should come short of my duty in delivering God’s message.”

Those words were strangely prophetic, for just the next week, while watching a horse-powered corn sheller at work on the farm, he was caught in the wheels of the machinery and his right arm was badly mangled. A few days later, it was necessary to amputate at the shoulder.

Tyng was dying and he realized it. As the loved ones gathered round his bed he took his father by the hand and addressed the old man who was also a faithful preacher, in these words,

“Stand up for Jesus, father, stand up for Jesus, and tell my brethren of the ministry to stand up for Jesus.” And thus he died.

The dying exhortation impressed another of Tyng’s ministerial colleagues, George Duffield. He took up the theme in a sermon and preached the following Sunday, from Ephesians 6:14: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.” At the close of the sermon he read the words of this hymn he had composed just after Dr. Tyng’s funeral:

Stand up, stand up for Jesus

Ye soldiers of the cross

Lift high His royal banner

It must not suffer loss

From victory unto victory

His army shall He lead

Till every foe is vanquished

And Christ is Lord indeed.

“Pursuing God”

Aiden Wilson Tozer was born into a small farming community in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1897. After moving to Ohio as a teenager, he began work at a rubber factory.

One afternoon while walking home from work, Tozer spotted a small crowd clustered together on the opposite side of the street. They were standing around an older man who appeared to be speaking to them. Curious, he crossed the street.

At first, Tozer could not comprehend what the man was saying. He had a strong German accent, and Tozer had to pay careful attention. Yet he then realized what the man was doing; he was preaching! Doesn’t this man have a church to preach in? Tozer wondered. And it isn’t even Sunday! Why is he so excited? Yet the street preacher’s words began to have an impact.

Tozer was startled when the preacher declared: “If you don’t know how to be saved, just call on God, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner,’ and God will hear you.” At least, they were words to this effect.

The words burned in Tozer. He thought about them, walking home. The words troubled him. They awakened within him a gnawing hunger for God.

“Saved. If you don’t know how to be saved, just call on God … ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’.”

When Tozer arrived at home, he headed to the attic. It was there that a wonder must have occurred, for when he later emerged, he had become a new creation in Christ Jesus.

The household in which Tozer lived was very crowded. Needing a place where he could get alone with God, pray, and study his Bible, Tozer cleaned up a small space behind the furnace in the basement. What a refuge it became.

Tozer became a man of God, one who enjoyed intimate fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ. He practiced the presence of God; he adored and worshipped Jesus Christ; and he authored many works, such as The Pursuit of God. “I speak to thirsty hearts,” he wrote, “whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them, and such as they need no reasoned proof. Their restless hearts furnish all the proof they need.”

He was a man who hungered and thirsted after His Creator, the only true God. In The Pursuit of God he wrote: “O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, ‘Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.’ Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.”

“You and I are in little (our sins excepted) what God is in large,” wrote Tozer in The Pursuit of God, “Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know Him. In our sins we lack only the power. The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart's happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead.”

—See James L. Synder, In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer, and A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

“Reality Check”

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1,2


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