Experiencing the Holy Spirit # 34

Let Jesus Christ Be Everything


You know what the Scripture says, "All the promises of God in him are Yea, and in him Amen, to the glory of God by us" (2 Corinthians 1:20). When the Lord spoke of rivers of living water, He connected the promise with faith in Himself: "He that believeth in me, out of his heart shall flow rivers." If we only understood that word "believeth" rightly, we would require no other answer than this to the question as to how the blessing may be increased.


Faith is primarily a seeing by the Spirit that Jesus is nothing but a flowing fountain of the divine love. The Spirit Himself always flows from Him as the bearer of the life that this love brings and that always streams forth in love. Then it is an embracing of the promise, an appropriation of the blessing as it is provided in Christ, a resting in the certainty of it, and a thanking God for what He is yet to do.


Thereafter, faith is keeping the soul open so that Christ can come in with the blessing, take possession, and fill all. Faith becomes the most fervent and unbroken communion between the soul in which Christ obtains His place and is enthroned in the heart.


Learn the lesson that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God. Let every doubt, every weakness, every temptation find you trusting, rejoicing, and reckoning on Jesus always to work all in you.


A believer can encounter and strive against sin in two ways. One is to endeavor to ward it off with all his might, seeking his strength in the Word and in prayer. In this form of conflict, we use the power of the will. The other is to turn at the very moment of the temptation to the Lord Jesus in the silent exercise of faith and say to Him: "Lord, I have no strength. You are my Keeper."


This is the method of faith. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). Jesus, who is in Himself the one thing needed, can maintain the work of His Spirit in us. By exercising faith without ceasing, the blessing will flow without ceasing.


Christ must be all to us every moment. It is of no avail to me that I have life on earth unless that life is renewed every moment by my breathing fresh air. Even so God must actually renew and strengthen the divine life in me every moment. He does this for me in my union with Christ. Christ is simply the fullness of God, the life of God, and the love of God prepared for us and communicating itself to us. The Spirit is simply the fullness of Christ, the life of Christ, and the self-communicating love of Christ surrounding us as the air surrounds the body.


Let us believe that we are in Christ, who surrounds us in Hi heavenly power, longing to make the rivers of His Spirit flow forth through us! Let us endeavor to obtain a heart filled with the joyful assurance that the Almighty Lord will fulfill His word with power. Our only choice is to see Him, to rejoice in Him, and to sacrifice all for Him. Then His word will become true: "He that believeth in me, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water."


~Andrew Murray~


(continued with # 35 - "In Search of the Full Manifestation")