None but the Hungry Heart

For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. 3:21).

Paul devoted two full chapters to establish our freedom from the fallen Adam. Romans Six sets forth our freedom from the dominion of Adamic sin; Romans Seven explains our freedom from Adamic law.

Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).

Few see and stand upon the fact that our history in Adam ended on the Cross. Our past will plague us until we acknowledge that we are now clear of Adam and safely hidden in the risen Lord Jesus - newly-born creations in Him. One of the penalties of...

What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter" (John 13:7)

When our Lord takes us down into an area of processing and trial it seems as though He deliberately takes away our understanding, and we often react as though we had never gone through anything before. One of His reasons for this is that we may receive the full effect and...

Death working in me works life in you" (2 Cor. 4:12, Cony.).

At first the heart hunger for maturity in the Lord Jesus is personal, subjective - and necessarily so. Later, when the path to maturity is known and entered upon, this hunger is projected to His Body, and becomes sacrificially objective.

"The great lack...

That I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12).

Our spiritual puppy-love is soon lost, to be replaced through the years by our bridal-love. The bride always gravitates to her Bridegroom. "My beloved spoke, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" (SoS. 2:10).

For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11).

The growing Christian is often accused of passivity by the doing Christian. The Lord Jesus was not passive; the Apostle Paul was not passive; nor is the believer passive who seeks to "grow in grace...

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).

In regard to the external Cross, the obvious fact is that "Christ died for our sins." As to the internal Cross, while not so obvious, it is still a fact that we are to be "always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest...

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3:13).

 

The legal Christian considers the law to be his best friend who will enable him to live righteously. But in reality the law, in the hands of the Holy...

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).

Hard as it is for the believer to finally come to rest concerning his spiritual birth, it seems to be even more difficult for him to simply rest in the Lord Jesus for his life and service.

"There are two stages in the...

He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and fit for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (2 Tim. 2:21).

"Prepared unto every good work" - especially prayer.

"It does not follow that because a thing is the will of God, He will necessarily lead you to pray for it. He may have other burdens for...

That I may know him" (Phil. 3:10).

"The one unchanging factor on this earth is the Word of God. It is upon the written Word, and in the Living Word, that the Christian life is to be established. Yet there are Christians throughout the world who are seeking to get along on the basis of questionable blessings, and fluctuating self-centered...

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).

As we walk in the Spirit, worship in the Spirit, and pray in the Spirit, we shall come to know, not the Spirit, but the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus explicitly said, "He (the Comforter) shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show...

The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants; and none of them who trust in him shall be desolate" (Ps. 34:22).

We can only trust our Father to the degree that we know Him. And He only reveals Himself to us by His means. That is by the Word, by the Spirit, and hence by the Son - in that sequence.

"Could it be...

Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24).

As sinners, the law revealed our need of deliverance from the penalty of sin; as believers, the law reveals our need of deliverance from the power of sin.

"Our Father knows that we are weakness incarnate; that we can do...