Tozer devotional: 3 for one

I have been really blessed on the last three Tozer dovotionals. So here they are.

iggy

Tozer Devotional
Collective Writings from the Books of A.W. Tozer

That Incredible Christian
Chapter #28
To Be Understood, Truth Must Be Lived
Living the Truth

For a long time I have believed that truth, to be understood, must be lived; that Bible doctrine is wholly ineffective until it has been digested and assimilated by the total life. I have held this to be an important element in the preaching of the Old Testament prophets, and I have felt it to be near to the heart of the moral teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. I admit that this belief has made me a little lonely, for not many of my Christian brethren share it with me. While I have not heard anyone deny the truth outright, few have seen fit to teach it with anything approaching emphasis. And by silence a man will reveal his beliefs as surely as by argument. This is one of those truths which at first may appear dull and colorless, but far from being tame or weak, this truth is of tremendous importance to all of us. While not to my knowledge formulated as a tenet in the creed of any church or school of religious thought, it nevertheless stands as a great divide to separate those who think rightly about the faith of Christ from those who think carelessly about it.

Prayer
Forgive me, Lord, for stowing Your truth away in theological cupboards rather than integrating it into my daily living. Your truth liberates!

Scripture

'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?' The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.' Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'— Luke 10:36-37

Thought

If you know the truth, live it. Head knowledge is not enough. Living the truth enhances our understanding of it. Even more, living the truth changes us and opens us to receive more truth.

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Tozer Devotional
Collective Writings from the Books of A.W. Tozer

That Incredible Christian
Chapter #28
To Be Understood, Truth Must Be Lived
Transforming Truth

The essence of my belief is that there is a difference, a vast difference, between fact and truth. Truth in the Scriptures is more than a fact. A fact may be detached, impersonal, cold and totally disassociated from life. Truth on the other hand, is warm, living and spiritual. A theological fact may be held in the mind for a lifetime without its having any positive effect upon the moral character; but truth is creative, saving, transforming, and it always changes the one who receives it into a humbler and holier man. At what point, then, does a theological fact become for the one who holds it a life-giving truth? At the point where obedience begins. When faith gains the consent of the will to make an irrevocable committal to Christ as Lord, truth begins its saving, illuminating work; and not one moment before.

Prayer
Father, forgive me for sometimes holding Your truth at arm's length--examining it, analyzing it, exegeting it--but failing to fully live it. Your truth sets free.

Scripture
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'— John 8:31-32

Thought
Truth sets free! Truth embraced, clung to, integrated into everyday living. Truth changes the heart not just the mind.

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Tozer Devotional
Collective Writings from the Books of A.W. Tozer
Saturday, February 23, 2008
That Incredible Christian
Chapter #28

To Be Understood, Truth Must Be Lived
Experientially Knowing Truth

In His conflict with the religious textualists of His day our Lord often uttered short statements that serve as keys to unlock vast and precious storehouses of truth. In the Gospel according to John these may be found in something amounting to profusion. One such is found in John 7: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (7:17). A. T. Robertson, in his Word Pictures in the New Testament, explains “he shall know” as being “experimental knowledge from willingness to do God’s will.” Then he quotes Westcott: “if there be no sympathy there can be no understanding.” Obviously these words of Christ were understood by the great British biblical scholar Westcott and the brilliant American expositor Robertson as teaching that truth can be understood only by the mind that has surrendered to it. The average evangelical Bible teacher today finds such a radical interpretation too revolutionary to be comfortable and so just ignores it.

Prayer
I want to know You, Lord, experientially know You, know You better than I know You now. Open my eyes!

Scripture
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.— Ephesians 1:17

Thought
How is it that the Great God deigns to allow you and me, out of the billions on earth, to know Him in measure and to know His truth? I dont't know why but He does.