NONE BUT THE HUNGRY HEART

Sunday, October 21, 2018

10-21. Busily Barren

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me” (John 15:4).

A barren life means barren service, and no amount of self-effort will ever make up for that!

“‘Not I, but Christ.’ The Lord Jesus does not ask that we should work for Him, but He intends to work through us. There is all the difference in the world between the two. In the one I plan and then ask His blessing upon it; in the other He plans and lets me into the secret of His glorious purpose. The one ends in futility and disappointment; the other in life, progress, and joy.

“In the one I slave and work worthily for Him, and constantly feel the barrenness of a busy life; in the other I let His life flow through me in all His glorious effortlessness, and rest in the assurance that the Lord Jesus at work cannot fail. The one is a life of endeavor, always being keyed up to do something greater; the other a life of faith always looking to the Lord Jesus to reveal the next step and then give the enablement to carry it out.” -H.G.

“The great question is not what you are doing, how successful you are, how great are your crowds, how impressive your work—but the question is, by what power are you doing it? It is difficult to attend any large religious gathering without perceiving the governing influence, consciously or unconsciously, of the psychological—which is of the human. Many apparently successful ‘revival’ meetings have much more in them of psychology than Spirit. Large numbers of seekers are brought to the altar by human soul-power rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this accounts for the large number of so-called backsliders and ‘repeaters’ at the altar.”

“Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).