the Week of Proper 3 / Ordinary 8
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Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
My beloved Is mine and I am his. Song of Solomon 2:16; Song of Solomon 6:3. For none of us liveth to himself. Whether we live, we live unto the Lord. Romans 14:7-8.
If Christ be in us, and if He be ours, it follows that we must be in Him. There can be no fellowship where the members do not divide all things with each other. Selfishness excludes fellowship. He who desires to have Christ whole and undivided, to be partaker of His merits, grace and indwelling, His coming glory, must belong to the Savior whole and undivided; he must surrender wholly and completely to Christ, and continue to be His without any reservation in life and death, in joy and sorrow, without ever drawing back. There are many who glory in Christ and His merits. There are many who receive Jesus, but they do not surrender themselves to Christ; they keep themselves back for themselves. Christ must not divide Himself; He must surrender Himself completely to them; but they divide themselves, and that most shamefully. They give Christ words, lip service and outward homage, while their heart clings to the world, sin, and themselves. These are Christians in name only. They delude themselves into a belief concerning the merits of Christ, But they do not have Christ Himself. They never become partakers of Christ so long as they do not surrender to Him.
Savior, teach me day by day,
Love’s sweet lesson to obey;
Sweeter lesson cannot be,
Loving Him who first loved me.
With a childlike heart of love.
At Thy bidding may I move,
Prompt to serve and follow Thee,
Loving Him who first loved me.