Most of today's article will be quotes by A.W. Tozer, who was an American pastor and author who lived from 1897 to 1963. He was saved and became a true believer when he was a teenager.
I am quoting from an article found at :
http://articles.ochristian.com/article176.shtml
It would be best to go there and read the entire article to get the full impact of this important message. But I will highlight some of the important parts here.
"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for He maketh sore, and He bindeth up: He woundeth, and His hands make whole." - Job 5:17-18
In Tozer's article, he mentions a remarkable Christian woman who lived around 600 years ago, who wrote only one book, but an important work at that. She prayed a prayer and God answered. The essence of her prayer was this:
"O God, please give me three wounds: the wound of contrition and the wound of compassion and the wound of a longing after God."
Tozer comments that she wasn't dickering with God. She wanted three things and they were all for God's glory, and then she added:
"I ask this without condition, Father; do what I ask and then send me the bill. Any thing that it costs will be all right with me."
What a wonderful attitude.... and faith !
Tozer says that "All great Christians have been wounded souls. Many of the Old Testament characters were wounded men, stricken of God and afflicted indeed as their LORD was after them."
The Wound of Compassion
http://articles.ochristian.com/article176.shtml
It would be best to go there and read the entire article to get the full impact of this important message. But I will highlight some of the important parts here.
"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for He maketh sore, and He bindeth up: He woundeth, and His hands make whole." - Job 5:17-18
In Tozer's article, he mentions a remarkable Christian woman who lived around 600 years ago, who wrote only one book, but an important work at that. She prayed a prayer and God answered. The essence of her prayer was this:
"O God, please give me three wounds: the wound of contrition and the wound of compassion and the wound of a longing after God."
Tozer comments that she wasn't dickering with God. She wanted three things and they were all for God's glory, and then she added:
"I ask this without condition, Father; do what I ask and then send me the bill. Any thing that it costs will be all right with me."
What a wonderful attitude.... and faith !
Tozer says that "All great Christians have been wounded souls. Many of the Old Testament characters were wounded men, stricken of God and afflicted indeed as their LORD was after them."
Following are the three wounds :
The Wound of Contrition
We are familiar with the meaning of the word contrition, but I would like to mention what Webster's 1828 dictionary says about it. It is a genuine repentance, being deeply grieved of heart for having offended an infinite holy and benevolent God.
According to A.W. Tozer, "Now I've heard for the last 30 years that repentance is a change of mind, and I believe it, of course, as far as it goes. But that's just what's the matter with us. We have reduced repentance to a change of mind. It is a mental act, indeed, but I point out that repentance is not likely to do us much good until it ceases to be a change of mind only and becomes a wound within our spirit. No man has truly repented until his sin has wounded him near to death; ...... I don't know about you, but the only way I can keep right with God is to keep contrite, to keep a sense of contrition upon my spirit."
"Now compassion is an emotional identification, and Christ had that in full perfection. The man who has this wound of compassion is a man who suffers along with other people." So says Tozer. Thus, as true believers, we should imitate Christ as much as we can and be compassionate ourselves.
The Wound of Longing After God
The woman mentioned previously that prayed for the above three wounds wanted to "long after God with a longing that became a pain in her heart. " If you are truly born again from above,
"a spiritual rebirth", truly saved, you will want to draw ever closer to the good Lord and to endeavor to obey Him and live as godly a life as you possibly can.
Tozer admonishes us, "Remember this: the man that has the most of God is the man who is seeking the most ardently for more of God."
Pastor Tozer closes his article with the following prayer:
"Father, I've been an irresponsible, childish kind of Christian - more concerned with being happy than with being holy. O God, give me three wounds. Wound me with a sense of my own sinfulness. Wound me with compassion for the world, and wound me with love of Thee that will keep me always pursuing and always exploring and always seeking and always finding."
If you are not a Christian and you are reading this, know that Jesus loves you and is waiting to hear from you.
All you must do is to repent and believe in Christ as the Savior, whose redemptive work at the Cross, His shed blood, can wash your sins away and wipe the slate clean when you truly believe in Him and in His resurrection.
Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us:(9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend - and life !!
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