Morning By Morning #363

The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God.

Galatians 2:20

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

When the Lord in His mercy passed by and saw us in our flesh and blood, the first thing He did was say, “Live.” He did this first because life is essential when it comes to spiritual matters, for until it is bestowed we are incapable of partaking in things of the kingdom. And the life that God’s grace bestowed at the moment of a saint’s spiritual quickening is none other than the life of Christ. His life, like sap flowing through a stem, runs into us who are the branches and establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus. The faith that follows is then the first gift of God’s grace and is what enables us to perceive our union with Christ. It is the “firstfruits” and the neck that joins the body of the church to its all-glorious Head.

0 Faith! You bond of union with the Lord,

Is not this office yours, and your fit name?

In the economy of gospel types,

And symbols suitable—the church’s neck;

Identifying her in will and work

With Him ascended?

Author unknown

Faith takes hold of the Lord Jesus with a firm and determined grasp. She knows His excellence and worth, and no temptation can lead her to lay her trust elsewhere. Christ Jesus is so delighted with the heavenly gift of faith that He never ceases to strengthen and sustain her with His loving embrace and the all-sufficient support of His eternal arms. Thus is established a living, sensible, and delightful union that sends forth streams of love, confidence, sympathy, fulfillment, and joy from which both the bride and the Bridegroom love to drink. When the soul perceives the reality of this oneness between Christ and itself, the pulse may be felt as beating for both, with the same blood flowing through the veins of each. Only then is one’s heart as near to heaven as possible here on earth and fully prepared for the enjoyment of the most glorious and spiritual kind of fellowship.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

As we have seen today, faith is the first gift of grace. Paul said, “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ…to believe on him” (Phil. 1:29). Along with that faith, however, comes the gift of love, for Paul also said, “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:14). And we know that true faith will manifest itself in a deep and abiding love for the Lord. Thus, with that in mind, may this hymn be the prayer of our heart this morning:

Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;

Now thee alone I seek, give what is best.

This all my prayer shall be: More love, 0 Christ, to thee;

More love to thee, more love to thee!

Elizabeth P. Prentiss, 1818-1878