Expect great things!

"God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.” - Andrew Murray

This quote is one that I found while preparing for our Covenant service last week. I enjoy the depth of insight that Andrew Murray offers us through his writings. He was certainly someone who was able to express his faith in a clear way. Take another example of his thoughts - this time on prayer:

“Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ and expect great things!” - Andrew Murray

What strikes you about these Andrew Murray quotes?

Joshua 24:23 - “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Gone up in flames

                                                            

After discovering that twenty years of his work had literally gone up in flames William Carey wrote these words to Andrew Murray:

"The ground must be laboured over again, but we are not discouraged. We have all been supported under the affliction, and preserved from discouragement..."

And then he quoted from Psalm 46:10, where the Lord Himself says,

"Be still and know that I am God."

William Carey had spent 20 years translating parts of the Bible into various Indian dialects as he served as a missionary in India. Bearing in mind this was in the early 1800's, he had no computer backups at all. He must have been devasted - I know I would have been!

However, he had learnt a simple trust in Jesus and believed that even through trials God was still present. This is such a valuable lesson for me. What do you feel?

Have you ever faced a discouraging time only to see God's hand move in a different direction?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Andrew Murray, really....!!!!

I see that the statue of Andrew Murray has also been vandalised in the past week. For those of us who don't know anything about Andrew Murray, please click on this link for some info. Andrew Murray (not Andy the Tennis player) was a missionary to South Africa, and in this week of Xenophobic violence, it is worth noting that he was certainly a 'foreigner' in every sense of the word. His father was Scottish and Presbyterian, but served within the Dutch Reformed church, while his mother had links with the French Huguenots and the German Lutherans - that is tough to beat!

I still can't understand why someone would want to deface his statue after all the good he did in our nation, but then again, people are also defacing statues of Gandhi. Some people are just never going to get it!!

Anyway, here are some of my favourite Andrew Murray quotes:

"Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” 

"Here is the path to the higher life: down, lower down! Just as water always seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds men abased and empty, His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless.” 

"Answered prayer is the interchange of love between the Father and His child."

"How different our standard is from Christ's. We ask how much a man gives. Christ asks how much he keeps.”

Living in Grace
D3LM3