Tozer - In Him we have All

A.W. Tozer – The Pursuit Of God, Following Hard After God

You and I are in little (our sins excepted) what God is in large. Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know Him. The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the kingdom of God. It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart’s happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead.   . . . mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end.

When the Lord divided Canaan among the tribes of Israel, Levi received no share of the land. God said to him simply, “I am thy part and thine inheritance,” and by those words made him richer than all his brethren, richer than all the kings and rajas who have ever lived in the world. And there is a spiritual principle here, a principle still valid for every priest of the Most High God.

The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.

Root before Fruit - Milt Rodriguez

The Lord has been showing me interesting writings on His presence and His love in our lives for the last few weeks. I read a blog post from Milt Rodriguez who has become a favorite blogger for me. 

He wrote on “Root Must Come Before Fruit.”  See link
In his post he states, “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4, 5

The Tree of Life

What the Lord is talking about here is not missions, evangelism, or social action. He is talking about Life! God’s life. Divine life. Where there is life, there will be fruit (at least eventually). We love to focus on the fruit, but it seems to me that God focuses on the life. That is, the life of His dear Son. He knows that if life is flowing in the tree, fruit will be produced naturally, organically.
There is a very important reason why the Lord used the metaphor of a tree (or vine). He wanted to convey the idea of internal life being expressed. There is life flowing inside of the tree! Please don’t get the idea that there is nothing happening inside of that tree. Where there is life, there is motion. The sap is flowing; the bark and the branches are growing. Leaves and flowers are developing. But the fruit comes last.”  End of Milt's quote http://miltrodriguez.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/root-before-fruit-2/

Prayer from A.W. Tozer from The Pursuit of God.
“O God, I have tasted thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O, God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my sould, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from the misty lowland when I have wondered so long.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

More on focusing on Christ and His life in the next few blogs. 
Grace and Peace