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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781641582247 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Tyndale House Publishers |
| Publication date: | 05/05/2020 |
| Pages: | 208 |
| Sales rank: | 378,556 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.50(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Andrew Murray (1828–1917) was an amazingly prolific Christian writer. He lived and ministered as both a pastor and author in the towns and villages of South Africa. Some of Murray’s earliest works were written to provide nurture and guidance to Christians, whether young or old in the faith; they were actually an extension of his pastoral work. Once books such as Abide in Christ, Divine Healing, and With Christ in the School of Prayer were written, Murray became widely known, and new books from his pen were awaited with great eagerness throughout the world. He wrote to give daily practical help to many of the people in his congregation who lived out in the farming communities and could come into town for church services only on rare occasions. As he wrote these books of instruction, Murray adopted the practice of placing many of his more devotional books into thirty-one separate readings to correspond with the days of the month. At the age of seventy-eight, Murray resigned from the pastorate and devoted most of his time to his manuscripts. He continued to write profusely, moving from one book to the next with an intensity of purpose and a zeal that few men of God have ever equaled. He often said of himself, rather humorously, that he was like a hen about to hatch an egg; he was restless and unhappy until he got the burden of the message off his mind. During these later years, after hearing of pocket-sized paperbacks, Andrew Murray immediately began to write books to be published in that fashion. He thought it was a splendid way to have the teachings of the Christian life at your fingertips, where they could be carried around and read at any time of the day. One source has said of Andrew Murray that his prolific style possesses the strength and eloquence that are born of deep earnestness and a sense of the solemnity of the issues of the Christian life. Nearly every page reveals an intensity of purpose and appeal that stirs men to the depths of their souls. Murray moves the emotions, searches the conscience, and reveals the sins and shortcomings of many of us with a love and hope born out of an intimate knowledge of the mercy and faithfulness of God. For Andrew Murray, prayer was considered our personal home base from which we live our Christian lives and extend ourselves to others. During his later years, the vital necessity of unceasing prayer in the spiritual life came to the forefront of his teachings. It was then that he revealed the secret treasures of his heart concerning a life of persistent and believing prayer. Countless people the world over have hailed Andrew Murray as their spiritual father and given credit for much of their Christian growth to the influence of his priceless devotional books.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Day 1
YOU WHO HAVE COME TO HIM
"Come to me." MATTHEW 11:28
"Abide in me." JOHN 15:4
TWO MESSAGES COME from the same loving Savior. First, a call: "Come to me." Then, to those who have heard and accepted the call, a new invitation: "Abide in me."
If you have accepted His call, you have doubtless never regretted it. His Word is truth, His promises He fulfills, His love and blessings are yours to enjoy — you have experienced these things for yourself. His welcome most hearty, His pardon full and free, His love sweet and precious. You have, more than once since your first coming to Him, had ample reason to say, "This is more than I ever expected!"
And yet perhaps you have also experienced disappointment: You had expectations that over time were not realized. Blessings you once enjoyed were lost. The love and joy of your early life with your Savior didn't deepen over time; it became faint, feeble. You may have wondered why, with such a Savior — so mighty and so loving — your experience of salvation has not been fuller.
The answer is very simple: You wandered from Him.
The blessings Christ bestows are all connected with His command, "Come to me." They are only to be enjoyed in close fellowship with Him. You either did not fully understand or have not rightly remembered that implicit in the call was "Come to me to stay with me." To stay with Him was indeed the purpose of His call to come to Him. It was not to refresh you for a few short hours after your conversion, to encourage you with the joy of His love and deliverance only to send you forth to wander in sadness and sin. He destined you to something better than a short-lived blessedness to be enjoyed only in times of special earnestness and prayer — a passing moment in the larger context of your life obligations. No, He prepared a place for you, an abiding dwelling with Himself, where your whole life — every moment of it! — might be spent. The work of your daily life was meant to be done from this place of abiding, all the while enjoying unbroken communion with your Savior.
What was implicit in that first invitation, "Come to me," was made explicit in the second: "Abide in me." As earnest and faithful, as loving and tender, as the compassion that breathed through that blessed command to come to Jesus was the grace infused in the blessed invitation to abide. The call to come was mighty and elicited in you a mighty attraction; just as mighty was the invitation to abide, the bonds with which it would hold you. The blessings you were met with as you came to Christ were many and great; more and greater blessings are there for those who take the further invitation to abide in Him.
Note especially that Jesus did not say, "Abide with me"; rather He said, "Abide in me." His intent was an intimate, unbroken, complete relationship. He opened His arm to draw you close; He opened His heart to welcome you there. All His divine fullness of life and love were offered to you — you would be wholly one with Him! Such was the depth of meaning in his invitation to abide in Him, a depth of meaning that is easily missed.
We think of these invitations as commands, but it's equally fair to say that they are pleas. Each is equal to the other: The same motivations that caused you to respond to His first appeal may motivate you toward His second. Was it the fear of sin and its curse that first drew you to Christ? His pardon at your first coming, and all the blessings that flowed from it, would be fully confirmed and fully enjoyed if only you would abide in Him. Had you felt a longing to know and enjoy the infinite love you heard in His call to come? That first experience was only a taste of the satisfaction you would enjoy by abiding in Him, where you would drink your fill from the rivers of pleasure at His right hand. Did the invitation to come to Christ speak to the longing you felt to be made free of the wearying bondage of sin, your longing to experience purity and holiness, your longing for rest for your soul? Such rest and relief is experienced fully only as you abide in Him. Maybe you were motivated to come to Christ by the hope of a divine inheritance, an everlasting home in the glorious presence of the infinite God. One must prepare for such a future, and our preparation for our glorious future happens as we abide in Christ now. Not only that, but we get a foretaste of that future life in our present life — if we abide in Him.
It's a fundamental truth: There is nothing that would have moved you to come to Christ that is not satisfied a thousandfold more in our experience of abiding in Him. You did well to come; you do better to abide. After all, who would be content, after seeking the King's palace, to stand in the door? You've been invited in! You have the opportunity to dwell in the King's presence, sharing with Him all the glory of His royal life! Let us enter in, abiding in His wondrous love and enjoying to the full all that He has prepared for us!
And yet I fear that there are many who have come to Jesus and yet will acknowledge, with regret, that they have no experience of this blessed abiding in Him. Some will say that they have never fully understood that Christ's call to come included this invitation to abide. Others may acknowledge the call to abide in Christ but considered it an experience beyond their reach. Still others will say that they have tried to abide in Christ but haven't discovered the secret to it. And finally there are those who, in all honesty, will confess that they have known but not sought the blessing of abiding in Christ. They were not prepared to give up everything in order to abide fully and forever in Jesus, and so while their Savior would have gladly abided with them, they were not prepared to stay.
To any of these people I come in the name of Jesus, their Redeemer and mine, with His blessed message: "Abide in me." In His name I invite all of us to come and, for a season, meditate daily on its meaning, its lessons, its claims, and its promises. I know how many and, particularly to the young believer, how difficult the questions are that come up when we consider the invitation to abide in Christ. There is especially the multifaceted question how one keeps up (or is kept in) an abiding communion with Christ in the midst of wearying work and continual distraction. I do not expect in this undertaking to remove all difficulties; only Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit could do that. But there is power in the mere repetition, the daily invocation of the Master's blessed command to "abide in me," until it settles into your heart, no more to be forgotten or neglected. We would do well to meditate on the meaning we find in the Scriptures, so that our understanding — the gateway to the heart — grows to apprehend what abiding in Christ offers and expects. We will thus discover how one comes to abide in Christ, learn what keeps us from resting in God, and discern what will help us in our quest. We will become increasingly conscious of Christ's claim upon us and come to trust that abiding in Christ, as with all of Christ's commands, is inherent to our full allegiance to our King. Our heartfelt acceptance of this command will be rewarded as we experience its blessings, and we will find ourselves compelled by desire to continually abide in Him.
Come, let us day by day set ourselves at the feet of Christ and meditate on this word of His, with an eye fixed on Him alone. Let us set ourselves in quiet trust before Him, waiting to hear His holy voice — the still small voice that is mightier than the storms that surround us. Abide in Me. Jesus Himself speaks the word. Our souls hear His voice, and the message quickens our spirits, giving us the power to accept its claim on us and receive its blessing on us.
Speak to us, blessed Savior, and let each of us hear Your voice. May the feeling of our deep need, and the faith of Your wondrous love, combined with the sight of the wonderfully blessed life You are waiting to bestow on us, hold us tight and cause us to listen and obey as often as You extend the invitation: Abide in Me. Let the answer from our hearts become clearer and fuller day by day: "Yes, blessed Savior, I do abide in You."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Abide In Christ"
by .
Copyright © 2019 The Navigators.
Excerpted by permission of NavPress.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Foreword, vii,
Preface, xi,
Day 1: You Who Have Come to Him, 1,
Day 2: You Will Find Rest for Your Souls, 6,
Day 3: Trusting Him to Keep You Secure, 12,
Day 4: As the Branch in the Vine, 17,
Day 5: As You Came to Him by Faith, 21,
Day 6: God Himself Has United You to Christ, 27,
Day 7: As Your Wisdom, 32,
Day 8: As Your Righteousness, 37,
Day 9: As Your Sanctification, 42,
Day 10: As Your Redemption, 48,
Day 11: The Crucified One, 53,
Day 12: God Himself Will Establish You in Christ, 58,
Day 13: Every Moment, 63,
Day 14: Day by Day, 68,
Day 15: At This Moment, 73,
Day 16: Forsaking All for Him, 79,
Day 17: Through the Holy Spirit, 84,
Day 18: In Stillness of Soul, 89,
Day 19: In Affliction and Trial, 94,
Day 20: That You May Bear Much Fruit, 99,
Day 21: So You Will Have Power in Prayer, 104,
Day 22: And in His Love, 109,
Day 23: As Christ Is in the Father, 113,
Day 24: Obeying His Commandments, 118,
Day 25: That Your Joy May Be Full, 124,
Day 26: With Love for One Another, 129,
Day 27: That You May Not Sin, 134,
Day 28: As Your Strength, 140,
Day 29: No Trust in Self, 145,
Day 30: As the Guarantee of the New Covenant, 151,
Day 31: The Glorified One, 155,
Afterword, 159,
About Andrew Murray, 161,
What People are Saying About This
We have often found the fuller meaning of words in the Scriptures helpful to our understanding. Andrew Murray takes this a step further by exploring the concept of abiding to new and profound levels. This book is best savored slowly as it prompts us to deeper and deeper contemplation of what it means for us to make our home in Jesus Christ.
Living overseas for years taught me another language, affected my outlook on life, and yes, changed my driving habits. Jesus’ invitation to abide is quite similar to living in another place. Andrew Murray draws our attention to the amenities of our new home and eagerly reminds us of the privileges that we are missing out on. Where we live changes everything.
Abide in Christ brings a sense of restoration in relating to and experiencing God. If you long for harmony of your soul with God, a freshness to engage with and enjoy God in a deeper, life-changing way, this devotional is for you.
The Bible is our ultimate guide to life, but oftentimes it is fruitful to have a tool that helps us dive deeper into its pages and reintroduces us to its powerful yet refreshing truths. Andrew Murray has given us a practical way to “gather a day’s portion every day.” Enjoy.
In this timeless book, Andrew Murray illuminates Christ’s glorious gift of a life spent abiding with Him. This book is an invitation for us to seek God and to make Him our dwelling place.
Jesus invites us to follow Him, and yet we often live as if we are following from a distance. If you are weary in your work, take thirty-one days to intentionally abide. See if you don’t find yourself closer to Him, intimately at His side.
The invitation to abide in Christ has wooed and inspired generation after generation for millennia, and this fresh edition of Andrew Murray’s work will lead many more into what Jesus meant when He promised, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” I want more of that! It really does work. It really is practical. And it really is contemporary.
Each of these daily readings is a refreshing and meaningful chance to engage with Jesus in deeper ways. Andrew Murray draws us to a commitment of the timeless opportunity of abiding in Christ that still transforms our lives today. We are trusting God for more of this in The Navigators.
This is an amazing work created to help believers worldwide go deeper in relationship with Jesus. As you read it, pray that the Holy Spirit will take you to the next level in your spiritual life. I highly recommend it!
When I was invited to read the manuscript for this version of Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray, I had just finished listening to an audiobook of the classic version. I’d not read it in many years, and it was so refreshing to dive into this timeless message again. The one thing I found myself wishing was that there was an updated version in today’s English. Voilà! It’s here. Thank you, NavPress! I commend to you this refreshing version of Andrew Murray’s classic. Prepare to have your soul refreshed.
