February 12

“The riches of the glory of this mystery. . . is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

Frequently we listen to someone’s account of an experience that has brought him blessing, and sense how precious it was, but we make the mistake of fixing our eyes on the event instead of seeing the Lord who brought it about.

As a result, trying ourselves to reproduce the situation, we suffer only defeat. Let us be quite clear that trusting in the Lord himself and following a formula are two totally different things. The testifying brother had, by the grace of God, known living contact with Christ, and as a consequence had found release and full satisfaction in God. We, however, attempting to imitate his methods, end up with an ineffectual copy of his experience.

Neither formula nor method works, but only the living Christ. The reason for many unanswered prayers and feeble Christian lives is found in the lack of this personal touch with the Lord, Merely to copy methods is not enough. Go to him who is the only source of vital experience!