Devotion of the Day

Himself

By him all things consist.
Colossians 1:17.

The supreme experience is to get past all lesser experiences to Christ Himself. Most of us stop short of the Giver because we are forever seeking this or that gift. Many a saint can testify to years of being occupied with this doctrine and that, this blessing and that, but coming one day into the larger place of resting in the Lord Himself, finding in Him their reward, their portion. Anything short of that is fractional, immature, incomplete. We are complete in Him, not in any experience or favorite doctrine. Here is the experience that excels all experiences because it includes them all. The whole is greater than any of the parts.

“Getting through to God” is not a strange emotional experience-although it may indeed move the emotions—but simply arriving at the blessed point where we rest in the Blesser and not in a lesser “blessing.” Then, whatever we may lose, we have Him, and in Him we have everything. All things are ours, and we are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.

The daily devotions are from Day by Day by Vance Havner. Fleming H. Revell Company, 1953.

Quote of the Day

I do not understand all the details of the Book of Revelation but there is a special blessing promised to all who read, hear, and keep its message and I don’t want to miss that blessing. I have read many interpretations of many schools of thought and I do not think anybody has the last word on the exact meaning of every seal, trumpet, vial, and the six hundred and sixty-six. But I read the Apocalypse more than ever and understand what Godet meant when he wrote, “The more deeply the church plants in the earth the stakes of her tent and establishes herself at her ease here below, the more does the Apocalypse become to her a foreign and even repulsive book. The more, on the other hand, tempestuous winds shake the curtains of her temporary dwelling-place and threaten to break their cords, the more does she feel the value of this marvelous book which teaches her to look up continually toward the bridegroom whose return she expects.” These weird and sinister figures that move through this mysterious book take on fresh meaning against the uncanny, frightening headlines of every newspaper. The only vantage point for a correct survey of the modern scene is Patmos.

The daily devotions are from Pepper ‘n Salt by Vance Havner. Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966.