"What is man, that Thou shouldst magnify him, and that Thou shouldst set Thy heart upon him, and that Thou shouldst visit him every morning, and try him every moment?" (Job. vii. 17, 18).
Soul! hast thou ever known that God so magnifies thee, and has so set His heart upon thee, that He visits thee every morning? Hast thou learnt to prepare thyself every morning to receive that visit? Oh, do not, in haste or thoughtlessness, miss or despise so great a privilege I-a visit every morning from thy God.
This means much more than reading and praying every morning. Much more. It means that God will give you, through His Spirit, the assurance that He remembers you in love, that He accepts you, that He will keep you, if you will but come before Him in the quiet exercise of faith which adores, awaits His presence. He will give you the heavenly assurance that He is with you. Only say: "My soul is still before God."
Job says: "What is man that Thou shouldst visit him every morning, and try him every moment?" How shall I be able to endure this? God trying me every moment in all the hurry and business of the day! There is only one way. I must await His visit in the morning. He desires to make a covenant with me for the day, and to give me anew into the keeping of His Son; then He can try me every moment.
Truly the man who receives a visit from his God every morning will gladly submit to be put to the test by Him every moment.
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Andrew Murray (1828 - 1917)
Brother Andrew Murray was a well-known writer/preacher in South Africa who ministered amongst the Dutch Reformed churches. His writings now are widely accepted by modern evangelicals and he is published more than ever in his life-time.Some of his better known books titles are: "Abide In Christ", "Absolute Surrender," and "Humility." His burden for the body of Christ were teachings on the abiding Spirit of Christ in the believer, the life of faith with God daily, and the life of intercession and prayer in the Church.
Andrew Murray was possibly the strongest spokesman of the Philadelphian age to expound the Body's necessity to abide in Christ, like the Apostle John before him.
Murray was born into a family of four children in the then remote Graaff-Reinet region (near the Cape) of South Africa. Educated in Scotland, which was followed by theological studies in Holland, Andrew returned to his native land to work as a missionary and minister. Given the daunting task of ministering to Bloemfontein, a remote region of 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people beyond the Orange River, Murray already began to sense the need to for the "deeper Christian life".
Though successful in preaching and bringing many to Christ, Murray found many of his greatest lessons in the School of Suffering, as will all who follow in the path of obedience.
Andrew Murray was one of four children born to Pastor Andrew, Sr., and Maria Murray. He was raised in what was considered to be the most remote corner of the world - Graaff-Reinet, South Africa. Educated in Scotland and Holland, in 1848 Andrew, Jr., returned to South Africa as a missionary and minister with the Dutch Reformed Church. His first appointment was to Bloemfontein, a territory of nearly 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people.
Andrew and his brother John had been in close contact with a revival movement in Scotland, an evangelical extension of the ongoing Second Great Awakening in America. He prayed for the same sort of awakening for the church in South Africa and wrote, "My prayer is for revival, but I am held back by the increasing sense of my own unfitness for the work. I lament the awful pride and self complacency that have till now ruled my heart. O that I may be more and more a minister of the Spirit." (J. du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray)
In 1860, revival did come to the churches of Cape Town, South Africa, and subsequently spread to surrounding towns and villages. Even remote farms and plantations felt the impact as lives were changed. Where once the churches had not been able to find one man ready to be a leader for God, the revival raised up 50 in Murray's Cape Town parish alone. There were more conversions in one month in that parish than in the whole course of its previous history. (Leona Choy, Andrew Murray: Apostle of Abiding Love)
Greatly concerned for the spiritual guidance of new converts and renewed Christians, Andrew Murray wrote over 240 books. His writings reflect his own longing for a deeper life in Christ and his prayer that others would long for and experience that life as well.