“When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6).
When Jesus speaks of going into a secret place to seek the Father, he is talking about something much greater than a physical closet. He is referring to any place where you can be alone with him in intimate communion.
“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14).
Scripture says, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Don’t be put off by all the terms in this verse. Simply put, the goal of the gospel is redemption and God’s grace includes everything he has done for us through Christ to redeem us from the power of the devil and bring us into the kingdom of his glorious light!
The apostle Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). He also said, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (5:25).
Walking in the Spirit is simply allowing the Holy Spirit to do in us what God sent him to do. Jesus said of the Father, “He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).
“From the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely … Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed” (Jeremiah 6:13, 15).
Those who hold on in unswerving faith are in for a glorious manifestation of Christ’s resurrection power. Only you and the Lord will know all the intimate workings but he will astonish you; he will thrill you; he will show you his glory!
The present greatness of Christ can be summed up in one powerful verse: “In Him was life” (John 1:4). He was — and is now — energizing life. Jesus was constantly being renewed as he drew on a secret reservoir that was never depleted. He never wearied of the crowd pressing in on him and his patience never wore thin.
We often expect God to move in one of two ways: either by sending a supernatural outpouring of his Holy Spirit to sweep multitudes into his kingdom, or by sending judgment to bring people to their knees or even destroy them. But, beloved, that is not God’s method of changing things in an evil day. His way of rebuilding ruins has always been to use ordinary men and women whom he has touched. And he does this by filling them with his Holy Spirit and sending them into the warfare with great faith and power! “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4).
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house” (Hebrews 3:1-2).
David acknowledged God’s great mercy when he said, “I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly” (Psalm 40:10).
David was grateful to God for such great love because he was deeply conscious of his own failings. “My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up” (40:12). No matter how badly people have sinned, God’s love still reaches them. He sent his Son as a sacrifice for this very purpose.