A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night (DF Christian Bestsellers Book 2)

by A.W. Tozer

We need to relax a bit, turn away from the noise of the world, and listen to the voice of God because He has everything put together. He has prepared for us a place of service and ministry and will open the necessary doors, despite the obstacles and the confusion we may experience during the journey.

I need to quiet my heart in order to hear God’s direction. This must become a daily discipline for all of us. It is too easy and convenient to trust human inclinations.

When we start our journey with God, He knows the beginning and the end and everything in between. His preparation in us is in complete harmony with His knowledge of everything that is going to happen to us.

God’s grace is not only for our imperfections and weaknesses and failures. His grace is a reflection of His character and His nature, not our weaknesses.

“God does not look at what you do but only at your love and at the devotion and will behind your deeds... He is concerned only that we shall love him in all things.”

As a believer, my job is to seek God in His Word and strip from my life everything hindering my relationship with God.

Unbelief believes all of the promises conditionally for someone else, somewhere else, and at some other time. They believe what God says is true, but it isn’t relevant to them at this time in their life.

Faith says emphatically that it does apply to me right now.

If God said it, then it must be true, and if it’s true, then it’s true now, and if it’s true for someone else, it’s also true for me. Somehow, we have taken the Scripture and parsed it to mean “that one” when it means “this one.”

In my Christian walk, if I am opposed and fade away, it’s because I don’t realize there will be opposition and that my real enemy is Satan.

To avoid spiritual confusion, we need to understand the difference between an enemy and an adversary.

An enemy is one hostile toward us. This enemy, however, can be temporarily inactive. We can have an enemy out there, but he is not attacking or opposing us—he is just out there.

An adversary is different. An adversary is an enemy in active opposition. God has said if we follow Him our adversary will be His adversary. Although our adversary can overcome us, it can never overcome God. God stands strong...

Our victory in the Christian experience rests upon our obedience. I can’t stress too much how important it is to obey God. In order to obey God fully, we need to be saturated in the Wo...

My obedience is based on my commitment to God. As I understand my commitment to God, I begin to see flowing into my life the attributes of God that protect me from an enemy or an adversary.

However, we need to come to a point where we refuse to defend ourselves. We are very limited and can never overcome the enemy.

When we permit God to be our protector, the enemy is utterly defeated. God will defend you.

we must recognize God is on our side and has our back. My enemy and my adversary are now God’s enemy and adversary, and He knows how to deal with them.

Put your trust in God’s ability and strength and wisdom to defend you, to defeat the enemy in your life, and you will see a victory you have never experienced before.

The key ingredient in defeating the enemy is obedience to God.

When I vow not to defend myself, I am saying that I do not have what it takes to come against the enemy.

Just like Israel, I need to remember that God is not trying to glorify me; rather, He wants to glorify himself through my life. This comes only by completely surrendering my heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

While we are still wandering in our own land of Egypt, we can never experience the promises God has for us.

One thing we need to comprehend is that God saves us out of to bring us into. God saved Israel out of Egypt in order to bring them into the promised land.

We are going to the place God has ordained for us, and we will enjoy the blessings He has established there.

There is no limit with God, and therefore there is no limit to how far we can come into the spiritual inheritance and enjoy all of the great gifts and graces and mercies of God each and every day.

My biggest enemy is not Satan. My worst enemy is myself. If I could let go of the past that God has led me out of and latch on to what God has for me now—the provisions and the access to heaven He has for me—I would begin to experience the kind of Christian life that is full of joy, praise, and honor to God.

God did not save us and lead us out of Egypt so that we could be burdened the rest of our lives. God led us out in order to lead us into a land of milk and honey.

As we tap into God’s intention for us, we realize that His Word is our guidance day by day.

If we let God lead us and give up our own wisdom, He will lead us on a path that we never imagined we would be on.

We must take confidence and comfort in the fact that God is not driving us into some valley somewhere. Rather, like the shepherd who leads his sheep and goes before them, God goes before us and leads us into situations He has already prepared for us.

God always prepares us for the journey.

What are the enemies we face today?

The first enemy I would mention is our temper.

Temper is a sword in the hand of sin, but God disposes of sin, and we gain the riches of that victory.

When I see that my temper is against me, I can surrender it to God and He can turn it around according to His ways for me.

Another enemy would be inferiorit...

My inferiority just shows me that I cannot do something, but God can do it through me.

When I see that my inferiority is my enemy, I have an opportunity to turn it over to God, and God can step in and be my strength at that moment.

Another enemy that we might have is carnal ambition.

Another enemy is timidity.

When I realize how weak I am, I then can discover how strong my God is, and so my weakness, which can be my enemy, can now be turned around and lead me in the paths of God’s graciousness.

Rebellion is also an enemy of Christians.

That rebellion against God can be switched around and turned against the enemies of God.

People, for one, could be our enemy.

Too often Christians believe that all they need to do is accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and then everything will be all right. The Christian life must progress deeper and deeper into the things of God, the very heart of God himself.

Too many people view Christianity as an insurance policy so that when they die they can go to heaven. They do not see it as a road map leading them into the heart of God.

If I am obedient to God’s Word, then I am on the path He has prepared for me.

We forget that our rejoicing is in the land of promise. And in the land of promise we will experience trials and tribulations, but in those are found the joy, privilege, and glory of God.

But every battle made them stronger. Every battle prepared them for the next battle. And God was on their side, leading them, and they were walking by the cloud by day and the fire by night, and nobody could resist them.