Gathered Around the Fire

As for the simple and unlearned, it is not true that they are incapable of this inner relationship to Christ. The reverse is true. They are actually more suited to it. The Lord loves who walk simply. (Proverbs 12:22) Their humility, their simple trust in God, make it easier for them to turn within and follow the Lord’s Spirit. They are more qualified than most! You see, these simple believers are not accustomed to analyzing; they do not have the habit of discussing the issues of everything; and they are quick to let go of their own opinions. Yes, they do lack a great deal of education and religious training; therefore they are freer and quicker to follow the leading of the Spirit. Other people—more gifted, better educated, trained in theology—are often cramped and even blinded by their spiritual wealth! Such a person very often offers greater resistance to the inner anointing and to the leading of the Lord’s Spirit. The psalmist tells us, “Unto the simple God gives the unders...

Download QuickTime Player Download Chapter Audio file (HQ MP3) "Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ" by Madame Jeanne Guyon As we draw near to the close of this little book, I would like to address a word of exhortation to those Christian workers who are in charge of new converts. Let us consider the present situation. All around us, Christians are seeking to convert the lost to Jesus Christ. What is the best way to do this? And once men have been converted, what is the best way to aid them in attaining full perfection in Christ? The way to reach the lost is to reach them by the heart. If the new convert were introduced to real prayer and to true inward experience of Christ as soon as he became converted, you would see countless numbers of convert go on to become true disciples. On the other hand, you can see that the present way of dealing only with the external matters of life of the new convert brings little fruit. Burdening the new Christian with countless rules and a...

Download QuickTime Player Download Chapter Audio file (HQ MP3) "Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ" by Madame Jeanne Guyon Now In this state of rest, is your soul active or passive? It is active! You are not in a passive state, even if you are resting. By what activity could there be resting? You are resting in the act of abiding in His love/ Can that be activity? Yes! Inside your spirit there is an act going on. It is a sweet sinking into Deity. The inward attraction—the magnetic pull—becomes more and more powerful. Your soul, dwelling in love, is drawn by this powerful attraction and sinks continually deeper into that love. So you see, this inward activity has become far greater than it was when your soul first began to turn inward. Under the powerful attraction of God drawing you into Himself, the inward activity has increased. The difference is that at the outset the activity was more outward; now the activity has moved inside; it has become deep, inward, hidden and ...

Download QuickTime Player Download the Audio file (HQ MP3) "Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ" by Madame Jeanne Guyon We will begin this chapter with this simple point: Your Spiritual experiences fall into two categories—those that are external (surface) and those that take place internally, deep within your being. There are activities or actions that you form: some are surface; some are deeper. Your external activities are those which can be seen outwardly. They have to do with, more or less, physical things. Now this you must see: There is no real goodness in them, no spiritual growth in them, and very little experience of Christ! Of course, there is an exception: If your outward actions are as result (a by-product) of something that has taken place deep within you, then these outward actions do receive spiritual value and they do possess real goodness. But outward activities have only as much spiritual value as they receive from their source. Our way therefore, is cl...

Download QuickTime Player Prayer Requests...(Download mp3 Audio) Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”. As you continue in this venture with Christ—this venture that began as a simple way of prayer—yet another experience may await you. It is this: Do not be too surprised if you find you are no longer able to offer up prayers of petition. You may find that prayers of request become more difficult. Yes it is true that in the past you offered up petitions and requests with complete ease. Until now, praying this way was never difficult. But in this new relationship with your Lord, it is the Spirit who prays! And as the Spirit prays, He helps your weakness. He is making intercession for you. And He is praying according to the will of God. For we do not know how to pray as we should; but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:28) There is your will; there is God’s will. There is your plan; there is God’s plan. There is your prayer; th...

Download QuickTime Player The Scripture...(Download mp3 Audio) For the last few chapters we have been discussing a deeper experience of Christ, and in the last chapter we looked at how to deal with sins and confession. Let us now go on to consider what other experiences with Him go deeper still. Let us take the Scripture first. Is there a deeper use you can make of the Scripture than has been mentioned up until now? Remember please, from an earlier chapter that reading the Scripture is a way into prayer. Remember, too, that what you read may become prayer. Is there yet more scripture can provide? Yes you can use the Scripture in yet a more refined manner than has been mentioned before. Let us consider that way. I will give you a brief, practical description. First come before the Lord and begin to read. Stop reading just as soon as you feel yourself being drawn inwardly. Stop reading when you feel the Lord drawing you in your inward parts to Himself. Now simply remain in stillness. St...

Download QuickTime Player A New Look At Confession of Sin...(Download mp3 Audio) "Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ" by Madame Jeanne Guyon Let us go on a little farther now and consider confession of sin There is awaiting you a higher understanding and a higher experience of confession and repentance. Should you truly desire to walk these paths, you should be aware of something about confession of sin which is generally misunderstood. In the past when you have confessed your sins to your Lord, you have most likely felt regret for those sins, have you not? There is a higher experience of repentance, and there is a deeper experience of confession of sin, than the feeling of regret. In fact, you will find those feelings of regret replaced by something else—replaced by a love and tranquility. That love, that tranquility sweetly saturates your soul and, having saturated it thoroughly, takes full possession of it. Repentance that is sweet? Confession of sin th...