LIWD :: day 34 :: The Effectual Touch in the Will / Madame Jeanne Guyon

Madame Jeanne Guyon

Madame Jeanne Guyon was born at Montargis, France.  When she was only 15, she married an invalid who was 38 years old.  Unhappy in her marriage, she sought happiness in her devotional life.  She lived in a convent under royal order for a year and then was imprisoned in Vincennes and the Bastille because of her religious beliefs.  Almost 25 years of her life were spent in confinement.  Many of her books were written during that period.

Writing that compels the reader to move into a living experience of Jesus Christ is Madame Guyon's great contribution to devotional literature.  Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ (sometimes entitled A Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer) has had a wide influence: Watchman Nee saw that it was translated into Chinese and made available to every new convent in the Little Flock; Francois Fenelon, John Wesley, and Hudson Taylor all highly recommended it to the believers of their day.

The Effectual Touch in the Will

The Soul then receives an effectual Touch in the Will, which invites it to recollection, and instructs it that God is within, and must be sought there; that He is present in the Heart, and must be there enjoyed.

The discovery, in the beginning, is the source of very great joy to the Soul, as it is an intimation or pledge of happiness to come; in its very commencement, the road it is to pursue is opened and is shown to be that of the Inward Life.  This knowledge is the more admirable, as it is the spring of all the felicity of the Soul, and the solid foundation of interior progress; for those Souls who tend toward God merely by the intellect, even though they should enjoy a somehat spiritual contemplation, yet can never enter into Intimate Union, if they do not quit that path and enter this of the Inward Touch, where the whole working is in the Will.

The Soul then receives an effectual Touch in the Will, which invites it to recollection, and instructs it that God is within, and must be sought there; that He is present in the Heart and must be there enjoyed.

How often do we just go through the motions?  With everything in our daily lives, it is so easy to just do what we know to do without really putting much thought or effort into it.  It's just as easy when following Christ.  We can say our daily prayers, tithe to the church, sing our hymns, attend church on sunday...and not put any real effort into it. 

You may appear to be a Christian to an onlooker, but God knows better.  He knows your heart.  He knows your mind.  He knows your intentions.  God wants every piece of you.  He wants you to want to know Him.  He doesn't want a half-hearted try.  He doesn't want you to just go through the motions.  He doesn't want empty actions. 

When you truly desire to know Christ, you thirst for Him...for His love.  You want to be in His word.  You want to do as He commands.  You want to share the Truth with others. 

Relationships aren't one-sided.  It takes two.  Both parties involved need to make an effort to get to know eachother.  A relationship with Christ is no different.  When we take the time to really get to know Him and to spend time with Him, only then will we truly be filled with His holy spirit.