Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians 5:24 

The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good.

It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.

The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.

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December 9, 2016

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good Morning Lord and thank you for bringing me to this devotional today. These words from Chambers’ message today rang loud and true for me…”It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24).

This is exactly what You have been teaching us, Lord; the good we can and will do is the enemy of Your best. Not that we do not do good things, perform good service and help others, but that we are called to do these things out of our surrender of ourselves. We must deny ourselves; our own ideas, doctrines, service, and good works and replace them with your ideas, doctrines, service and good works that come from You living through our surrendered lives. Is this right? If so how do we do this? How can we be certain that we are living the best and not the good?

And God says; trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not rely on your own ways, means and understanding and He will make your paths straight. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will meet all your day to day needs. If you want to save your life, you must lose it. Quit taking a stand to support your views, beliefs and feelings. Lose the human big four; to look good, feel good, be right and be in control and live out of the big four I have been teaching you; surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience. And you do this by seeking Jesus at every opportunity during your day, hour and minutes.

It can become part of who and what you are as you learn to face every action and concern, or opportunity with Jesus. As you have been learning, you can surrender all your thoughts, concerns, and opportunities by taking them to the cross. Imagine and visualize yourself boxing up all your daily concerns and opportunities and carrying them to the foot of the cross. Continue this process every day, hour and minute as I lead you into greater truths and understanding.

Note “hineni” in the song means “here I am” in Hebrew

By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14

We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.

No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “… there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. “In Him we have redemption through His blood…” (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.

God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
That first song is a little out of the genre that we’ve been picking from. I ran across it yesterday and couldn’t get it out of my head… so, since you are shaking things up in us, Here it is. It is from Leonard Cohen’s last album, published a few days before he died last month at 90. He had a long and varied career as he searched for, and lost, and found his faith. (“hineni” is Hebrew for “here I am”). You’ve shown us that you are Love and you are Good,… all the time. Even in the dark valleys, as well as the brilliant mountaintops of life. So here it is. About as dark as it gets, musically, but yet retaining hope.

I’m including this last song, his most famous, to balance the first one, which could be seen as too dark.

You worry too much. You don’t need to provide the balance. I am the ultimate balance. You are learning that. Leonard’s song part of the balance. But it’s not your job. It just is. And I reveal it to all my children at different times and in different ways. Balance is best discovered rather than taught or preached. When you encounter a person in a very dark valley or you are in one yourself, preaching and solution peddling is of little value. Remember Job and his “comforters” Rather, just be with them and be with Me. It’s OK to go thru dark times like this. Remember many of David’s psalms started this way …but they always ended remembering my goodness and saying like Leonard Cohen, “I’m ready, My Lord.”

OK, I was going to ask you about the title line of the song. Could You want it Darker? Or is that just Cohen’s view from a dark place? Is he speaking to you or to his listeners? Saying, You want it darker?

You mentioned David and the dark times he went thru. Realize that he could only write the psalms you love after experiencing those dark times. Simply put, the mountain peaks are on the other side of the valley. There are no non stop flights from peak to peak that avoid all valleys. Remember to take my peace with you on the journey. It is provided and paid for. When you walk in it, even the valleys are not so dark. Consider Paul, who wrote a lot of your Bible from a pretty dark prison cell.

“I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27

I notice you didn’t answer my question. At least not exactly. Come to think of it, you rarely answer in the way I want when I ask it. But by the time I ponder your Non Answer… I have my answer.

I just don’t fit in your binary boxes. I won’t give you a black and white answer just because you ask a black and white question. Remember

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Isaiah 55:8

I knew that. Sorry. I mean, I’m learning that.

Here are the words of Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker. Followed by his most famous song, Hallelujah.

“You Want It Darker”

If you are the dealer, I’m out of the game
If you are the healer, it means I’m broken and lame
If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame

Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the help that never came
You want it darker

Hineni, hineni
I’m ready, my lord

There’s a lover in the story
But the story’s still the same
There’s a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it’s written in the scriptures
And it’s not some idle claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame

They’re lining up the prisoners
And the guards are taking aim
I struggled with some demons
They were middle class and tame
I didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim
You want it darker

Hineni, hineni
I’m ready, my lord

Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the love that never came
You want it darker
We kill the flame

If you are the dealer, let me out of the game
If you are the healer, I’m broken and lame
If thine is the glory, mine must be the shame
You want it darker

Hineni, hineni
Hineni, hineni
I’m ready, my lord

Hineni
Hineni, hineni
Hineni

Maybe one of the best lines in that one is “a broken Hallelujah” that can only be sung from a darker place. Talking and walking in all this darkness… I’m just going to stick close to you…

Now you’re getting it!

Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation… —2 Corinthians 7:10

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Conviction of sin is best described in the words:

My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall.

Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.

The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.

I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. —Genesis 9:13

It is the will of God that human beings should get into a right-standing relationship with Him, and His covenants are designed for this purpose. Why doesn’t God save me? He has accomplished and provided for my salvation, but I have not yet entered into a relationship with Him. Why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He has done it. The point is— will I step into that covenant relationship? All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.

Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God— a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, “Now I believe.” There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22).

When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is transformed and radiates peace and joy.

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord. JD and I believe we’re hearing you say to Open Up and Loosen Up the structure of this CO2MannaToday blog. You seem to be telling us to leave Ur, like you did Abraham… to a place where you will lead us.

Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.

Although it would seem nice to have a structure or a plan for where we are going, as I’m sure Abraham felt as well, you seem to be shielding us from the pre-judging that would come with that. Since we are evaluating everything that we’ve learned up to this time, pre judging by making it fit into a structure, cannot be part of it. So, metaphorically we will hold this process in an open palm and like Carrie Underwood, sing, “Jesus, Take the Wheel”
Sometimes these daily entries will include the selection from My Utmost for His Highest, like today, but sometimes it will include other input that you are sending across our path. And sometimes we may just write what we’re seeing. Without any “sourdough starter” to start the process.
Most can relate to an experience I had last night. I was calling my cable company to reduce my cable bill and after finally getting to talk to a human, I was met by brick wall, saying that even if I reduced my service, my bill would still be going up. And no, there was not a supervisor I could talk to. Ugh!. This went on thru a few attempts and I was conscious of my Christianity… but I was muscling it, to not lose control and say things unbecoming. Bottom line, no resolution, and I probably sinned in my heart, even if not with my words.
Later, I heard you say. “Remember, she’s someone’s daughter.” I thought on that for a bit and then you amplified it… “She’s my daughter” and again, “how would it be if she were sitting in the pew next to you at church?” So these thoughts provide a good framework from which to interact with the world. Help me center myself in this framework before my next interaction with bureaucracy, and actually to live from this place all the time.
This example gives practical opportunity for me to reject the hardwired “Big Four” … needing to Look Good, Feel Good, Be Right, And Be In Control… and replace them with the new Big Four of the New Creation that you are teaching us. Connection, Surrender, Curiosity and Obedience. I’ll stay curious on my “balcony”, viewing whatever comes. And curious about all those creatures that you’ve created. Curious about how you’ve made them and curious about the God Spark that is in them and how you work in all the circumstances of life.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

…only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. —Genesis 41:40 

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect… —Philippians 3:12

Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10

The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!

We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, Today I’m seeing a truth that you and I hold together. You on a higher level, but me also on a different, lower level. It is the ability to hold two seeming opposites and retain a level of peace. You are much better at it than I, perfect of course, but your example helps guide me in my own struggles. The two opposites that you hold are my sin and my obedience. You are somehow able to observe my sin, and my sometime obedience, and oftentimes failure…all with the backdrop of your Moral Law and commands… and at the same time love me and have compassion on me. Wow! Love and Grace win.
With that as an example, I set out to live a moral life and of course fail. Then I get to hold the two opposites. For me it is trying to do right, knowing that I can never attain it perfectly, knowing the penalty, and knowing and accepting your grace and forgiveness. Seeing my sin and accepting your grace helps me accept shortcomings in others and extend grace to them, rather than anger and judgement. At least that’s how it works on my (our?) best days! I’m still a work in process. Help me walk in peace with your love and my sin without going crazy or drowning in depression and giving up. Only with your grace will it be possible. So thank you for your endless Grace supply and that you totally love me at even my most unlovable points. Double Wow!