The Secret of Spiritual Consistency

November 25th, 2013 by JDVaughn Leave a reply »

God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14


When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.

State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. “. . . it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).

 

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

November 25, 2013

Good morning Lord and thank you for the reminder to look to the cross for consistency; a consistency that only You have and always provide me. It is true that when I look to the cross, and see You, it all becomes clear even though I do not understand. Then it occurs to me that I do not need to understand, I simply need to see You and allow You to live in my surrendered life.  And I know I must surrender my life, because I have enough experience to realize I am unable to live a life of love, peace, understanding, hope and thanksgiving without You living through me.  I know I can live an abundant life, in every area of my life, when I allow You to live through me. Thank You Lord.

And God says…”Left to your own devices, you chase the things that you think will make you happy and they do not. Left to your own devices, you can and will pursue noble and not so noble endeavors that you believe I have commissioned, and I have not. Left to your own understanding and you make choices that bring short term answers that do not hold up in the cold light of day. When you simply trust Me, and allow Me to live through you, you can do all things. You will rise above day to day chaos, complexity and trials. When you simply trust me, you can get out of the boat and walk on water, you will run and not get tired, and you will love without bounds. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart.”

 

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