My Utmost for His Highest

June 19th, 2014 by JDVaughn Leave a reply »

. . . do you love Me? . . . Tend My sheep —John 21:16


Jesus did not say to make converts to your way of thinking, but He said to look after His sheep, to see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Him. We consider what we do in the way of Christian work as service, yet Jesus Christ calls service to be what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . , he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). In this verse, there is no argument and no pressure from Jesus to follow Him; He is simply saying, in effect, “If you want to be My disciple, you must be devoted solely to Me.” A person touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says, “Now I see who Jesus is!”— that is the source of devotion.Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes and so few are devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not really want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is deeply offensive to the educated minds of today, to those who only want Him to be their Friend, and who are unwilling to accept Him in any other way. Our Lord’s primary obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of people— the saving of people was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted solely to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will waver and stumble. But if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though people may treat me like a “doormat.” The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of that life is its seeming insignificance and its meekness. Yet it is like a grain of wheat that “falls into the ground and dies”— it will spring up and change the entire landscape (John 12:24).
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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

June 19 2014

Lord, this is an easy message to hear, but not easy to internalize. Of course I want to feed Your sheep, but which ones do I feed and tend? Which homeless person is really in need? There are so many. How can I be certain that that person is really in need and not just taking advantage of our charity? How do I respond when there are so many in need, it is overwhelming Lord. Which ones do I help? My heart can break all the time if I see and try to help them all.

 

And God says…”First if all it is not your job to try and discern which homeless person is really in need. It is not your job to try and discover who is deserving and who is not. It is your job to be connected to Jesus and hear his voice and respond. Let Me handle the deserving part. After all, that is the point of My sacrifice…when absolutely no one is deserving, I give My life. Trust Me to handle the deserving part, your job is simply to be connected, curious and respond when I speak to you. It makes no difference if the receiving person is truly grateful, deserving or is a charlatan. Your trust in Me is your requirement. Trust Me to use your gifts and time for the proper outcomes. Do not look for the harvest when you are simply called to do the planting. Trust in Me for the outcomes, and be blessed in your planting. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make all your paths straight.”

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