Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be— to be “pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to despair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach— He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in the natural man— exactly what Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.” Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you . . .” (Matthew 5:11). This is the doorway to the kingdom, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the proper place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work. 

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July 21, 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you once again for reminding me that I cannot live the Christian life from my own discipline and will. I cannot remember how many times I simply gave up and quit because I could not reach the lofty goals You spoke about.  A man said yesterday jokingly that he was looking for a position with all the authority and none of the responsibility, and we know that on this earth that is not possible. Can I be responsible for not attaining the goals or living the life You outlined?  

In your teaching You set the goals so high, how can we attain them? How do we command the authority and responsibility for a perfection we cannot attain? I am overwhelmed by my failures when I consider that perfection is the only condition You will accept.

And God says…”The reason I set such lofty goals, is so that you would come to realize that you are not capable of attaining them, even with My help.  This is not a partnership. The lofty goals can only be attained when you realize your part is to simply “give up”. It sounds ludicrous, and for centuries many have tried to live out the rules, and attain the lofty goals by following rules or living in the notion that they can “do better”, with more discipline and training.

As Oswald Chambers says in this devotional…As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.”

“And how is this accomplished? As the song says and as you have been learning…”Keep your eyes fixed on Me”. Surrender the notion that you have anything to do with it, live in peace and joy knowing that my mercy and grace cover you as you are being transformed out of your surrender.”