Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mountaintop with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23). The moment you forsake the matter of sanctification or neglect anything else on which God has given you His light, your spiritual life begins to disintegrate within you. Continually bring the truth out into your real life, working it out into every area, or else even the light that you possess will itself prove to be a curse.The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the prideful self-satisfaction of a past experience, but is not working that experience out in his everyday life. If you say you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it shows in your life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound.

Your theology must work itself out, exhibiting itself in your most common everyday relationships. Our Lord said, “. . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). In other words, you must be more moral than the most moral person you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you working it out in the everyday issues of your life? Every detail of your life, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, is to be judged and measured by the standard of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

 

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August 27, 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, sometimes I wonder how the church and church leaders moved so far along given the propensity for the “shoulds”, “ought’s” and “bewares”,  and all that other “spiritual” language full of rules and obligations. As I read this devotional by Chambers I wondered……how many people felt freed and how many  feel bound up by what they ought to do?  Lord how do we live an abundant life and still follow the guidelines offered up by this devotional and lots of church teaching about what we “ought” to be doing, and how we “ought” to be living.  For me, I much prefer the message of the song.

And God says…”I came to give you life and life more abundantly. When I said that I forgive ALL your sins, I meant all your sins; past, present and future; including the sins of forgetting to look to Me and getting caught up in your own life and developing spiritual pride and self-righteousness. Do not be concerned with what you “ought” to say or how you “ought” to act. Do not be concerned about pleasing Me; Jesus has done that for you.  You can please Me and live the abundant life when you simply seek to be connected to Jesus, yield to Him and allow Him to guide your life. And when you are not connected simply trust in My mercy and grace to cover the gaps left by your lack of faith and human frailty.  Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will make your paths straight….and when you do not acknowledge the Lord in all your ways, trust that the sacrifice of Jesus fills in the gaps where and when your humanity cannot.”