Who are You, Lord? —Acts 26:15
“The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand…” (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances.
God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, “I know that this is what I should do” — and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. “He…rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ ” (Luke 9:55). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8).
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Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons … or doing God’s thing with man’s power, That is the result of not being connected and hearing your voice. Two ways that I wind up doing a good thing for the wrong reasons revolve around the operative words, “should” and “ought.” Those words (for me at least) are shrouded in guilt. The guilt drains the joy out of the good thing that I go ahead and do so I’m left with an empty feeling. I wonder if it erases the spiritual blessing that only you would see also.
Whatever is Not of Faith is Sin (Rom 14:23)
Paul could have amplified that and said that the faith needs to be in me and what I make clear to you. You can have faith in your country or your leaders, even religious leaders and still miss the mark. Like the Pharisees.
It seems so simple. Just get connected, hear your voice and your heart and live out of that. How did I miss it for all those years? But also so easy to get disconnected, listen to my own thoughts or pick up some shoulds and oughts, and find myself sick and tired and missing the delight.
“I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8).
Thanks for promising to never leave me or forsake me. You’ve never let me run amuck for too long. And I’m always welcome back… like the prodigal son. Lord help me to get and stay connected faster and stay disconnected less and less.
If there’s a guilt feeling attached to it, or driving it, skip it, no matter how good or godly the issue seems to be. That’s not my way of relating with my kids.
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