Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, “Sell all that you have…and come, follow Me.” Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him— He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.___________________________________________________________

August 17 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this parable mirrors our learning of the past few years; namely that we are to surrender all we are and have to You, be connected and then to live in oneness out of our connection with and to You. You have made it abundantly clear that surrender is the first step in the process. The emphasis in this lesson is that it is difficult for a rich man to give up his riches and his life of worldly certainty. Perhaps it is giving up the trust we have in ourselves and our own resources that is the key? For many of us, giving up on our own resources and choices and the certainty we feel holding onto them is very difficult until we find that we have runout of resources and choices. Does this really have to happen for us to seek You first? Do we have to run out of our own resources, actually come to the end of ourselves before we truly seek You or are we to recall also that all things are possible with God?

And God says…”Historically, and in the natural, women and men look to their own solutions and options before reaching for Mine. Historically, men and women do not seek first the Kingdom of God, you seek your own options and choices. It is much easier to surrender yourself to Me when you are not burdened with easy access to your own options and choices. But to live the abundant life and a life of discipleship you must first surrender your hopes, opportunities, fears and dreams to Me. This is very hard, although not impossible, to do for most humans. Can and will you acknowledge Me first in all things? Most people of wealth cannot, although with God all things are possible.”

“Romans 12:2 (MSG) So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”