When you were under the fig tree, I saw you. —John 1:48
Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, “If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion”? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.
A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private “fig-tree” life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.
Are you saying, “But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready”? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.
God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.
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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord, It is clear that the daily battle is what counts… not super acts of heroism. Little victories daily are what prepare us for the big things when they come. So how can we be victorious against the enemy of our souls on a daily basis. Perhaps the first thing to do is to define victory. Maybe the hardest part is to un-define it… reverse the thinking that we are hardwired with. To look good, feel good, be right, and be in control…. That human hardwiring is then amplified by our society.
Carnal tools won’t work in a spiritual battle and the corollary is probably true as well….Spiritual tools won’t work in a carnal battle. So to re define victory: It is walking in daily connection with Jesus, being unmoved by circumstances, except as, like Jesus, we do what we see the Father doing and say what we hear the Father saying. (John 5:19) So how do we do that? At best we can offer an incomplete list of a few things that seem to work, along with the disclaimer that another person’s mileage my vary. A good start is essential. We need today’s manna. Yesterday’s won’t do. So dedication and devotion at the start of each day is important. CO2 works for us. Others may find other ways to re-connect and re-commit, but a good start is essential.
Surrender is essential. Surrender of our rights to the big 4 drivers of unredeemed humanity, look good, feel good, be right and be in control. Then a pre-commitment to obey, and then really obeying. Connection and conscious connection is key. There are some tools to help maintain that connection in the face of clamoring circumstances. Visioning is helpful. This is where the “personal relationship” becomes personal. How we see ourselves with Jesus, sometimes in the throne room, sometimes walking along together having a discussion, sometimes driving together. A vision of wrapped up sins and failures boxed up and delivered to the foot of the cross is helpful. Also hands raised up in praise. Empty hands. That have been emptied of those 4 hooks of humanity. Seeing objectively, the “balcony view” is helpful in staying curious, waiting to see what God is doing and going to do in otherwise overwhelming circumstances.
I’m sure there are many other tools that are helpful. One thing to note is that the standard list given by all churches since Jesus’ time… go to church more, read the Bible more and pray more… is not listed here. Not because those are not good things, but because, alone, they will only produce what they produced for the Pharisees of Jesus day. Of course they are good things to do, but without Surrender, Connection, Curiosity, and Obedience… they remain dead tools that earned the Pharisees Jesus strongest rebuke. Holy Spirit, help me today to use all these tools and walk in victory as a man after God’s own heart.
Click Image for John White's Original Vision For CO2's
