Usefulness or Relationship?

August 30th, 2016 by Dave Leave a reply »

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. —Luke 10:20

Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you do not have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).

Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory…” (Hebrews 2:10).

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, I totally resonate with what Chambers is saying… to focus on our relationship and let the service and actions flow out of that. I had difficulty finding a song that expressed that perfectly. This one mentioned it but also seemed too allow the trap that Chambers mentions: the tendency to put the emphasis on service. Which can lead to relaxing in our pursuit of the relationship.

Of course both are important. You’ve heard Richard Rohr say about the organization that he leads, the “Center for Action and Contemplation” that the most important word in the title is the word “AND” You can’t thrive without both. Service and Relationship. Action and Contemplation. It’s just a matter of which comes first and drives the other. Here’s the order.

Matthew 6:33 Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Think about what happens in that Relationship, especially if you get serious and dial down your clamoring thoughts and seriously strive to give heart space and head space to me and the relationship.

Revelation 3:20 I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

I will come in and dine, for sure, but I will also lead you in the remodeling and restoration project that we started in your heart. Out of that will come the rivers of living water

John 7:37-39 ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit)

So you and the Holy Spirit will both come and dine?

All three of us. We’ll be teaching you more about that as the restoration project moves along. Just know, we can’t be isolated for parsing and analysis as some like to do. For us, it’s a dance, a circle dance and the partners are always moving. And we’re inviting you into our dance.

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