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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September 10, 2012
Journal Entry for Today-JDV
Lord, how to be a missionary for you is not a question that crosses my mind. How to live a life that reflects you IS the question I ask often, especially when I feel fear, anger or just plain old selfishness rising up inside.
And God says…”You are not worthy, or capable of being a missionary or reflection of Jesus. However
Jesus can live through you, and reflect himself. Once again the lesson is one of surrender. Surrender your life daily, take up your cross, and give up your life so that Jesus can live through you. You do not have to be worthy to accomplish this, you simply need to surrender. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways, and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the kingdom of God and all that you need for your life……including the ability to reflect Jesus will be provided.”
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