…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29

He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30

If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”

Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.

Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).

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March 24 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, I really don’t get this devotional from Chambers today.  I mean I understand what he is saying, but it doesn’t stand up for me against the two commandments given us by Jesus; love your Lord God with all your heart mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.  And for me, I have never been very good (that is to day I’m not even close to a 100% the only standard for comparison) to understanding how You are working in another’s life.

And God says…”When you seek your intimate relationship with Me, before any decisions or actions that can impact others, you can trust the Holy Spirit to guide you.  Stay within your discipline; surrender, seek connection with Me , then curiosity, obedience and expectation.   If you search My word you will find example after example and scripture after scripture about reaching out and helping others.  If you are ever in conflict about helping someone or not, err on the side of helping.  And remember, helping is not enabling, or blind support, but you are called to love one another, and if you read 1 Corinthians 13, the guidelines of love are clear…….Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal…? —1 Corinthians 3:3

Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…? —Genesis 18:17

He went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8

In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason— a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.

The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith— a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. “Abraham believed God…” (Romans 4:3).

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Thank you for the picture today of the end goal of our journey. And some of the sign posts along the way toward this “character” that we can see was developed in Abraham and others, even some contemporary folks that you’ve brought into our lives. Thanks for pointing out that getting to that Abraham type of faith is a process, a journey, and includes ups and downs, some mountaintops and some dark jungle places where we can’t see. Those are the times when character which is built on our relationship with you will sustain us … until we can once again see clearly. Also it seems that this character is built slowly over time and can best be seen by looking back. It seems that getting analytical in the moment leads us into legalism and performance based systems which lead to guilt management. And we’ve learned that we can never win that game.
So, rather than focus on our character, We can focus on You, and our connection with you and let the character be built out of our living in relationship with you. “Our part” seems merely to show up and connect with you and live out of that. The only thing to strive for is to maintain the relationship. All other striving to be better opens the door to self promotion and the belief that we can fix ourselves.

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. Rom 7:18

Prayer: Help me today to resist the urge to make myself holy, and rather, come to you, surrendered, curious, expectant, and ready to be obedient …. and let you make me holy.

You lead, I follow. I love you.

…perfecting holiness in the fear of God. —2 Corinthians 7:1

We make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him. —2 Corinthians 5:9

“We make it our aim….” It requires a conscious decision and effort to keep our primary goal constantly in front of us. It means holding ourselves to the highest priority year in and year out; not making our first priority to win souls, or to establish churches, or to have revivals, but seeking only “to be well pleasing to Him.” It is not a lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but a lack of working to keep our eyes focused and on the right goal. At least once a week examine yourself before God to see if your life is measuring up to the standard He has for you. Paul was like a musician who gives no thought to audience approval, if he can only catch a look of approval from his Conductor.

Any goal we have that diverts us even to the slightest degree from the central goal of being “approved to God” (2 Timothy 2:15) may result in our rejection from further service for Him. When you discern where the goal leads, you will understand why it is so necessary to keep “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). Paul spoke of the importance of controlling his own body so that it would not take him in the wrong direction. He said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest…I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

I must learn to relate everything to the primary goal, maintaining it without interruption. My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life. Is my primary goal in life to please Him and to be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how lofty it may sound?

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord, I dont think Oswald Chambers meant to deliver a guilt trip to his readers, but that can be the result of this selection, especially if we have a background of performance, judgement, and striving … and never measuring up. The song was selected to bring the counterpoint. I see the scriptures mentioned by Chambers, and they were certainly included in The Book for a reason. But I also see the scriptures that the song draws from that speak to a different side of Jesus. A kinder, more loving side. I’ve not had much success in striving and self inventories and judging myself. I always fall short and give up after a time.

It all depends on how you see me and how you see the Goal. Believe the words of the song, I am more than you think I am. You see both a God of judgement and a God of Love in scripture. They are both parts of me … but which will you focus on? And which over rides in a seeming conflict? I AM Love. Love overrides. Mercy triumphs over judgement James 2:13 But Mercy does not triumph over justice. They are joined together.

Psalm 85:10 (NLT) 10 Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!

You’ve heard the story of the tourist in Israel observing shepherds leading their sheep. But one was driving the sheep. He asked why that shepherd was driving the sheep. It was explained, the one driving the sheep was not a shepherd, he was the butcher. I am the good shepherd. I lead my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep. I am not the butcher. I dont drive sheep. Look into your motives and discern my leading. I will lead you, not drive you. If you are feeling driven, Stop. Something is not right. It may even be the “right thing for the wrong reason.” The goals may seem similar. Good works and Christlikeness are admirable. But guilt management and striving won’t get you there. I will lead you to those goals as you connect with me. Dont let the butcher drive you.

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… —2 Corinthians 5:10

Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” —Mark 10:28

Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.

Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).

True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
As I look at my own motivations to be a better person, to be a man after your own heart, to do the right thing … I see that they should all be good “side effects” of the core motivation of having an intimate connection and relationship with you. (First Commandment) But when I set out to achieve those good things directly … I wind up running amuck, getting on various treadmills, getting into comparison and measurement and other things that kill the intimacy that I was seeking. How do I stay on target and not get lured into short cuts that get me off track?

You can try all you want to be a better person, many people have, the Pharisees surely did, but with the fallen nature of the world, including your own heart, that will never lead to the wonderful life that I have for you. Only total surrender will get you off the squirrel cage of performance and striving. On the other side of surrender is where the light burden and easy yoke are.

Matt 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Surrender like that is easy enough to say, but harder to really walk out. Help me today to surrender at this level and find the easy yoke and light burden that you offer.

I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. —Acts 26:19