Preach the word! —2 Timothy 4:2

We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message— “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.

There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is someone who has received the call of God and is determined to use all his energy to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us beyond our own aspirations and ideas for our lives, and molds and shapes us for His purpose, just as He worked in the disciples’ lives after Pentecost. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “…you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8).

Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you. Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to “set your words on fire” for His glory.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
The main thing I hear today is the confirmation to get authentic and that hypocrisy doesn’t work and I can’t hide. So as we are working the hypocrisy out of me, my message can become “receivable” by those who need to hear it. This authenticity has been coming through connection with you, but it isn’t instantaneous. It sometimes seems that the main thing I’m learning about connection is a list of all the things that don’t work!

That’s a valuable list for sure. Just dont use it to judge other people who are still relying on those formulas and lists. You still don’t feel connected all the time … but you must admit that it’s more frequent than in the past.

Yes, I suppose it’s a process…

Yes, like all growth. There are growth spurts and standstills. Setbacks and Quantum Leaps. When you can accept all of these and simply remain curious about your growth spurts and setbacks and curious about what I’m doing and how you can fit into it … then I can work fastest. Believe me, I want to take you places you haven’t imagined. It’s not being held up from my end. Give up your need for understanding and categorizing everything. Flow with me and be willing to be surprised. After a while, you will no longer be surprised by anything.

One of the hardest things to give up is the Never Give Up, Try, Try Again mentality that I was raised with. I find that I am with Paul in Romans 7:15

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

Look to the end of Paul’s discourse in Romans 7.

22 For dI delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from gthis body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Rom. 8:1   There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.* 2 For the law of hthe Spirit of life ihas set you* free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

I struggle with struggling. Don’t I have to lift my leg up and step out of the boat in my own power if I am to walk on water with your power?

Yes, Of course, but you must hear or see when it’s me, and not just your own good idea to walk on said water. You will get that through connection just as I did with Father

John 5:19   So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father* does, that the Son does likewise.

OK, I get it. It is really kind of simple. It’s just not easy. It’s kind of a non-formula type of formula? Get and stay connected with you. Learn to hear and see what you’re about and just live out of that … And everything will be OK, even the things that don’t seem OK at first?

You could say it that way.

Do you also want to go away? —John 6:67

…so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus… —Acts 20:24

Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord. The problem I have with this is that I have too many good ideas, some of which may be from you and blessed by you and maybe are even “callings” that Chambers refers to … but there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week to do them all. And I have had difficulty discerning which is the best and the one you want me to focus on. My experience has been in saying yes to too many things and getting diluted and delivering a non-excellent product. Perhaps Chambers is saying exactly what you have been teaching us in his closing sentence:

…you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.

So that’s our prayer today, Please help us to do exactly that.

Things to remember about this: What was once my calling may not always be my calling. Opportunities pass. Beware of continuing something past when my Spirit is blessing and empowering it. Sometimes you just dont know how to quit something and it is compounded by guilt from having been taught to “Never quit” Seek me and I will guide you through all of these things. Keep checking your peace meter. When you are at the end of a season and feeling bad about ending it, there will be an underlying peace that you can trust. Vision out past where you are and sense the peace even more. Keep connection with me and I will teach you to flow with me. If you don’t feel the peace, keep on pressing. I said, “My peace I give to you” Don’t leave your prayer time without it. My Spirit was called Wind and it blows where we like. As you learn to be fluid and unhampered by guilt or what others think, you will be able to fly with us to high places of peace and rest in the midst of storms.

Sounds like fun.

It is. Come ahead on.

But one of the things I heard you say is:

Don’t doubt in the dark, what I’ve seen in the light.

Isn’t that true also?

Yes, there are some things that are rock solid and dont change or come to an end. I am called your Rock also. You must discern the difference between the Temporary projects, Opportunities that pass, and the Rock Solid Eternal Callings. Connect with me and I will guide you.

About that, Connect with me. Am I to connect to you Papa God, Son Jesus or Holy Spirit?

You are blessed to live in a time when you have access to all 3 aspects of Me. It’s really more the perspective that you come from. We all love you and want the best for you. The invite is there. The door is open. I say Come. Jesus says Come. Holy Spirit says Come.

None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself… —Acts 20:24

Feed My sheep. —John 21:17

This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ‘Feed My sheep.’ ” Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
You show us again that the solution to our problems is always in our connection with you. Just like you got your instructions and love and tolerance and all things from your connection with your Dad. So we are invited to do the same.

He said to him the third time, “…do you love Me?” —John 21:17

The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep.” —John 4:11

Journal JDV & DJR
Good Morning, Lord,
Lord, I understand why Chambers would write a devotional like this for his students, trying to help them with their fears and worries about how they will live as missionaries. And I think I understand how many of us would erroneously wait to see how You were going to take care of us before we step out into faith. But God, I have stepped out into the unknown, full of faith and hope only to fall flat on my face. Was I really following your leading? Or was it a figment of my imagination, or? It has on occasion seemed like a Peanuts cartoon where Lucy pulls the football away just as Charlie Brown runs to kick it…and Charlie Brown falls on his face. How can I continue to step out in faith, seek waters that will end my thirst, or step out of the boat when I have fallen on my face so often?

And God says…”Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will supply everything else you need. The scripture does not say that I will supply everything else you THINK you need. Your faith cannot depend on your experience of My delivery system or the outcomes of your requests. My ways are not your ways. You must have faith in Me and My judgment about what it is you need to have an abundant and fruitful life. Step one is to put aside your own notions of what you need, and ask and allow Me to guide your hopes and thoughts about your needs and the outcomes of your requests.

When you come to me with pre conceived notions about what the answers are, you are setting yourself up for the Charlie Brown – Lucy scenario. There are many ways to disappoint yourself and you’ve tried a lot of them. Just know that I love you. I am good. I want the best for you. My timing is not your timing. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. My plans for you are good (Jer 29:11) As you can see, none of this depends on your expected result. So keep on knocking and seeking me and my kingdom but just stay curious as to how the answers to your prayers will be delivered and what they will look like. Remember Daniel was answered immediately but had Angelic warfare added into the mix, so it took a little longer. Those things still happen you know…

But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Dan 10:13

None of my men got everything they wanted, exactly when they wanted it. Paul asked 3 times about that thorn. In the end, My Grace delivered the answer for him as it will for you too.

…though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. —2 Corinthians 12:15

I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls… —2 Corinthians 12:15

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
One thing I’ve become convinced of is that I can’t serve well in 27 different capacities. I become too diluted and then do them all poorly and then go on a guilt trip because I’m not doing them well. So it seems that I need to hear you well through our connection and focus on the service that you have for me and learn to say no, thank you, to the other opportunities … without feeling guilty.

If you are doing anything “for me” out of guilt, it is not really for me. It is to assuage your guilt feelings. Know that guilt is not how I motivate my children. Love is my key in your heart. Follow me and follow love and you can leave guilt behind.

I’ve been fighting this guilt monster and the overload monster, saying yes to every offer, for a long time. I think I’ve got it down to a couple of large service areas plus any spontaneous thing that you show me, like a stranded motorist etc. I hope I’m not missing anything, but I’m learning to say no, unless you make it clear to me that you want me involved in an opportunity.
I like the way Eugene concludes it here:

1 Corinthians 9:22The Message

19-23 Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view.

Help me, Lord to do that this day and every day

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve… —Matthew 20:28