The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe…” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have no sense of need for the gospel. It is God who creates this sense of need in a human being, but that person remains totally unaware of his need until God makes Himself evident. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). But God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He wants to withhold something from us, but that is the plan He has established for the way of redemption. Through our asking, God puts His process in motion, creating something in us that was nonexistent until we asked. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time. And as redemption creates the life of God in us, it also creates the things which belong to that life. The only thing that can possibly satisfy the need is what created the need. This is the meaning of redemption— it creates and it satisfies.Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is “lifted up,” the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him. The creative power of the redemption of God works in the souls of men only through the preaching of the gospel. It is never the sharing of personal experiences that saves people, but the truth of redemption. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).________________________________________________________December 17 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, at first it seems as if Oswald Chambers is once again writing about how things must be done in order to receive your redemption and the power of the Holy Spirit from that redemption. He says we must ask before You will respond; that the power of redemption can only come alive in us as we ask.  But your word told me yesterday (Romans 8:26-28 MSG) that I did not need to know how or what to pray for, that You would do that for me. Should I ask You for specific things in this life? If You already know my needs, then why am I to ask? And when you do not respond to my prayers, when it seems as if You have taken a holiday, what am I to do?  Keep asking until you respond? Or leave my request on Your altar believing You will respond when it is good for me?

And God says…”First of all understand that redemption means you are forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted, and reconciled. And because you are forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted and reconciled, I can respond to you as I would one of My children.”

“Chambers was making his students and you aware that the nature of redemption is that you begin to understand that the power for human transformation and grace for daily living comes from God. And asking in prayer is simply your confirmation of your knowledge that I am your source. I am your source for redemption and everything else in your life.”

“However, you may ask for things that could not possibly serve you well. In fact, many of your blessings have come from the prayers I did not answer. Many of your blessings have come from those prayers that I did answer. Your prayer requests acknowledge that I am your God, and you recognize that you can do no good thing apart from Me.  While I know and hear your needs, I cannot answer any prayer that is not for your ultimate good.  And when I do not respond in the time frame you believe is important, it is because I know time like you cannot know time, I know your needs and happiness because I am God and I created you. I can and will and do more for your well-being than you can possibly comprehend. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding, and I will make your paths straight. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart.”

You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— “take up the whole armor of God….”Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28)— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.

____________________________________________________________

December 12 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, how can I tell if I am engaged in a glorious fight, as Chambers says, or if I am wrestling with circumstances that you have given me for my refining and shaping? Lord I try to wrestle against everything that can or does cause pain, uncertainty, fear or anguish. How can I know when I am wrestling with the right things? How can I know when to put up a glorious fight or to simply accept your perfect or permissive will? The whole permissive will versus perfect will discussion is one that I have difficulty fully understanding as well.

And God says…”Read the verse the way Eugene Peterson translated it… Romans 8:26-28 ……, “God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

“You do not necessarily need to naturally make a decision about what to fight or accept, because you believe one thing is God’s will for your life and another is not. You need not fight against a thought, action, movement or enemy because you believe they are battles against My kingdom.  Your certainty that a battle is worth fighting is not the key to making that decision.  Your view of the potential outcome does not dictate whether or not you choose to fight a battle. I am God, there is no reason to fight against things that cannot hurt Me, and I do not need help in fighting battles. However, you can be in such close relationship with Me that there is never any doubt about what battles you are to fight. ^“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.  Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health; your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.”

 

If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, “I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else,” then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.

___________________________________________________________________

December 15 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, when we are connected You are reminding me who I am to You, and I can share this in ways I could not otherwise, regardless of my preparation and study. And I know that when you see me you do not look on me with approval or disapproval, there is no judgment, because when you look at me you see Jesus. Thank You for reminding me that it is not a question of study or diligence, it is once again a question of connection and relationship; everything else follows.

And God says…”Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. When you read about the Prodigal Son, you recall that the son was not forced to prepare himself, or change his ways, in fact the father would not even give him time to confess his wrongdoing before he embraced him. Connection and relationship with you is what I desire from you. And when we are connected and in relationship, the Spirit of God will speak for you, Jesus living inside of you will be visible to others as you are being transformed. Never worry about being good enough or if I will approve of you or what you say and do. Simply be connected and in relationship with Me and let Me take care of everything else, including your diligence, study and preparation. Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else you need will be provided. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— “…that they may be one just as We are one….” Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.

___________________________________________________________________

December 12 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this sentence in today’s devotional caught my attention …”Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately.”  I examined this sentence a number of ways and it left me wondering.

And God says…”You are a child of God and as My child you take on My characteristics…. as Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians….¹⁸ But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him. When you surrender to Me your rights to be who you want to be, in essence your personality, you give Me permission to mold and shape you more and more into My image day by day, hour by hour.  When you are connected to Jesus, by the Spirit of God living within you, you begin to resemble Him, just as He resembles Me.  You are transformed. You no longer have to keep to the rules or regulations; you are free…as Paul wrote in verse 17… The Lord is the Spirit who gives them life, and where he is there is freedom from trying to be saved by keeping the laws of God.”

Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, “I can’t believe,” it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, “I will not surrender,” or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24). It is your individuality that refuses to “be reconciled to your brother” (Matthew 5:24). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. “…let him deny himself…”— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.

______________________________________________________________

December 11 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I heard a comedian describe our struggle with individuality yesterday God, and it was funny in a paradoxical kind of way. He said that when we are young children maybe around the ages of three to six or so (depending on the person) we shout out our independence when we recognize our individuality. We shout out to our parents, “I can do it myself! Leave me alone I want to do it by myself!”  And then years later in our teens or older we sing the melancholy song…”All by myself, don’t wanna be all by myself… anymore”.

I think I am beginning to understand more fully the issue of individuality and how it gets in the way of my spirituality Lord; my desire to try to “go it alone”.  As a natural reflex I just quickly and naturally (as opposed to supernaturally) trust my own intellect and senses every day in many, many ways especially in areas where it seems the issues are not “spiritual”.  But that kind of individuality just gets in the way of my own success and happiness.  And when I stand back and think about it, why would any human want to trust their own limited intellect and senses, when we can rely on Your capabilities, the God that made the universe and holds the future in His hands?

 

And God says…”My ways are not your ways. With God all things are possible. How can a human understand how I made the universe? How can you grasp my ways and intentions?  This is why you must come to Me out of faith, and give up your own understanding. I want you to decide to be connected to Me, to have a relationship with Me.  But for that to happen you must give up on your own intellect, your own ways and means, you must surrender your right to choose your ways and allow the Holy Spirit to live through you. If you want to be in relationship with Me you must forget “I can do it myself”, or doing it your way. Trust in Me with ALL your heart and do not rely on your own understanding, or ways and means and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the Kingdom of God, not your own answers, and I will provide all that you need. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of our heart.

Paul was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience. Sin is what made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.Abraham had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac (see Genesis 21:8-14). Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). Sanctification means more than being freed from sin. It means the deliberate commitment of myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay whatever it may cost.If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. We excuse ourselves by saying, “Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I was a child.” Then discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life for God.

God is not actively involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper and gratify it. But once we are willing to put it out in the desert and are determined to keep it under control, God will be with it. He will then provide wells and oases and fulfill all His promises for the natural (see Genesis 21:15-19).

_____________________________________________________________________________

December 10, 2014

Journal for Today-JDV

Lord at first this seems like another one of Chambers devotionals about how we must pull ourselves up by our bootstraps (I know that does not work very well), then I read the last paragraph.  He then says God does fulfill all His promises to the natural once we surrender.  I read this to mean that once we are connected to Jesus, God is free then to respond supernaturally to our natural wants and needs.

And God says…”When you seek Me first, acknowledge Me in all your ways, give up on your own ways and means and understanding, and surrender your needs to Me I am able to do more that you could ever hope or dream.  I cannot provide blessings to the natural, only to the supernatural, to the Holy Spirit living and reigning inside of you. When you ask Me to bless your ideas, your thoughts and ways and means I cannot. But I can bless the ideas thoughts and ways and means when you have surrendered them to Jesus. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will give you everything else you may need or require; including your transformation. Be connected to Jesus and you will not be who you were. His love, mercy and grace will cover you. When you are unable to surrender to Jesus, His grace and mercy will fill in the gaps. The sacrifice and love of Jesus is that great.  When you are in the middle of trying times you can remember and believe that I go before you and I make all things work for your good. Trust in Me to make all things work for your good, do not look to the outcomes.”

 

The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.

____________________________________________________________

December 9 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, when I first read this devotional it seemed like one more of Chambers’ devotionals about personal discipline, rejecting the “wrong” things and denying self; one more lesson about what I should do, (I get so weary of the “shoulds”). And then I read this from the devotional….  The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence. Then it all made sense in light of what You have been teaching us: That when I choose Jesus and deny my own ideas and understanding, I am choosing the best for my own life and it really is no sacrifice. How can it be a sacrifice to choose the best over the good?

And God says…”You often get caught up in the “blessings” of life or the mountain tops; convinced that I am with you when circumstances are working to your advantage in this life. And you assume in your natural way that if things are not going your way that somehow I have abandoned you. What I want you to understand is that I am always with you…always. And when you trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own ways and means, you know this and feel the peace and joy that passes all understanding. To deny yourself means that you are connected to Jesus, and know that all things work for your good. You do not have to strive or work harder to feel the peace and joy; in fact you do not have to work at all. You simply need to create a pattern of living whereby you trust all your ways (all actions and decisions, not just the ones that seem “religious”) to Me, and let Me make your paths straight. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and allow Me to provide all else you need. When you sacrifice your own notions of what you are to do, how you are to live and trust Me wholly, you give me the latitude to bless you immeasurably. When you wait upon the Lord, you give Me room to give you the wings of eagles, to give you strength and power. When you delight yourself in Me, you give me the opportunity to give you the desires of your heart.”  

We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect. No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted.

All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “… there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. “In Him we have redemption through His blood…” (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.________________________________________________________________

 

December 8 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord and thank you for this devotional. It is a reminder for me that Jesus is all we need….  He became our wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. This devotional is a reminder that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that whatever we need in every area of our lives comes from our connection to Jesus.

And God says…”Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, which is Jesus, and everything else you need will be provided. Acknowledge Me in all your ways, and do not depend on your own senses or understanding and I will make your paths straight. When you depend on Jesus for your daily walk for all things: spiritual, material and physical, you will notice how your life is transformed. I will give you peace and answers to your questions and concerns about how you are to live. Just wait on Me, and you will rise up with wings of eagles. You will know when you are connected to Me , not by the circumstances of your life, but by the joy and peace that are a part of your living, regardless of the circumstances.”

I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not “set aside the grace of God”— make it ineffective (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To “work out [my] own salvation” (Philippians 2:12) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . .” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” including our thoughts and desires (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.

Paul said, “I beseech you…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

_____________________________________________________________

December 5 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this feels like one of those devotions or sermons that tell me that while Jesus has paid the price and “it is finished”; we are still responsible for working out our salvation. I am still responsible for doing the “right thing” that I must discipline myself and bring my thoughts and actions….and body under subjection. Where does the sacrifice of Jesus end and my part begin? Did Jesus save me then leave me to my own devices to live it out?

And God says…”Greater is He living inside of you than he that is living in this world.  When you accept Jesus, all things are made new, all things; your past, present and future. You live out your salvation and demonstrate your discipline in only one way, you surrender to Jesus and let the Spirit of God live through you. I will do the changing; I will do the “working out”. I will transform you over time.  Your part of “working out your salvation” is in fact learning to “do nothing” but trust Me completely. All you are to do is to be connected to Me. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own strength, power and discipline and I will make your paths straight. Be in relationship with Me.”