No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13

The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.

A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.

Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.

Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else–what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations–He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16).

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When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place . . .  —Matthew 6:6

“When you pray, do not use vain repetitions . . .” (Matthew 6:7). God does not hear us because we pray earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. God is never impressed by our earnestness. Prayer is not simply getting things from God— that is only the most elementary kind of prayer. Prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. If the Son of God has been formed in us through regeneration (see Galatians 4:19), then He will continue to press on beyond our common sense and will change our attitude about the things for which we pray.

“Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). We pray religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. Jesus said, “. . . you will ask what you desire. . .” (John 15:7). Asking means that our will must be involved. Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike simplicity. Then we respond with our critical attitude, saying, “Yes, but even Jesus said that we must ask.” But remember that we have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ revealed.

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September 16, 2013 JDV

Father God, thank You for reminding me that prayer is how we connect in an intimate and real way. You know me better than I know myself, and You know that I absolutely need You this day. In fact, because I am so easily distracted, I need to connect with You several times during the day. And it seems that when I do, my circumstances no longer matter, because I know You are God, you love me and are in control.

And God says…”Imagine your love for your children, what you would do for them, multiply that by 100 and infinity, and you will get a small glimpse of how much I love you and want a relationship with you.  Seek an intimate connection with Me several times during your day and notice how your vision moves from the circumstances of your life into the amazing possibilities of an abundant life. Get and stay connected to Me and live in wonderful expectation. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will give you everything else you need in this world.”

Jesus answered and said, ’You do not know what you ask’ —Matthew 20:22

There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.

The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember?He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?

The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father?as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Luke 11:10). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.

The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8). “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.

This came along with the devo today. It spoke to me so I decided to include it.

Wisdom from Oswald Chambers

Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them … OC.

Journal, DJR

Good Morning Lord,
There truly are some things in my life that I dont understand … things that I’ve asked about and haven’t received “the answer” or the solution. At least not the answer or solution that was in the form that I was looking for. Maybe I received the solution, I just didn’t recognize it because it wasn’t what I was looking for. Or maybe it’s still out there, headed my way. Your timing is certainly different than my “right now” preference. The one thing that’s been helpful is building a stronger faith that you are a good God and have plans for me … plans for good, for a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29) That makes it easier to wait. Even if I have to wait till I’m there with you, I know you are a good God and have good plans for me. Thank you Lord.

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14

The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.

Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.

Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield–you will be killed while trying to do it.

We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.” But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.

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September 11, 2013

Lord thank you for the reminder that being connected to You really means being connected to others and their needs and circumstances; not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it helps us get and stay connected to You. Help me to remember this as I engage others this day.

And God says…”Being connected to Me means being connected to others that need to see Me in You. I can demonstrate my presence through you if you simply allow Me access to your heart and mind. Be connected to Me and others and your growth, happiness and abundance will become more obvious to you. Trust in Me with all your heart and all that you need, including your connection with others will be provided.”

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.

. . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 10:5

Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.

We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind. . . .” (Romans 12:2).

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September 9, 2013

Lord thank you for the devotional today that reminds me that it is not whether a thought or action is spiritual or not; but that all that I think or act on can be enhanced, improved and blessed by You.  I see this as an opportunity now to consider everything in my life subject to and blessed by You…regardless of the outcome or result of connecting to You. Help me simply turn this day and all that is in it, over to You, trusting You completely.

And God says…” You can hold onto parts of your life; your secrets, your treasure, and your failings because you often believe and feel I should not be involved in those parts of your life. But you know that if you seek first the Kingdom of God which is Jesus, all things you need will be added unto you. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will make your paths straight. I am the lamp and light that guides your path…trust Me, and walk in My light this day.”

Jesus said to her, ’Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’ —John 11:40

Faith must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through conflict. What is challenging your faith right now? The test will either prove your faith right, or it will kill it. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” Matthew 11:6). The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus. “We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end . . .” (Hebrews 3:14). Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. Faith is absolute trust in God— trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5-6).

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Lord, it is so easy to talk about faith and hope when they are not the glue of our days and nights. It is easy to stand back in the distance and study faith and hope and love. It is when I am required to live in intense faith and hope that I am drawn even closer to You though. And even as I am drawn closer and closer to You through pain and sorrow it seems clear that my faith and hope becomes renewed, refreshed and sustaining.

And God says…”Do not try to get out of your trials too easily or quickly, let them have their perfect desired outcomes, namely bringing you closer to Me. Praise Me in your trials and notice how their meaning and power shifts. Seek first the Kingdom of heaven, which is Jesus, and all the things you want or need will be added to your life. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Acknowledge the Lord in all of your life, even the trials, and notice how your capacity for love, faith and hope is increased.”

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ —Luke 11:1

“Ask, and you will receive . . .” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.

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August 28, 2013

Lord, thank you for the reminder about prayer and how it nourishes Jesus living inside of me.  Sometimes I forget that it is not my nature that is changed, and that it is the very person of Jesus receiving the nourishment of the Father through my prayers. Thank you for giving me this insight this morning through Chambers’ devotional.

And God says…”Jesus can and do nothing apart from the Father. And you can accomplish no good and lasting thing apart from Jesus. Be connected to Jesus and allow Him to guide your life as He is connected to Me. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and everything else you need will be provided.”

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you . . . —John 14:27

There are times in our lives when our peace is based simply on our own ignorance. But when we are awakened to the realities of life, true inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace, because the words that He speaks are always “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “. . . My peace I give to you. . .”— a peace that comes from looking into His face and fully understanding and receiving His quiet contentment.

I indeed baptize you with water . . . but He . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire —Matthew 3:11

Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He will baptize you . . . .” The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.

“I indeed” was this in the past, “but He” came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.

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August 22, 2013

Lord, thank you for the reminder that the way to live in your love is to surrender. Surrender my right to be right, my notion of what is right and my right to defend myself, to you or anyone. Help me to live in your love through my moment by moment surrender today. Help me give You my worry, trials, hopes and dreams this day and to trust You with every aspect of my life and future.

And God says…”I cannot put my hands on your life as long as you hold on so tightly. Let go and let Me live through you. I cannot take on your trials, hopes or dreams as long as you hold onto the control so tightly. You must let go first. And if you do not know how to do this, simply ask Me. And if you feel you do not have enough faith, simply ask Me…”.I believe, help me in my unbelief”. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own ideas and control and I will make your paths straight”.