A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans.

Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and to His perspective is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, that every power of the mind falters and fails. We tend to forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary work is not primarily the elevation of the people, their education, nor their needs, but is first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ— “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .” (Matthew 28:19).

When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say, “What wonderfully keen and intelligent wisdom they had, and how perfectly they understood all that God wanted!” But the keen and intelligent mind behind them was the mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the divine guidance of God being exhibited through childlike people who were “foolish” enough to trust God’s wisdom and His supernatural equipment.

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October 26, 2010

Journal for Today-JDV

I learned yesterday about being accessible to others whenever the Lord calls.

And God says…”When you learn to stop, stay silent and listen you will hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit within you; guiding and directing you to others so your joy may be made full”

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27.28

A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “. . . Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

“I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.

Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside . . . to the right or the left . . .” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.
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October 25, 2010

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I was in church yesterday worshipping inside my heart and head while we sang praises to God and it occurred to me that I should ask God that He go right to my very core and shape me so that all of me is aligned with Him.  

 And God says…”When you request that I change your very core, you are asking Me to break, mold and shape you in ways that can be very painful for you. You are asking to give up your own right to yourself so that you can be used by Me. This process will set you apart and you will begin to seek Me in ways and for intimacy that cannot be provided by any other. Being set apart is a process that starts with your request that I change your core, and it continues as you are moved farther and farther from your own notions of what your life needs to be.”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on any part of you and He will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.

When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind . . . is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God— such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.

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October 23, 2010

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I wonder if I will ever be strong enough to say I do not want God’s blessings and I just want God. Will I get to the place where I trust Him enough to truly let go of my concerns and know that He will  meet all my needs, all the time, regardless?

And God says…” When you look back over the days, weeks, months and years, you see a different man. And in the days and weeks,  months and years ahead you will grow even more. I have you in the palm of my hand and have plans for good for you in the future. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we  come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do. Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28 , “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden . . . .” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9-13).

The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.

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October 22, 2010

Journal Entry for today-JDV

I was struck by the lyrics today…”His strength begins when ours comes to an end”. I know that God is faithful and He will complete the good work that He started in us. And I know that He will continue to show me my weakness over and over until I understand that it is only His strength that will sustain me. He can use none of my strength.

And God says through the Apostle Paul…2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (New International Version)”9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

“Even at your very best, your strength and talents are of no use to Me or you. If I am to use you, My Spirit must be connected to the Holy Spirit that lives within you. And the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within you can only come alive when you abandon your own strength.”

There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.

Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.

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October 21, 2010

When I am waiting on the Lord, I often wonder why He waits so long to intervene. My head recalls the scriptures that remind me that patience provides the reward, but my heart and soul cry out for God to intercede right now.

And God says…”Just like the physical training you are engaged in to shape your body, your inner man requires shaping and development that can only be achieved through patience and trials. Inside these trials remember that I allowed the trial to reach you, because I love you more than you can ever imagine. My love for you dictates all that I do and all that I allow to touch you. If I would give up My Son for you, imagine the depths of My love. Focus on My love and the gift of Jesus, and take your eyes off of the trial and circumstance. When you do this yuou will exchange your waiting for peace that passes understanding.”

At present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials.  This is no accident. It happens to prove your faith which is infinitely more valuable than gold. 1 Peter 1:6-7

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Cor. 2:9

Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize your need, but stop longing and make it a matter of action. Receive Jesus Christ to become sanctification for you by absolute, unquestioning faith, and the great miracle of the atonement of Jesus will become real in you.

All that Jesus made possible becomes mine through the free and loving gift of God on the basis of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound, humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness). It is a holiness based on agonizing repentance, a sense of inexpressible shame and degradation, and also on the amazing realization that the love of God demonstrated itself to me while I cared nothing about Him (see Romans 5:8). He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is accomplished only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Never confuse the effect with the cause. The effect in me is obedience, service, and prayer, and is the outcome of inexpressible thanks and adoration for the miraculous sanctification that has been brought about in me because of the atonement through the Cross of Christ.

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October 20, 2010

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

When I first said, “Lord make me a man after your own heart” I had no idea how I would have to be broken. I had no idea how my world would change. As I look back I wonder if I would have chosen the cross if I knew how heavy it would be, and then I understand that, “no”…I would not have chosen he cross had I known the pain and suffering that was and is a part of it. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit living inside of me makes the choices I cannot, and provides the courage and strength and faith essential to the life I want to live.

And God says…”Your nature is like a river always directing you to a path of selfishness and pleasure. Left to your own devices you can only make the choices that satisfy your worldly nature. I gave you the Holy Spirit to guide you into the choices that will make you a man after My own heart. Stay connected to Jesus by allowing the Holy Spirit to live through you, and live like a man after My own heart.”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5,6

The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.

We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.

It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.

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October 19, 2010

Over and over Jesus is the answer to all my questions. Where I should go, what I should do, how will I live…..all of the questions begin and end here. The answers to my prayers are always the same, Jesus. Every other answer starts and ends here. When I am seeking an answer to a business problem or a family matter, I know that if I start with Jesus, everything else will evolve, and I will always find the answer in Him.

And God says…”Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and do not trust your own understanding or thought processes, and He will make your paths straight. I am the way, the truth and the light.”

“If you begin and end all your searching right here, with Jesus, you will be satisfied, full of joy, and your faith will know no bounds.”

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” Gal. 3:26   

” I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy maybe complete” John 15:11