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.”