Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you . . . —Luke 10:20

Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13). In Luke 10:20 , Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God. One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God’s testimony to us as His workers. God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others.

Unless the worker lives a life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an “if,” never with the forceful or dogmatic statement— “You must.” Discipleship carries with it an option.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord,
For over a year, we have been talking about changing the source of our daily devotional. But, even though we have been using My Utmost For His Highest for over 4 years… You always seem to bring something new for us. One of the places we’ve looked is the works of Henri Nouwen. I thought it would be interesting to look at them side by side. Here is his daily devotional for today:

Fulfilling a Mission

When we live our lives as missions, we become aware that there is a home from where we are sent and to where we have to return. We start thinking about ourselves as people who are in a faraway country to bring a message or work on a project, but only for a certain amount of time. When the message has been delivered and the project is finished, we want to return home to give an account of our mission and to rest from our labours.

One of the most important spiritual disciplines is to develop the knowledge that the years of our lives are years “on a mission.”

Well, parts of those two fit together well. Henri brings that we are on a short term mission (70 years or so) And Oswald clarifies that the mission is more to make disciples who are totally sold out and walking with You than to merely get them in the front door. And the only way we can do that is to be that. We will only create what we are. So our message must be our lives.

The other thing that speaks to me today is that you are not a dictator and we shouldn’t be either …
“But Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an “if,” never with the forceful or dogmatic statement— “You must.” Discipleship carries with it an option.”

But what about the 10 Commandments? The word Commandments sounds like dictating. Saying the 10 Options or the 10 Suggestions sounds sacrilegious.

It is sacrilegious, meaning against religion. But I have no problem with those perspectives. There are many perspectives, like in your story about the 4 blind men experiencing an elephant for the first time. They were all legitimate perspectives.

So consider 10 Options or 10 Suggestions. Remember, I am a loving Father who wants the best for his children but I dont want robots. I want my kids to choose to love me back. So I suggest the best ways for them to live. But, as you can see, from this perspective they are suggestions for your good … but you have options to follow them or not.

We are God’s fellow workers . . . —1 Corinthians 3:9

We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . . —2 Corinthians 3:18

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “. . . no one stood with me, but all forsook me . . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . .” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “. . . Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).

We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.

Journal DJR

Good Morning Lord,
Thanks for that last concept. That the “secret stuff” is just for you and me. I’ve seen people sharing great joy and great anguish and struggles … it didn’t seem right. The emotions were right … it was just the wrong venue. But how about a small group? Like an accountability group? Or a real small group, like me and JD in our CO2?

Those groups are there for your growth. The rules are different than for a large celebration or public sharing or evangelism. You dont see Billy Graham sharing his sexual temptations from the platform. But all great saints have a small circle around them where they share that type of thing. Those relationships are one of the main things lacking in my church in America today.
You understand that because you have seen the benefits. Share as you see me directing and you will be a blessing.

Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment . . . and plunged into the sea —John 21:7

While you have the light, believe in the light . . . —John 12:36

The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days —2 Chronicles 15:17

Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.

Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
We found this prescription hard to argue with. But also found in it the possibility of getting Pharisaical and creating a checklist to make sure we were rooting out all the imperfections in our lives. Just thinking about that makes us tired, … Not to mention the facts that we’ve had such dismal results with the will power and organized methods like that … and that you didn’t have much good to say about those Pharisaical methods when you were here either. Then a phrase from The Message translation came to mind… “the unforced rhythms of grace” Here it is in context.

Matthew 11:28-30 The Message (MSG)
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

That seems so much more inviting than ramping up my diligence to keep myself spiritually fit. Obviously you ensured that both verses made it into the canon that we read. So are they just two sides of the same coin? What is the middle way that you would have us to walk?

You brought to JD’s mind Psalm 37:4 (NLT)
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

and Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
33 Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Maybe if we just focus on those two in the “unforced rhythms of grace” we’ll be safe from running off the road into either Phariseeism, or License for Whatever Feels Good. How does that sound to you? Sorry about doing all the talking today.

It sounds great to me. Now just go out and do it. It may seem that you’re doing all the talking … but you invited me into your conversation at the beginning. I heard that and I came. So I was there the whole time. Who do you think brought those thoughts to your minds? I will work with my kids, especially when I’m invited.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me . . . —Matthew 11:29

Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? —Luke 24:26

He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead —Mark 9:9