Do not worry about your life… —Matthew 6:25

A warning which needs to be repeated is that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches,” and the lust for other things, will choke out the life of God in us (Matthew 13:22). We are never free from the recurring waves of this invasion. If the frontline of attack is not about clothes and food, it may be about money or the lack of money; or friends or lack of friends; or the line may be drawn over difficult circumstances. It is one steady invasion, and these things will come in like a flood, unless we allow the Spirit of God to raise up the banner against it.

“I say to you, do not worry about your life….” Our Lord says to be careful only about one thing— our relationship to Him. But our common sense shouts loudly and says, “That is absurd, I must consider how I am going to live, and I must consider what I am going to eat and drink.” Jesus says you must not. Beware of allowing yourself to think that He says this while not understanding your circumstances. Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do, and He says we must not think about these things to the point where they become the primary concern of our life. Whenever there are competing concerns in your life, be sure you always put your relationship to God first.

“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). How much trouble has begun to threaten you today? What kind of mean little demons have been looking into your life and saying, “What are your plans for next month— or next summer?” Jesus tells us not to worry about any of these things. Look again and think. Keep your mind on the “much more” of your heavenly Father (Matthew 6:30).

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord, It certainly is true, “things” will come in like a flood to fill my schedule, fill my head, and fill my heart unless I (we) do something to prevent it. The first paragraph suggests I allow your Spirit to raise up a banner against it. That sounds good, because me flexing my will power to keep my mind from wandering hasn’t been very successful. So what’s a banner against wandering minds and lustful thoughts? It’s got to be more than just pouring on more will power to not wander and not lust.

Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For those who truly want to be mine all the time and come to me with their request… I will answer and my Spirit will be there with help in the time of need. There are some techniques that you can use but success in focus and staying worry free cannot be boiled down to a list of tips and techniques. But one that you will find valuable as I did when I walked as you do is to know that your mind cannot be void. All vacancies will fill with something. Especially if you have a habit, any habit, that takes you away, when a vacancy appears in your thinking … that other thing will fill the vacancy and your focus will wander away to that thing, rather than being with me and the best thing I would choose for you.
So one key is to recognize those decision points that happen before you choose a direction and choose to fill the void with what I have for you. If it’s not clear, fill it with something you choose, rather than what you default to. Then keep listening and I will lead you.

If God so clothes the grass of the field…, will He not much more clothe you…? —Matthew 6:30

We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image… —2 Corinthians 3:18

Do we expect God to come to us with His blessings and save us? He says, “Look to Me, and be saved….” The greatest difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and His blessings are what make it so difficult. Troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. The basic lesson of the Sermon on the Mount is to narrow all your interests until your mind, heart, and body are focused on Jesus Christ. “Look to Me….”

Many of us have a mental picture of what a Christian should be, and looking at this image in other Christians’ lives becomes a hindrance to our focusing on God. This is not salvation— it is not simple enough. He says, in effect, “Look to Me and you are saved,” not “You will be saved someday.” We will find what we are looking for if we will concentrate on Him. We get distracted from God and irritable with Him while He continues to say to us, “Look to Me, and be saved….” Our difficulties, our trials, and our worries about tomorrow all vanish when we look to God.

Wake yourself up and look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter how many things seem to be pressing in on you, be determined to push them aside and look to Him. “Look to Me….” Salvation is yours the moment you look.

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Journal DJR
I get it Lord, that when I look to you, I am saved. The language we’ve been using is “get connected” with you. My question today is how can I maintain that connection more continually. I find myself getting disconnected and wandering off … even though I’ve determined not to allow that to happen. Do you have any suggestions?

I would ask, Do you love me? Do you believe?

And I would insist like Peter, You know I love you (and probably follow up like Peter did) and answer like the man, Lord, I believe, Help my unbelief.

You have answered well. What you are up against is that it is not in man to will to love me or believe me. Your will power to follow regimens that look like love will fail. They always have. Get more simple than that. Just look to me. Dont try to be righteous. Dont try to be holy. That will only get you into the camp of the Pharisees. Only look to me. It’s a different practice than trying to please me or measure up. Just look. See what you see and act out of that.

OK, I’ll try that. I know it sounds wimpy to just say I’ll “try”

It’s OK. I’ll take it.

OK I believe you, Help my unbelief. I love you, Help my un-love.

Thus says the Lord: “I remember…the kindness of your youth…” —Jeremiah 2:2

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” —John 3:3

Sometimes we are fresh and eager to attend a prayer meeting, but do we feel that same freshness for such mundane tasks as polishing shoes?

Being born again by the Spirit is an unmistakable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, and as surprising as God Himself. We don’t know where it begins— it is hidden away in the depths of our soul. Being born again from above is an enduring, perpetual, and eternal beginning. It provides a freshness all the time in thinking, talking, and living— a continual surprise of the life of God. Staleness is an indication that something in our lives is out of step with God. We say to ourselves, “I have to do this thing or it will never get done.” That is the first sign of staleness. Do we feel fresh this very moment or are we stale, frantically searching our minds for something to do? Freshness is not the result of obedience; it comes from the Holy Spirit. Obedience keeps us “in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7).

Jealously guard your relationship with God. Jesus prayed “that they may be one just as We are one” — with nothing in between (John 17:22). Keep your whole life continually open to Jesus Christ. Don’t pretend to be open with Him. Are you drawing your life from any source other than God Himself? If you are depending on something else as your source of freshness and strength, you will not realize when His power is gone.

Being born of the Spirit means much more than we usually think. It gives us new vision and keeps us absolutely fresh for everything through the never-ending supply of the life of God.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, Today’s devotional sounds like just another facet of what you have been teaching us about staying connected …Jealously guard our connection, Be born again every day, Stay curious and excited about what new thing you have for us next.

So many of my children get their names on the rolls and then dont take advantage of the new life that I offer. There are various reasons, fear, lethargy, traditions, temptations, etc. After you have tasted my eternal life now, you will be ruined for going back to live a worldly life. But even so, you must keep the connection tight and my life flowing or you will get stale.

I’ve been there. Some things I’ve done to re-connect haven’t worked as well as I hoped. ???

You can rely on the promises. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened. Sow and you will reap. Consider the farmer. He sows, and then he keeps on tending his field and reaps in due time. Also the athlete and the soldier … they keep on training and then receive their reward. There is an immediate welcome for a returning prodigal but there is also a continual flow of life to those who tend to their connection. Seek both. keep it flowing continually and when you fall off the wagon and stray, come back quickly. You know you are always welcome in my house.

When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. —Genesis 15:12

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” —Isaiah 6:8

We were buried with Him…that just as Christ was raised from the dead…even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4

No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral” — the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection— a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.

Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).

Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ‘white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”

“This is the will of God, your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.

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Journal DJR
Good morning Lord,
Not to be contentious with Oswald Chambers, but I see the White Funeral as more of a process than an event. At least that’s how it has worked and continues to work for me. Pick up your cross DAILY comes to mind. I suppose it is both an event and a process, like a lot of things in your kingdom. And pressing to make an issue one or the other blocks off our hearing and causes religious wars, denominational splits and other things that make you and us sad.

You got it. Your cross is indeed both an initial event, the first time you surrender, “Thy will be done” and a process every day thereafter that you choose to surrender your will.

What if I don’t consciously surrender, but I don’t consciously rebel either?

You have described a majority of my children. They walk in less than I planned and hope for them. Less intimacy, Less power, and missed opportunities. You will miss fewer opportunities if you keep the “self will, vs Thy will” paradigm in mind. It may seem that always denying yourself would lead to a life of no fun… but that is only if you deny yourself all the things the guilt merchants would have you deny. Realize that your cross and white funeral is custom tailored to you. There are things that I call others to that are not for you. And vice versa. Putting on those things will be like forcing on shoes that don’t fit. So connect with me, learn to hear my voice and feel my heart and live from that place. You will have more fun than if you were indulging all your appetites.

Note: Two songs today with slightly different aspects of the White Funeral. djr

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” —Isaiah 6:8