The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation.
There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things— things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there.
The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.
Good morning God and thank You for this day and this devotional. Chambers’ writing was uplifting for me today. Especially when he wrote about You touching us inside the most simplest of things….. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things— things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. This is true, and my experience is that I find You inside the simple and most complex of things. I can feel Your inspiration inside of the most complex of problems and issues, and inside a very simple observation of nature. I can feel Your inspiration inside a pop song on the radio, or the sound of a song bird. It seems like I find You whenever and wherever I look for You.
And God says…” Knock and the door will be opened. Seek and you will find. As the Psalmist said, The Lord is near to all who call on him. If you look for Me you will find Me. But look to Me in faith, believing that I will be there for you and yours. And if you feel as if your faith is not strong enough remember that I even provide the faith and grace you need. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you require. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight.”
“When you find yourself depressed, use your vision to step out of it; like you have done many times over the years with other issues, trials, prayer requests and circumstances. Close your eyes and envision yourself putting your depression inside of a box, tie it with a bow, and write in block letters, “DEPRESSION”. Now watch yourself carry it to the foot of the cross where Jesus hangs, and leave it there. Now set your mind on the wonderful things that that I have done in your life over the years as you take up your personal mantra once again…”All things work together for the good of those that love the Lord”.
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard— just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead….” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead…,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
Journal, DJR
Good morning, Lord. We have the tendency to live life like it’s all about us. And we make all our own choices, live with their consequences and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. That’s pretty ingrained in the American psyche. And it seems to work pretty well (at least the self help seminar industry does well promoting it) .. until we do a closer examination and begin to see from your point of view. Then we see that you give us all of our abilities in the first place. And the inspirations and the ideas and the nudges from the Holy Spirit. So what is our place in any initiative? Like Peter walking on the water. You certainly made the miracle possible. You inspired him (told him to come). And held him up and picked him back up when his faith failed him. So his part was to lift his leg and step out. You could have forced that…. but you aren’t like that… So is that all that we need to do? wait for your inspiration and then just obey?
You have, perhaps, over simplified it, but yes. You will find that a good way to live and walk in the peace that passes understanding. You will notice that that is what I did when I walked among you….
John 5:19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing.
There are many things that will de-rail you from that simple process if you allow them. Just look at my explanation of the parable of the sower and the seed.
Mark 4:13-20 Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? 14The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
“There’s a lot in there, to consider, like Satan who will come at once… but for today, lets focus on the “worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things” You’ll notice that although Satan came immediately, trying to get me off track… that I didn’t let him, nor did I let these three distract me either. You really can live this way. Just stay surrendered, connected, curious, about what the Father is doing in any situation and how you are going to respond in addition to curious, you can stay suspicious. Yes, I said suspicious. Suspicious that one of the “Big Four” human motivations is sneaking in… masquerading as inspiration from me. They are slippery. So stay suspicious of your desire to Look Good, Feel Good, Be Right and Be In Control. You’ll notice that I never spent any time catering to any of those. When you give them up, you’ll be well on your way to that simplified life of peace that passes (human) understanding.”
Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places…” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God…” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).
“You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “…lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Lord, once again thank You for this day and devotional. And once again it appears that Chambers and I will be at odds on a couple of issues. However, I suspect this “iron sharpening iron” is a very good tool for learning and relying on the Holy Spirit. If I am opposed to issues and premises brought forth by a great writer and Christian such as Oswald Chambers, You must be leading me. When Chambers says…”How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ; I suspect most of us would say we cannot imagine being able to invest every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus; even if we worked very hard at it. It feels like the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus raises the bar so high that there is no way we can reach it in our own power, or with our own effort. And when Chambers says… it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “, it feels like one more Christian guilt hook. Are we to be motivated to by guilt and fear? Is this the way to daily sanctification?
And God says…”Do not be concerned with what other people say about your life, how you live it or how and where you serve, The question will always be, are you surrendered to Jesus in all you do? Are you surrendered, connected, and curious about how Jesus will lead you day by day and minute by minute? When you surrender your life to Jesus, your energy will be directed just as it should be by the Holy Spirit. And when you live out of your surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience, you will be right in the center of My will. Seek first the kingdom of God and I will furnish, everything else you require, including the vision, strength and power to properly invest your energy. And when you live out of this, there is no worry or concern about being of service to Me. You know, just KNOW that I am God and I will work all things out for your good. Acknowledge Me in all your ways, do not rely on your own understanding, discipline, or effort, and I will make all your paths straight. Continue to live in surrender, connection, curiosity and the ability to obey and serve as I intend will flow supernaturally into and from your life.”
They said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” —Exodus 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.“You speak with us,…but let not God speak with us….” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.__________________________________________________________________
February 12 2016
Journal Entry for Today-JDV
Good Morning Lord and thank You for this day and this devotional. And once again I read Chambers feeling like he just cannot help himself and must use guilt and condemnation to try and “persuade” his students (and now his readers) to do as he says. Chambers says we do not listen to You because we do not love You and because we do not want to keep Your commandments. He lays some pretty good guilt hooks inside his teaching today Lord. He says we humiliate You when we do not listen. This kind of teaching does not seem to hold true with Romans 8:1: there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. How do we respond to teaching like this Lord?
And God says…”The church and teachers in the church have been leveraging guilt and condemnation to try and bring sinners to Me and closer to Me for centuries. It is natural for children of God to want the very best for their brothers and sisters, and many believe that guilt, condemnation and obligation used in the “right doses” will help bring sinners and wayward believers back to Me. However, they forget that this “natural” human tendency is just one more way humans use their own ways and means instead of trusting in My supernatural ways. It is one more way humans can try to control circumstances and others. However, there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.”
“The way to reach others for Me and on my behalf is by demonstrating the life of Jesus that flows freely from Jesus to one that is surrendered, connected and curious; living life out with My strength to be obedient and responsive. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need, including the ability and motivation to listen and respond to my voice. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight.”
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. —Isaiah 26:3
Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant’s life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22).
Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature— the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God.
“We have sinned with our fathers…[and]…did not remember…” (Psalm 106:6-7). Then prod your memory and wake up immediately. Don’t say to yourself, “But God is not talking to me right now.” He ought to be. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.
Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Today we are reinforced with yesterday’s message: Think correctly, (like you think) and we will do well… have the peace that passes understanding, etc) But how to do that, is our question today. We’ve found that rigorously trying to force our minds to think your ways rather than our ways… seems to always prove futile… and discouraging. So the advice in Corinthians, to be bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5) is correct, it just doesn’t seem to work by just willpower. At least that’s what we’ve found. Surrender, Connection, and Curiosity in a context of believing that all things work together for good because we love you:(Romans 8:28) and that you have good plans for us, for a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11) seems to have better results at actually bringing those thoughts into captivity rather than just knowing and repeating the scripture.
Walking in the peace that passes understanding requires more than knowing the scriptures and attending church… you’ll remember that the Pharisees did that better than anyone in their day… and I called them “whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones.” Thinking my way calls for a complete “paradigm shift” where you look at all of life, including the bumpy parts, through the lens of those scriptures you mentioned. Then, when “all things work together for good” is your life paradigm, your fallback position can be curiosity. Curious about how things will work for good… but confident that they will. It’s a better way to live. I highly recommend it.
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things… —Isaiah 40:26
The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to visualize it.
The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking.
Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God.One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of visualization is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never before experienced.
Good morning God and thank You for this day and this devotional time with David. We explored Chambers’ premise that we are often blinded (or distracted) from seeing You in all things. Chambers mentions that we can be blinded from seeing You in nature….see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to visualize it. And while that is true, in my experience, we can also be blinded from seeing You in all our day to day circumstances, storms and challenges. If our life’s mantra is …”all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord” then it seems as if we can visualize You in all things, not just nature. This is my prayer Lord, as You are teaching us through surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience.
And God says…”When you give up your right to yourself; your right to be right, look good, feel good and be in control, I am free to work out all things for your good. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you require. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart. I began the good work in you and I will complete it as you release control. This is how your faith is released; you letting go of your control. And one way for you to be reminded to “let go” is for you to visualize yourself placing your life, treasures, loves, circumstances, hopes, dreams and fears at the foot of the cross. In your mind’s eye, put all these things in boxes with labels and leave them at the foot of the cross every day and at every other opportunity or pressure point during your day. You can be assured that I will meet all your needs according to my riches in glory.”
The everlasting God…neither faints nor is weary. —Isaiah 40:28
Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, “Feed My sheep,” but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people’s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely— to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.
Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, “O Lord, I am so exhausted.” He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. “All my springs are in you” (Psalm 87:7).
Journal DJR
Good morning Lord. Exhaustion does indeed happen. Chambers points out good exhaustion and not so good exhaustion. But the prescription is to stay connected and continually stay being re filled. We will still get tired because we are human but will avoid the not so good exhaustion that leaves us useless. JD and I discussed that exhaustion can be another of the “dash board indicators” along with the “peace meter” that can indicate that things are going well… or not… and that something’s not working and something needs to change. We’ve found that what’s not working is almost always our connection with you and when that is restored… everything changes. Not necessarily the circumstances, but the “peace that passes understanding” … and if we have that…. what more could we need? With that peace we can carry on, whether the nasty circumstances change or not. Like Paul did in prison or Bonhoeffer or any of the heroes of our faith.
You understand this correctly. Now let’s talk about walking it out. Why do you find yourself exhausted and stressed out from time to time? You know the answer. Because you have lost your close connection with me. You allow distractions to enter and break our connection while others allow worry to break the connection. It doesn’t matter what it is. If you allow anything to break our connection, the dash board peace meter and exhaustion alarm will sound. Look at them as helpful indicators rather than oppressive evils. They indicate the break in our connection. So pull over and fix it. That may mean coming away for a few minutes or hours or days… or learning to connect, even while in a clamoring crowd. Today beware of distractions and worries.
When we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns. Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view. It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? “For their sakes I sanctify Myself…” (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God’s perspective. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God.
Are we prepared to be caught up into the full meaning of Paul’s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, “Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can”? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John 17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit’s work in us?
Good morning Lord and thank You for this day and this devotional. But once again it seems as if Oswald Chambers is challenging us to grit our teeth and help ourselves become sanctified. As he says early in the devotional: “are we prepared to measure up to what that really means?” Throughout the devotional, Chambers asks if we are prepared for what it will take to become sanctified; if we are ready to be set apart. And for my part and my experience I must say no, no I am not. I neither was nor am prepared to be sanctified. And as hard as I tried I could not (or cannot) help myself with my sanctification. I can only be surrendered and connected, curious and obedient, surrendering to You in this daily process.
And God says…”This is the lesson about sanctification. Do you think that the process started by Jesus can be helped or completed by You? So very often when a believer says he is “rededicating” his or her life it is accompanied by statements of strong resolve and renewed commitment like; “I will try harder, I will use more discipline…I will be a better Christian”. The real issue is will he or she be surrendered? The issue is not one of commitment, but one of surrender. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you require, including daily, hourly, minute by minute sanctification. It is my process, I started it and I will complete it in you.”
The love of Christ compels us… —2 Corinthians 5:14
Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by “the love of Christ.” Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. “The love of Christ compels us….” When you hear that coming from the life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is completely unhindered in that person’s life.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our testimony is based solely on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But that will change and be removed forever once you “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). Only then will you begin to realize what Jesus meant when He went on to say, “…you shall be witnesses to Me….” Not witnesses to what Jesus can do— that is basic and understood— but “witnesses to Me….” We will accept everything that happens as if it were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or blame, persecution or reward. No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane— he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender to “the love of Christ” is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.
Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
This devotional today causes me to feel more inadequate than most. The feeling of “overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by “the love of Christ.” is unfamiliar or very rare to me. Chambers goes on to at least let me feel like I’m not alone…
“Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God.” (and gives a possible reason)… “We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience.” This seems like a fair evaluation…after all, it’s the Apostle Paul that he’s quoting. So, what’s to be done? I’m convinced that just trying harder isn’t the answer. Based on many years of trying that approach.
You are correct, you cannot grunt and try harder to get “compelled by the love of Christ.” That will only make you a better Pharisee. Rather, focus on the quality and quantity of time you spend with me. Communing with me. All day, Every day. Savor it. And you will arrive at that place Paul describes …. not because you were striving to get there… but as a side effect of our growing relationship. Let go of it as a goal and only strive to be with me, and I will bring you here, which will be beyond whatever you currently imagine.
These words are not an exaggeration. The only reason they may not be true of us who call ourselves ministers of the gospel is not that Paul forgot or misunderstood the exact truth of them, but that we are too cautious and concerned about our own desires to allow ourselves to become the refuse or “filth of the world.” “Fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ…” (Colossians 1:24) is not the result of the holiness of sanctification, but the evidence of consecration— being “separated to the gospel of God…” (Romans 1:1).
“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you…” (1 Peter 4:12). If we do think the things we encounter are strange, it is because we are fearful and cowardly. We pay such close attention to our own interests and desires that we stay out of the mire and say, “I won’t submit; I won’t bow or bend.” And you don’t have to— you can be saved by the “skin of your teeth” if you like. You can refuse to let God count you as one who is “separated to the gospel….” Or you can say, “I don’t care if I am treated like ‘the filth of the world’ as long as the gospel is proclaimed.”A true servant of Jesus Christ is one who is willing to experience martyrdom for the reality of the gospel of God.
When a moral person is confronted with contempt, immorality, disloyalty, or dishonesty, he is so repulsed by the offense that he turns away and in despair closes his heart to the offender. But the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the vilest offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. Paul did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but “to reveal His Son in me…” (Galatians 1:16).
Good morning God and thank you for this lesson and Your leading today. David and I saw this lesson as one more extension of the: surrender, connection, and curiosity process You have been teaching us. You have been leading us to an awareness that in reality there is no difference between the calls to preach, or to simply live out the Gospel and love our neighbors. We are to be surrendered to You and allow You to live through us. We are to expect You to do things Your way, not our ways. We can expect to have peace and the abundant life right inside our trials, even though or perhaps especially when they have not been removed. And we believe we understand that it is “woe is me” if we are not surrendered, regardless of the calling You have or will give us.
And God says…”Yes. That is the lesson. When you are surrendered, connected, and curious about how I am going to deal with you or some trial in your life or the lives of those you love; and you have let go of your desired outcomes, allowing Me to be the God of your life, I can give you the desires of your heart. When you are willing to “be the filth of the world” that is, when your standing or status or circumstances in the world do not matter, because you trust Me to be God and provide you with every good thing, you are free to live an amazing and fruitful adventure. When your mind and heart are truly synchronized around the belief that “all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord”; your ministry can then grow beyond your wildest expectations. And you may even use words on occasion.”
This CO2- (Church Of 2) is where two guys meet each day to tighten up our Connections with Jesus. We start by placing the daily “My Utmost For His Highest” in this WordPress blog. Then we prayerfully select some matching worship music and usually pick out a few lyrics that fit especially well. Then we just start praying and editing and Bolding and adding comments and see where the Spirit takes us.
It’s been a blessing for both of us.
If you’d like to start a CO2, we’d be glad to help you and your partner get started. Also click the link below to see how others are doing CO2.Odds Monkey
Steve Harvey Introduces Jesus To A Secular Audience
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