Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Hey! What Are You Looking At!




“He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow…” —John 7:38

“Jesus did not say, “He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God,” but, in essence, “He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him.” Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all.[…] Now is the time for us […] to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?”  CHAMBERS

If we are focused on Jesus, then everything else becomes blurred.  Think about what you are doing right now.  You are focused on the words you are reading.  The table your computer is setting on, the room you are sitting in are a blur … perhaps seen in your peripheral vision but, you are less aware of your surroundings than you are this text.  That is the same way it is with our spiritual life … and because of our focus on our spiritual life, our physical, natural life follows. Our natural life can become that which dominates our focus and attention.   Jesus is saying .. “focus on Me”.  Our purpose is to be like Jesus and bring glory to the Father.  (John 10:17) “The Father loves Me, because I lay down my life”  We are to lay our lives down like Jesus did.  That means that doing the will of the Father is more important than doing my own will.  It requires the power of God in you to do that.  It requires faith.  And it requires obedience.  Being more concerned about yourself than God is not a new problem. Since the Garden, people have chosen to focus on themselves.  They have taken their eyes off of God and His will and pursued what they thought was best for them.  You know that you struggle with this.  Everyone does.  So, who has your “focus” today?  Choose Jesus.  ELGIN

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

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