Have I been with you so long,
and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9
“The mystery of God is not in
what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the
future in some overwhelming, momentous event. […] We look for God to exhibit
Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And
while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully
aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and
expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. […] “Let
not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). […] If I believe in Jesus and His
attributes, am I living up to my belief? […] God never guides us at some time
in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and
the freedom you receive is immediate.” CHAMBERS
The biggest benefit derived
from these daily devotions is to me.
They help me get spiritually focused for the day. They get me into the Word of God and remind
me of His Truth, His Promises, His Design, His Will, His Love. We all need that reminder, but how much more
the one who is doing the telling? Does
your life reflect Jesus to the world? Our
lives are like mirrors. The mirror
reflects by its nature, but does not know it is reflecting and cannot control
what it reflects. In our case, our lives
reflect our hearts .. that which we are devoted to. If you are living your life in hopes of
looking like Jesus, but living in pursuit of the world and what it has to offer
and have conformed to your culture’s manners and methods, why would you imagine
that people would see Jesus in you. On
the other hand, if you are living in pursuit of God, and are yielding to the
leading of the Spirit, seeking to obey His word, like the mirror, you can’t see
yourself, to see what you look like, but others can .. and what they see is
Jesus. What do people see when they look
at you? Jesus or the world? If we choose to live the pretend life …
pretending to be obedient to God when in fact we have given ourselves back over
the world, the only ones fooled are the pretenders. Why would we think that we can find peace and
joy in that way of living? So what do
you do if you know someone like that, and it’s not you? Love them, encourage them in the faith, and
point them back to Jesus. (Hebrews 3:12-14)
“Take
care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the
living God. But encourage one
another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none
of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the
beginning of our assurance firm until the end”
ELGIN
Charley Elgin
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