Connect to the Vine

My Utmost For His Highest

‘Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10 , and God will not shield us from the requirements of son-ship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.’ CHAMBERS

Do you thank God for difficulties in your life?  Do you find joy in the midst of problems or do you wish you were relaxing in a lawn chair with the sun shining down, a soft breeze blowing and the birds singing. Living the Christian life is more like swimming against the current than floating with it.  It requires strength .. endurance … perseverance.  The kind of strength we need in our life in Christ .. must come from Him.  Why would we think that we could live the new life in our own strength after we are saved when we could not live it before we were saved?  If all it takes is confessing and believing (Romans 10:8-9) then why aren’t we living our lives in obedience to the Word and producing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Because there is more to it than that.  We must be connected to the Vine. (John 15:5) We find our strength and our stamina for this new life by drawing from the Vine .. not by trying harder to do the right things.  The discipline is staying connected to the Vine … in our weakness His strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9) If you are struggling with living right then look at how you are spending your time.  Do you take time to read and study the Word?  Do you pray?  Do you seek opportunities to be with other Christians .. more than socially?  Do you engage your Christian friends on a spiritual level?  I am talking – one on one .. mano a mano  … iron sharpening iron .. (Proverbs 27:17) or is it limited to social gatherings where you talk about kids and football?  Nothing wrong with that .. but that can’t be all there is if you want to be spiritually strong.  Just sitting in a Sunday School class with other Christians does not make you strong.  Sunday cannot be the only time you think about your faith if  you want to live the life of an overcomer.

Jesus said .. follow Me.  Are following Him, or merely watching from the stands.  Let your light shine … connect to the Vine.

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Swimming in the Deep End of the Pool

My Utmost For His Highest

‘The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.’ CHAMBERS

Do you ever wonder why God does things the way He does?  I mean why didn’t He create us to be more obedient?  Why did He do what He did?  Or why did He not do what He didn’t do? Confused yet?  What He did was create us in His image.  I was teaching a Bible study yesterday with the Haitian staff at Children’s Hope.  We were talking about what it meant to be created in His image.  He made us to be unique among all other living things on this planet. Dogs don’t have a vision of the future … nor do any other species other than man.  Do you ever think about things like that?

So God creates us in His image.  Gives us a free will .. allowing us to choose to obey or not obey Him … gives us a Savior to overcome the wrong choice … and then remolds us to be like the One who saved us.  Don’t you find that fascinating? For centuries men have tried to understand it but I don’t think it is something we will ever understand this side of heaven.  In the meantime.  He does give us vision – purpose … and then He equips us to accomplish that vision .. He provides the resources .. the abilities …He shapes our character … He uses life to do it …. Isn’t this life is amazing ….

I received a call from a friend in Waveland, Mississippi last week.  Someone I had the privilege to disciple while I was there.  He told me that he had a clear call from God to become a minister .. What he meant was that he is going to serve others for Jesus as his primary occupation.  I told him that God calls, then prepares, and then sends. Then I connected him to a pastor friend of mine in Waveland, MS.   God gives us a vision and then He shapes us to accomplish what He has called us to do.  You may have heard .. “God doesn’t call the equipped .. He equips the called.”  You may get the picture in your mind of someone handing you food, a canteen, a tent, bug spray, a backpack, whatever before you set off on your calling.  But God prepares you by working on the inside to equip you.  He will provide the physical part as well .. but He is more interested in the ‘inside of the cup’  (Matthew 23:25-26)

The vision God gives you will always be bigger than you are .. that is because He calls you to His fields … you can’t do it on your own … He shapes you to accomplish the vision … but not on your own … John 15:5  "I [Jesus] am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

What has God called you to put your hand to?  Is there something that stirs your soul, but you struggle in accepting it?  You know it’s from God … but it requires so much faith.  I want to encourage you to yield to the vision.  I am so far in over my head in this work … absolutely dependent upon the One who called .. exactly in the place that He wants me to be .. physically and spiritually.  And I am loving it.  There is no better place to be than the center of God’s will for your life.

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

What about the Giants?

My Utmost For His Highest

‘Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love . . . thinks no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.’ CHAMBERS

This issue is something that I have been pondering and seeking counsel on for some time.  We know that evil exists … just take a look around … Does God know it exists?  Dumb question right?  Would God lead us somewhere and allow us to come face to face with? In this world, evil is all around us, isn’t it.  So really the question is not will we be confronted by evil, but how will we respond when it happens.

Do we believe that God is sovereign?  Do we trust Him?  Where ever He leads I’ll go .. I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so … Wherever He leads I’ll go. We face the same dilemma that Israel faced when they stood at the Jordan and got the report from the spies .. (Numbers 13)  Do we trust God or what we see?  They wandered in the desert for the next 40 years because of their unbelief … but they didn’t have to worry about the giants did they? No .. they just died in the desert instead.

Proverbs 3:5,6 which I have quoted many times, says trust God and not your own judgment.  When Israel eventually did cross the Jordan .. they had to fight battles … it was difficult … but God was on their side … He went ahead of them … One thing I tell people who are here in Haiti as missionaries … “If God has not brought you here .. go home.” Or in terms of Numbers 13 .. don’t cross the Jordan on your own ‘cause there really are giants in the land.

The point today is that following God requires faith in God.  It is not a decision of the mind but of the heart.  What God calls you to do, He equips you to do, and He helps you do … all you have to do is obey!  Let your light shine in the midst of the darkness ..

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Don't Fret

My Utmost For His Highest

‘It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord” then? If this “Do not” (Do not fret v 8) doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This “Do not” must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself

Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.’ CHAMBERS

When you don’t fret, it doesn’t mean you don’t care .. Jesus cared enough to die for us … it means that it is in God’s hands … and our life must be focused on Him.  Life will always provide opportunities for you to turn to your own wisdom and devices to deal with those things that come your way.  There are so many things that are beyond our personal control.  Especially what others do or don’t do.  We want them to succeed so badly … we see them take a wrong turn and then .. our stomach is in knots as we watch them make wrong choices.  Sometimes choices that will change their lives and the lives of others.

1 Peter 5:7 says that we are to cast all our cares on Him, because He cares for us.  Can you rest in that promise? You know the rest I am talking about?  Totally relaxed.  No tense muscles … no anxious thoughts … Philippians 4:6,7  says not to be anxious about anything  .. but in every circumstance  .. pray .. seek God .. and His peace will keep you .. sustain you … allow you to rest in Him.

Being in Haiti brings perspective on what, as an American, I consider problems.  Not having a cell phone or computer is such a limitation for American children .. not having a meal is a problem for most Haitian children.  Trying to get your kids to eat green beans is such a struggle at the dinner table.  Trying to find a bean for them to eat is a problem in Haiti.  Worrying about how they will pay their credit card debt is a problem for many American families .. wondering how they will survive another day is a problem for many Haitians.  I just can’t seem to worry about American problems anymore … but God says don’t worry about any problems .. American or not … just trust in Him.  Trust is not like a light switch that you can merely turn on and off.  It is a process that matures the more you do it … so the more you trust, the more you trust … God is faithful …He is trustworthy … worthy of our trust … Try it, you'll like it!

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Satisfied With Sin

My Utmost For His Highest

‘This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ’Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.’ CHAMBERS

Have you ever said or heard said .. ‘We are just sinners saved by grace.’?  We must be careful to not minimize that truth. In other words, to resolve ourselves to the fact that we have a sinful nature.  That statement could well mean that I am a sinner and there is nothing anyone can do about it.  Bondye Kapab – God can!  That thinking puts on a slippery slope .. after resolving in our minds that we are sinners, we can start to think that sinning is really no big deal anymore … after all there is always 1 John 1:9 … And don’t forget Romans 8:1 .. There is also Romans 6:1-2 - What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Luke 18:10-14  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’  “I tell you that this man [the tax collector], rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

You see when we resolve ourselves to sin, we, in effect, exalt ourselves.  We no longer see ourselves in the light of God’s holiness.  Don’t become satisfied with sin.  Content in your imperfection .. comfortable with what is an abomination to God and that which sent His Son to the cross.  Rather turn to God today .. and like Isaiah we too should say “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man [or woman] of unclean lips . . . —Isaiah 6:5"

Let your light shine …

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Being a Disciple

My Utmost For His Highest

‘If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him.’ CHAMBERS

Do you consider yourself to be a disciple of Jesus? Or were you merely saved by Jesus.  So many people stop at the point of salvation.  And so many Christians don’t see the need to take others beyond that point.  The thinking is .. Jesus made the sacrifice .. I get to enjoy the benefits … as if this life in Him costs us nothing.

Luke 14:26-27  "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  (27)  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

This a comparison of devotion not a command to hate your family.  Jesus has got to be first … The greatest commandments is love God .. then others … When the man said Jesus, first let me bury my father .. Jesus said let the dead bury the dead .. (Matthew 8:22)  We want the benefits of salvation but not the conditions of discipleship.

Matthew 16:24-26  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  (25)  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  (26)  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Being a disciple means that we must lay who we are down .. Jesus laid His place in Heaven down and came to earth to offer Himself for us .. now He says to us .. we must lay ourselves down .. humble ourselves … like He did … He didn’t take pride in that  … but treated it as a privilege because of His love for us.  Laying our lives down for Him and others (John 15:13) is being a disciple of Jesus.

John 8:31  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

What part does the Word of God play in your life?  It is supposed to be an integral part … We have access to books .. the internet ... email ... we can read … but for many .. the Word is spoken .. there are no books .. they cannot read … But abiding is more than reading .. it is applied truth … God’s Word should be shouted through our lives and not just from our mouths.

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  (35)  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

1 John 4:20-21  If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  (21)  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Do you see how that fits?  Your love for others is a product … a result … of our love for God .. so if we don’t love our Brother, then we must not love God .. if we don’t love God then we are not a disciple … if we are not a disciple then we have missed it.

It’s time … time to get things in their right place … tear the idols down … get out of the throne of your life and let Jesus take His rightful place.  It’s time to follow Jesus and not just talk about it on Sunday.

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Loose Those Chains

My Utmost For His Highest

‘Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.” […]  If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.’ CHAMBERS

Is there something in your heart that you refuse to release?  Maybe you feel it protects you or you are somehow justified in holding on to it when in fact, it stifles your spiritual growth … quenches the Spirit within you.

Then you wonder where the peace and joy have gone that once ruled in your heart … the fact is, they are standing at the door .. waiting .. for you … Until you are willing to release what has enslaved you .. isn’t that an interesting thought .. it’s as if the cell door is unlocked but we prefer to stay behind bars … and we wonder every day why we are not free.  I want to encourage you to lay your heart open to God, your chains will be loosed and the doors will fall away.  The light of the Holy Spirit will show you the way out and peace and joy will reign once again.  Don’t wait!  Do it today.

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)