The Consequence Of A Compromised Faith

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. […] What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? CHAMBERS

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (I will let you look it up) is a verse that I share often when I speak in Haitian churches.  Many Haitians struggle with putting their belief in Voodoo, devotion to their culture, and identity in their ethnicity behind them.  It is easy to point at other people and discuss their failings in the faith,  so before you shake your head and tell me that you will pray for them, think about your own life.  The truth is, every Christian struggles with the very same challenges.  The labels may change .. for Christians in the US .. Voodoo can be replaced by materialism … money … trust in the government before God.  The point is that, as a Christian, each of us has been called to a new life .. empowered by the Spirit to live it, and given the Word to understand it.  Our citizenship is in heaven … but many of us prefer to maintain a dual citizenship.  One foot in heaven and one foot in the world.  The problem is, we live our lives satisfied with the compromise with our old nature.  And we miss the fullness of life that we might enjoy were we willing to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. The promise is, Jesus came that you might have life and have it abundantly, but it is up to you to fully embrace that new life. My job, if you will, is to remind you and encourage you to not be satisfied with anything less.  ELGIN

 

(John 10:9-11) “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

What To Do What It's Cold Outside

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, “Lord, this causes me such heartache.” To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil, and if I wallow in it I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. Doing this creates for me my own cozy “world within the world,” and God will not be allowed to move me from it because of my fear of being “frost-bitten.”” CHAMBERS

 

Are you willing to be used by God in any way that He chooses?  The proof of that is not in the saying but in the doing. Most likely at some point in your journey with Him, God will lead you through some emotionally and physically perilous times.  The challenge is your willingness to be broken and poured out for His glory and the good of others. That is what Chambers is calling “Frost-bitten”.  When I was in the Army, I spent many days outside in freezing weather.  The cold seemed to go all the way to my bones.  Toes and fingers were numb, mustache frozen from my breath.  It would have been so nice to be some place warm and comfortable.  But, I had a mission to accomplish and that mission required me to be in the cold.  So, you press on whether in the Army or following the Lord.

 

God calls us to serve in difficult circumstances .. but not on our own.  Just like the Army equipped me with cold weather equipment, God equips us.  He never asks us to do something that we can do without His strength and provision.  It is only when we stop looking to Him and look to ourselves that we lose hope and confidence.  When we are facing great challenges in our walk with the Lord, we must remember His promise .... (Joshua 1:9) “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." And then we must go!

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

There Are No Coincidences In A Saint's Life

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” —Romans 8:28

 

“The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. […]  All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.” CHAMBERS

 

God has a plan and a purpose. As Christians, we are part of the plan.  Martie and I could fill the pages of a book with examples of Divine circumstances.  God’s provision … God’s connections with people … impossible happenings in terms of our being able to orchestrate them … finding ourselves in awe of God’s provision in the right place at the right time .. knowing by the affirmation of the Holy Spirit in us, that it was indeed God at work.

 

In Experiencing God, Dr. Henry Blackaby wrote about seven realities concerning God and hearing His voice.  The fourth is that God speaks to us by His Holy Spirit, through prayer, the Word, circumstances, and other Believers (the Church).  There is nothing more satisfying than seeing God’s hand at work in our lives.  Orchestrating, as it were, the symphony of life.  Each note blending perfectly with the next.  Bringing harmony and beauty in the lives of His children.  With each impossible event comes a sweet and comforting reminder that God is sovereign and He is active in our lives and in the world around us.

 

God wants to use you for His purpose .. which is the redemption of the world .. it is a wonderful .. if not challenging .. life .. a journey that you will not regret embarking on … ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Looking for Peace in All the Wrong Places

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? […]  Allow Him to drive His question home to you— “Do you believe this?” Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.[…] But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone. Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, “Do you believe this?” I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier.”  CHAMBERS

 

What or who is it that dominates you?  The oppresses your spirit?  That stresses you out? Is it what others do or don’t do? What happens to you or does not happen to you? Is your happiness and peace in life dependent upon things happening in your way?  In The way you have decided they must?  If you want peace in your heart, it must begin with Jesus.  (John 14:27) “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  The peace that you find through faith in Jesus does not depend upon the absence of conflict, as it does in the world.  The world can be raging around you, but, you can be at peace in the midst of it.  Why? Because your peace .. the absence of fear and worry comes from Jesus not from the world.

 

(John 16:33) These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Everyone will face difficulty in their lives … Jesus did not say that you would never have to deal with them … but as Christians we have a choice about how we respond to those difficulties. ELGIN

 

It Is Well with My Soul | Horatio G. Spafford

 

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul."

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Beware Of Spiritual Pride

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“…but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings…” —1 Peter 4:13

 

“If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way. […]  It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. […]  People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.” […] Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”” CHAMBERS

 

I must always be on my guard that I do not attempt “define” my relationship with God and my experience as a Christian.  And become spiritually proud.  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, rather than the other, went home justified before God.”

 

IF … I have given myself over to the leading and instruction of the Spirit, I must be careful that I don’t then, limit that leading and interrupt the instruction by turning to my own standards, my own judgments, my own expectations.  In other words, I become “God”.  That thinking is what got us into trouble to begin with.

 

God will bring people into our lives, not only for them to be ministered to, but for us to be taught, shaped, conformed into the image of Christ through that meeting.  It is so easy to miss. You encounter someone who rubs you the wrong way.  You immediately judge them, condemn them, and wish they would go away.  When in fact, God has brought them to you to show you something about yourself.  You are like the unforgiving servant .. wanting mercy instead of judgment, but unwilling to show the same.  You are viewing them through your natural vision and not as God sees them and you.  That is not to say that that they have not sinned or what they said or did was not hurtful.  The point is how we respond to life and people as Christians.  God did not condone our sin, but He loved us in spite of it and sent His Son to die for us.  If we embrace that as a treasure for us personally, what do you supposed God is wanting us to do in light of that treasure we hold? ELGIN

 

Matthew 10:8  “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

You Must Be Broken To Be Made Whole

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” —Galatians 2:20

 

“These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. […] Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? […] The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.” CHAMBERS

 

The danger we all face is that we will choose to define the depth of our crucifixion.  Will we merely carry the cross for a ways.  Maybe to the hill. Jesus says lay down on the cross, let the nails be driven, and your body lifted up .. then die to yourself.  Sound morbid? Well, it is.  We are talking about the death of self.  No more excuses.  No more compromises.  No more accommodation of “socially acceptable” sins.  No more empty religion.  No more giving appearances.  But now, the life of Christ is flowing from our bodies.

 

Now, we are willing to go and do whatever the Lord wills.  We have forsaken our devotion to our old ways, habits, preferences and allowed the Spirit of God to search us and cleanse us.  We embrace the conviction of the Spirit over our sin, and we will sin.  We rejoice in hardship because with it brings glory to our Father as He carries us through it.  It is here that we find the peace that Jesus spoke of.  It is here that we find His strength in us.  And it is then we discover that only our faith and obedience can carry is to this place.

 

“Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for,  Brokenness is what I need

Brokenness, brokenness is what you want from me

So, take my heart and form it,  Take my mind and transform it

Take my will and conform it  To yours, to yours, oh Lord”

 

Pray it like you mean it!  ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Obey God And Fulfill Your Purpose

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.” CHAMBERS

 

(Note) Sorry for the void in devotions .. we have been traveling in Western Haiti and I was not well.

 

(Psalms 40:6-11) “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart." I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly. Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.”

 

God prefers obedience to sacrifice.  We give up what has been given to us, as a sacrifice, and we think that a grand thing.  All of it comes from God.  No, what pleases God is when we exercise the free will He has created us with and we choose Him and not ourselves. Do your find delight in obeying Him? I didn’t ask if you delight in the idea of obeying Him, but in the actual doing.  Obedience is not an easy thing.  Yielding your will to God and not holding on to your own is not an easy thing. But, when you do it, you are fulfilled in a way that cannot be experienced through personal effort or feigned righteousness.  Like Lot’s wife you will be challenged to turn back and consider what you have left behind.  When you obey God, the world will see God through your life.  He has made us to be salt and light to a lost and dying world.  When you say no to God … you say no to your divine purpose.  ELGIN

 

“Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)