Who Is Doing This .. Me Or You?

My Utmost For His Highest

‘Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). […] We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them[…]. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. […] When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation-just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.’ CHAMBERS

 

Have you ever asked the question .. "Who is doing this .. me or you?"

 

Matthew 25:31-46 describes two types of people .. sheep (those who belong to Jesus) and goats (those who don’t) I often refer to this passage when talking to people about the call to serve others. But the serving is a result of a relationship .. with Jesus … Anyone can give someone water to drink, food to eat, clothes to wear, medicine, encouragement … like Chambers says … that does not make you a Christian .. but even as a Christian, you can do these things and Jesus is nowhere to be found in the work .. it is all you … when we do this we can become prideful and arrogant in our serving .. as if we are the ‘provider’ and not God.  The truth of the matter is that everything we are is from God .. the brain we think with .. the hands we help with … the breath you just took while reading these words … they are a gift … and it is only in the context of the Lordship of Jesus does anything we do have value.

 

Does that sound extreme?  It should.  If we are Christians, we have a new life … a new purpose … and a new destiny.  We were called out of the old way of life … trusting fully in God and not in ourselves … taking credit for nothing .. because all credit belongs to Him.  The creator God.  Soli Gloria Deo – Glory to God Alone.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)