[…] The natural can be turned into the spiritual only
through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God
demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not
God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the natural to be changed into the spiritual
through obedience. Sin is what made it necessary for the natural to be
sacrificed. […] Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to
God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a
spiritual sacrifice to God is to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice…”
(Romans 12:1). […] If we do not
sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy
the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is always the result of an
undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to
discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. We excuse ourselves by
saying, “Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I was a child.” Then
discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life
for God. CHAMBERS
Have you ever wondered why some Christians seem to live a
life that is superior to your own? The things
that preachers preach about. The things
that you read about in the Bible are lived out in them. And you think, I cannot
be like them. I would like to be, but I
can’t. The difference between a nominal
Christian (the one who wants to be) and normal Christian (the one who is) is obedience. The thing that Oswald Chambers refers to as
the means to realizing God’s perfect will.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 “It is God’s will that you should be
sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you
should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not
in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God” The principle here is
that we will live in a way that dishonors God if we don’t discipline ourselves
spiritually.
What if you went to see a doctor because you were losing
weight and did not feel well. The doctor
said ‘Tell me what you have been eating.” And you say “I am not eating.” Then
the doctor says, “Well, your body needs nutrition. If you don’t eat, your body will eventually
die from starvation.” Now you are faced with a choice. Do you continue to not
eat or do you do as the doctor says. You
must decide. You must choose to obey the
doctor’s orders and eat. The doctor won’t
make you eat. In the same way, Doctor
Jesus says, you must pray, you must read the Word, you must associate with
other Christians, you must choose what you think about, you must listen to the
Spirit of God. You must decide. You must choose to obey the Doctor’s orders. If you are waiting for a spiritual revelation,
you already have it. What is missing is
your obeying what you already know. ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
No comments:
Post a Comment