My Utmost For His Highest
"Bethel is the symbol of fellowship with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abram “pitched his tent” between the two. The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him. Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time— there is always plenty of time to worship God. Days set apart for quiet can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight." CHAMBERS
The fact that you are taking time to read this email says that you take time for the Lord each day. Martie was telling someone the other day that I would run in the morning with my unit in the Army and then at the end of the day would run five miles before coming home. At that time I thought nothing of it...I was in great condition physically. Today I am not sure I could run a block. The day you stop conditioning is the day that atrophy sets in. Your body starts to "un-condition" itself. In order to maintain, you have to stay with the routine .. to go past that, you have to do more.
So it is with spiritual conditioning. It is as discipline. An everyday thing. Don't count on what you did last week, to see you through the month. During the '90s when Promise Keepers was in its peak, men would go to a conference where there would be 40 to 50 thousand other christian men. They would come back with their faces shining, like when Moses would come off of the mountain. After a couple of weeks, the glory had faded. I called it "taking the Promise Keeper Pill" The men were hoping that the effects of the conference would last until the next year. The did not understand the nature of their new nature. To keep it healthy requires discipline. Reading the Bible, worshipping with other believers, building relationships with other believers, praying, and witnessing. We are not saved by good works (Ephesians 2:8-9) but that does not mean there is nothing we must do to stay healthy. It requires spiritual conditioning. This devotion may not be for you, but I am confident that you know other Christians that need encouragement. ELGIN
"Bethel is the symbol of fellowship with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abram “pitched his tent” between the two. The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him. Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time— there is always plenty of time to worship God. Days set apart for quiet can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight." CHAMBERS
The fact that you are taking time to read this email says that you take time for the Lord each day. Martie was telling someone the other day that I would run in the morning with my unit in the Army and then at the end of the day would run five miles before coming home. At that time I thought nothing of it...I was in great condition physically. Today I am not sure I could run a block. The day you stop conditioning is the day that atrophy sets in. Your body starts to "un-condition" itself. In order to maintain, you have to stay with the routine .. to go past that, you have to do more.
So it is with spiritual conditioning. It is as discipline. An everyday thing. Don't count on what you did last week, to see you through the month. During the '90s when Promise Keepers was in its peak, men would go to a conference where there would be 40 to 50 thousand other christian men. They would come back with their faces shining, like when Moses would come off of the mountain. After a couple of weeks, the glory had faded. I called it "taking the Promise Keeper Pill" The men were hoping that the effects of the conference would last until the next year. The did not understand the nature of their new nature. To keep it healthy requires discipline. Reading the Bible, worshipping with other believers, building relationships with other believers, praying, and witnessing. We are not saved by good works (Ephesians 2:8-9) but that does not mean there is nothing we must do to stay healthy. It requires spiritual conditioning. This devotion may not be for you, but I am confident that you know other Christians that need encouragement. ELGIN
1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore let us encourage one another in love and good works"
Charley Elgin
Children's Hope
Jeremie, Haiti
Children's Hope
Jeremie, Haiti
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