My Utmost For His Highest
Behold, as the eyes of
servants look to the hand of their masters…, so our eyes look to the Lord our
God… —Psalm 123:2
“This verse is a description
of total reliance on God. […] Our
spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through
external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We
wrongfully think, “I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much,
standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary
humble person.” […] For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a
stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that
what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are
slowly coming to the conclusion— “Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride
or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?” Your
“rational” friends come and say, “Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked
about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t
hold up under the strain.[…]” You respond by saying, “Well, I suppose I was
expecting too much.” That sounds humble
to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying
on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you
neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden
stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it
immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and
change or remove it at once.” CHAMBERS
When we decide to commit our
lives, our priorities to God, we enter into a spiritual struggle. Salvation comes when we surrender to
God. When we accept the gift of grace. Living by the Spirit means that we must be
focused on God and not ourselves or the world.
Living that way is a decision we make.
A daily decision. We cannot live this
new life by self-effort but only by surrender.
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ lives in me.” And how does
He live in us? By the power of the Holy
Spirit. Our new life is dependent upon
the spiritual – not the natural. Success
in our new life is dependent upon the Spirit, not our effort. If we think that we can live the Christian
life without a vital connection with God, we deceive ourselves. If we think that reading the Word is not
really that important. If we think that
praying is not really that important. If
we think that corporate worship is optional, we deceive ourselves. Think of a person in the hospital on a resuscitator. Someone comes in the room and disconnects the
machine. The reason the person was using
the machine was that they could not breathe on their own. Now they cannot breathe and are bound to
die. If we disconnect ourselves for
spiritual influence – we lack the power to live our new life successfully. I don’t mean we will lose our salvation, I
mean that, practically, it will be as it was before we were born again. Self-effort is the enemy of godly
living. The works of our flesh were
unacceptable to God before we became a Christian and they are unacceptable
after we become a Christian.
If you are struggling … if
you are fearful .. if you are doubtful … if you are wondering, what difference
does your faith make … you need to stop trusting in yourself and trust in
God. If only it was that easy you
think. The hard part is yielding control
to God. That begins with a small step of
faith. It ends .. well I guess it never ends.
This new life is one step of faith after another. Stop trying to act like a Christian, and be
one. Stop looking to yourself for the answers
and ‘look to the hand of the Master’.” ELGIN
“O soul, are you weary and
troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the
Savior, And life more abundant and free
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look
full in His wonderful face. And the
things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
Charley Elgin
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