Saturday, November 28, 2015

To Do Good You Must First Be Good - That Starts In The Heart

My Utmost For His Highest
 
…being justified freely by His grace… —Romans 3:24
 
“We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5).”  CHAMBERS
 
When it comes to “doing” most of us prefer to do whatever it is we are going to do, ourselves.  At the inception of our new life in Christ is grace, not self-effort. (Ephesians 2:8-10) “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Our salvation is not something we did. It is supernatural.  Yet, verse 10 says we were created for good works.  So here is what I believe.  Our old nature is sinful and can offer nothing to the world or to our Father in heaven that has any eternal value.  If you are trying to be good or do good by the power of your will … you are going to fail.  The wrong thinking is that by doing right I will be right.  The correct thinking is that by being right, I will do right.  In Philippians 3:8-9, Paul wrote “ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”  There is nothing we can do that will make us right with God.  Nothing that we can do that will “make Him happy”.  We have nothing to offer except what He desires the most .. the devotion of our hearts.
 
God can and will use us for His glory, but many times people use Him for their own glory.  (Matthew 6:2) “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”  Anything that you do in the name of Jesus by the power of Spirit, is for the glory of God, the Father.  I am sure you have heard the saying, “don’t shoot the messenger”.  We are all messengers. And in the same way, don’t give the messenger credit for something that God has done.  I can offer nothing … I can do nothing on my own… that has eternal value … anything that comes from my old nature.  And I cannot take credit for anything that springs out of my new nature.  So my point.  Stop trying to do good (it only leads to hypocrisy) and, instead, be good.  If you want to make a difference in this world, if you want to please the Father, it starts in the heart.  ELGIN
 
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
 
Charley Elgin

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