Living The Christian Life - Successfully - It's A Daily Thing

My Utmost For His Highest

 

"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8

 

“Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. […] I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.[…] “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).”  CHAMBERS

 

There it is again, that obedience thing.  When the Lord says something once, that is sufficient.  But when the Lord addresses an issue more than once … there must be a very important reason.  (There are about 270 references to obedience in the Bible) The problem with obedience started in the Garden.  Adam and Eve thought they knew better than God.  They chose to ignore God, decide the God was wrong, and do things their own way.  You see the result … actually you are living the result of their choice.  If disobedience could lead to such an incredible disaster, requiring Jesus to die for us, why would we think it is not such a big deal now? Oh, you are thinking, “I know it’s a big deal.” OK, then why do you have such a big problem with obeying?  For the very reason that God chose to address it so often in the Bible.  Obedience to God requires submission to the Spirit of God. The first thing I must do is yield my heart …. If I don’t start there, I can never hope to be obedient.  The Spirit of God gives us power and understanding.  When Jesus said to “pick up your cross daily” (Luke 9:23), He was telling us that each day we must make a commitment … intentionally submitting to the leading of the Spirit.  Don’t depend getting a Spiritual charge on Sunday to be sufficient to see you through the week. It’s a daily thing … ELGIN

 

Charley Elgin