Thursday, April 21, 2016

Are You Living The Pretend Life? Just Look At Your Reflection To Know.

My Utmost For His Highest
 
Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9
 
“The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. […] We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. […] “Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). […] If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? […] God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.” CHAMBERS
 
The biggest benefit derived from these daily devotions is to me.  They help me get spiritually focused for the day.  They get me into the Word of God and remind me of His Truth, His Promises, His Design, His Will, His Love.  We all need that reminder, but how much more the one who is doing the telling?  Does your life reflect Jesus to the world?  Our lives are like mirrors.  The mirror reflects by its nature, but does not know it is reflecting and cannot control what it reflects.  In our case, our lives reflect our hearts .. that which we are devoted to.  If you are living your life in hopes of looking like Jesus, but living in pursuit of the world and what it has to offer and have conformed to your culture’s manners and methods, why would you imagine that people would see Jesus in you.  On the other hand, if you are living in pursuit of God, and are yielding to the leading of the Spirit, seeking to obey His word, like the mirror, you can’t see yourself, to see what you look like, but others can .. and what they see is Jesus.  What do people see when they look at you?  Jesus or the world?  If we choose to live the pretend life … pretending to be obedient to God when in fact we have given ourselves back over the world, the only ones fooled are the pretenders.  Why would we think that we can find peace and joy in that way of living?  So what do you do if you know someone like that, and it’s not you?  Love them, encourage them in the faith, and point them back to Jesus. (Hebrews 3:12-14)  Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end”  ELGIN
 
Charley Elgin

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