Thursday, August 18, 2016

Making The Right Choice

My Utmost For His Highest
 
When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. —Luke 18:23
 
“Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”[…] That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. […] What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.”  CHAMBERS
 
“Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1)  That is the question that Satan asked Adam and Eve.  Fueling the desire to do what they thought best. Encouraging them to redefine their relationship with God.  You know what happened and if you have forgotten, you might want to read Genesis again.  There are consequences for obeying and for disobeying.  Choosing God’s best or living with the result of choosing your own way.  I am not suggesting that choosing to obey God means you will avoid trouble in your life.  Following Jesus is not about that. We tend to think of our spiritual life in terms of the physical.  Not getting sick.  Having money to pay our bills.  Avoiding death even.  What that reveals is that we lack an eternal perspective.  Listen, the disciples met horrible deaths .. so their faith .. their time with Jesus did not prevent that.  There must be a bigger story than the 70 or 80 years you walk on this planet.  And there is.  You faith has both present and eternal value.  Your faith gives you the perseverance to live this life, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in spite of what comes your way (Galatians 5: 22-13) and hope for the future with the confidence that there is more waiting just beyond the horizon.
 
There is something going on, supernaturally, that we do not fully understand, and won’t this side of heaven.  You can consider the actions of the rich young man in two ways.  In one instance, he was at the point of salvation and walked away.  In another, he was saved but struggled with wanting to cling to the things associated with his old nature.  Either way, they both require obedience to the Lord.  Giving up those things that we cling to as a way of maintaining control over our lives.  Those things that we really have faith in.  The point is, to live this new life rightly, we must put our faith wholly in Jesus.  And God really did say that!  CHARLEY

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