He who believes in Me…out of
his heart will flow… —John 7:38
“Our Lord’s teaching was
always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person—
His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is
characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we
gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not
simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may
squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by
success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we
cannot measure that at all.[…] God poured out the life of His Son “that the
world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Are we prepared to pour out our
lives for Him? “He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water”— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed.” CHAMBERS
Your salvation is not for
your benefit alone. God has a plan and a
purpose for each of us. (Ephesians 2:10) The primary purpose is to point the world to
Him. As with Abraham, God blesses us so
that we too will be a blessing to others. (Genesis
12:2) Your salvation is not for your
benefit alone. And because of that, you have
a responsibility. Jesus used the analogy
of a vine, branches and fruit. (John
15:5) “I [Jesus] am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and
I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” I write this often, but it bears the repetition,
our new life is spiritual. (John 3:5-6) “Jesus answered, “Very
truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of
water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to
spirit.”
The success of our new life
is dependent upon the cultivation of our spiritual nature. Listen. We don’t have a yard. Just some bushes and small plants (no clue
what they are) that surround the best part of our house. I noticed that there were some weeds growing amongst
the smaller plants so I asked our grandson if he would mind pulling them. He pulled them. So, they were gone. Guess what.
I noticed yesterday that the weeds are back. Your faith requires constant attention. If you neglect your spiritual life the weeds
of this world will come and will soon choke out any influence the Spirit might
of had in your life. (1 Thessalonians 5:19) “Do not quench
the Spirit.” It doesn’t happen by
intention, it happens by neglect.
Say. If you are thinking that you’ve
got this. This is not you I am writing
about. You won’t have to think too long
to remember someone it does apply to and that is who you need to
encourage. That is how it works my
friend. Blessed to be a blessing. ELGIN
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