"…I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord.
—Jeremiah 1:8
{CHAMBERS} God
promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally— “…your life shall be as
a prize to you…” (Jeremiah 39:18). That is all God promises His children.
Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and
possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these
things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic,
heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply
rooted belief in the overshadowing of God’s personal deliverance. The Sermon on
the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no
time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, “Don’t worry about
whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a
sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.
If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves
in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, “Why should I be treated like
this?” If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we
encounter, whether it is just or unjust. […] We put our common sense on the
throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding,
instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).
{ELGIN} (2 Timothy 3:2-5) “For men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to
parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips,
without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness,
although they have denied its power.”
Are you thinking, “Whoa! That is not me!”? Ask yourself “What do you love and what do you
believe is essential for life?” Living
for Jesus demands that you surrender all devotion to the things of this
world. When we sold our home to go on
the mission field, many people marveled at that, even admired us for it
speaking of our great sacrifice. In our
minds it was no different than throwing a candy wrapper in the trash. (It was
bigger). We did not count it as loss,
but as getting rid of an impediment. Why
.. because our love for God was greater than our love for the world. So very often we can agree with Jesus in the
Bible, but struggle with Jesus in our lives.
In Luke 18, a young man who
had great material wealth sought affirmation that he was good enough to have
eternal life. Jesus, who saw his heart,
challenged him to abandon his greatest love, his love of wealth and the worldly
security it afforded, and follow Jesus.
That was an act of faith .. total dependence on God and not on himself …
he couldn’t or wouldn’t do it. Not
everyone is called to walk the same path that we have .. nor should they even try
if God has not called them to it. But woe
to the person who is called but turns away.
They will have missed God’s best for their lives. Even if it means personal hardship and
financial loss … what are you willing to walk away from? So many Christians say they love Jesus, but a
cursory examination of their lives reveals that they love the world and the
things of the world more. (1 John 2:15)
What or who are you devoted to. God may
not ask you to sell your house, but He may ask you to do something else .. in
fact He already has. (Matthew 22:37) “Love God with your heart, mind, soul and
strength” That doesn’t leave any room
for the world. With God it’s all or
nothing. If you want to know how He
feels about it, read the first four commandments in Exodus 20.
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