If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
—John 13:17
{CHAMBERS} “… If
you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters
just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to
get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things
for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment. When you know that you should do something and you do it,
immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you
began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a
point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it
because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no
insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted
instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to
continue learning and knowing more. The counterfeit of obedience is a state of
mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your
zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice
yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans
12:1-2. […] “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Samuel 15:22).”
{ELGIN} Wow.
Have you ever marveled at how God can orchestrate your reading and
hearing something that is in perfect harmony with some event on your life.
Almost as if He is speaking to you about the matter. Anyone ever said, ”That is just what I needed
to hear.”? Why do we marvel at God’s handiwork? On the one hand we acknowledge His attributes
.. who He is .. and on the other are often surprised when we see the evidence
of those attributes. To my point, I just had a conversation with a friend and
Brother about the issue of our heavenly value and the effect that the weight of
life’s circumstances can have on our willingness to obey God in the midst of those
circumstances.
A.W. Tozer, a pastor, preacher and author, said “God does not
use a man greatly until he has been hurt deeply.” Think about that. We often see the hurts of life as a reason to
“not” do something. Tozer suggests that
God uses that hurt as a springboard to launch us into some work that God has purposed
for us. But we often struggle with our
willingness to move beyond the pain of the circumstance, by faith, missing the glorious
work that God has for us. Pastor Rick
Warren said “God never wastes a hurt.” I
often share 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 with
people who are undergoing some difficulty in life, hoping to give them
spiritual perspective on an earthly circumstance. Don’t let your natural life limit your
spiritual life and obedience to God’s voice and call. Listen, I know that it is not an easy thing I
am telling you. That is because it is
not natural thing … it is a “faith” thing.
If you are looking within to find the strength to do what you know you
should do, you are looking in the wrong place.
Look up. (Psalm 121:1-2)
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