Also…add to your faith… —2 Peter 1:5
{CHAMBERS} “In
the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become
“partakers of the divine nature” and that we should now be “giving all
diligence,” concentrating on forming godly habits (2 Peter 1:4-5). We are to
“add” to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or
supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with
habits— we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has
placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining
examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting
the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. […] Don’t always expect God to give you His
thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of
life by the power of God.[…] We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven
on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we do! […] If I will do my duty,
not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances,
then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is
mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.”
{ELGIN} Each morning that I write these devotions, I
read what Oswald Chambers had to say. Actually his wife, who was a
stenographer, copied all of his speeches down and after his death, published
them. Then I talk with the Lord asking
for insight and what it is that I should write myself to further encourage you
in the faith. I have done this nearly
1500 times over the years. And I often
wonder, Lord – does this really matter? And so to the point. All of us can begin to think about what
difference obedience makes. We have no
control over another person’s heart. Matters
of your heart are between you and your Maker.
It may not be writing devotions that God has stirred you to do – perhaps
caring for your family – working in a place where you prefer not to work –
interacting with people that are toxic relationally. I have wondered, from time to time, if I should
stop writing. But, then, someone will send
a note to me telling me how much they appreciate my encouragement for that
day. Look. Our lives are an offering to God. (Romans 12:1,2) What He does with them
is His choice, not ours. That is if we
have truly laid them down unconditionally.
When the question comes to our minds “Does this really matter?”, it is
not unlike the question that the serpent asked Adam and Eve, “Did God really say?” If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and
focus on the following and not the doing, we will not lose perspective on the
circumstances we find ourselves in. If
you are dissatisfied with the place God has you, it is not uncommon, but it is
also not spiritual, it is coming from your flesh.
Let me counter that with this. In my experience, there have been times when
God has removed the passion I had for doing one thing and given me a passion for something else. (Psalm
37:4) “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of
your heart” I have found that the Lord
will put a passion in my heart for those things that He is passionate about.
One day I may be busy serving in the place He has me and then, suddenly, that
passion has gone and I find myself longing for the place He is sending me
to. I once heard the definition of
leadership as “Getting people to do what you want them to do because they want
to do it.” That is what God does with
us. Do you see the difference here? In the first place, the person is
dispassionate about what they are doing, because of their flesh. In the second place the person is
dispassionate about what they are doing because God has given them a new
passion. To see the second, you must be
in step with God and that is my encouragement for the day.
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