Do not rejoice in this, that
the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven. —Luke 10:20
{CHAMBERS} “Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your
successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with
Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful
service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able
to measure fully what God will do through you if you do not have a
right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship
right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter
each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John
7:38). […] Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and
sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been
placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your
circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the
light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). […] If you make usefulness the test,
then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint,
direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s
usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do
for Him.”
{ELGIN} (Psalm 37:24-25) “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who
delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds
him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the
righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” As I read the Chambers’ devotion this morning,
I could not help but reflect upon my own walk with the Lord. I have not been content, of late, with where
the Lord has me serving. I think pride
has something to do with it. God has
used both me and my wife in some glorious ways over the years. I have held positions of significant responsibility
both in secular work and ministry. So
now I find myself in the “autumn” of life in a wholly different context, all
the while my heart pounding to be back in those other places in those other
times. Chamber’s words remind me that I
am the Lord’s to do with as He pleases. My joy is in knowing that I am where He wants
me to be, even though it might not be where my flesh would prefer to be. The question is can I walk briskly in
obedience with my eyes fixed on Jesus and an expectation that I am fulfilling
God’s purpose in my generation? Or, will I dawdle, grumbling that I can be
better used elsewhere, certainly doing the work but my attitude does not honor
God and reveals that my heart is more devoted to what I want and less to what
God has ordained?
I tell a story about serving
in Waveland Mississippi after Katrina, that being in the center of God’s will
is the best place to be, geography has nothing to do with it. There are times when you lose focus on that
truth. You allow circumstances, and yes,
pride of service to cloud your spiritual vision. Where does God have you today? Are you serving God with your whole heart
even though your flesh would prefer that you be elsewhere doing something of
your own design? Do we know better than
God? (rhetorical!) Jesus told the Church of Ephesus that they had “left their
first love”. Oh, they were still doing
good things, but the reason why they were doing them had changed. Be careful my friend, the slope is slippery,
be careful lest you slip and fall. Hold on
to Jesus.
Jesus Hold My Hand. “As I travel through this
pilgrim land, There is a friend who walks with me. Leads me safely through the
sinking sand, It is the Christ at Calvary. This would be my prayer, dear Lord,
each day You help me do the best I can. For I need Thy light to guide me day
and night, Blessed Jesus, hold my hand Jesus. Jesus hold my hand, For I need
Thee every hour. Through this pilgrim land, Protect me by Thy power. Hear my
feeble plea O Lord, look down on me. When I kneel in prayer I hope to meet You
there. Blessed Jesus, hold my hand.”
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