Whoever compels you to go one
mile, go with him two. —Matthew 5:41
{CHAMBERS} “Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the
relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a
supernatural work in us. […] No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the
strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear
the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself— a
relationship that has been examined, purified, and tested until only one
purpose remains and I can truly say, “I am here for God to send me where He
will.” Everything else may become blurred, but this relationship with Jesus
Christ must never be.[…] If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made
disciples supernaturally. […] Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose
you…” (John 15:16). That is the way the grace of God begins. […] Our Lord’s
making of a disciple is supernatural. […] God does not ask us to do the things
that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are
perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear
will always come.”
{ELGIN} Many of Chamber’s devotions were derived from his lectures
at a Bible College. He was speaking to
men and women who had been called by God to service beyond what most of us are
called to after our conversion. But, the
principles are the same. Even the person
with only one spiritual gift and that they consider to be almost non-essential (God
does not agree with them by the way) faces the same challenges that every other
saint faces in living their new life. We
are all called to abandon the same things, even though for most it will be an
abandonment in the heart, while with a few, it will require physical abandonment. It is one thing to say that you love God more
than your family, it is quite another to leave your family and go on Mission
for God. It is one thing to say that you
do not love the things of this world, it is quite another to sell your house
and put your retirement at risk in order to go where God has said “Go!”.
I would find it very
difficult to write these things to you if I had no intention of doing them
myself. When I was on staff with Promise
Keepers in the ‘90s, there was a saying that was popular among us. “You can’t teach what you don’t know, you can’t
lead where you won’t go, and you can only recreate what you are.” The secret to going is obedience and
faith. Faith comes from God and obedience
comes from a “broken and contrite heart”, wholly submitted to the will of God. Every step you take for God requires the
power of God. It is a glorious life ..
living by faith and not by sight. The person
who abandons in the heart is no less faithful than the one who abandons
physically in response to the call of God.
The point is being obedient to God no matter what He calls you to do. So
when the Spirit whispers in your ear, “This is the way walk in it.” (Isaiah
30:21) Walk on! … to the glory of God and in testimony to a world that needs Jesus.
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