When Our Words Are Not Enough

My Utmost For His Highest

“[…] The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. […] There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!” CHAMBERS

Do you remember the day when you came under the conviction of your sin .. the day that the Cross of Christ was no longer absurd … but was drawing you … the day of your re-birth .. the beginning of your eternal life as a child of Jehovah God?  When we share Jesus with others .. those who are living in darkness … blinded by the god of this world … (2 Corinthians 4:4)  “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”  Our words are not enough … there must be conviction by the Spirit .. a realization of their sin and the reality of heaven and hell.  

We are but seed planters .. spreading the Gospel .. some of us cast the seed .. others plant one seed at a time .. whatever the method .. the spiritual transaction that must take place is beyond us .. it is the domain of the Holy Spirit.  There are many people around you that are living in darkness. Jesus said, (John 12:46) “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” Most likely they are some of your dearest friends and family.  Pray for the opportunity to talk to them about the Gospel.  But don’t limit yourself to words .. let them see the Gospel being lived out in your own life.  Avoid being conformed to this world, but be transformed (Romans 12:1) .. and let your light shine among men. ELGIN

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

A Lesson In Trying To Live The Christian Life

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God! Jesus said, “…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come,…He will glorify Me…” (John 16:13-14). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.” CHAMBERS

 

My parents were born again when I was 19, serving in the Army in Vietnam.  When I returned home, I was met by  a very different family from the one that I had left.  I was very aware that although I was still part of the family, I was not part of the family.  Finally I associated the barrier with their new-found religion.  I craved a deeper relationship with them, so I figured all I had to do was do what they did and talk like they talked.  So that is what I did .. for a while at least.  It required a lot of restraint on my part, I slipped-up many times.  And still .. I felt that there was something missing.  It was not until 6 years later when Martie and I were, ourselves, born again did I understand what it was that was missing .. the Holy Spirit …salvation through Jesus Christ.  I was part of the physical family, but not part of the Spiritual family.

 

A lesson learned .. or should I say re-learned .. you cannot live the Christian life through your own effort or willfulness.  It is only by the power of the Spirit and the work of Jesus on the cross.

 

(1 Corinthians 2:14) “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Losing Your Spiritual Appetite

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. […] He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5).” CHAMBERS

 

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.(John 3:5)

 

Spiritual hunger … it comes when we seek Jesus … but so often we never get hungry for the spirit because we have filled up on Junk Food.  We are born with a hunger for the things of this world.  When you are born again, that hunger is replaced by a hunger and thirst for the Word of God, one of the more notable proofs of our new birth.  But like the vegetarian diet we once followed, there comes a point where a craving for those things that we excluded from our diet, creep back in.  Be alert Christian, like that extra piece of pumpkin pie with whipped crème brings on the extra pounds, losing your appetite for spiritual things will happen without you being aware.  ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

In The World But Not Of It

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power. […] The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16). […]  Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part.” CHAMBERS

 

I have wondered why God does not just takes us to heaven when we say “yes to Jesus”. When we are born again, we open our eyes and find ourselves standing before the throne.  In a way, that does happen.  Before I was a Christian, I was spiritually blind .. dead toward the things of God.  But now, I can see spiritual truth, I can understand it, and I am adopted into the family of God.  My challenge is to live my live as a child of the king while I am living in a world that is lost and dying.  My challenge is not join in with my culture and live in the manner I lived before my new birth.

 

The Father leaves us here to be living testimonies to His grace and mercy. To be salt and light to those who are perishing.  It would be a terrible thing to live our lives out and to have been indistinguishable from those we were to witness to.  To be so much like the world that no one had any idea that we were Christians.  Or worse for them to know we were Christians but see no reason to seek that life because they see no difference in our life choices.  Let your light shine for all to see. ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

The Power Of The Cross

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. […]  If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. […] The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.” CHAMBERS

 

It is the power of the cross that transforms lives.  It is cross that is the door to our new life.  We must be careful that we don’t focus solely on what has happened to us since the cross and don’t tell people about how it happened.  The Gospel is powerful.  Our testimony is a reflection of that power.  The focus must be on Jesus and the Cross and not us.  My changed life may interest people, but it won’t save them .. only the Gospel can do that. ELGIN

 

(Romans 1:16)  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Keeping Your Eyes On Jesus

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…, so our eyes look to the Lord our God…” —Psalm 123:2

 

“This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (see Isaiah 53:1). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking.” CHAMBERS

 

How much of your thought life is occupied by a focus on Jesus and your life in Him?  Is it limited to a quick devotion in the morning and prayers before your meals. Maybe an occasional conversation with another Believer during the week? It happens so subtly.  We have the best intentions, but then like our New Year’s resolutions, life seems to crowd Jesus out.  Before we know it, our pre-occupation with Jesus has been diluted to an occasional glance. This devotion you are reading may be but a token of attention to spiritual things. Like the man in the mirror in James, we see the reflection of Jesus, but when we turn away, we forget what we saw.   This new life requires discipline .. practice .. effort .. intentionality… mental focus .. and obedience.  ELGIN

 

(James 1:22-25) “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Doing Unto Others As You Would Have God Do Unto You

My Utmost For His Highest

 

“When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.” CHAMBERS

 

This is one of the most difficult stumbling blocks in the Christian life to overcome.  When you recognize a fault in another person, you are faced with an immediate choice … do I pray for that person or do I judge and condemn them. Jesus spoke of the speck and the beam.  He told the parable of the unforgiving servant.  Why?  Because it is the nature of our flesh to judge others.  We see the faults in others and ignore or make excuses for our own.  We see forgiveness and understanding from God and yet are unwilling to extend that same grace, mercy and empathy to others.  We believe that somehow our ability to see the faults of others is a spiritual gift. When, in fact, it comes from our old nature not our new nature.  The unsaved can see that Christians are not living the very life they ask others to seek, and they call us hypocrites.  It does not require the Spirit in you to find fault.  It does require the Spirit in you, to have compassion and to lift the person up to the Father.  Think about this the next time someone disappoints you .. or fails to live the new life they have been called to … how should you respond to them?  The same way you want the Father to respond to you.  ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)