Living The Life Of A Super-Saint

My Utmost For His Highest

“I am already being poured out as a drink offering…” —2 Timothy 4:6

“Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. […] Once you have experienced the crisis in your will, you will take no thought of the cost when it begins to affect you externally. […] You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experience what the altar represents— burning, purification, and separation for only one purpose— the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don’t eliminate it, God does. You “bind the sacrifice…to the horns of the altar” and see to it that you don’t wallow in self-pity once the fire begins. After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life?” CHAMBERS

Does that seem extreme to you?  Like, that may be for super-saints, but not for me.  I am just a regular guy or a mom or someone who sits in the pew.  That sounds more like something Moses or Paul would do, not me.  The thing is, what Chambers is describing is what God intended for all of us.  Binding yourself to the altar means that you stop trusting in yourself and trust fully in God.  That you don’t view the events of life as good or bad in terms of how they affect your life, but fully under the sovereignty of the Creator God.  The physical pain will not be less.  The heartache will pierce you just as deeply.  The personal loss may not be avoided.  But your confidence and joy will not be diminished.  Being bound to the altar means that “though He slay you, yet will you trust Him”.  (Job 13:15)  That you trust in Him with all your heart. (Proverbs 3:5,6)  That you love God first. (Matthew 22:37-39)  You don’t have to be a super-saint to do that.  That is the relationship God’s desires with everyone.  Especially you. ELGIN

“On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand”

 

“My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.”

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Serving God Without Conditions

My Utmost For His Highest

“It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased…” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket— to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted— not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.” CHAMBERS

Have you ever known someone who had to have things go their way or they would withdraw from whatever was going on?  It might be a game, work, ministry, or perhaps a relationship.  Or maybe you are that person. If we live our lives as Christians in that way, we have a conditional faith? Demanding that things go our way if we are to comply with what God has called us to.  I visited a remote village in Southwestern Haiti yesterday, Donglise (Dawn gleece).  The pastor is not well.  I prayed for him.  Not to just be healed but that God would give him the health he needed to do what God had called him to.  It is not important for me to be completely healed of my infirmities, although that would be a good thing.  But I ask that God would give me the strength I need to accomplish His purposes through me.  And if He does nothing, some would say it is because I lacked faith.  I say it does not matter I will continue to serve in spite of it.  ELGIN

2 Corinthians 12:7-10  “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

What Parts Of The Bible Do You Believe? Really?

My Utmost For His Highest

“No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane— he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender to “the love of Christ” is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.” CHAMBERS

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Do you believe that?  If you do then you will live by it.  If you don’t, you won’t.  There is a subtle difference for most of us between acknowledgement and belief.  You can acknowledge what that there are certain words in the Bible without believing them.   Belief has nothing to do with truth.  Truth never changes … in John 14:6 Jesus said that He is the Truth …. The source of truth .. in John chapter 1 it ways that nothing was made that was not made by Him – Jesus – the Word.  It does not matter is a person believes that, it is the truth.  Jesus is the Way to the Father.  The Truth is not affected by the fact that a person chooses to disbelieve it.  Reject Jesus, you spend eternity in hell. 

If you are a Christian, you have been crucified with Christ.  Old things (love for the things of this world) are passed and all things are becoming new.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  If you believe that, it will change the way you live your life.  It will change what is important to you.  Someone once said that you only believe the parts of the Bible that you obey.  The parts you walk in and live out.  Surrender to the Truth is the only way that you can bear spiritual fruit in your life.  Hear – Believe – Obey – Bear Fruit  That is what it takes for real change to take place in your life.  And that’s the Truth.

Trust and Obey

“When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Don't Be Surpised By Persecution Of Your Faith

My Utmost For His Highest

““Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you…” (1 Peter 4:12). If we do think the things we encounter are strange, it is because we are fearful and cowardly. We pay such close attention to our own interests and desires that we stay out of the mire and say, “I won’t submit; I won’t bow or bend.” And you don’t have to— you can be saved by the “skin of your teeth” if you like. You can refuse to let God count you as one who is “separated to the gospel….” Or you can say, “I don’t care if I am treated like ‘the filth of the world’ as long as the gospel is proclaimed.” A true servant of Jesus Christ is one who is willing to experience martyrdom for the reality of the gospel of God. When a moral person is confronted with contempt, immorality, disloyalty, or dishonesty, he is so repulsed by the offense that he turns away and in despair closes his heart to the offender. But the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the vilest offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. Paul did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but “to reveal His Son in me…” (Galatians 1:16).” CHAMBERS

There has been a significant shift in the culture in the U.S. in the attitude toward Christian values.  At one point in our country, Christians were highly regarded in our culture.  But not so much now.  It did not happen overnight, but I have watched day by day, year by year, as that regard has eroded until, today, some Christian beliefs are considered to be based on hate toward others.  That of course is not true, but many people think it is, which has the same result.

II Thessalonians 2:9-12 "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. "

Isaiah 5:20-21 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. "

You will be reviled by people who are convinced that they know the truth, when in fact, they are embracing a lie.  Don’t think it strange … Jesus said it would happen, it’s just that Christians in the U.S. never believed it would happen in the U.S.  You must be ready to stand in the face of persecution.  It may be that you have not felt its sting .. but the day is coming.  Here is an Elgin axiom for you … “the darker the night .. the brighter the light.”  What you believe is in sharp contrast to what the culture embraces.  So what should you do?  Read Ephesians 6:10-18   

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Living Beyond The Super-Ordinary Life

My Utmost For His Highest

“Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” —1 Corinthians 9:16

“Beware of refusing to hear the call of God. Everyone who is saved is called to testify to the fact of his salvation. That, however, is not the same as the call to preach, but is merely an illustration which can be used in preaching. In this verse, Paul was referring to the stinging pains produced in him by the compelling force of the call to preach the gospel. […] Paul’s words have to do with our being made servants of Jesus Christ, and our permission is never asked as to what we will do or where we will go. God makes us as broken bread and poured-out wine to please Himself. To be “separated to the gospel” means being able to hear the call of God (Romans 1:1). Once someone begins to hear that call, a suffering worthy of the name of Christ is produced. Suddenly, every ambition, every desire of life, and every outlook is completely blotted out and extinguished. Only one thing remains— “…separated to the gospel…” Woe be to the soul who tries to head in any other direction once that call has come to him[…] Beware of competing calls once the call of God grips you.” CHAMBERS

It is not just the call to preach, but more, a call to serve in any capacity.  Some, but not all of us, are called out of what we might consider the “super-ordinary life” that most Christians live … I say “super-ordinary” because living the new life in Christ is anything but ordinary.  We know when that happens … Paul says in Ephesians 4:11-12, “And he [Jesus] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”  That may be expressed in a church down the street or in a foreign land. Whatever it might be, it is a clear calling. Set apart for the purpose of serving the body and expanding the Kingdom.  

Our struggle is not in knowing that we have been called to something, but in obeying that call.  It’s a point of obedience.  Some will acknowledge the call and then let the world consume them, never heeding the call and never finding peace.  They were shaped … purposed by God for something more … Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  And they chose to live in disobedience.  It might be that they were called to missions .. it was a truth that they knew in the depth of their being .. but in the course of living their life, they chose to go left when God said go right.  The result was a holy discontent that could not be quenched with anything the world had to offer.  The knowledge of the call never leaves them.  The only solution is repentance and obedience. 

Perhaps you are that person.  I want to encourage you to yield your heart to God.  You may think it is too late.  If you think that you deceive yourself.  Too late for whom?  God is eternal.  Do you think that His plan will be disrupted by a few years of wandering?  Israel was in the desert for 40 years.  Do you think that your age is a limitation? Then you think too little of God who has called you.  Do it today .. fulfill your purpose to the glory of God. ELGIN

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)