When It's All Been Said And Done ... Just One Thing That Matters

My Utmost For His Highest

 

If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. —Philippians 2:17

 

“Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ‘Well done.’ ” 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

 

(John 12:43) “…. for they loved human praise more than praise from God.”  John is describing the actions of certain religious leaders who were followers of Jesus, but hid their faith from the Pharisees.  The principle at work is that we crave the acceptance and praise from others.  Some times to the extent that we will not be open about our faith … and at other times, we take credit for something that God has done through us.  Still at other times, we are jealous because some people are recognized and we are not.  All of the glory and praise goes to God.  None of it is ours.  Why do you look to others for affirmation of our worth,  when God has affirmed us in a way that cannot be matched … ever … God sent His Son to redeem us.  The answer is found in our old nature.  Our old nature is self-indulgent and has a ravenous appetite for those things that would seem to fulfill that self-indulgence.  I say “seem to” because our flesh will never be satisfied.  Doesn’t sound very “Christian” does it.  It’s not, but it happens all the time, even in Christians who appear to be serving sacrificially.  My point, we must be on our guard.  Temptation, in general, is choosing something other than God’s best.  That can take many forms.  Even not being recognized for something that you have done for the Lord.  ELGIN

 

“When It’s All Been Said And Done”  Don Moen

 

“When it's all been said and done,  There is just one thing that matters,  Did I do my best to live for truth?,  Did I live my life for you?

 

When it's all been said and done,  All my treasures will mean nothing,  Only what I've done for love's reward,  Will stand the test of time

 

Lord, your mercy is so great,  That you look beyond our weakness,  And find purest gold in miry clay,  Turning sinners into saints.

 

And I will always sing your praise,  Here on earth and ever after,  For you've shown me heavens, my true home,  When it's all been said and done

You're my life when life is gone...”

 

 

Charley Elgin

The Darker The Night, The Brighter The Light - So Let The Light In You Shine

My Utmost For His Highest

 

We have been made as the filth of the world… —1 Corinthians 4:13

 

“These words are not an exaggeration. The only reason they may not be true of us […] is not that Paul forgot or misunderstood the exact truth of them, but that we are too cautious and concerned about our own desires to allow ourselves to become the refuse or “filth of the world.” “[…] “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.”  CHAMBERS

 

Are you willing to be rejected and reviled because of your faith?  What if it is your family, people you care about that reject you?  What if it is your culture?  Christians in the United States, at least in the past, have had the advantage of living in a culture that largely embraced Biblical values.  But that acceptance has eroded over time as the culture drift away to embrace something that is called good, but is. Biblically speaking, not.  (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.”  Thinking well that is the Old Testament?  Here is the New Testament. (Romans 1:21-24)  “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts.”  Read the rest of the first chapter of Romans to see a portrait of the culture in the United States.

 

The pattern we see in the Old Testament is one where there was a generation that knew God, a generation that knew about God, and a generation that did not know God.  That is the pattern.  Our country is not very old, but is on the same path.  So what does that mean for you?  It means that you will be out of step with the majority.  What the Bible calls bad, the culture calls good.  You are face with a choice.  Do you embrace the culture or do you embrace the Lord?  You and I both know what the right answer is, but our answer is best revealed by how we live and what we like, not by what we say or hope.  How much do you value acceptance by those around you?  More than the Lord’s acceptance?  Are you willing to embrace rejection?  Many of us have already faced the some form of it.  When Peter was faced with the accusation of being with Jesus, he rejected Jesus three times.  But then, he and John stood before the religious leaders and preached the Gospel to them, unafraid.  What was the difference?  In the first case, Peter was trusting in himself, (Luke 22:33-34), but later, he stood before the most significant men of the Jewish faith trusting in the power of the Spirit. (Acts 4).  And so it is with us.  Your Christian testimony in dark times is not dependent upon your strength, but the power of God in you.  Don’t forget that or you just might find yourself denying Jesus.  Remember .. the darker the night . .the brighter the Light. So let the light in you shine.   ELGIN

 

Charley Elgin

Living In The Significance Of Your Salvation

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. […] There is nothing easier than getting saved, because it is solely God’s sovereign work— “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22). Our Lord never requires the same conditions for discipleship that he requires for salvation. We are condemned to salvation through the Cross of Christ. But discipleship has an option with it— “If anyone…” (Luke 14:26). 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.”  CHAMBERS

 

Are you familiar with the phrase “Talk to the hand”?  If not, it means, “I am not listening any more so you might as well talk to my hand for what good it will do you”.  We can become like that with the Lord.  Not intentionally, but it happens all too often.  We become content in our definition of what it means to “be a Christian”.  The problem?  We lose our awareness of the significance of our salvation.  We don’t have an appreciation for what it means to be servants.  Jesus said He did not come to be served but to serve. (Matthew 20:28)  He was focused on doing the will of the Father.  (John 6:38) “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”  Jesus is our example in so many ways, but particularly in how we are to relate to the Father and to the world.  I think that most Christians under-estimate the level of effort required to stay focused on the Father’s will, to hear God’s voice, and to walk in obedience to it.  In fact with become satisfied with something less that God’s intent and label it – faithfulness.  All of us must be on our guard.  We all have feet of clay.

 

As I get older, my hearing it not as sharp as it used to be.  When I am in  a place of competing sounds, I must focus intently on the sound/voice that I want to hear.  So it is with hearing God.  But more than hearing … we must do what He says.  (James 1:22) “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”  ELGIN

 

“It’s Your Will”  DC Talk

 

“ I'm setting the stage for the things I love.  And I'm now the man I once couldn't be.  Nothing on earth could now ever move me.  I now have the will and the strength a man needs

 

Complexity haunts me for I am two men  Entrenched in a battle that I'll never win  My discipline fails me, my knowledge it fools me  But You are my shelter, all the strength that I need

 

I'm learning to give up the rights to myself  The bits and the pieces I've gathered as well  They're nothing compared to the joy that You bring me  The peace that You show me is the strength that I need

 

[chorus]

 

It's my will, and I'm not moving,  Cause if it's Your will, then nothing can shake me,  It's my will, to bow and praise You,  I now have the will to praise my God”

 

Charley Elgin

It's Not Just Your Words, But Your Works That Proclaim Jesus To The World

My Utmost For His Highest

 

Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel… —1 Corinthians 1:17

 

“Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the gospel. But remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” namely, the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ.  […] we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see John 12:32). […] Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. […] The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason— these things kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.”  CHAMBERS

 

(Note) Many of the devotions published by Oswald Chamber’s wife were from sermons that he had given at his Bible college.  His focus was on encouraging the students as they received biblical training in their quest of “full-time” vocational ministry.  I often edit out portions that address their pursuit in an attempt to focus on the parts that apply to everyone.  That is what the […] mean.

 

The proclamation of the Gospel is not limited to the hearty few.  It is a more general command to everyone who claims Jesus as Lord and Savior.  It is so very important to keep things in their proper perspective and order.  To be an effective witness, I must be first be a faithful follower.  To be a faithful follower, I must be an obedient child.  To be an obedient child, I must be submitted to the authority of the Spirit and the Word of God.  Since we cannot save anyone .. only God can … I must be right before God before I can be used by Him in the process of salvation of someone else, for His glory.  Telling people about Jesus when our hearts are far from Him is ineffectual.  There is no Spiritual power behind them.

 

(Ephesians 1:11-14) “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”  That is the new life we have been born into.  As we live that life, we show the

world Jesus, not just through our words but through our works.  And all of that through the power that God put in us, not our own effort.  How cool is that!  ELGIN

 

Charley Elgin

Why Would The God Of Heaven Speak To You? Because He Loves You- Believe it!

My Utmost For His Highest

 

Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. —1 Samuel 3:15

 

“God never speaks to us in dramatic ways, but in ways that are easy to misunderstand. Then we say, “I wonder if that is God’s voice?” Isaiah said that the Lord spoke to him “with a strong hand,” that is, by the pressure of his circumstances (Isaiah 8:11). Without the sovereign hand of God Himself, nothing touches our lives. Do we discern His hand at work, or do we see things as mere occurrences?  Get into the habit of saying, “Speak, Lord,” and life will become a romance (1 Samuel 3:9). Every time circumstances press in on you, say, “Speak, Lord,” and make time to listen. Chastening is more than a means of discipline— it is meant to bring me to the point of saying, “Speak, Lord.” Think back to a time when God spoke to you. Do you remember what He said? Was it Luke 11:13, or was it 1 Thessalonians 5:23? As we listen, our ears become more sensitive, and like Jesus, we will hear God all the time.”  CHAMBERS

 

Do you believe that God would ever speak to you?  Why would He?  Why should He?  There are any number of reasons that we can come up with that would lessen our standing and relationship with the Father.  Make us something less than the “spiritual” Christians that we read about or see standing in front of us, sharing about how God has used them.  And we think, that could never be me.  But it is you …. (Ephesians 2: 8-13)  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” 

 

The “we” in those verses includes you, my friend.  The works that we do in our flesh, on our own, cannot save us or please God, but the works we do by the power of the Spirit, God has ordained as part of His plan to restore the lost.  You are part of that plan.  What you need to do is accept that as truth, walk in it, and listen for God’s voice .. in circumstances ,  as your read the Word, as you pray, and through the encouragement of other saints who are, themselves, walking after the Spirit and not the flesh.  Sshhhh!  What was that?  Was that the Lord speaking to you by His Spirit through this devotion?  Think about it and pray about it, but more importantly, do what He says.  ELGIN

 

Charley Elgin

Why Do You Do What You Do, Is It God Or Is It You?

My Utmost For His Highest

 

Who are You, Lord? —Acts 26:15

 

“There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances.[…] Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction.” CHAMBERS

 

(Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end leads to destruction.”  I once heard someone say, we should do all we can and let God do the rest.  Well-meaning I suppose.  Suggesting it is wrong for us to not do anything.  And it is.  But the question is “Why are we doing what we do?”  Are you doing what you think you need to so you can get past a difficult place? Has the Lord showed you that you should be doing something else?  Are you submitted to the leading of the Spirit or are you cutting your own path.  Dr. Henry Blackaby, in Experiencing God, said “Some say don’t just stand there, do something.  But God often says, don’t just do something, stand there.”  In other words, wait on the Lord and then do what He says.  We should not be creating opportunities for God to intervene.  He may not.  God “speaks in the language of circumstances”.

 

What causes Christians to get ahead of God? To act on their own.  Fear …… which at its root is lack of faith in God.  How do you increase your faith?  By exercising your faith.  Keeping your eyes fixed on the Lord and stepping out in the direction that He leads.  We all have plenty of opportunities to do that.  ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

 

Charley Elgin

Living For Yourself Or Living For God Is A Choice - Choose Well

My Utmost For His Highest

 

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? —Acts 26:14

 

Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? […] Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set on our own ambitions, […]  Every time we stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self-respect, we systematically disturb and grieve His Spirit. […] Is the Word of God tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand it on to you, or does my life betray the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. […] All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that others may use me, go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to it for His sake.” CHAMBERS

 

We must avoid taking on a form of godliness, while denying the source of our godliness.  How do we deny Him?  By living our lives the way we see fit and not in the way that the Spirit shows us.  Does it seem impossible to do right and live right at times?  It is, apart from the power of God at work in us.  Will we struggle with this our whole “earthly” lives?  Very likely.  I don’t believe, so long as we walk on this earth that we will not experience conflict between our flesh and spiritual nature.  They both want to be dominant.  Both require submission. The flesh is a bully … the spirit is not.  The first uses fear to coerce, the second uses love to encourage.  We are faced with the choice every day.  (Joshua 24:15)  “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It really is your choice, so choose well.   ELGIN

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

 

Charley Elgin