How Is Your Vision - Can You Still See the Father For Who He Is?

My Utmost For His Highest

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord… —Isaiah 6:1

{CHAMBERS}  “My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification. Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.” Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.”

{ELGIN} (Isaiah 6:1-3) “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.””  What is your view of Jehovah God?  Is He waiting for your beckoning call to do something for you? Or is He the Creator of the Universe, all powerful and all knowing.  We can enter before His throne of Grace boldly (Hebrews 4:16) because we are His children, but He, nevertheless, is still God almighty.  The reason that we can enter into His presence is because of Jesus Christ, not by our own merit.  Do you live your life in awe of the Father of lights (James 1:17) or have you lost your respect for who He is.  Your view of God is the foundation for your view of your life in Christ.  Maybe you need to do a “system reset” and reconsider the One who loved us enough to send His Son to die for us (John 3:16). 

I was thinking the other day about times past when I had considerable authority of other people.  When I walked into their presence they would stand up.  Not because of Charley, but because of the authority that I had.  There is a song that says “come just as you are”.  It does not mean that it doesn’t matter how you approach God, it means that you can’t ever be good enough to enter into His presence on your own, so don’t try to be good enough. Instead, embrace the One who can stand in His presence, Jesus Christ.  Jesus has made it possible for us to enter boldly – meaning that we do not need to fear that we will be turned away or struck down.  God will receive us because of His Son and only because of His Son.  Don’t let that understanding fade and make your relationship less than what it should be.  Something to think and pray about.

When You Read The Word Therefore - Look To See What It Is There For! It Is There For You

My Utmost For His Highest

…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… —Ephesians 4:13

{CHAMBERS}  “Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. […] We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body. Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “…that I may know Him…” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted.”

{ELGIN} (2 Corinthians 5:17-20) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” We all have been given the ministry of reconciliation.  Our faith is not just to keep us, alone, out of hell and give us the assurance of heaven.  We are not to just hide our light under a bushel basket.  Our light shine on our family, our neighbors, our community, our country and the world.  We had a pastor in Savannah, Georgia who would say “Now, if you see the word “therefore” you  have to look to see what it is there – for. (2 Corinthians 5:14-16) “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” 

Having died and being raised again, in Christ (Galatians 2:20),  and not relating to people from a worldly point of view … how is that working for you by the way … And so .. or therefore … we are new creatures … the flesh crucified .. the Spirit reigns in our life … and we have been given charge to share the Gospel … to encourage others to be reconciled with God through Jesus just as we have been.  Would you say that what I just described typifies your life?  Or would you say that you spend most of your energy on self-maintenance .. trying to be more holy … focused on yourself … managing your sin … God has purposed so much more for you.  Paul’s words are not just for the pastors and missionaries … they are for the Church .. the body of Christ.  And if you are born again, you are a member of that Body.  Therefore you need to understand and embrace what you are here-for.  And then walk in it.

When Someone Offends You Are You Stirred Up To Show Them Jesus . .Or Just Stirred Up?

My Utmost For His Highest

Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… —Hebrews 10:24-25

{CHAMBERS} “We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it. The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. […] The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren…” (Matthew 28:10).”

{ELGIN}  I find it amazing how we can live two distinctly different realities.  The one reality is that I am a Christian and I love the Lord.  All is well with me and the world.  That is until someone offends us.  Then we walk in the “other” reality.  That is the reality of indignation, vindictiveness and resentment.  The thing is we can switch between these two realities like we were using a light switch.  The fact is, that God sees our hearts and He knows our hearts are divided. (James 1:5-8) “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”  We think we have it together spiritually, but our faith is weak .. in our heart we doubt.  We still rely on our old nature .. and we know that there is nothing good in it .. but it drives us all the same. 

Switch on .. switch off.  It seems crazy.  For many if you tell them they are doing it they don’t believe you.  They are not strong enough spiritually speaking to see the difference.  And lest you think that older saints are free from that craziness .. think again.  You are only one unguarded thought away.  Love must prevail and that love comes by faith and submission to the Spirit. ( 1 Corinthians 13:4-7) “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  Which reality do you spend most of your time in?

The Key To Building A Strong Faith

My Utmost For His Highest

Enter by the narrow gate….Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life…. —Matthew 7:13-14

{CHAMBERS} “If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult.  The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in— it stirs us up to overcome.  Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory? […] If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us. […] God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life.”

{ELGIN} As I was reading Chamber’s words I was thinking about the parallel between the health journey that my wife an I have embarked on and the spiritual journey that we have been traveling for, now, 41 years.  We are on a fairly Spartan regimen with respect to our eating habits.  Very often we are asked the question “Do you ever cheat?”  The thought behind  that question is “ I could not live like that, I love food too much.”  The key to success with the program we are on is structure and discipline.  The same for the Christian life.  Let me say that we are tempted from time to time.  Like the day that we bought a pizza for the twins and it sat between Martie and me in the car while we drove back to the house.  That pizza smelled wonderful.  We knew how good it tastes.  But that was no longer part of our life.  I must say this analogy breaks down at this point because one day, after we reach our goal weight, we may have a slice of pizza .. but I will not eat the whole thing by myself!

Our new life in Christ requires that we put God first and that we pursue the disciplines of the faith to mature in our faith.  It doesn’t just happen.  It requires work .. determination … consistency … accountability.  You will not be successful on your own.  Dr. Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, said every Christian needs a Paul, a Barnabus, and a Timothy in their lives.  A Paul to teach us, to building to our lives, a Barnabus to encourage us and hold us accountable, and a Timothy into whose life we can build.  You don’t need a seminary degree to do those things … but you do need to be spiritually disciplined.  You will face difficult times … but you can endure them … you will face temptations to yield to your flesh … but you can resist them … God has given you everything you need.  You only have to put it into practice.  (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”  The apostle Paul put it this way (Philippians 4:8-10) “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” That doesn’t happen without determined effort, but when it does your light will shine before all men.

Hey Christian - Got A Light?

My Utmost For His Highest                                                                                                   

The parched ground shall become a pool… —Isaiah 35:7

{CHAMBERS}  “We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation. God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. […] While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.”

{ELGIN}  God calls, God prepares and God sends.  That pattern is clear in the Bible.  But it is not something just for the famous Bible characters. God has called us all to some purpose in the kingdom.  (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.”  We all have a place and purpose.  He calls us to it, He prepares us for it, and then He sends us to fulfill it.  It may not be leading thousands of people from bondage, but perhaps one or two by sharing the Gospel with a friend.  It may not be traveling a great distance to preach to those who have never heard about Jesus, but it perhaps preaching to your children through the Christ-like example that you are living each day.  Dr. James Dobson said “Values are caught they are not taught.”  It is not the Bible story that you read at night as much as it is how you conduct yourself during the day.  When I was with Promise Keepers we had a saying .. “you can’t lead where you won’t go.  You can’t teach what you don’t know. And you can only recreate what you are.” God must prepare you for His purpose.  The starting point of preparation, of course, is salvation.  But the journey is sanctification and walking by faith.  He may very well take you through the fiery furnace … or through a raging storm at sea … but it will always be for a spiritual purpose.  A.W. Tozer said “God does not use a man (person) greatly, until they have been hurt deeply.”  Part of our preparation will undoubtedly be personal trials.

(James 1:2-8)  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

Often times we think of calling only in terms of missionaries – pastors – teachers – evangelists.  And some are called to fulfill those roles in the Church – the Body of Christ.  But we all have purpose in the Body.  An Elgin axiom – “The darker the night – the brighter the light.” A little light can be seen from a long distance.  I can remember flying in the desert on a moonless night.  You could barely tell the difference from the sky and the ground.  Then someone on the ground would break a “chem-stick” and I could see that tiny light from a great distance.  Your light may only be bright enough to fill a room, while others can illuminate a stadium … it doesn’t matter … the source of the light is all the same .. and God will give you sufficient light to accomplish the purpose He has for you.  Your job – let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Who Holds Your Future? Your 401K Or Jehovah God - You Heart Reveals The Truth

My Utmost For His Highest               

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5

CHAMBERS}  “Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.  In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. […] Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not….” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.”

{ELGIN}  As I read the Chambers devotions in preparation for comments in this BLOG I often have thoughts arise that are so contrary to the ways of our culture. Ways or practices or attitudes about certain things we would call common sense and being practical or responsible in the “cradle of material affluence”. Often, my first response is often to dispel them or at least water them down.  But, then, I am reminded of the nature of God.  (Isaiah 55:8) “"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.”  It is curious that we can take the practical things of the natural and kludge them on to the supernatural, in the name of common sense.  The necessity of maintaining our lifestyle is an example.   The whole idea of retirement, for the affluent, has become maintaining what we have into perpetuity (love that word!) When it is time to retire, we want enough money coming in every month to maintain the life we have grown accustomed to. (I mean what is wrong with that?)  We have an entire industry built on that desire.  That thinking is not a problem for the poor. 

After Hurricane Matthew, I made the comment about the devastation in Anse du Clerc saying.  “The people of Haiti lost everything, much like the people on the Gulf Coast after Katrina, but they did not have as far to fall from something to nothing.”  Having money and possessions is not a sin.  Loving them and trusting in them for security more than we trust God is.  It is hard to know when we have crossed that line.  Like the parable of the man who wanted to build bigger barns (Luke 12:13-21).  It seemed the reasonable thing to do, at least from the natural perspective.  Now if what I am saying is disagreeable to you, I would caution you to examine your heart.  (Luke 16:12-14) ““No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.”  So is it wrong to save for the future, I don’t think so.  Just don’t let it become your god and cause you to say “no” when Jehovah God comes calling.  Something to think about – and perhaps pray about

So You Want To Change - You Must Embrace The Conviction Of The Holy Spirit

My Utmost For His Highest 

Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips… —Isaiah 6:5

{CHAMBERS} “When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. […] God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence. This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. […] the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.””

{ELGIN}  A couple in our Sunday school class shared during our prayer time that they were struggling with an addiction to nicotine – aka smoking cigarettes.  Both wanted to quit.  I thanked them for their willingness to share their struggle with us so we knew how to pray for them.  It was not a question of judging them.  I told them that they were not going to hell because they smoked .. although some misinformed but well-intentioned Christians might argue that point … The conviction that the couple felt about cigarettes came from the Spirit of God.  (John 16:8-10) “And when He [the Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me”  The Spirit will convict us of the things in our hearts that do not bring honor to God.  I would argue that nicotine is a poor substitute for the comfort that we can find in God.  Nicotine is a cruel master that very often leads us to a painful physical death.  (John 14:26) “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things”  The Spirit will teach us the way to go and show us right from wrong living. 

What is happening in the lives of the couple in our class is spiritual.  Part of the sanctification process. True, sometimes people try to clean themselves up on their own .. and fail.  You may have found yourself on that treadmill a time or two.  It is not until we yield to the Spirit and accept that our metamorphosis from the old nature to the new is a “God-thing” will that change take root in our lives.  I love to watch God at work, don’t you?  When I speak to anyone about what I was like before Jesus, they do not believe me.  Why?  Because God has changed me so that who I was is no longer recognizable.  But it is not me, it’s Jesus in me. (Galatians 2:20) That is not to say that I have arrived .. we all struggle with the flesh and will so long as our feet are walking this earth.  To quote John Newton (he wrote Amazing Grace) “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am” Can I get an Amen?