Are You Living With A Half-Baked Heart?

My Utmost For His Highest

Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father…that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes." —Matthew 11:25

{CHAMBERS} We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— “But if we walk in the light,” we are cleansed “from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again.  All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. […] Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. […] If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. […] And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. […] God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already.

{ELGIN} “Trust and obey for there is not other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey”  When James wrote “Faith  by itself, without works, is dead” (James 2:17)  the implication is that we are to do something.  Something good.  That something good is doing the will of the Father.  Obeying God.  We tend to think of us doing something by ourselves.  Not so.  If you have faith you will show it by being obedient to the Father, that may mean but does not necessarily mean giving  a cup of cold water to a thirsty man.  Even the unsaved can do that … and they do.  There are many who are lost that do “good” things for others.  Think about the story of the rich young ruler.  Faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), is all about trust in the Father and in the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection.  Listen, God never blesses us before obedience, it is always after.  If you are living your life with a half-baked heart – one foot in heaven and the other planted firmly in the world – you ask God for blessings and then call your new car a blessing which you bought on credit and are indebted to the world?  John wrote, “love not the world or the things of this world” (1 John 2:15)  Mark my words, when you are laying on your death bed, it will not be the car that is on your mind and heart.  You know what God wants you to do … so do it. You will be blessed beyond measure .. but it won’t be a new car .. and that, frankly, won’t matter to you because your heart will be fixed on the Father.

Don't Be A Christian Could-A Had-A

My Utmost For His Highest

…present…your members as instruments of righteousness to God. —Romans 6:13

{CHAMBERS} “I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. […] We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ. […] Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.”

{ELGIN} There was nothing we could do to save ourselves except place our faith in Jesus Christ and there is nothing we can do to be successful in this new life except to submit to the will of God – to say “yes Lord, I will trust you and obey.  Yes Lord, yes to your will and to your way. When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree and I will answer yes Lord, yes.”  The is a phrase from a great song, but it is much more than that.  It describes the attitude of the heart of a Christian walking by faith in obedience to the voice and direction of God.  While driving around Pasadena Texas, I saw a pizza restaurant – Peter Piper Pizza.  That brought back memories to Martie and me from our time at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas in the early ‘80s.  We loved the jalapeno pizza!  Their advertising slogan was “Don’t be a could-a had-a! Don’t say I could-a had-a Peter Piper pizza!”  Well, I would say the same to you about your life in Christ.  We choose our level of spirituality.  Once you are born again, you can choose to grow in your faith or you can vegetate.  Never grow up.  Never experience the fullness of your faith and blessing found in trust and obedience.  Do you trust God enough to leave your old nature behind.  Or are you  like Lot’s wife, looking back longingly to what you are leaving behind, even though God has said that is what you must do.

Listen, we all struggle with laying the natural down and picking up our cross of submission and faith and following Jesus.  This new life of our requires determination and deliberate action.  There is a tension between the natural and the supernatural.  If you don’t grow your faith through the Word, prayer, worship and fellowship with other   believers you will always find it hard to walk in obedience to God and easy to slip back into your old, natural ways.  The ways that God has called you to leave.  The ways that do not honor God.  Friend don’t be a “Could-a Had-a” I could have had a more fulfilling life in Christ, if only I had trusted Him and not myself to decide what is good and what the Lord required of me. (Micah 6:8) “But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”. 

Why You Have A Problem With Consistency As A Christian

My Utmost For His Highest

When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… —Galatians 1:15-16

{CHAMBERS} “[…] I have a heredity in which I had no say or decision; I am not holy, nor am I likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is tell me that I must be holy, His teaching only causes me to despair. […] Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into anyone the hereditary nature that was in Himself, and all the standards He gives us are based on that nature— His teaching is meant to be applied to the life which He puts within us. The proper action on my part is simply to agree with God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ. […] The moral miracle of redemption is that God can put a new nature into me through which I can live a totally new life. […] Just as the nature of sin entered into the human race through one man, the Holy Spirit entered into the human race through another Man (see Romans 5:12-19). And redemption means that I can be delivered from the heredity of sin, and that through Jesus Christ I can receive a pure and spotless heredity, namely, the Holy Spirit.”

{ELGIN} Sin entered in through the first Adam.  Redemption entered in through the second Adam, Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:45)  Pretty simple.  So why is it so hard to live in that redemption? The truth is that it is not, so long as you are willing to lay your life down and live by the faith and the power of the Spirit.  You --- cannot live the new life through determination and effort.  You can only live the new life through submission and sacrifice.  We must stop trying to “be good” and allow Him IS good to live through us.  The word Father means Source.  God is the source of all that is good.  It is by His grace that we are saved through our faith.  Do not be content with a mediocre Christian existence.  And it’s not attending church that makes you a better Christian.  You can sit in a pew with a hard heart just as easily as you can sit on your sofa at home.  Another conference is not the answer.  Yielding your heart to God is the answer.  Picking up your cross daily and following Jesus is the answer.  Offering yourself as a living sacrifice is the answer.  Living by faith.  Walking by the power of the Spirit.  Not leaning on your own understanding but trusting God is the answer.  Do you need other Christians to help, most probably.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken!  But you can hang out with Billy Graham with your hard heart to no avail.  And this culture, this fallen world will certainly harden your heart toward the things of God.  Don’t kid yourself.  Don’t pretend.  We all struggle with this malady.  Friend we all need more Jesus.  He is the way, truth, and life. 

Christian - Stop Living With a Divided Heart And A Double Mind

My Utmost For His Highest

Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned… —Romans 5:12

{CHAMBERS} “The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away— an infinitely more profound revelation (see Hebrews 9:26). The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, “I am my own god.” This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis— my claim to my right to myself. When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man (see John 2:25).

Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch— only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light…” (John 3:19).”

{ELGIN}  Normally I try to find a few nuggets of spiritual truth in the Chamber’s devotion as a segue into an elaboration on those spiritual truths.  And then there are time when the devotion is so rich with truth, I quote the entire devotion.  Today is such a day. The essence is this.  Man chose to go his own way in the Garden in response to Satan’s question “Did God really say you will surely die?”  In other words, “What does God know?”  You know what is best for you, you don’t need God telling you what to do. “You can be your own god.”  Adam and Eve chose to believe Satan and sin entered in.  The eating the fruit was not the evil thing, it was disobedience that was evil.  Humans are capable of doing much good and much evil.  We would like to think that the good people have a shot of getting into heaven, but the only way is to be born again (John 3) by faith in Jesus (John 14) and not by trying harder (Ephesians 2).  Your desire to be your own god will haunt you until the day you see Jesus face to face. (Romans 7) You can only be successful in this new life by trusting in Jesus and keeping yours eyes on Him and your heart devoted to God.  That, my friend, doesn’t just happen, it requires a determined effort on your part.  It is important to understand your old nature and understand your new nature.  They are incompatible.  Your can’t do both.  “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8) It’s up to you what you do with it.

We Respond To Life With The Nature That Rules Our Hearts

My Utmost For His Highest

…to those who are…called to be saints… —1 Corinthians 1:2

{CHAMBERS} “[…] We have seen what we are not, and what God wants us to be, but are we willing to be battered into the shape of the vision to be used by God? […] There are times when we do know what God’s purpose is; whether we will let the vision be turned into actual character depends on us, not on God. If we prefer to relax on the mountaintop and live in the memory of the vision, then we will be of no real use in the ordinary things of which human life is made.”

{ELGIN}  How do you approach life?  I mean .. as you live from one event to another .. from one breath to another breath … what is it that determines how you respond to the events in your life?  What you think .. what you do .. what you say.  As Christians we have a choice, actually.  Because this new life we live, we live in the flesh by faith, we can choose to respond in the natural or in the supernatural.  We can respond as the world does, or we can respond like Jesus did.  How you respond is determined by your true disposition.  If you see your new life as merely an attribute, like being a citizen of the United States or having red hair, then you are in trouble spiritually.  You can hope to respond to life differently, but it is not going to happen.  Often times, we confuse spiritual response with natural constraint.  Let me explain by example.

Mary is talking to you when she says something that is very offensive. How do you respond?  Naturally, you are thinking an unkind thought, but you restrain yourself so as not to give how you really feel away.  Spiritually, you are not affected by the words, but see Mary’s heart, the source of what comes out of her mouth, and pray for her.  You hold no grudge against her, but have forgiven her for the offense.  You show compassion for Mary.  Like Jesus did for those who crucified Him.  The offense will not be logged away in your heart to be pulled up at some time in the future.  Let’s say your children are like whirlwinds in your house.  They won’t listen so you yell at them.  You just can’t take it anymore.  You can’t help yourself.  You are right … your old nature is stronger than your will to not yell at your children … but your old nature is not stronger than your new nature, whose source is the Creator God.  You will respond to life from your true nature .. which nature is that?  The one that rules your heart.  Not the one that you want to rule, but the one that sits on the throne.  Living supernaturally does not just happen, it is a deliberate process, yielding your life to God each day, living by faith, meditating on the Word (when was the last time you read the Bible on your own?)  You are a child of God, don’t be satisfied with anything less.

Serving God Requires Faith Plus The Power Of God

My Utmost For His Highest

He said to them, "This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." —Mark 9:29

{CHAMBERS}  ““His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ ” (Mark 9:28). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. […] We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him. When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? […] Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13)“

{ELGIN} You cannot do anything for God unless it is done by faith in God.  Oh, you can do things in His name, but it really amounts to work accomplished by your own effort.  Ephesians 2:8,9 says we are saved by grace through faith not of works lest any man boast that somehow he had saved himself by his own effort.  And so it is when you step out for God.  There is nothing I can do that pleases God in terms of effort, what God wants from me is a broken and contrite heart and a willingness to pick up my cross and follow Jesus.  But God I am so smart. Who gave you your intelligence?  When you serve God you must lay a spiritual foundation.  If you say “yes” God will take you places that would crush your spirit and cause you to feint in the intensity of the circumstances. Whether it be a lion’s dens, a fiery furnace, or ministering to a difficult person in a difficult situation, God is sufficient to meet your needs. (Philippians 4:19) “… my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

Have you ever wondered what the difference was between a Christian giving someone a drink of water and a non-Christian doing the same thing?  The person receiving the water has their thirst quenched either way.  Sometimes we are guilty of thinking that only Christians can do “good” things.  Not true.  But the is something supernatural going on when a Christian serves others.  Jesus told the woman at the well that He had living water to give her.  He could offer water to her soul … and so can you.  You must have the Spirit of God in you to do that.  There are organizations involved in disaster relief that have the  reputation for being “spiritual” but, in fact merely have a religious veneer. They will not allow Christians to share their faith in their desire to be “ecumenically correct” and not offend people of other beliefs or no belief at all.  Disasters are not an opportunity to take advantage of people’s vulnerability.  But they do give opportunity for the Church to rise up and be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within them. (1 Peter 3:15)  There are no spiritual strings attached to our serving others, but there is spiritual power behind it.  God uses circumstances to speak to the lost.  Sometimes He whispers and sometimes He SHOUTS!  In any case we must be ready to shine the light of Jesus whatever the situation and circumstance.

What To Do When Trouble Comes Your Way - Rejoice!

My Utmost For His Highest

If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. —Mark 9:22

{CHAMBERS} “The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him. […] Look back at your own experience and you will find that until you learned who Jesus really was, you were a skillful skeptic about His power. When you were on the mountaintop you could believe anything, but what about when you were faced with the facts of the valley? You may be able to give a testimony regarding your sanctification, but what about the thing that is a humiliation to you right now?”

{ELGIN} What is your expectation of your new life in Christ? Is it that things will go your way.  That troubles will somehow skip over your house and land on another because you are sanctified and justified in Jesus?  If you have been a Christian longer than a day, you know that is not going to happen.  So how do you reconcile the idea of faith, hope and love with the reality of living your life in a sin-sick world?  Well … we have faith, we have hope, we are loved and demonstrate the love of God in spite of the world we live in.  In spite of the trouble that comes.  (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.” Does that sound like we are going to live a “trouble-free” life?  Ok how about this? Jesus said (John 16:33) “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Ok, one more … (James 1:2-4) “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.”

Trouble is a test and without a test there is no test-imony. Our lives should be the “fragrance of Christ”. (2 Corinthians 2:14-15) “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…”  In the testing of your faith through the realities of living this life on earth, the world can and should Jesus in you.  That is unless you choose to face life on your own.  Doing your best to deal with whatever comes your way.  Ignoring the power that is within you that comes by faith and doing your best to deal with your trouble using your own wisdom and strength.  Oh friend, God did not intend for you to live your new life the same way that you lived your old one.  You are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.  You must live by faith and not by sight.  Everyday you must look to the hills from whence your help cometh.  Look up and let your light shine among men .. to the glory of God and salvation of the lost.  Especially when trouble comes your way.