The Problem is not the What -- But the Will

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. […] Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you.’ CHAMBERS

 

(1 Corinthians 8:9-13)  “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

 

(1 Corinthians 6:12 NKJV)  “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.”

 

Even though we have freedom in Christ, we are not free to do whatever we want … Even those things that are ‘OK’ to do, we may not do because we would cause a Brother to stumble in his faith.  You may ask Cain’s question.  “Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9)  Are you willing to not do something for the benefit of others?  Most of us are willing to do something for someone.  But are you willing to ‘not do something’ for someone.  To say ‘no’ to yourself for the sake of another person? That requires the attitude of Jesus … a willingness to lay your life down for others.  Are you? Will you? And if you are asking yourself, what thing must I stop doing? You most likely already know.  It typically is not the “what” that is the problem, it’s the “will”.

 

(John 15:13) “No greater love has one man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Speaking The Truth In Love

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.’ CHAMBERS

 

The Word of God never changes … God gave us the Word because He wanted us to know certain things about His nature and ours, and about His provision (through Jesus) and our purpose (in Jesus).  Speaking the Truth, in love, means telling people things that they may not want to hear, but what they need to hear.  Why? Because it is the truth.  When we dilute the Word, we modify the truth.  When we are prompted by the Spirit to speak .. and we don’t because we feel sorry for the person or people we are speaking to, we quench the Spirit. Sometimes we do this out of pity and other times out of fear … when instead we should speak out of obedience and by faith.

 

If you promised to never to raise your voice when speaking to your child, but then saw that child about to walk in front of an oncoming car, would you cry out in a loud voice to them?  Why? To save them from harm.  In the same way, we must be like Peter and John … speaking boldly before the people around us .. with confidence in the One who has called us and in the power of the One who prompts us to speak.

 

(Colossians 3:14-17 NKJV) “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Life is not fair, but God is just

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, “Why should I be treated like this?” CHAMBERS

 

Some years ago we were serving in a place where we were treated unjustly.  We were actually in shock … and vexed.  We did not know how to respond .. fortunately, God had already placed the right people around us at the right time and we received the right counsel from some wonderful Christian friends.  Their advice was to say nothing in our defense, but let God vindicate us.  Looking back … we were prideful in that we were disappointed that ‘we who were serving God’  were being treated poorly and unfairly, but why should we expect to be treated any differently than our Lord was treated?

 

1 Peter 4:12-16 NKJV ‘Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.’

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Now is the accepted time to pray

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.. […] Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.’ CHAMBERS

 

(2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV) “For He says: "IN AN ACCEPTABLE TIME I HAVE HEARD YOU, AND IN THE DAY OF SALVATION I HAVE HELPED YOU." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

 

We often quote a portion of that verse when we are asking people to give their hearts to the Lord.  ‘Today is the day of salvation’ But there is more to it than that.  I was speaking and praying with an American pastor just this week … I told him about my oldest daughter and the physical challenges she was facing.  He asked if we could pray .. I told him that the best time to pray is always ‘now’.  So we did.

 

Our relationship with God .. our connection with Jesus is not supposed to be like a light switch .. something you can turn on and off … We to trust Him .. seek Him .. all the time in every circumstance … all the time  … God is faithful …

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Sin is a Four Letter Word

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.” CHAMBERS

 

Do you know someone who does not struggle with the temptation to sin? Actually, you don’t.  Sin .. or the desire or temptation to sin … is something that all of us struggle with, but  … “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:12-16 NKJV)

 

There are some people who seem to have no problems … and we wonder .. “How do they do that?, How do they live a life free from the things that torment me?”  The answer is, not that they don’t face temptation, but that they respond to the temptation in a way that allows them to resist being drawn away to walk the path that leads to sin.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says that we are all tempted, but God has made a way to escape so that we can stand up against it.  Jesus gave us the example in the desert when He was tempted by Satan.   “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. “ (Hebrews 4:15-16 NKJV)

 

Living successfully in the face of the temptation to sin all boils down to one thing … your connection with Jesus .. are you abiding in the Vine .. or are you trying to produce fruit on your own.  Are you reading the Word of God (Psalm 119:11) .. or are you trying to use your own method ,, your “won’t power” … saying you won’t give in to the temptation … if you could do that successfully  .. Jesus could have stayed in heaven .. but you can’t so He didn’t.

 

“Weak and wounded sinner,  Lost and left to die,  O, raise your head for Love is passing by,[…] Come to Jesus and live”  Come to Jesus -- Chris Rice

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Prayer is not an Option

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘[…] don’t worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said, in essence, “Pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints of God, and pray for all men.” Pray with the realization that you are perfect only in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of this argument: “Oh, Lord, I have done my best; please hear me now.” How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves? We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Christ Jesus. Once we are there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in this ministry of the inner life.’ CHAMBERS

 

What do you spend most of your time praying about .. or if you don’t pray that much .. thinking about in terms of your relationship with God?  Is it you? Or is it others. Part of the work of the Saint is intercession.  Well to be part of the work of the Saint, it has to be something the Saint “does”.  Think about this .. we have been given free access in to the presence of God through the work of Jesus.  That means that we can approach God not only for ourselves, but on behalf of others.  Two suggestions for you .. make prayer a routine like brushing your teeth .. it is something that you do .. not something that you will get to if you find time .. second … when someone asks you to pray, pray right then … not later .. later never finds its way to your schedule.  If God knows everything, why does He want us to pray? Can’t He do it without us? Yes, but for some reason .. He has chosen to use us in His redemption plan through witnessing and His ministering to others through our works and prayers.  Oh a final thought … “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)  Prayer is not really an option.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Gonna Change My Ways

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘I pray, “Lord, I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer— I will walk rightly before You if You will help me.” But I cannot make myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just beginning to save us— He has already saved us completely. […] Whatever circumstances God may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you come in contact now.’ CHAMBERS

 

Have you ever thought, I just need to stop or start doing this or that and then I will be right spiritually. We can’t do anything but one thing to be righteous .. to live a crucified life in Christ .. by faith (Galatians 2:20) We have to stop trying to be good and to do good and trust in the One who is good. The Bible is replete with admonitions to trust God and turn from our own understanding and sin-flawed effort.  We must resist the temptation to focus in, on ourselves, and, instead, focus out on God and others (Matthew 22:37-29).  We look at others behavior but rather than pray for them as we should, we condemn them.  The Bible says to pray for each other (James 5:16) even those who don’t treat you well … (Matthew 5:44)

 

Well, that should keep you busy today!

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)