Loosen Your Grip

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— “Come to Me . . . .” In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, “Just as I am, I come.”’ CHAMBERS

 

Why is it that we resist surrender to God.  There are aspects of our lives that we hold on to.  We don’t trust anyone with them .. not even God.  It is that very thing that God wants you to lay down.  To release from the death grip you have on it.  Why can’t we do it? It is a trust problem ..  a love problem .. When you read the Bible there are many verses that we can acknowledge mentally as being right … but when it reaches our heart … it doesn’t go any farther.  We can love God with our actions, with our intellect, but when God wants those things that are in the recesses of our hearts .. those things that define us .. that make us feel safe … we just can’t seem to do it. The rich young ruler was doing everything by the Book .. except for one thing … He could not give up his wealth .. the very thing that defined him … The thing he depended upon more than God.  You are not hiding anything from God … So what is it that you cling to … lay it down.

 

“Lord you have my heart and I will search for yours. Jesus take my life and lead me on.  Let me be to you a sacrifice.  And I will praise you Lord And I will    sing ---- of-love come down And as you show your face We'll see your glory here”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Understanding Sin

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘Sin is a fundamental relationship— it is not wrong doing, but wrong being— it is deliberate and determined independence from God. The Christian faith bases everything on the extreme, self-confident nature of sin. Other faiths deal with sins— the Bible alone deals with sin. The first thing Jesus Christ confronted in people was the heredity of sin…’ CHAMBERS

 

Romans 5:12,17  Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

 

Sin entered through Adam and was conquered through Jesus. In Adam we were separated from God.  In Jesus we were restored to God.  All sins spring from our sin nature.  If you are having trouble with sinning, it is because your sin nature is at work.  How do you combat your sin nature … through your relationship with Jesus.  The greatest challenge in your Christian walk is not surrender .. it is complete surrender.  We are to cling to nothing but the cross.  I have met so many people who hang on to their past … afraid to release it to God.  They find a strange comfort in holding on to a hurt .. something that defines them … and keeps them from walking in freedom and peace with God.

 

“All to Jesus I surrender. All to Him I freely give.  I will ever love and trust Him. In His presence daily live.  I surrender all.  I surrender all.  All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

 

I am certain that you have sung that song at least once.  What do you imagine the writer of those words was dealing with when they were penned?  We are all made of the same stuff .. dust .. struggle with the same thing .. our sin nature .. and share the same Savior .. Jesus.  Spend some time with Him today.  Yield yourself to the Spirit and resist the flesh.  Give glory to God through your surrendered life.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

When Things Are Not The Way You Thought

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘It is when we are in the valley, where we prove whether we will be the choice ones, that most of us turn back. We are not quite prepared for the bumps and bruises that must come if we are going to be turned into the shape of the vision. 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? The beatings will always come in the most common, everyday ways and through common, everyday people.'

 

I have decided to follow Jesus .. no turning back .. no turning back.  What are your conditions for following Jesus .. for going where you did not think you would or could go?  What happens when your preconceived idea about what things would be are upended with the reality of the way things are?  Before you committed you said “I know God is in this.” Then you are faced with difficult times and you say “This must be a mistake!  These things should not be!” Well, they aren’t in your preconception .. but they are what they are.  Do you think God did not know about these things when He called you?  When He sent you? Those issues are the very reason you are where you are.

 

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.” 

 

Listen … God knows what He is doing … The uncertainty you feel … the disillusionment you experience is really a faith issue.  How do you think your faith will be strengthened? It is by your faith being tested.

 

James 1:2-3 “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”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Your Uncommon Alternative In Christ

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘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? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face.’ CHAMBERS

 

What is it that troubles you? Is it an aspect of your personality that you just cannot seem to rid yourself of? Is it a person who has become your nemesis … constantly maligning you … is it your children .. who have chosen to yield their hearts to the culture and have hardened their hearts toward Jesus … or perhaps it is trouble that you have made for yourself … spending beyond your means to the point that you are enslaved to debtors. Or it could be an illness that has the power to even take your life …

 

All of these things are bigger than you are .. try as you might you cannot control them or make the problems disappear.  So what do you do?  Turn to Jesus.  The power of our new life is that we have a choice about how we face our troubles.  The problems I mentioned are common to man … but you have an uncommon alternative in Christ.  I am not talking about just thinking “happy thoughts”.  I am telling you that if you trust God, the problem may not go away .. but the fear will.  It is really fear that drives your emotions when you even think about the trouble you are facing …

 

Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

 

“Say to those who are fearful hearted … Do not be afraid .. The Lord your God is strong with His mighty arms .. When you call on His name .. He will come and save ..”  He Will Come And Save You – Don Moen

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

I Need Me Some Oil For My Lamp

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘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. Peter thought it would be a wonderful thing for them to remain on the mountain, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mountain and into the valley, where the true meaning of the vision was explained.’ CHAMBERS

 

I was thinking about the Promise Keeper ministry as I read Chambers’ devotion today.  Thousands of men experienced a order of worship and fellowship that was exponentially beyond what they experienced in their churches.  They would return home and, as their wives would often tell me, after two weeks, they were back to the same old ways.  The fire was out .. the glow was gone.  What happened to the good intentions and the new, spiritual commitments?  Life in the valley, that's what.  What those men had failed to do was stay connected to the Source of what they experienced at the conference, and were depending upon the experience to sustain them.  It’s our nature.  We rely on an experience as our source of energy for our daily spiritual walk.  But it is an intimate relationship with Jesus, being connected to the Vine that will cause you to not lose the ‘glow’.

 

It could be a mission trip for you … anything that kindles the fire of the Holy Spirit in you.  But what keeps the fire burning? Staying close to Jesus.  The reality that people are unkind.  What you want is not always what you get.  You still struggle with sin.  What you thought ..  is not what is, in reality.  Very disappointing.  Any and all of those things can be water thrown on the fire .. but if the fire is hot enough, the water will evaporate before it ever gets to the source of the flame.  Don’t let the reality of life in the valley discourage you from serving there.  Look to Jesus and find your strength and perspective.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

When The Glory Fades Will I Still Love Them?

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop.’ CHAMBERS

 

It would be wonderful if our expectations gained on the mountain top matched our experience in the valley.  When Moses would come off of the mountain after being with God, his face glowed.  But after a short while, the glow faded. Like Moses what we consistently experience is a fallen world .. people struggling to survive anyway they can … ingratitude … unceasing demands .. an experience much like Jesus had in His earthly ministry.  It is a test of our faith.    Recently I heard a pastor say … “I do not let what others think of me or say about me affect what I think of them or say about them.” In other words … I am going to love them the way God loves me.

 

Do you know how impossible it is to love people like that on your own.  We can’t do it on our own.  We can only be successful in loving others if we let God love through us.  Do you know how many people (Christians) actually love others that way? I don’t think there are many, because people want a reciprocal love … If I love you then you have to love me back.  If I do something nice to you, then you should show appreciation for what I have done.  Do you remember the story about Hosea and Gomer.  Hosea was a prophet and God told him to marry Gomer a prostitute .. Hosea loved her but she did not reciprocate … it was a picture of God’s relationship with the nation of Israel.  Walking in the valley that God puts your feet in requires the strength we can only get from an intimate relationship with Jesus.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

Are You Willing?

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘[…]  But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. […] If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed—you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.[…] To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience [are used by God] as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.’ CHAMBERS

 

No one looks forward to going through a painful experience, a difficult time.  But it is those very times that God uses to shape us .. to make us a wonderful wine … I am certain it has to do with our will.  We must surrender our will to God … and so often that requires us to be broken .. crushed .. It is a strange dynamic.  When I was in basic training in the Army, the challenge of the drill instructors was to take away our individual identities and make us soldiers. It was a painful experience .. humiliating often times .. physically challenging … but in the end .. we were transformed.  When James said to count it all joy when you face trials .. it was in light of God’s purpose in your life, not because the experience was enjoyable.  (James 1:2-4)  “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

 

Salvation is not like buying a plane ticket for some future trip that you put in a drawer until the day you take the trip.  Salvation is the beginning of a journey that means that you will be transformed into a vessel that will be used by God for His purpose.  That you will be made into a wine that brings healing and restoration … but for that to happen you must first be crushed … Are you willing?

 

“ It's my will, I'm not moving 'Cause if it's Your will, then nothing can shake me

And it's my will to bow and praise You  I now have the will to praise my God

 

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 wealth

Could never compare to the joy that You bring me  The peace that You show me is the strength that I need” DC Talk - My Will

 

DC Talk - My Will on YouTube

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)