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Showing posts with label commitment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commitment. Show all posts

15 January, 2016

Springs in the Valley - Devotional January 15

" And he said unto me, It is done"
Revelation 21:6

How many persons are everlastingly doing, but how few ever get through with it! How few settle a thing and know that it is accomplished and can say "it is done"!

The moment we really believe we are conscious that there is power. We can touch God at such times, and the fire in our souls makes us sure that soemthing is settled forever.

Faith must be a clear -cut taking hold of God; a grasping Him with fingers of iron, with an uncompromising commitment of all to God. In learning to float you must utterly abandon yourself to the water; you must believe that the water is able to hold you up: so you must take this steps of commitment, and then look up to God with confidence and say "it is done." Our part is to commit; God's part is to work. The very moment that we commit, that  very moment He undertakes. We must believe that He has undertaken what we have commited. Faith must re-echo God's promise and dare to say "it is done."

The thing is as good as done, since He has taken it in hand. 

Step out upon a bare promise right now, and "count the things that be not as though they were," and God will make your reckoning real. It will be done by actual experience.
-----Days of Heaven upon Earth.

My olf professor, Lord Kelvin, once said in class a very striking thing. He said that there came a point in all his great discoveries when he had to take a leap into the dark.  And nobody who is afraid of such a leap from the solid ground of what is demonstrated, will know the exhilaration of believing!

To commit ourselves unresevedly to Christ is just the biggest venture in the world!  The wonderful thing is that wehn, with a certain dring, we take Lord Kelvin's  "leap into the dark" we discover it is not dark at all, but life abundant, and liberty and peace.    ----George H. Morrison, D. D

Believe that it is settled becasue God says so!

"God said, and it happened." (Genesis 1:2-7, Finnish trans.)


MY TWO CENTS

I was told by an elder in 2006 that the whole gospel and everything all the apostles are teaching us can be summed up in "live by faith and do not go beyond the moment and if I can do that, then my life would be a prayer to God."

All I cared about that day was the depth of what was said to me. I knew such a life could only be pleasing to Him and I could trust Him with the rest. I went home and committed myself to learn to live moment by moment. I gave it to God as the desire of my heart and trusted Him to make it real in my life. I sort of let go when I found out, even a life of practicing His presence does not help me live every moment for Him the way I wanted to. What I mean by that, even when you practice God’s presence daily and all the time, there are moments during the days that are yours and the flesh flairs up easily.

Here we are in 2016, although, the past few weeks, He has been giving me hints here and there about this need to live moment by moment, but, two days ago, I was interrupted by the Spirit of God while reading the Bible and He confirmed to me that this year is the year that we are going to learn to apply this promise. It was a great moment that makes me feel the need to live with anticipation because He showed me how much living moment by moment with God is a life where there is no such thing as trivial matters to God and He showed me the most trivial thing that I can think of or say with my mouth, matters a great deal to Him.  

Right then and there, I experienced another side of the meaning of God’s word when He says "apart from me you can do nothing."  The anticipation in my heart came from the fact that through this tidbit of revelation, He showed me that He is the one who has to live every moment in me in order to make it a reality in me and in my life. I could also see that the past ten years, He has been laying the foundation of my claim. So, when we claim something from God, we must continue the path as guided by the Spirit, and trust that God is never late and what we entrust in His hands is safe. 

My point here is that, real commitment to the indwelling Christ in us is much harder than we think. In fact, true commitment to Him makes you feel like you have worked so hard for your salvation that you are tempted to believe just that.  But, in reality, all we are doing is committing to Him.  How do I know that? He showed me.

There was a time in the wilderness I was so sure I have worked like crazy to reach where I was with Him.  The Holy Spirit was upset at me for the first time. Then, He told me that I was appropriating what belongs to God.  He then showed me all the time that I felt as if I have been working so hard for my salvation, so much so that I felt truly tired, the spirit said to me "all those years, all you have been doing is committing yourself to me, to the work being done in you and agreeing with me."
When He showed it to me, I could see the effort it takes to agree with God, remain down on your knees and under His mighty hands while He is doing His work in you. IT TAKES EVERYTHING WE GET!

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, don't be content with an easy Christianity while you go glibly through life thinking you actually get it. Be careful of those who keep telling you that you are okay when inside of you, you know something is wrong. Misery loves company.  Those who are working hard at telling you to go forward, have nothing to gain, except your contempt for no allowing you to feel comfortable with your choices

Isaiah 55:8 "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine."



2 Timothy 1:12  "..... I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return."

LISTEN TO PAUL WASHER'S WIFE TESTIMONY


13 October, 2014

The Marriage Altar—and After

J. R. Miller, 1880

The preparations are all at last made. The bridal dress is completed. The day has been fixed. The invitations have been sent out. The hour comes. Two young hearts are throbbing with love and joy. A brilliant company, music, flowers, a solemn hush—as the happy pair approach the altar, the repetition of the sacred words of the marriage ceremony, the clasping of hands, the mutual covenants and promises, the giving and receiving of the ring, the final "Whom God has joined together—let not man put asunder," the prayer and blessing—and the twain are one flesh. There are tears and congratulations, hurried good-byes, and a new bark puts out upon the sea, freighted with high hopes. God grant it may never be dashed upon any hidden rock and wrecked!

Marriage is very like the bringing together of two instruments of music. The first thing, is to get them keyed to the same pitch. Before a concert begins you hear the musicians striking chords and keying their instruments, until at length they all perfectly accord. Then they come out and play some rare piece of music, without a discord or a jar in any of its parts.

No two lives, however thorough their former acquaintance may have been, however long they may have moved together in society or mingled in the closer and more intimate relations of a ripening friendship, ever find themselves perfectly in harmony on their marriage-day. It is only when that mysterious blending begins after marriage, which no language can explain—that each finds so much in the other that was never discovered before. There are beauties and excellences that were never disclosed, even to love's partial eye, in all the days of familiar intimacy.

 There are peculiarities and blemishes which were never seen to exist—until they began to make themselves manifest within the veil of the matrimonial temple. There are incompatibilities that were never dreamed of—until they were revealed in the abrasions of domestic life. There are faults which neither even suspected, in the temper and habits of the other!

Before marriage young people are on their good behavior. They do not exhibit their infirmitiesSelfishness is hidden under garments of courtesy and gallantry. Each forgets SELF—in romantic devotion to the other. The voice is softened and made tender, and even tremulous, by love. The music flows with a holy rhythm mellowed by affection's gentleness. Everything that would make an unfavorable impression, is scrupulously put under lock and key. So there is harmony of no ordinary sweetness made by the two young lives, unvexed by one discordant note.

Marriage is a great mystery. "The twain shall be one flesh" is no mere figure of speech. Years of closest, most familiar, most unrestrained intimacy, bring lives very close together—but there is still a separating wall which marriage breaks down. The two lives become one. Each opens every nook, every chamber, every cranny, to the other. There is a mutual interflow, life pouring into life.
There may have been no intention on the part of either, to deceive the other in the smallest matter, or to cloak the smallest infirmity. But thedisclosure could not, in the very nature of things, have been any more perfect. Each stood in the porch of a house, or at the most sat in itsparlor, never entering any of the inner rooms. Now the whole house is thrown open, and many hitherto unsuspected things are seen!

Too often the restraint seems to fall off, when the matrimonial chain is riveted. No effort is longer made to curb the bad tempers and evil propensities. The delicate robe of politeness is torn away, and many a rudeness appears. It seems to be considered no longer necessary, to continue the old thoughtfulness. Selfishness begins to assert itself. The sweet amenities of the wooing-days are laid aside—and the result is unhappiness! Many a young bride cries herself sick half a dozen times, before she has been a month a bride, and wishes she were back in the bright, happy home of her youth! Oftentimes both the newly-wedded pair become discouraged, and think in their hearts that they have made a mistake!

And yet there is really no reason for discouragement. The marriage may yet be made happy. There is need only for large and wise patience. The two lives require only to be brought into harmony, and love's sweetest music will flow from two hearts in tender unison. But there are several rules which must always be remembered and observed.

Why, for instance, should either party, after the wedding-day, cease to observe all the sweet courtesies, little refinements and charming amenities of the courtship-days? Why should a man be polite all day to everyone he meets—even to the porter in his store, and the bootblack or newsboy on the street—and then less polite to her who meets him at his door with yearning heart hungry for expressions of love? If things have gone wrong with him all day, why should he carry his gloom to his home to darken the joy of his wife's tender heart? Or why should the woman who used to be all smiles and beauty and adornment and perfume when her lover came, meet her husband now with disheveled hair, soiled dress, slovenly manner and face all frowns? Why should there not be a resolute continuance of the old politeness and mutual desire to please—which made the wooing-days so sunny?

Then love must be lifted up out of the realm of the passions and senses—and be spiritualized. There should be converse on the higher themes of life. Many people are wedded only at one or two points. Their natures know but the lower forms of pleasure and fellowship. They never commune on any topic, but the most earthy. Their intellectual parts have no fellowship. They never read nor converse together on elevated themes. There is no commingling of mind with mind; they are dead to each other, in that higher region.

Then still fewer are wedded in their highest, their spiritual natures. The number is small, of those who commune together concerning the things of God, the soul's holiest interests and the realities of eternity. No marriage is complete—which does not unite and blend the wedded lives at every point. Husband and wife should be wedded along their whole nature.

This implies that they should read and study together, having the same line of thought, helping each other toward higher mental culture. It implies also that they should worship together, communing with one another upon the holiest themes of life and hope. Together they should bow in prayer, and together work in anticipation of the same blessed home beyond this life of toil and care. I can conceive of no true and perfect marriage, whose deepest joy does not lie forward in the life to come.

Perfect mutual confidence is an element of every complete marriage. Husband and wife should live but one life, sharing all of each other's cares, joys, sorrows and hopes. There should not be a corner in the nature and occupation of either—which is not open to the other. The moment a man has to begin to shut his wife out from any chapters of his daily life he is in peril; and in like manner her whole life should be open to him. There should be a flowing together of heart and soul in close communion and perfect confidence. No discord can end in harm—while there is such mutual inter-sphering of lives and such inter-flowing of souls.

Once more, no third party should ever be taken into this holy of holies. No matter who it is—the sweetest, gentlest, dearest, wisest mother; the purest, truest, tenderest sister; the best, the loyalest friend—no one but God should ever be permitted to know anything of the secret, sacred married life, that they twain are living. This is one of those relations with which no stranger, though he be the closest bosom friend, should intermeddle. Any alien touch is sure to leave a blight.

There are certain influences that bring out all the warmth and tenderness needed to make any marriage very happy. When one is sick, how gentle and thoughtful it makes the other! Not a want or wish is left unsupplied. All the heart's affections—long slumbering, perhaps—are awakened and become intent on most kindly ministry. No service is thought a hardship now, or done with any show of reluctance. There is not a breath or look of impatience. Love flows out in tone and look and word and act. There is an inexpressible tenderness in all the bearing. Even the coldest natures become gentle in the sick-room, and the rudest, harshest manners become soft and warm at the touch of suffering in the beloved one.

Or let death come to either, and what an awakening there is of all that is holiest and tenderest and sweetest in the heart of the other! If the dead could be recalled and the wedded life resumed, would it not be a thousand times more loving than ever it was before? Would there be any more the old impatience, the old selfishness? Would there not be the fullest sympathy, the largest forbearance, the warmest outflow of the heart's most kindly feelings?

And why may not married life be lived day by day, under the power of this wondrous influence? Why wait for suffering in the one we love—tothaw out the heart's tenderness, to melt the icy chill of neglect and indifference, and to produce in us the summer fruits of affection? Why wait for death to come—to reveal the beauty of the plain life that moves by our side, and disclose the value of the blessings it enfolds for us? Why should we only learn to appreciate and prize love's splendors and its sweetness—as it vanishes out of our sight?

Why should the empty chair—be the first revealer of the real worth of those who have walked so close to us? Why should sorrow over our loss—be the first influence to draw from our hearts, the tenderness and the wealth of kindly ministries that lie pent up in them all the while? Surely, wedded life should call out all that is richest, truest, tenderest, most inspiring and most helpful in the life of each. This is the true ideal of Christian marriage. Its love is to be like that of Christ and his Church. It should not wait for the agony of suffering or the pang of separation to draw out its tenderness—but should fill all its days and nights with unvexed sweetness!

There are many such marriages. Few more beautiful pictures of wedded love were ever unveiled, than that which was lived out in the home of Charles Kingsley. His wife closes her loving memoir with these words, "The outside world must judge him as an author, a preacher, a member of society—but those only who lived with him in the intimacy of every-day life at home—can tell what he was as a man. Over the real romance of his life, and over the tenderest, loveliest passages in his private letters—a veil must be thrown—but it will not be lifting it too far to say that if in the highest, closest of earthly relationships, a love that never failed—pure, patient, passionate—for thirty-six years—a love which never stooped from its own lofty level—to a hasty word, an impatient gesture or a selfish act, in sickness or in health, in sunshine or in storm, by day or by night, could prove that the age of chivalry has not passed away forever—then Charles Kingsley fulfilled the ideal of a 'most true and perfect knight' to the one woman blessed with that love in time, and to eternity. To eternity, for such love is eternal, and he is not dead. He himself, the man, the lover, husband, father, friend—he still lives in God, who is not the God of the dead—but of the living."


And why should, not every marriage in Christ, realize all that lies in this picture? It is possible, and yet only noble manhood and womanhood, with truest views of marriage and inspired by the holiest love, can realize it

17 June, 2013

Follow Me ─ How Do You Count The Cost? ─ Part Three

Most of us when we read in the Scriptures that  we have to count the cost to follow Christ, if we do not have any hindrances coming from families and friends because we decide to follow Jesus, the idea of counting the cost seems a little bit futile to us. In our mind, it remains something we read in the Bible. If you live in a country where you don’t have freedom of speech or choices, you understand first hand what it means to count the cost. You know right away that you might be killed for choosing to follow Christ. I have worked with people who have been totally banned from their families back home for having chosen Christianity, simply because God opened their eyes to the truth.

To me, counting the cost was not a big deal either.  A few years ago when God stirred up my heart and I was upset at all that I found in the Bible concerning His demands to live out true Christianity, I did not know it then, but that was His way of waking me up to the reality of what true Christianity means to Him. He knew even before I knew it, that I needed to learn what it means to count the cost and make the decision whether I wanted what He was offering. 

When I first surrendered all to Him I did it with all my heart, yet the Holy Spirit told me that I did not surrender my soul. I could not understand what He meant. I had that goofy look on my face and I was thinking “but, I am so sincere, what else does He want from me?” Then He set out to show me in the span of a few weeks, certain things that I needed to take into consideration before I could make a proper decision to surrender all to Him. These few weeks were so hard and even though I was experiencing Him, I was walking around feeling so sad and I felt I was carrying the world on my shoulders. I knew I had a decision to make but I simply could not say yes right away to Him because this time around, I knew the cost.

I found out there is a whole process and principles in counting the cost to follow Christ.
LOVE RELATIONSHIP: For instance, as you consider the cost, you find that the first commandment is not some light doctrine that we just file away with one of those things you hope to get right one day. It’s the reality of the Christian life and it is a real commitment that demands your whole life. There is a list of subtexts that you need to get acquainted with once the Holy Spirit illuminates you to understand the high standards of God vis a vis the first commandment. As you see and come to grips with His standards, it seems like you are completely annihilated.

COMMITMENT: There is a commitment that you know there will be consequences that your mind cannot even embrace yet, because it is about withstanding one spiritual battle after another and you cannot help wondering “why would I want that in my life?”

VOLUNTARY DEPENDENCE: that takes all your focus away from you and redirected toward Him. There is no room for substitution coming from your own mind anymore. It is as if God is going out of His way to somehow discourage you. Everything He shows you does not say anything about the good side of this relationship, except that you need to believe and accept the fact that, Him alone can sustain you.

The list goes on as you consider His idea of faith relationship and the cost that accompany faith through obedience and trust in Him. You know you are going to deal with the unknown and all you can do is wait, follow and trust. He wants some kind of integrity and this single-eye type of relationship that you have no idea as a human being you can pull that off.

While all these things are hard to take in, and you just don’t want to participate voluntarily in this kind of makeover party He is inviting you to. Strangely, as you go through the process of sorting things out, He sustains your heart to understand your only alternative is to say yes. He also helps you understand that the whole thing is about reaching your full potential in Him, which only Him knows the limit. In your mind, you know that you are embarking in one twisted and unknown adventure and a tiny bit of you, are curious to see where it leads. You are very well aware that it is an invitation to go forward with Him and to get to know Him. You are also aware that saying yes to Him is in itself a form of worship which causes you to be aware of the experience of worship you know so far is kind of hollow and here is your chance to step up and act upon this knowledge.


Through Him, I found the strength to say yes to Him and I know there is no adventure on this earth that could ever match the ride that He takes you on as you follow Him with full knowledge of what you signed on for. Perhaps because I have considered the cost and I knew there was pain awaiting me, although I did not know the extend of the pain that I was going to have to cope with, but, having counted the cost, helped me to walk faithfully, even when the pain was unbearable, I could not walk away and through His grace,  I am still going strong.

22 March, 2013

The Burning Heart


In today’s devotion, Oswald Chambers said something that took me back. When I am in a similar situation such as the one Oswald described, what I do, I try to work with the worse case scenario, which is the same as the final outcome. There are some outcomes that are easy to determine if it is something that God would condemn. But, I found a lot of times it is not that easy to see through our emotional high if it is something that God would condemn or not. 

When we are very emotional, our train of thoughts takes the lead. I know what I am talking about because I am very emotional. Our imagination runs away from us and with the situation. The more we remain in that state of mind, the more we get ourselves deeper into trouble because we are not thinking clearly and we are making decisions and plans for the next step with a corrupt mind. You mind say why is that corrupt? Yes, it is corrupted in every sense of the way because we are not in the right frame of mind to make proper decisions, and we are thinking and planning in the flesh without the Holy Spirit. When we stop being ignorant of the laws of our own nature, we know and we can see the danger in going wild without the Holy Spirit and we can put a stop to it. But, this takes practice and spiritual growth to get there.

When I was not mature enough to understand when I was going forward with my emotions without Him, I had only one acid test. First, I stop myself from making a decision while my emotions were running wild and thus, it did not matter how pressing the need was. I told God, please deal with the repercussions of the situation for me but I need to know if I am in your will and right now I have no idea. (It is important our attitudes and motives honour God and He will work with us.) The second thing is that I try to have a sense as to how my decisions to deal with the situation will play out. This was so useful and so infallible that I still use it today because if there is a tiny bit of compromising, then I stepped away from it. I knew right away that it was not of God.

I will give you an example, years ago, I lost my job but God already told me that it was Him taking me to the wilderness to set me apart. So, there was no doubt what I was going through was of Him. But, I had no idea what He meant by taking me into the wilderness either. I had no idea of the depth of pain and testing that I had to go through to be set apart for Him. So, two Christians cornered me in the Church after service and said I heard you are not working, I can make arrangement to get you in, and there is a great opportunity available to you right now. After I listened to all the information pertaining to the company, and the opportunity, I was so tempted. Of course it made sense, because I need to work to pay my mortgage and take care of my basic needs. Beside, I was thinking how important it is to God that I work to earn a living because the Bible is clear on that so any attempt at laziness is a sin.

Out of all the emotions I was experiencing, I could feel something inside me was telling me this whole conversation is wrong for me, but, I continued.  I said to the people I was talking to, well, I do not have  references because I spent so many years with the company that I was working with that I cannot just take them off my reference list, yet I did not part in good terms with them. Both people told me it was not a problem we can circumvent that with a little white lie and they gave me an idea what that white lie was going to be, and they were willing to take care of everything for me without me even getting involved. At that moment I said, let me think about it. Of course I never get back to them.

You have to understand something. The fact that it seems like I judged them for the “white lie” did not make me better than them. As the matter of fact, that was exactly where I was too. I truly believed in a little white lie here and there was not a big deal especially when there were no consequences to anyone and this little white lie was going to put my world back to where it should be according to the world standards and my own understanding thus far. So, even though, I was not there yet in terms of maturity, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit was awesome. Even though I was in the same place these people were in terms of maturity,  I also knew I made a commitment to Him to leave behind shoddy Christianity, I knew right then and there that I had to let go of the opportunity because it was not of God. My heart was breaking, but I also knew if indeed it was of God, then I would not have to lie. While the lie seemed small, I knew in Him there was no lie.


Often times when we are in trouble, we claim the wrong promise, and we claim the wrong Bible verse. In this situation I found that I had to choose between more than one Bible verse. But, the Holy Spirit caused that tiny verse to resound so loud in my heart that I could not ignore it. I kept saying “in Him there is no lie.”  The difference between me and these two people is that I was in a frame of mind where I was willing to put my money where my mouth is so to speak. I knew I could not take one side of His Word and ignore the other side of the coin.

It’s funny how all of the sudden, a little white lie became so big to me. This little white lie, when I stopped seeing how it could help me get out of trouble and I started seeing it from God’s perspective, was no longer little.  With the eyes of my heart I could see it just like God sees it and calls it “darkness” - “sin”.  It turns out not taking the job was the right decision for my walk with Him.

In using myself as an example, it is my hope that if it could benefit one single person today of ten years down the road, who is at an impasse with God and you are not quite sure which way to turn, then it would worth it. Make no mistake the consequences of that choice, from the world point of view was disastrous to me. But, it is the nature of the Christian walk with God. It is living an abandoned life at His feet for the purpose of finding the “pearl of great price” which is God the father. While the experience I lived through the Holy Spirit as He allowed me to experience what it means to find the pearl of great price, lasted a few moments, but it was worth the torment that I went through to get there. Few years down the road, God corrected my thinking about wanting to work because I did not want to be lazy and sin in His sight. It is rather frightening how we can take the word of God out of context and apply to situations that have nothing to do with His Word. 

HERE IS OSWALD'S DEVOTION FOR TODAY!

The Burning Heart

We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.
Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be. Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is not exercised on its intended level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay forever on the “mount of transfiguration,” basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9). But we must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.
We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides, The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; But tasks in hours of insight willed Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
Courtesy of http://utmost.org/


16 January, 2013

The Call For Service


On the 10 of January, 2013 I mentioned in my post that “we are living in a time where anyone can be a pastor or teacher, because they feel like it or they want to work for God. This post will shed some lights on my comments. A short time after I entered the wilderness with God, I heard the call like Isaiah did. Strangely, God called me at a time where I was dealing with one of the biggest crisis in my life. It was also amazing to see how my crisis did not matter. This personal call from Him brought pure joy and ecstasy to the soul. When the vision and visitation stopped, I was back to myself, I not only had the joy of what I experienced, but I also had a burning and passionate desire and need to get involved in evangelism and saved souls.

Everyone around me interpreted my passion as a need to go "now"…. Act on it now… God has spoken, there is no need to wait, and you have your orders. I did not want to be disobedient to God, so I started doing the preparation to go. Something was terribly wrong inside of me as I started preparing to go. There was such a deep sense of sadness within and if I had talked to anyone else they would have told me that it was the work of Satan. I will spare you the details of what happened next. Suffice to say, the sadness I felt was my moving forward to complete the vision on my own, caused the Holy Spirit to grieve.

There were times I was so disappointed with the waiting process that I wanted to take matters into my hands. It turns out my interpretation of the call had nothing to do with God’s interpretation. If I did not wait for Him, I would have been a missionary overseas, thinking that I am doing something awesome for God. Yet, I would have been out of His will for me. God wanted me right here in North America to deal with lost souls right in the Church. At one point, I was disappointed that my calling was not for lack of a better word “a bigger deal”.  As I get to know God more and more I realize the smallest and the most menial tasks has great values in God’s eyes, if accomplished through Him.

In fact, to help me through the waiting process after years in the wilderness, God had to show me how someone working all his or her life on the mission field might not be as pleasing to Him as someone doing the most menial task. He told me point blank, “I would prefer that you work with me for three years than having you work for me for twenty years.” He showed me the impact of a lifetime spent working for Him is basically wasted away. The only nuggets that He can use, are when He uses the person like He uses Satan to reach His elects. Strangely, He showed me, even when He uses someone in this manner, this does not mean he or she is not saved and that was not up to me to interpret it in this manner. In this vision, He shared things that I could never share with any human beings, and He did not have to tell me, I knew they were meant for me alone. But keep in mind this vision did not happen until God called me a friend of His. Notice I did not say I called Him friend, because He let you know when you reach the friendship threshold. On a side note, when God really calls you a friend, it comes with that built in awareness that He is not really your “buddy” so His friendship will never cause you to lose your reverence for Him.

As I waited for Him to make me one with Him, I not only understood even though the call is not close to what I thought it would be, I delight in doing His will.  I also found out, a big chunk of the way He wants to use me is through prayer, so He trained me to become a prayer warrior. Prayer has no barriers when we walk in the Spirit and it has no borders.  I also learned, when we are set to do His will above all else, we do not have to worry about missing out on anything. If there is an emergency, if we have to go right away, on the spot, He will let us know. While we are rushing to complete what is really “just a stirring in our hearts” we rush ahead of Him with an attitude that it is our job to complete what He started, so we forge the path. In reality, in God sight, that is disobedience, lack of trust, lack of reverence and lack of walking in the Spirit.

Sadly, some of us have gone so far ahead of Him, we have spent so many years being in the wrong fields, and some have been so financially successful in a field that He really did not choose, i.e. those building their television and books empires, we cannot go back. So we lie to ourselves, and convinced ourselves that He will be happy with it…….Wrong! Just the fact that we say it is His mandate does not make it so.


I am leaving you with Oswald Chambers devotion for today which complement this post!


The Voice of the Nature of God

When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
Courtesy of http://utmost.org/



03 November, 2012

Commitment To The Faith



 
In my book "Apprehended & Apprehending" I have a small chapter about commitment. The reason commitment is so important to me and I felt I had to include it in the book is because while I had no idea what it meant to walk in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit was hard at work in the background to help me come up higher. I realize He has never let me be satisfied with my own explanations of the Word of God in the Bible. Pushing people to not be satisfied with data tucked away while living in the flesh, makes knowing someone like me, a little bit annoying if you like your comfort zone. It is harder if you are an immediate member of my family. But, in my defense, I have no idea how to live the Christian life any other way because the Holy Spirit targeted me right at the onset of Salvation.  (Although I suspect He targets all of us) I shared almost throughout every chapter of my book how He called me to come up higher over and over again. Since I talked about it at length, I will refrain from going into more details.

You see, while some professed Christians are busy separating Salvation, discipleship commitment and grace to excuse their behaviors God showed me they are all one in the same according to His standards at work in us. I was surprised to find out that Christ’s call to us in Mathew 16:24 “to take up our cross and follow” actually meant “make the commitment, come up higher, live like you have a Master and surrender to me at any cost.”  Later on, I was more surprised to find out that not only this is Salvation being worked out in me, but the strength to do all these above were in Him,  through His grace alone.  This walk, the Holy Spirit was constantly working in the background to get me to question what I understood only in the flesh, in order to get to the point where I would make the commitment to follow and step into my discipleship role. Indeed, making the commitment to Him to let Him be the Master of your life it is not an easy thing to do. When you make this commitment you know what you have done is in effect what all the other disciples in the Bible did as they left everything behind and follow Christ on the onset of His ministry. The commitment to follow Him, if it is done with the right understanding, attitude, motive and with the Holy Spirit makes you realize that you are aware you found something that deserve your full attention. You feel, there is a Master in town now, and you have to go with Him to hear what He has to say. Like Paul turning his back away from his honourable position with Gamael, like Peter leaving his lucrative fishing business behind, like Matthew the tax collector who left his booth and lucrative business to follow and so forth.  

Just in case you are wondering what I mean in the paragraph above when I said the right attitude, motivation and understanding it is about understanding we have to do it knowing even though it will hurt but it has to be done. We know this mean we will lose complete control over our lives and we are no longer in charge. It means going forward with His plans, not ours. It means we will have to be broken and the self has to be eradicated etc. The end result will mean fellowship, oneness, pride left behind to embrace humility, deeper worship and love for Him and so forth.

Being compelled to go forward is a work of the Holy Spirit in us. It is a work of grace and there is no way left on our own we would understand the need to go forward with Him. I was pleasantly surprised to find out how all of it relates to each other. Through receiving Him I received the light. If I receive the light and I am no longer the “old me”, then I need to learn how to live the new life. While the Church put together discipleship classes and preaching the Word to get us to understand this new life, but it is my duty to hear His call to come up higher. When we go forward to become His disciple, all we are doing is making a commitment to study with the Master. Why do we need to study with the Master? Because not only He needs us to accept our position as His pupil, He also needs our total commitment so that He can make real in us the work He has started, meaning Salvation.

So, God’s call and wooing to come up higher along with Christ giving us a choice to take up our cross and follow Him, plus we have Romans 12:1 where Paul told us to surrender ourselves to Him, are all the same. Meaning same goal, same purpose and all of it is wrapped up in a commitment to this life through His grace. When you live according to His standards, all of it is there in black and white, there is no need to hold a debate. Everything we have in this Christian walk build on each other. The whole thing is like building a foundation for a house where Christ is the builder and He is putting the materials needed together to build this house. While this house starts with Salvation entering our hearts and souls, but we cannot separate it from the builder and the materials needed to erect the house.

This post was meant to be Sunday’s post. But this morning in my quiet time with Him I read Oswald Chambers, I knew this was not a coincidence and that I had to switch the post. So, instead of ending with a prayer, I will end with copying Oswald Chambers devotion for you.


Keep in mind that the second chapter of my book which is about commitment to this life is available for you to download for free. Go to my website


Here is Oswald Chambers today's devotion

These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, “. . . for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). That is what makes a strong saint.
Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .”
The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?