Final Perseverance – Part 5

March 23, 1856, by C. H. Spurgeon

At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark

Hebrews 6:4-6

Again, beloved, think what it would necessitate to save such a man. Christ has died for him once, yet he has fallen away and is lost; the Spirit has regenerated him once, and that regenerating work has been of no use. God has given him a new heart (I am only speaking, of course, on the supposition of the Apostle), he has put his law in that heart, yet he has departed from him, contrary to the promise that he should not; he has made him "like a shining light," but he did not "shine more and more unto the perfect day," he shone only unto blackness. 

What next? There must be a second incarnation, a second Calvary, a second Holy Ghost, a second regeneration, a second justification, although the first was finished and complete—in fact, I know not what. It would necessitate the upsetting of the whole kingdom of nature and grace, and it would, indeed, be a world turned upside down, if after the gracious Saviour failed, he were to attempt the work again.

If you read the 7th verse, you will see that the Apostle calls nature in to his assistance. He says, "The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." Look! there is a field; the rain comes on it, and it brings forth good fruit. Well, then, there is God's blessing on it. 

But there is according to your supposition, another field, on which the same rain descends, which the same dew moistens; it has been ploughed and harrowed, as well as the other, and the husbandman has exercised all his craft upon it, and yet it is not fertile. Well, if the rain of heaven did not fertilize it, what next? Already all the arts of agriculture have been tried, every implement has been worn out on its surface, and yet it has been of no avail. 

What next? There remains nothing but that it shall be burnt and cursed—given up like the desert of Sahara, and resigned to destruction. So, my hearer, could it be possible that grace could work in thee, and then not affect thy salvation—that the influence of Divine grace could come down, like rain from heaven, and yet return unto God void, there could not be any hope for thee, for thou wouldst be "nigh unto cursing," and thine end would be "to be burned."

There is one idea which has occurred to us. It has struck us as a singular thing, that our friends should hold that men can be converted, made into new creatures, then fall away and be converted again. I am an old creature by nature; God creates me into a new thing, he makes me a new creature. I cannot go back into an old creature, for I cannot be uncreated. But yet, supposing that new creatureship of mine is not good enough to carry me to heaven. What is to come after that? Must there be something above a new creature—a new creature. Really, my friends, we have got into the country of Dreamland; but we were forced to follow our opponents into that region of absurdity, for we do not know how else to deal with them.

And one thought more. There is nothing in Scripture which teaches us that there is any salvation, save the one salvation of Jesus Christ—nothing that tells us of any other power, super-excellent and surpassing the power of the Holy Spirit. These things have already been tried on the man, and yet, according to the supposition, they have failed, for he has fallen away. Now, God has never revealed a supplementary salvation for men on whom one salvation has had no effect; and until we are pointed to one scripture which declares this, we will still maintain that the doctrine of the text is this: that if grace be ineffectual, if grace does not keep a man, then there is nothing left but that he must be damned. 

And what is that but to say, only going a little round about, that grace will do it? So that these words, instead of miltating against the Calvinistic doctrine of final perseverance, form one of the finest proofs of it that could be afforded.

And now, lastly, we come to improve this doctrine. If Christians can fall away, and cease to be Christians, they cannot be renewed again to repentance. "But," says one, "You say they cannot fall away." What is the use of putting this "if" in, like a bugbear to frighten children, or like a ghost that can have no existence? My learned friend, "Who art thou that repliest against God?" If God has put it in, he has put it in for wise reasons and for excellent purposes. 

Final Perseverance - Part 4

Hebrews 6:4-6

March 23, 1856, by C. H. Spurgeon

At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark

Well, that is not very consistent, to say this in the very next breath to that with which you tell us that there are some people who fall away, and consequently fall into such a condition, that they cannot be saved. I want to know how you make these two things fit each other; I want you to make these two doctrines agree; and until some enterprising individual will bring the north pole, and set it on the top of the south, I cannot tell how you will accomplish it. The fact is you are quite right in saying, "While there is life there is hope;" but you are wrong in saying that any individual ever did fall into such a condition, that it was impossible for him to be saved.

We come now to do two things: first, to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away, he cannot be saved; and, secondly, to improve the doctrine, or to show its use,

I. Then I am going to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away—not fall, for you understand how I have explained that; but if a Christian cease to be a child of God, and if grace die out in his heart—he is then beyond the possibility of salvation, and it is impossible for him ever to be renewed. Let me show you why. First, it is utterly impossible, if you consider the work which has already broken down. When men have built bridges across streams, if they have been built of the strongest material and in the most excellent manner, and yet the foundation has been found so bad that none will stand, what do they say? 

Why, "We have already tried the best which engineering or architecture has taught us; the best has already failed; we know nothing that can exceed what has been tried; and we do therefore feel, that there remains no possibility of ever bridging that stream, or ever running a line of railroad across this bog, or this morass, for we have already tried what is acknowledged to be the best scheme." 

As the apostle says, "These people have been once enlightened; they have had once the influence of the Holy Spirit, revealing to them their sin: what now remains to be tried. They have been once convinced—is there anything superior to conviction?" Does the Bible promise that the poor sinner shall have anything over and above the conviction of his sin to make him sensible of it? Is there anything more powerful than the sword of the Spirit? That has not pierced the man's heart; is there anything else which will do it? Here is a man who has been under the hammer of God's law; but that has not broken his heart; can you find anything stronger? 

The lamp of God's spirit has already lit up the caverns of his soul: if that be not sufficient, where will you borrow another? Ask the sun, has he a lamp more bright than the illumination of the Spirit! Ask the stars, have they a light more brilliant than the light of the Holy Ghost? Creation answers no. If that fails, then there is nothing else. These people, moreover, had tasted the heavenly gift; and though they had been pardoned and justified, yet pardon through Christ and justification were not enough (on this supposition) to save them. 

How else can they be saved? God has cast them away; after he has failed in saving them by these, what else can deliver them? Already they have tasted of the heavenly gift: is there a greater mercy for them? Is there a brighter dress than the robe of Christ's righteousness? Is there a more efficacious bath than that "fountain filled with blood?" No. All the earth echoes, "No." If the one has failed, what else does there remain?

These persons, too, have been partakers of the Holy Ghost; if that fail, what more can we give them? If, my hearer, the Holy Ghost dwells in your soul, and that Holy Ghost does not sanctify you and keep you to the end, what else can be tried? Ask the blasphemer whether he knows a being, or dares to suppose a being superior to the Holy Spirit! Is there a being greater than Omnipotence? Is there a might greater than that which dwells in the believer's newborn heart? And if already the Holy Spirit hath failed, O, heavens! tell us where we can fight aught that can excel his might? 

If that be ineffectual, what next is to be essayed? These people, too, had "tasted the good Word of Life;" they had loved the doctrines of grace; those doctrines had entered into their souls, and they had fed upon them. What new doctrines shall be preached to them? Prophet of ages! where whilt thou find another system of divinity? Who shall we have? Shall we raise up Moses from the tomb? shall we fetch up all the ancient seers, and bid them prophecy? If, then, there is only one doctrine that is true, and if these people have fallen away after receiving that, how can they be saved?

Again, these people, according to the text, have had "the powers of the world to come." They have had power to conquer sin—power in faith, power in prayer, power of communion; with what greater power shall they be endowed? This has already failed; what next can be done? O ye angels! answer, what next! What other means remain? What else can avail, if already the great things of salvation have been defeated? What else shall now be attempted? He hath been once saved; but yet it is supposed that he is lost. How, then, can he now be saved? Is there a supplementary salvation? is there something that shall overtop Christ, and be a Christ where Jesus is defeated.

And then the apostle says, that the greatness of their sin which they would incur, if they did fall away, would put them beyond the bounds of mercy. Christ died, and by his death he made an atonement for his own murderers; he made an atonement for those sins which crucified him once; but do we read that Christ will ever die for those who crucify him twice? But the Apostle tells us that if believers do fall away, they will "crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." 

Where, then, would be an atonement for that? He has died for me; What! though the sins of all the world were on my shoulders, still they only crucified him once, and that one crucifixion has taken all those sins away; but if I crucified him again, where would I find pardon? Could heavens, could earth, could Christ himself, with bowels full of love, point me to another Christ, show to me a second Calvary, give me a second Gethsemane? Ah! no! the very guilt itself would put us beyond the pale of hope, if we were to fall away?

Final Perseverance - Part 3

March 23, 1856, by C. H. Spurgeon

At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark

 

Hebrews 6:4-6

Nor can a man who commits a sin, which is not exactly a surprise, be said to fall away. I believe that some Christian men—(God forbid that we should say much of it!—let us cover the nakedness of our brother with a cloak.) but I do believe that there are some Christians who, for a period of time, have wandered into sin, and yet have not positively fallen away. There is that black case of David—a case which has puzzled thousands.

 Certainly for some months, David lived without making a public confession of his sin, but, doubtless, he had achings of heart, for grace had not ceased its work: there was a spark among the ashes that Nathan stirred up, which showed that David was not dead, or else the match which the prophet applied would not have caught light so readily.

And so, beloved, you may have wandered into sin for a time, and gone far from God; and yet you are not the character here described, concerning whom it is said, that it is impossible you should be saved; but, wanderer though you be, you are your father's son still, and mercy cries, "Repent, repent; return unto your first husband, for then it was better with you than it is now. Return, O wanderer, return."

Again, falling away is not even a giving up of profession. Some will say, "Now there is So-and-so; he used to make a profession of Christianity, and now he denies it, and what is worse, he dares to curse and swear, and says that he never knew Christ at all. Surely he must be fallen away." My friend, he has fallen, fallen fearfully, and fallen woefully; but I remember a case in Scripture of a man who denied his Lord and Master before his own face. 

You remember his name; he is an old friend of yours—our friend Simon Peter! he denied him with oaths and curses, and said, "I say unto thee that I know not the man." And yet Jesus looked on Simon. He had fallen, but he had not fallen away; for, only two or three days after that, there was Peter at the tomb of his Master, running there to meet his Lord, to be one of the first to find him risen. Beloved, you may even have denied Christ by open profession, and yet if you repent there is mercy for you. Christ has not cast you away, you shall repent yet. You have not fallen away. If you had, I might not preach to you; for it is impossible for those who have fallen away to be renewed again unto repentance.

But some one says, "What is falling away?" Well, there never has been a case of it yet, and therefore I cannot describe it from observation; but I will tell you what I suppose it is. To fall away, would be for the Holy Spirit entirely to go out of a man—for his grace entirely to cease; not to lie dormant, but to cease to be—for God, who has begun a good work, to leave off doing it entirely—to take his hand completely and entirely away, and say, "There, man! I have half saved thee; now I will damn thee." 

That is what falling away is. It is not to sin temporarily. A child may sin against his father, and still be alive; but falling away is like cutting the child's head off clean. Not falling merely, for then our Father could pick us up, but being dashed down a precipice, where we are lost for ever. Falling away would involved God's grace changing its living nature. God's immutability becoming variable, God's faithfulness becoming changeable, and God, himself being undeified; for all these things falling away would necessitate.

III. But if a child of God could fall away, and grace could cease in a man's heart—now comes the third question—Paul says, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE RENEWED. What did the Apostle mean? One eminent commentator says, he meant that it would be very hard. It would be very hard, indeed, for a man who fell away, to be saved. But we reply, "My dear friend, it does not say anything about its being very hard; it says it is impossible, and we say that it would be utterly impossible, if such a case as is supposed were to happen; impossible for man, and also impossible for God; for God hath purposed that he never will grant a second salvation to save those whom the first salvation hath failed to deliver. 

Methinks, however, I hear some one say, "It seems to me that it is possible for some such to fall away," because it says, "It is impossible, if they shall fall away, to renew them again into repentance." Well, my friend, I will grant you your theory for a moment. You are a good Christian this morning; let us apply it to yourself, and see how you will like it. You have believed in Christ, and committed your soul to God, and you think, that in some unlucky hour you may fall entirely away. Mark you, if you come to me and tell me that you have fallen away, how would you like me to say to you, "My friend, you are as much damned as the devil in hell! for it is impossible to renew you to repentance?" "Oh! no, sir," you would say, "I will repent again and join the Church." 

That is just the Arminian theory all over; but it is not in God's Scripture. If you once fall away, you are as damned as any man who suffereth in the gulf for ever. And yet we have heard a man talk about people being converted three, four, and five times, and regenerated over and over again. I remember a good man (I suppose he was) pointing to a man who was walking along the street, and saying, "That man has been born again three times, to my certain knowledge." I could mention the name of the individual, but I refrain from doing so. "And I believe he will fall again," said he, "he is so much addicted to drinking, that I do not believe the grace of God will do anything for him, unless he becomes a teetotaller." 

Now, such men cannot read the Bible; because in case their members do positively fall away, here it is stated, as a positive fact, that it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance. But I ask my Arminian friend, does he not believe that as long as there is life there is hope? "Yes," he says:

"While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."

Final Perseverance

 March 23, 1856, by C. H. Spurgeon
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark

Hebrews 6:4-6 "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

A child like attitude is imperative to have if we want the Holy Spirit to teach us the things of the Bible, especially those things that do not quite seem to make sense. When we have a childlike attitude we are able to go to the Holy Spirit, completely destitute, waiting to be taught. Without this child like attitude, we go to Him with what we think we know, and in our own way we basically  tell Him,” here I am impress me.”

I found out at my own expenses what Oswald Chambers means in the July 29 devotional. He said “It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials; through every cloud He brings, He wants us to unlearn something. God’s purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child—God and my own soul, other people are shadows.”

Until the Spirit taught me exactly what Oswald Chambers meant, during the time I was in the wilderness, I had some doubts about Oswald. While in the wilderness you will find the biggest stumbling block in your way is no one else but yourself. You have no idea how hard it is to unlearn what we think we know and let Christ takeover. Yet, it is a process we have to go through with each trial. In a sense, in our trials He is teaching us, but He is teaching us to learn to let Him empty us of all the garbage’s we have acquired on the way, —those garbage’s are about doctrines, religions and theology—and fills us up with His true teaching. And unless we learn to be emptied by Him to take on His standards and understanding, all we have is some kind of enjoyment of Him but it is a whole different story to go on possessing Christ.

Just before I leave you, what Oswald meant by “other people are shadows” comes from the fact that you are aware you are being so separated unto the Gospel, that other people, even in the Church, are fading away” this does not mean you do not care. On the contrary, you care much more than you want to. But, I am going to stop here and perhaps I will continue this issue another day, another post.

HERE IS SPURGEON

There are some spots in Europe which have been the scenes of frequent warfare, as for instance, the kingdom of Belgium, which might be called the battlefield of Europe. War has raged over the whole of Europe, but in some unhappy spots, battle after battle has been fought.

So there is scarce a passage of Scripture which has not been disputed between the enemies of truth and the upholders of it; but this passage, with one or two others, has been the special subject of attack. This is one of the texts which have been trodden under the feet of controversy; and there are opinions upon it as adverse as the poles, some asserting that it means one thing, and some declaring that it means another. We think that some of them approach somewhat near the truth; but others of them desperately err from the mind of the Spirit. 

We come to this passage ourselves with the intention to read it with the simplicity of a child, and whatever we find therein to state it; and if it may not seem to agree with something we have hitherto held, we are prepared to cast away every doctrine of our own, rather than one passage of Scripture.

Looking at the scope of the whole passage, it appears to us that the Apostle wished to push the disciples on. There is a tendency in the human mind to stop short of the heavenly mark. As soon as ever we have attained to the first principles of religion, have passed through baptism, and understand the resurrection of the dead, there is a tendency in us to sit still; to say, "I have passed from death unto life; here I may take my stand and rest;" whereas, the Christian life was intended not to be a sitting still, but a race, a perpetual motion. The Apostle, therefore endeavours to urge the disciples forward, and make them run with diligence the heavenly race, looking unto Jesus. 

He tells them that it is not enough to have on a certain day, passed through a glorious change—to have experienced at a certain time, a wonderful operation of the Spirit; but he teaches them it is absolutely necessary that they should have the Spirit all their lives—that they should, as long as they live, be progressing in the truth of God. In order to make them persevere, if possible, he shows them that if they do not, they must, most certainly be lost; for there is no other salvation but that which God has already bestowed on them, and if that does not keep them, carry them forward, and present them spotless before God, there cannot be any other. For it is impossible, he says, if ye be once enlightened, and then fall away, that ye should ever be renewed again unto repentance.

We shall, this morning, answer one or two questions. The first question will be, Who are the people here spoken? Are they true Christians or not? Secondly, What is meant by falling away? And thirdly, What is intended, when it is asserted, that it is impossible to renew them to repentance?

I. First, then, we answer the question, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE HERE SPOKEN OF? If you read Dr. Gill, Dr. Owen, and almost all the eminent Calvinistic writers, they all of them assert that these persons are not Christians. They say, that enough is said here to represent a man who is a Christian externally, but not enough to give the portrait of a true believer. Now, it strikes me they would not have said this if they had had some doctrine to uphold; for a child, reading this passage, would say, that the persons intended by it must be Christians. 

If the Holy Spirit intended to describe Christians, I do not see that he could have used more explicit terms than there are here. How can a man be said to be enlightened, and to taste of the heavenly gift, and to be made partaker of the Holy Ghost, without being a child of God? With all deference to these learned doctors, and I admire and love them all, I humbly conceive that they allowed their judgments to be a little warped when they said that; and I think I shall be able to show that none but true believers are here described.

First, they are spoken of as having been once enlightened. This refers to the enlightening influence of God's Spirit, poured into the soul at the time of conviction, when man is enlightened with regard to his spiritual state, shown how evil and bitter a thing it is to sin against God, made to feel how utterly powerless he is to rise from the grave of his corruption, and is further enlightened to see, that "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified," and to behold Christ on the cross, as the sinner's only hope. 

The first work of grace is to enlighten the soul. By nature we are entirely dark; the Spirit, like a lamp, sheds light into the dark heart, revealing its corruption, displaying its sad state of destitution, and, in due time, revealing also Jesus Christ, so that in his light we may see light. I cannot consider a man truly enlightened unless he is a child of God. Does not the term indicate a person taught of God? It is not the whole of Christian experience; but is it not a part?

Having enlightened us, as the text says, the next thing that God grants to us is a taste of the heavenly gift, by which we understand, the heavenly gift of salvation, including the pardon of sin, justification by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and all those gifts and graces, which in the earlier dawn of spiritual life convey salvation. All true believers have tasted of the heavenly gift. It is not enough for a man to be enlightened; the light may glare upon his eyeballs, and yet he may die; he must taste, as well as see that the Lord is good. 

It is not enough to see that I am corrupt; I must taste that Christ is able to remove my corruption. It is not enough for me to know that he is the only Saviour; I must taste of his flesh and of his blood, and have a vital union with him. We do think that when a man has been enlightened and has had an experience of grace, he is a Christian; and whatever those great divines might hold, we cannot think that the Holy Spirit would describe an unregenerate man as having been enlightened, and as having tasted of the heavenly gift. 

No, my brethren, if I have tasted of the heavenly gift, then that heavenly gift is mine; if I have had ever so short an experience of my Saviour's love, I am one of his; if he has brought me into the green pastures, and made me taste of the still waters and the tender grass, I need not fear as to whether I am really a child of God.

Yesterday there were a few emails between a kindred sister in Christ that I met on LinkedIN website a few months ago. Through our emails we shared how our lives both suck yet God does not light up at all. We are both surrendered to Him, we both have been through very hard times with Him and we both have intimacy with Him. Yet, through our emails we were amazed to see how God keeps testing us for the same reasons.  So we encouraged each other and I went to bed. To my surprise I read Oswald Chambers devotional today and it is exactly what we talked about in our emails. I give you my word that I did not read the devotional yesterday nor I knew what the subject was about. It is just one more way God uses to strengthen those who are committed to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9)

I already shared in different posts how my life with God seems to suck. Even though I am out of the wilderness, God does not seem to be in a hurry to do anything that I have come to expect from all the testimonies I read and heard from friends after they left their wilderness time behind. It got so bad that for a few minutes a doubted that I was in His will for my life. To me, it was either that or God had chosen to pick on me. At one point I was pleading my case with Him to share with me what was going on because if indeed I was out of His will for my life I needed to correct the situation. But He never answered me, yet He seems to come at me at all angles. In fact, I did not label what was happening to me “spiritual warfare” nor that I saw Satan in it. I knew very well it was God’s doing. I got a bit annoyed because I could not see the use of it.  I kept asking why when I just finished spending seven years in the wilderness with you, why is it the testing is not going away? What is going on? I got to the point where I really got stressed out. The answer came recently when I insisted on one question “am I doing something wrong in the way I follow you?  Then He basically said to me “bingo”

It turns out by getting all riled up about how my life sucks it was exactly the lesson I missed. He wanted to show me because I have gone through a surrender process with Him for about nine years now (I surrendered all almost two years before He took me to the wilderness) I am to constantly be very aware of thinking that I cannot stumble into that area. To prove His point, He shared with me, while in the wilderness I would have surrendered in a flash all those things that have been happening to me and caused my life to suck, and He was right. When I realized how I failed Him miserably, I surrendered all the mess my life has become since my so called “coming out of the wilderness.” Even though in some of those things, I needed Him to act now, but I learned to say “may your will be done regardless what I expect or desire.”

But even after this sharing time with Him, instead of getting a break He sets out to test me once again. This past Sunday I worshipped Him for about two hours without anything big happening. In the third hour He came and divulged to me two things that He wants for me because He is going to use me to reach other people. These things He told me, I do not want them anymore in my life. In fact I was praying for one of them to go away, and when I realized the answer to my prayer was no, my heart ached but I could feel the Holy Spirit in me praying where my strength was lacking and all of the sudden I sang with all the strength I could muster “I stand with arms high and heart abandoned to the one who gave it all. I stand my soul Lord to you surrendered, all I am is yours. (This is a Hillsong song)

Just one I thought the testing was over, I got a phone call last night about my little brother who has been hospitalized and apparently it is so bad that everyone has gone over to see him and said goodbye. After they shared the complications he was facing along with his last word of love for me, my heart sank down like it contained bricks. I also realized I cannot hop on a train right away to see him because of all the complications in my life now that God decided not to remove or work out soon. So, I realized I had two pains to deal with: one my brother over the years has become an atheist, so he is on his deathbed  unsaved. The second thing is that I have not seen him for years and I might not see him before he died. As I was crying I said God when is enough is enough? At that time, I could feel the Holy Spirit strengthening me and reminded me, that it is one opportunity to give it all to Him and let Him deal with the consequences of it all. What my pain might be like tomorrow is irrelevant tonight, right this moment. I realized in that moment all that God cares is that I surrender all once again, and through His grace, I did. In exchange He gave me His peace. I am now praying and hoping for a miracle that my brother would live.

God tends to test us over and over again like He did with the Israelites in the wilderness. It is hard to remain strong unless we make it a point to walk in the Spirit because our flesh will fail us every time. If we are not walking in the Spirit through surrender, often times, we miss the point altogether because we cannot hear the Spirit or feel His nudges. The Israelites not only did not pass one test out of all those tests God set for them in the wilderness, and they also got tired of them. Oswald Chambers is right in his assessment because many of God's strong man stumbled over their strong points. When I look at my trials now, in this light, I realize God is not picking on me He is actually strengthening me to avoid more pain later in my walk with Him. As I got hold of what is truly happening with me, my heart was filled with tenderness toward Him and I felt bad to the need of repentance for being so upset, blind, resistant and ignorant these past few months. 

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

04

19

2013

Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom —1 Kings 2:28

Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.

“. . . kept by the power of God . . .”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).

Courtesy of: http://utmost.org/

Complete & Effective Dominion

I had no intention of touching Oswald Chambers subject this morning. But during my time with God, the Holy Spirit had decided otherwise. I found myself learning through Oswald Chambers and the Holy Spirit something that I did not realize at the time I wrote my book “Apprehended & Apprehending”.

When I wrote my book “Apprehended & Apprehending” which by the way is not for people who are interested in sampling Christianity but rather for those truly yearning to know Him personally, those who already know Him personally and those who have reached the stage in their Christian walk with Him that Oswald talked in his devotional of April 11 & 12. Otherwise, the book would be meaningless to you.  By the time I had written the book, I had experienced that true Salvation will always lead us to find the “Pearl of Great Price” which to my surprise I found is God the Father. Believe me every bit of this verse is true and it is so GRAND that when you find the pearl of great price in Matthew 13:46 your life will never, ever be the same again. And whether we like it or not shoddy Christianity is left behind and you can only go forward with the Father.  “Who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”   

In my book, my writing was based on what the triune God taught me and my experiences of it though Him. This is one of the beautiful things about learning directly from God. I was taught what Oswald Chambers teach today in his devotional where he used Romans 6:9-11.  In my book I used the same analogy but I learned it from Philippians 3 as God set out to impart to me what He meant through Paul in verses 10-12. 

I don’t know about you but I am excited as I see the beauty of God’s Word and how everything stands by itself yet everything is intertwined together. Oswald said today that eternal life is not a gift from God but it is THE GIFT OF GOD. My dear friends, it is about possessing God Himself, that’s what Oswald means. While it is true eternal life is a gift from God but the gift is HIM.  You see, when you make the decision to leave it all behind, meaning intellect, pride, sin, knowledge, understanding etc and go forward with God to find out what those annoying people keep going on about, as if they know God better than the average Christian, you find God the Father, in the process. (Actually to a certain extend it is the story of the great C.S Lewis)

It is only when you find God the Father, you realize the goal of Salvation, the whole idea behind Salvation which God showed me is as big as the ocean, is in effect about finding God the Father. He is the endless gift behind it all.  Oh I wish you could see the beauty of it all with the eyes of your heart. I wish you could go on to experience the depth, the length, the strength, the width and so on, that is involved in finding the Father.  Make no mistake, I did not find Him when I was standing by myself under the law, and doing my things apart from Christ. He revealed Himself to me while I was inside of Christ. Understand what I am saying, we were both, inside of Christ. I found out He was always there all along, but could not reveal Himself to me until I was ready, because as much as it is a friendship and relationship with our father, it is also a process. This process it is the reason Oswald Chambers is pleading with us in his devotional to go forward apprehending what Christ had apprehended us for. The strange thing is, once you apprehend the reason why Christ apprehended us for which means possessing God the father, you are driven by that ambition to apprehend more and more of Him. It is so strange, you find that you can never get too much of Him and you cannot be quenched.

In my book I explained how the life that is in Christ is imparted to us. It is as if God is changing your very own DNA with His life. He feeds it to you slowly as if you were an infant in the mother’s womb, Christ becomes the mother here. I still find it mind boggling the idea of me being in Christ, Christ being in me, Christ being in God and God being in Christ. While in my walk with Him I have experienced it, but it still gives me a headache to think about it. I cannot wait for God to take away the limitation when I die so that my little pea brain does not explode with this beautiful truth.

While we sit there like a dog with a bone claiming one or two verses here and there to stand our ground and make excuses not to go forward, if we only bothered going forward, God would show us that all those things we tend to think are made up by other people to rock the boat, and our enjoyment of complacency. We would learn the depth of certain verses that escape us in the Bible. What I mean by that, some people would say, well, we do not need that and it is apostasy. This is why we have to test the spirits. We do not gobble up everything people say because we like them, or that they look good, or perhaps they agree with our idea of Salvation which keeps us in complacency with God to begin with.  If we do that, we are no better than unbelievers trying to decipher the Bible to make fun of us and show how stupid we are and how bad our God is. When we do not test the spirits first through the Holy Spirit, we are nothing less than fools. We give Satan’s ammunitions and he tightens up the chain that keeps us in bondage and in ignorance of the true God.

What Oswald wrote today, in the same way I concluded in my book that we need to go forward to claim the life we have in Him we can find one instance in the Bible where Paul said the same thing as well. Galatians 4:19 expressed so nicely why Paul was suffering like a pregnant woman about to give birth. He knew they were missing a big component which was needed. Hence “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,” this is a beautiful verse pregnant with meaning directly related to our eternal life. You are free to see this verse as the word of God and admit and commit to it. Or, you are free to see it as Satan wants you to. The choice is yours. Be forewarned that choosing Satan’s side by minimizing the meaning of this verse does not change God’s truth and does not let you and I off the hook.

Matthew Henry’s commentary is my favourite. Here is what he said about it 4:19, 20 “The Galatians were ready to account the apostle their enemy, but he assures them he was their friend; he had the feelings of a parent toward them. He was in doubt as to their state, and was anxious to know the result of their present delusions. Nothing is so sure a proof that a sinner has passed into a state of justification, as Christ being formed in him by the renewal of the Holy Spirit; but this cannot be hoped for, while men depend on the law for acceptance with God. The truth is every single time we walk without Him,  provide explanations and decipher the Bible on our own apart from the Holy Spirit, all we do is put ourselves right back under the law.

The beauty of all this captivates me so much that I could go on deciphering Oswald’s devotional because I lived it all out with Him in the wilderness. But, I want to make something clear. My comparing myself with the same deductions that I came up with Oswald has nothing to do with me thinking that I am close to walk in Oswald’s shoes. On the contrary, one of the reasons I got excited is because I can see that God can teach me in the smallest and the biggest things. I got excited because I learned something new today through the devotion and I am happy because I am learning from the same God who taught Oswald His Word. I am well aware that I have a long way to go and one will never arrive in this life.

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

03

22

2013

Did not our heart burn within us . . . ? —Luke 24:32

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/

Surrender

Anyone who is familiar with my post should know today’s Oswald Chambers is thrilling to me simply because in my world, surrender is the name of the game. 

But, what I would like you to pay attention to is all the doctrines that Oswald talked about in this one page. There is so much of the Christian life summarized in one tiny page. There is the surrendered life, the eradication of sin, the oneness with Christ, the claim to self and the view of the true self vis a vis God which is when we discover we are nothing but a worm in His presence. We also have part of the walk in the Spirit that is somewhere in there too. Then, after all that we find that regeneration is ours in the end.

The idea here is not to read it and just fall in love with the beauty of the contents because it’s well said or just because we admire his knowledge but, to seriously consider asking God to impart this life to your soul too. We have to be careful of repeating things out of sentimentality such as a verse like Galatians 2:20. Until God imparts it in our lives all we have is indeed sentimentality which will not take us anywhere. This is why Paul was worrying so much about the Galatians and he felt the pain of childbirth for them, until Christ nature is formed in them. Paul was exhorting them to go forward; he worried about their progress because he knew they were missing out on something. (Galatians 4:19-20)

I know from experience there is at least three years of intense and focus work to get there with God. And this is from living a total surrendered life while you are kept under His thumb with a life that you no longer recognized. I would not be able to tell you how long it takes if God decides to do this work in chunks in your own life, or perhaps if you surrender on a case by case basis. But what I can assure you, without this process we have a passage in the Scriptures that says many are called but few are chosen” care to guess which group you belong to in that verse?

About a month ago I encountered a so called Christian blogger on the internet who had such a long post about Oswald Chambers. While he went on about how he respect his group of friends who loves Oswald’s writings. He went on about how he also likes O C’s writings and possesses actually two of the same devotion books. In the end he concluded that all of his writings were basically wishful thinking, forced salvation and someone trying to force mysticism etc. He also said something like he could not understand why someone with common sense would believe in all that nonsense. (But don’t worry he respects his friends’ views LOL)

This blogger went on to explain how he has been raised in a Christian home for thirty years (by the time he wrote his ridiculous and confusing post he was much older) and share his beliefs. Personally I feel if I were in his shoes,  I would not brag about being raised in a Christian home because it does not say much about your parents Christianity if this is what they taught you. Secondly, his beliefs can be summed up this way: let go and let God, do not lift a finger. Then on top of it all he managed to confuse those followers of him because of the comments I read, some were asking if they can still believe they have received salvation without going through those processes Oswald Chambers kept referring to in his devotion book? And these questions were coming from very educated young men like him. But what none of them understood is that the whole devotion book is dedicated to explaining Salvation. He was sharing with us how when salvation touches us we find the power to press on beyond our common sense. If after thirty years of Christianity you cannot see this basic fact in his devotion book, then you are in trouble.

Today’s devotion of surrender should be considered very closely because you do not want to be this type of Christian like this blogger after thirty years has no spiritual discernment, no idea what salvation means according to God’s version of it and he is not willing to give up pretense, sin and deceit. Lashing out of Oswald’s writings will do you no good. He lived his life in the light of God and now he is with Him. Are you sure you can say you are even living in the light of God?   

The “surrender” devotion we read today is nothing but, salvation working in your life reviving your dead bones. It is Salvation working in your soul. It is what you claimed to have received that is at work in you, building you up, preparing you, sanctifying you, transforming you etc. It is exactly the continuation of the good work in you by the One who started it. It is His grace at work. It is the foundation of the work of personal holiness. We do not surrender like Oswald suggested today because we want to receive salvation, but we do surrender because we have received salvation. We surrender because the salvation we have received has allowed us to see who we are in Him and how much more we need Him.

So, if you feel like lashing out to OC because of what he has written, you are just like an unbeliever finding the gospel offensive. Since you are already in the Word, but in Satan’s claws, may I suggest you get on your knees and start begging God to touch your dull conscience and callous heart? Beside, Paul and Christ are not asking you anything they have not done.

HERE IS OSWALD POST JUST IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT READ IT

The Surrendered Life

03

08

2013

I have been crucified with Christ . . . —Galatians 2:20

To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.

Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?

We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.

If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you

Courtesy of: http://utmost.org/

This morning as I was reading Oswald Chambers devotion, it dawned on me that something that happened to me so many years ago was right there in the Bible, yet, I had no idea it was written in one of the books that I love so much, the Romans.

When I first entered the wilderness with Him, He gave me two solemn warnings. One was that voice I heard when I was by myself in the house. The voice was loud and so clear that I did not move for a few seconds. All I heard was “nothing in this life is about you” This was the first and the last time I heard His voice that way. I also understand later on, He spoke to me that way because I have not acquired the discipline of hearing Him in my heart yet.

Through the message, I knew “hard time” was coming but I was not prepared for what was ahead for me and I am glad I did not know the full scope. Right after this message, I was put through a rigorous training of hearing the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. During that period one thing He made clear to me was that not only my life was never to be about me, but as we move forward, anything that will happen to me during this period I was in, had nothing to do with me. I did not say a word; I listened and remained silent the whole time. It is funny how both of us all of the sudden were silent. But my silence was not the same as God’s because though He was no longer talking, He was for lack of a better word, infusing in me what He meant by “this period of my life had nothing to do with me”

It was one of the most beautiful experiences that He let me keep with me even now. I knew that everything about that particular season of my life was about God and other people that He would put in my path. I knew, rejecting the season or wasting it away, meant forfeiting God’s plan for me. What was amazing in my experiencing this with Him was the fact that I could see myself as being just a tool. I could see from the moment I was conceived in my mother’s womb that was God’s purpose all along. There were a whole bunch of people in the shadow, all faceless, I could see they came from all shapes, height, sex, and sizes. While it appeared they were all strangers, yet they were holding hands. They were also waiting there, as if they were waiting for me to make my move or say something.  All I got from this encounter was that I was born to touch their lives in whatever capacity He decided.

This encounter also helped me in such a deep way to walk the steadfast life. I knew, my going through the season, was simply part of the process. It was amazing to see something so personal and so intimate could make me feel so much like I do not matter. Let me explain. It was very important for God to make me feel like I was something like a hammer that was fashioned for the purpose of being used just like a hammer would be. I carried this understanding and feeling within my heart to see me through the darkest days of my wilderness, even when things were unbearable to my soul. I was aware, if I did not let Him have His ways, then how could I live with myself knowing I failed these people? I failed God? I failed the reason I was born for? 

I wish I could make you see with your spiritual eyes the impact of knowing that even when you were nothing yet, your father or grandfather were not even born. Yet, God put a plan forward with you in mind. Can you grasp the magnitude of the God that we serve? Can you see how important you are? It is never about the big thing you can do. The sensation and the importance, but it is about being His instrument as you live the life you were born for. Through this experience I could see when we all die and Christ is putting all things the way they should, people that I honor now, might end up being last. I beg you to see with your heart what I am saying it is who you are “IN HIS HANDS” that matters.

                 

To me, it was not a question that God could change His plan and use someone else or do it Himself. It was instilled in me that was my responsibility. I felt, if I fail, then my life was worthless. From this single experience I learned so much that I could write a book about it. But, the funny thing is, all I learned no matter how I look at it, all I can see is God’s sovereignty which has been magnified in my life more than I could find words to explain myself. I enjoyed learning a tiny bit about the intricacies of His plan for us and how each one of us has a responsibility and how important it is to live out His plan for us.

I could see through the experience with Him, how when you touch someone’s life according to His will in your own life, the gift keeps on giving even after one hundred years or two thousand years down the road. I know my writings do not cajole people and make them feel good in their lethargy. If I were to do that to get more readers, or to be liked, I would not be true to the reason of my being on this earth. I would not be true to Him who made me. I also know God has a plan and my writings will find those I am writing for. BLESSED BE HIS NAME! These people are singled out by God Himself.

I am the first one amazed at God’s power when I learn from books written 3, 4 or 7 hundred years ago. While these people are long gone that even their bones no longer there, but, because they live God’s purpose for their lives, they are still teaching me. They are allowing me to go deeper and deeper in Him. What is more amazing is that when I read those classic and those puritan books and sermons, I know God had me personally in mind. He knew this person writing was going to make an impact on me for His Glory. What an amazing life we have waiting for us? What a magnificent God we serve? I hate the fact that there is not enough room in my heart to love Him the way He deserves. I hate most that I keep failing Him over and over again in this life, when in reality He deserves my all, unconditionally.  

This is why, as long as I live, and as long as it is His will for me, I will always write against physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, and our lethargy because the Christian life is too hard. Whether we like it or not, it makes a difference to God because His Word told us in Revelation 2:7 “…..To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God”  At the right time, He will separate those who profess to be Christians and those who possess the Christian faith and we are dead wrong if we think all we will be losing is just some reward.

I know I have a long way to go. So, am I perfect at it? This is a big NO and thousands times NO, but I am truly a work in progress in His hands of love.  Every day comes with its own challenges and sometimes the learning curve is so steep I want to rest. (This rest here means when you go back to your old self to find your comfort zone) But I also know that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, so I keep going forward toward the goal, apprehending what He apprehended me for.

Are you living out God’s purpose for your life? Are you your brother’s keeper? I beg you not to take things lightly! 

This should have been split in two post. I apologize. But, I will leave you with Oswald Chambers devotion for today. Read it if you have time or come back to it when you can.

“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”

02

15

2013

None of us lives to himself . . . —Romans 14:7

Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places . . .” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it . . .” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God . . .” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).

“You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “. . . lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Courtesy of: http://utmost.org/