All in Oswald Chambers
Are you satisfied with what God has done in you? When you look in the mirror in the morning are you pleased and at ease with the fact that Jesus has filled you with His teaching and that the Holy Spirit has expanded you to the point of popping at the seams? All of this is wonderful, but what is really asked of us isn't to reach self-fufilment, but rather that we Channel all we are given to those around us. Our measure is in service, not in volume.
Have you set yourself apart for God? In other words, are you holy? If you think you are then let's go a step further and ask ourselves "am I perfect!" These are hard questions and we often deflect them by saying that only Jesus is perfect, so how could I possibly be.
How is your life in Christ? Before you answer this question answer another... "how often do I pray?" We think that our life with Christ is robust because of the things we do, and yet we have not humbled ourselves before Him in prayer; our relationship is starving.
Are you prepared to pray? By that I mean, are you prepared to pray and receive the blessing of which you speak with God? So often we come to the Lord unprepared; living one life and praying as if we lived another.
The strongest people I know are poor in spirit. This life was not chosen for them, but they chose it for themselves. Do you know such people? Are you one of them? Perhaps you are wondering what I mean by this.
Living our lives with Jesus is more than attaching a series of disjointed moments that have been separated by periods of time in which He is absent into something we call faith. God is never here and then gone, but with us always and in all things. Our Lord Jesus doesn't abandon us to our own devices only to return once we have screwed things up... He is with us always.
Is what God is doing , or not doing, in your life a frustrating mystery? Do you pray for a certain thing over and over again, but it doesn't seem to be heard? How about the troubles in your life; does God's plan for you regarding them stump you? Well don't feel alone, but let's explore this.
Are you holding back from opening up to God until you have perfected yourself? Are you waiting for the time when you have become perfectly pure in thought before you seek to have a relationship with Jesus? If so you will never know them. They understand what and who you are, and yet they love you despite of it, let God begin the process of reshaping you.
Am I blessed as Jesus said I would be when He taught the Beatitudes? Do I see them as simple precepts for life, or does their spiritual undercurrent shake me? These very easily followed rules for living can improve the life of an unbeliever, or elevate a person of faith to a dramatically higher spiritual plane.
Am I prepared to walk in the desert? Can I tolerate the loneliness that will test me there? When there is nothing left but myself and God, will I find I am prepared for death and to join Him? Will I accept sanctification in Christ just as His apostles did? These are questions to consider regarding our being alone and the sanctity that results from it.
Have I placed Jesus first and foremost as my teacher? What is the danger in this? Why is it more important that we put Jesus the redeemer before Jesus the teacher?
The gift of salvation through God's grace is totally of God, and has nothing to do with our earning it... but does that relieve us of all responsibility?
When I came to Jesus it was in full submission to Him, but have I served Him over all else in my life? Have I been the servant He expected me to be, or has my commitment to Him become a convenience on my part? These are my thoughts this morning, and they convict me.
Does God have to move something, or someone, out of the way before you will see Him? Is your attention focused somewhere other than on Him? Our God is a jealous God... He told us so, which begs the question... why do we taunt Him with our inattention? This is my concentration today. I am asking myself if there are people or things in my life that keep me from Him.
How mature am I as a Christian? Have I moved from that stage in my faith where the focus has shifted from learning who Jesus was, and how to live the life of Christ, to that of actually knowing Him and living alongside Him? Am I fully engaged and surrounded by the will of God and in close relationship with Jesus, or still battling within myself to wrest control from the sinful man that resides there?