Today I am thinking about the two disciples who walked the road to Emmaus and encountered Jesus. I am amazed that they had left Jerusalem and were returning home dejected and believing the Lord had failed them... they were disappointed that their timeline had not been met as they thought it should have been. The promise of three days, in their eyes, meant that Jesus would arise and redeem Israel by force from the Romans. Let's read their words...
As I read Oswald Chambers this morning, I was touched by the message of offering ourselves to God, and then allowing Him full reign in changing us and perfecting our lives for His service. Chambers used the words of Paul to illustrate that we should present our old self as a drink offering and then allow Him to pour us over the altar.
Are we willing to serve God unnoticed and in the darkness of obscurity? How many times do you give to the kingdom without a receiving a receipt? These are questions that I invite you to consider this morning. It is in our human nature to want appreciation and acknowledgement for what we do. We all want to hear the words "Great Job!", "Well Done!", “or “You have blessed me.”, but what if God asks us to put our pride aside and obey His will or give of ourselves with no other eyes on our obedient goodness except His? Can we step into the shadows and give Him all the glory without desiring some of it for ourselves?
There are so many things that distract us from our faith and quite often they prevent us from realizing the fullness of that faith, and in their most destructive form, they keep us from giving God complete and unchallenged dominion over our lives. But don’t be afraid because in Jesus Christ there are many other things that are singularly strong enough to change who we are, who we live for, who we would die for, and who ultimately who rules our lives.
I often talk about how I feel regarding Jesus and my love for God, but today I am considering the love God has for us, and the reason for the love He feels for us. We know very well that God loves us, and the Bible is filled with scripture to that effect. It could very well be considered a love story between God and man. Do we approach our relationship with this in mind?
This morning we are contemplating how God calls us in our lives. These are mission(s) of faithfulness and service that God asks us to pursue and we are meant to be committed to. By obeying Him in this way we are wonderfully, and firmly within His will and desire. It is also true that the importance of a calling isn’t necessarily predicated on size, scope, or difficulty. Although many callings do stretch us beyond our comfort zones and capabilities, while some appear very small, and others are deemed to be more important by the world, they are all meant to glorify God. Like so many things involving God the large things are often small, and the small things are actually quite large.
Did Jesus live die and rise from the grave, resurrected, to save you from your sins? Of course He did, but that is only part of the picture... the tip of the iceberg. Jesus did all of this to save not just you or me, but the world... and regardless of who we are, any one of us is but a small part of that.
Are we called to be Holy men and women? If we are not, then what is our calling? These are the questions I am asking myself this morning, and the Apostle Paul is the example I look to as I search out the Lord's call in my life. You see, Paul wasn't called to serve in the temple, nor to sit on a mountaintop communing with God... he was called to deliver the gospel to a dark and dangerous world. Holiness in scripture means to be separated for the use of God… are we?
This morning I ask you to join me in contemplating those times when God has spoken to you. It may have been in a feeling you couldn't shake, a dream, in a voice only you could hear, by signs, or maybe in a vision. Is there a time when you realized that you were engaged in conversation with the Lord, in a "God Moment?" This happened throughout the Bible, and it continues to happen today. What is interesting is how God's voice is accepted and used. Let's look at one such instance in particular; How God spoke to Samuel.
Yesterday we gave thought to wounding Jesus, but today we will look at this in a different light... do we persecute Him? On the road to Damascus, Saul didn't understand what was happening to him. Who was speaking to him? So He asked, and Jesus told him. Do we know who speaks to us? What are our motives in serving God? Is our desire to solely elevate Him, or to gain some of the praise of others for ourselves? As we read today’s opening verses let's ask ourselves... do we have love? Do we serve Him with the motivation of God's love first?
I was convicted this morning as I bore into my devotional thought. I was searching through an inconvenient truth... there are times when I wound Jesus in my attempt to achieve righteousness. In those times I am similar to Saul and facing imminent correction. You are asking yourself how I could have done such a terrible thing. You are probably thinking "I am glad I don't do that!" But don't be too quick to judge, or claim the high ground. Let me explain, and then search yourself further as I did.
As Christians are we still tempted to place our earthly needs before our spiritual relationship with God? Do we spend precious time worrying and thinking about worldly things when it would be better spent on the Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father? Do we arm ourselves against temptation with prayer and the Word of God? As I was reading Oswald Chambers this morning he wrote about our temptation in these words...
My devotional reading this morning was focused on the simplicity of faith, and as I studied the truths in this concept I uncovered the depth of my similar belief. But I also began to see how I often followed the mantra I hear in commercials on television as they sing... "I want it now!" (NFL), or "It's mine!" (Diet Coke), or perhaps "I want it all!" (Dr. Pepper). I could see that I was applying this urgency to my relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and how I wanted every truth in a scripture, and every revelation of God, to occur instantly... right now! Had I lost the ability to wait patiently, and trust in the Lord?
Today let’s examine our lives as we determine if we are presuming to know when and how God will enter into our affairs. I am personally trying to decide if I am attempting to control my circumstances, or if I am truly trusting in God. I am asking myself if I have been limiting His access to my life by not fully realizing that He will interact with me at His good pleasure. Will you join with me in this intimate exploration of our faiths? What I have found in my own quest may serve to enlighten you.
Today let’s contemplate our being chosen by God for a life and relationship with Him through Jesus; even as much as we ourselves choose to live that life and love our Lord. I think about Saul becoming Paul and this most intense selection by Jesus. After Saul had been struck down in the midst of his noon day prayers, and blinded, he was told to go into Jerusalem and wait there for instructions. Are we chosen too? Are we humbled as Saul was? Do we obey, and go to meet Him?