All tagged jesus
In my devotional reading this morning Pastor Oswald Chambers asked a simple question that took me aback. I hadn't thought about this so directly before; this is what he asked… "Are we being more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ?" Are you willing to humbly consider this question and honestly answer it today?
Have you ever struggled to understand your service to God and others as it compares to the call of God itself? This morning I am contemplating these two wonderful aspects of our faith… faithful service, and God’s calling for us. You might interpret our service as being works so here are two scripture references that together link our faith and works together, one from Paul (Ephesians 2:8-9) and the other from James (James 2:26). These two passages complement each other and explain how they go hand in hand. But let’s explore what this has to do with God calling us.
Yesterday we thought about being alone with God in times of correction, but today let’s contemplate those times when we find ourselves alone with Jesus out of love, familiarity, and to receive such things as His instruction, direction, or blessing... what do we say or ask of Jesus when we are alone with Him? Well, we can ask anything but especially the hard questions, or those that bare the uncertainties or insecurities that we harbor in our souls.
Today’s topic deals with what is expected of us in regard to our lives. There are some who believe that the ultimate offering of our life is to sacrifice it in death or lay it down in service to God; but that isn't the case. That sacrifice has been made; Jesus was the one perfect offering for the redemption of sin. God loved us enough to do this for us… not for Himself, nor to lead us into death for any other reason. We have been saved once, and for all, by Christ alone.
This morning I read a devotional message written by Oswald Chambers regarding our knowing Jesus, and it dealt with how well, and when, the disciples came to know Him and it begged us to ask the question... do we really know Him? When I had completed my reading and was contemplating my own relationship with Jesus Christ and what I needed to do to know Him better, two words were given to me... imitation and emulation. They sound very similar, and out of ignorance we often use them interchangeably, but they are quite different in meaning.
This morning as I read my devotional it struck me that the life of Peter mirrors our own lives in many powerful ways. We are humble before Jesus, yet we boldly speak for Him, we often speak before listening, we have glimpses of strong faith that often fade as we sink while walking on water, and we wrestle with our sinfulness, but there is no similarity more blatantly obvious, nor spiritually disappointing, than when Peter denied Jesus… and when we recognize ourselves in him as he does so. Like Peter we answer the call of Jesus as infants and must mature in our belief and faith.
Tears came to my eyes the first morning I read Oswald Chambers' devotional for this day and the Holy Spirit came over me. I felt as though I was experiencing in words what my spirit had been speaking to me for so many years.
My devotional reading this morning was titled "Let Us Keep To The Point", and builds on Oswald Chambers' personal challenge of giving "My Utmost for His Highest". It presses the argument that we should yield to God's will always, and in every instance... without question. The apostle Paul likewise instructs the Philippians on living in the will of God as we live our lives. He speaks to them of living a life with Jesus and aligning ourselves with God's perfect will... without fear of death.
This morning I revisited a devotional reading that I had enjoyed on this day several years ago. On that day I had already been operated on and had a cancerous tumor removed from my body, but later that afternoon, I was going to find out how my treatment would proceed... My devotional reading that particular day included these words:
Do we desire something from God, but alter our prayers because we think we are asking too much of Him? We might initially say that we don’t do this, but if we are honest with ourselves we just might find that we are guilty of doing so subconsciously as we prepare to enter into our prayers. Do we trust in the true ability, and desire of God when it comes to our provision, healing, love, or defense? Let’s look at these things today…and the omnipotence, and the omnipresence of God… it might just change our lives, and our prayers.
Are we waiting to fully understand God before we will allow ourselves to believe? Do we hope he is who scripture says He is, but need more proof? Some of us don’t want to admit that God exists because our own limited intelligence, ability to conceive, or because our lack of understanding who He is, keeps getting in our way. Well, hope is fine, but it isn’t the same thing as faith. Hope is seeing a box, and wanting to believe that God might be in it. Faith is our ability to take the vapor of that hope, and treat it as if it were real. Faith is the first step towards believing… it opens the box in which we have placed our hope that God exists, and allows us to peer inside expectantly. Belief, on the other hand, is seeing the evidence of Him in the box, and realizing that He is not only there in its confines, but is in everything that surrounds it… and abides in us too. So today let’s think about where we are on this path from hope to faith, to belief, and into the eternal presence of God beyond.
Hungering after righteousness and longing for God. Today I am contemplating the intense desire for the Lord's presence in our lives, and what better place to go for an understanding of such a longing than to the Psalms, and the words of a more recent pastor… Charles Spurgeon.
God never forsakes us. This is our contemplation this morning. Men will turn their backs on kings, and one another, but God never forsakes us, His People. We are asked to love Him with all our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength, because this is how He loves us, but do we understand and believe this to be absolutely true? Do we love our neighbors as we love ourselves? We are His people, and His inheritance, and as such we are priceless in His eyes.
My devotional reading in “The Power of Prayer” this morning was titled "God Called Men", and it was wonderful. Pastor E. M. Bounds wrote that all things are truly possible through God. Which I believe firmly, and that prayer leads us there. He was profound when he wrote these words:
"If God's people would pray as they ought to pray, the great things that happened in the past would happen again and again." E. M. Bounds
We consider Jesus to be many things; we call him the Son of God, our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, the Dove of Peace, Lion of Judah, Prince of Peace, Bread of Life, and so many other things, but who was Jesus if not a missionary to the world? That is the thought I would like for us to consider this morning, and bring to the forefront of our attention. This is something He was proclaimed to be in ancient prophesy, and at the moment of His conception.