A daily devotion...
I have been rereading this devotion for the past few days, refusing to move on without blogging it out. It does have a great point to it and I'm glad I got to think through it for a few days.
The
Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success
“Nevertheless
do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you…” –Luke 10:20
Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as
Christian workers, nor is the sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly
desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after,
the form set by this religious age in which we now live. Never seek after
anything other than the approval of God.
One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives
which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. (Chambers, My Utmost for His
Highest, April 24)
Spiritual Success, desiring to know and understand at a level that is measured by someone other than God. Instead, Chambers challenges us to seek only approval from God. A wonderful song by Shane & Shane titled "Unto You" has a line that points out this very goal, "All I want to do is exalt You, All I want to do is to lift You high, All I want to do is please You, All I want to do is to make You smile". If I desire to please or make someone other than God smile, my heart is no longer choosing to seek God's approval. My life, if I was to desire to seek God's approval, I would want to do anything He wants me to do. And if He wants me to go to the missions field, I cannot come up with any reason not to go because my desire is to please Him. I love the last line of the Shane & Shane lyric that says, All I want to do is to make You smile. What joy life can be when our only desire is to make Jesus smile and when all we want is to make God smile, our life will be totally devoted to Him.
Link to Shane & Shane song "Unto You" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6emANZyTLF8
A sermon...
The previous post to this is titled "The Seven- Part 2(Rev 1:9-20). Link to video http://marshill.com/media/the-seven/a-message-to-seven-churches I listened to this sermon and gained so much encouragement from God through these few versus in Revelation. All my notes are under that post but I just wanted to spend some time reflecting on it.
First, when we came to Christ as empty broken sinners, Jesus didn't promise a perfect trial-free life. Instead He said that life would be hard, but through faith and trust in Him, He would help us endure anything because He has suffered through the greatest hardship we could ever imagine, the Cross.
Second, through trials, through tribulations, Jesus is there. But sometimes it is hard to worship God when you wonder, where is He? By putting off the worship, we are putting off the reward. Through worship we discover who God is even more, our hearts grow closer to Him and then we see Him in all His glory admist whatever storm or valley we may be facing.
Thirdly, within these versus of Revelation, John has been exiled to Patmos. There here is praying and worshiping God when no other than Jesus, in all His glory, shows up. Admist the suffering that John is facing, Jesus doesn't come and comfort Him but rather asks Him to pull out a scroll to write letters to each of the churches John oversee's for guidance from Jesus. Jesus isn't worried about John, He's worried about His church and is asking John to serve His people. Yes Jesus comforts us where we are, but through serving others, we gain the most joy in life, and it is through those moments of service that Jesus' love is shown to others.
And lastly, "Fear not, for Jesus is with You and Us"-Driscoll. Who am I afraid of? What do I fear? How do I respond to fear? Do I fear something other than God? I cannot fear both something and God. A similar question is who do I serve? I cannot serve someone and God. Fear. The bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom comes when we fear nothing except for God. How much different my life could be if I feared nothing except God.
A book...
Some quotes from Ann Voskamp's book A Thousand Gifts, Chapter 4, A Sanctuary of Time
- God gives us time. And who has time for God? (pg 64)
- "We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing." (Psalm 39:6) (pg 65)
- Being in a hurry... I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. (pg 65)
- I can only live the full life when I live fully in the moment. (pg 68)
- I will not desecrate this moment with ignorant hurry or sordid ingratitude. (pg 70)
- The real problem in life is never a lack of time. The real problem of life- in my life- is lack of thanksgiving. (pg 72)
- Don't I always have the choice to be fully attentive? Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus. Eucharisteo, eucharisteo. that keeps the focus simple- sacred. (pg 77)
- With each passing minute, each passing year, there's this deepening awareness that I am filling, gaining time. We stand on the brink of eternity. (pg 77)
Once again I was convicted. Time. Something so precious, something that controls every thought we possess, something that can be a gift or something that can haunt you. Time is something that is the same for every single person on this planet. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years all pass the same for each person. Whether in China or Antarctica or Hawaii, time passes as the sun rises and the moon appears 12 hours later. Time is something that people center their lives around. God is outside of time, something we can't even imagine. Jesus is attentive in each moment we are in and at the same time can see our entire life from start to finish in a blink. As I read this chapter on the "sanctuary of time", I was reminded that it isn't something that quickly passes but rather is a gift, something compared to dessert, something that God desires us to eat slowly and savory. It's a gift, because with God's eternity on the mind, time is something only to be gained. Time. I must not abuse the gift that God so graciously gave by being in a hurry, wasting it away with trying to rush to the next engagement. Instead I desire to taste every second of my life, and thank God for it as much as I possibly can.
A bible study...
Great reminders from Gary Thomas' book, The Glorious Pursuit: Embracing the virtues of Christ. Chapter 6: Surrender
* Surrender to God's purposes is the interior attitude adjustment by which we can live above our time with an eternal perspective. (pg. 68)
* In this, Jesus tells you and me that we must surrender our jealously and envy about God's plan for other people when those plans seem preferable to ours. (pg 69)
* When I insist on control, my anxiety level rises;... (pg 70)
* ...embracing whatever God's will is for me this day leads me into a deepening experience of fellowship with Jesus. (pg 71)
* If Jesus leads me through trail or triumph, the most important thing is that I'm with Him. (pg 71)
* The key to surrender is acceptance...Accept the matter. (pg 72)
* Don't discount the small battles, thinking you can win the war in one tremendous act of "giving it all up to God". (pg 74)
* Above all, we must remember that God's agenda and love for us holds a much bigger concern than supplying our immediate comforts. (pg 74)
Surrender. Surrendering to God's plan and will for my life. The one quote that stuck out to me the most was on pg 72, the key to surrender is acceptance. I must accept that God's plan for me is going to please Him the most. I must accept the fact that even though I think I have a great planned thought up, God's is 10 times better than I could ever come up with. I must remember that God loves me so much that He has a perfect plan for my life and that plan is thought through with eternity in mind, not the feelings of happy and comfortable that seem to be all we want in this life. God is so much bigger than the happy feelings we have on Earth and time is so much longer than our moments of grief.
A Brief Summary
A life devoted totally to God in order to make Him smile. Worship within trials and tribulations and see God walk through the valley with you. Serve Jesus admist the storm and see God's love spread. Fear Jesus. Time is a gift from Jesus, one to be thankful for. Surrender to Jesus all the plans you can surmise and allow Him to direct your paths. If our ultimately goal is always to make Jesus smile then whatever it is we face, we will still be able to serve His church and Fear His name. Jesus, all I want for my life, each moment I want to make you smile.
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