Today as with all fortnights we reflected from Oswald Chambers Devotions... My Utmost For His Highest
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Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .’ —Matthew 16:24
Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.
The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, "I can’t believe," it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, "I will not surrender," or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. In Matthew 5:23-24 The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing, It is your individuality that refuses to "be reconciled to your brother". God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. ". . . let him deny himself . . ."— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.
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Friday, June 20, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Sermon 5/08 : Replacing Bad With Good
Christian living is more than emptying one's life of evil . . . it also involves filling one's life with good. Jesus spoke a parable where an unclean spirit left a man and upon its return finding the house empty, swept and neatly in order it reentered the house taking with it seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and the last state of that man was worst than the first - Matthew 12:43-45. This parable demonstrates that it is not enough to empty one's life of evil, but one must also fill each his/her life with good. The temple of the demon must become the temple of God.
Endeavoring to life void of evil without replacing the evil with good robs life of meaning and purpose. A man revealed that he found it difficult to stop visiting a place where he played pool, had a few social drinks, told a lot of dirty jokes, and heard a lot of bad language. In his effort to break the routine he would simply go home and sit around bored with nothing to do. His boredom left his life feeling void of any real meaning or purpose. After a few weeks he would find himself back in the same old rut doing the same old thing.
The Christian life must not only be thought of in terms of what one should not do, but also in terms of what one should be doing. Godly living must be viewed from a positive perspective thinking in terms of filling one's life with wholesome thoughts, right attitudes and good deeds. A close examination of the New Testament reveals that it implicitly or explicitly commends an act of righteousness to replace every ungodly act that it condemns.
Jesus taught that bad attitudes must be replaced with good ones (Matthew 5:1-12); love must root out hate (Matthew 5:43-48); doing alms to God in secret replaces doing alms to be seen of men (Matthew 6:1-5); one must strive to lay up treasure in heaven rather than laying up riches upon the earth (Matthew 6:19-21); concern for the spiritual must take precedence over the concern for the physical (Matthew 6:25-34); digging the beam out of your eye must replace hunting the mote in our brother's eye (Matthew 7:1-5); the narrow way is to replace the broad way (Matthew 7:13-14); building a life upon a solid foundation is to replace the life built upon shifting sand (Matthew 7:24-27), etc.
Likewise Paul taught that telling the truth must supplant lying (Ephesians 4:25); an honest days work would cause one to have no need of stealing (Ephesians 4:28); filthy conversation is to be changed into a speech that will edify and minister grace unto the hearers (Ephesians 4:29); the works of the flesh must be displaced by the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:19-24); one must seek to be filled with the Spirit and not with wine (Ephesians 5:18), etc.
The easiest way to replace air in a bottle with water is simply to fill the bottle with water, thus driving out the air. Likewise, the easiest way to replace evil in one's life is, with the help of God, simply fill one's life with good, thus crowding out the evil. The idle life is doomed to become the devil's tool.
An untiring effort to have wholesome thoughts, to develop right attitudes, and to do good will drive out the unclean spirit and we will "Discover A Life with Purpose."
Adopted From FocusOnGod
Endeavoring to life void of evil without replacing the evil with good robs life of meaning and purpose. A man revealed that he found it difficult to stop visiting a place where he played pool, had a few social drinks, told a lot of dirty jokes, and heard a lot of bad language. In his effort to break the routine he would simply go home and sit around bored with nothing to do. His boredom left his life feeling void of any real meaning or purpose. After a few weeks he would find himself back in the same old rut doing the same old thing.
The Christian life must not only be thought of in terms of what one should not do, but also in terms of what one should be doing. Godly living must be viewed from a positive perspective thinking in terms of filling one's life with wholesome thoughts, right attitudes and good deeds. A close examination of the New Testament reveals that it implicitly or explicitly commends an act of righteousness to replace every ungodly act that it condemns.
Jesus taught that bad attitudes must be replaced with good ones (Matthew 5:1-12); love must root out hate (Matthew 5:43-48); doing alms to God in secret replaces doing alms to be seen of men (Matthew 6:1-5); one must strive to lay up treasure in heaven rather than laying up riches upon the earth (Matthew 6:19-21); concern for the spiritual must take precedence over the concern for the physical (Matthew 6:25-34); digging the beam out of your eye must replace hunting the mote in our brother's eye (Matthew 7:1-5); the narrow way is to replace the broad way (Matthew 7:13-14); building a life upon a solid foundation is to replace the life built upon shifting sand (Matthew 7:24-27), etc.
Likewise Paul taught that telling the truth must supplant lying (Ephesians 4:25); an honest days work would cause one to have no need of stealing (Ephesians 4:28); filthy conversation is to be changed into a speech that will edify and minister grace unto the hearers (Ephesians 4:29); the works of the flesh must be displaced by the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:19-24); one must seek to be filled with the Spirit and not with wine (Ephesians 5:18), etc.
The easiest way to replace air in a bottle with water is simply to fill the bottle with water, thus driving out the air. Likewise, the easiest way to replace evil in one's life is, with the help of God, simply fill one's life with good, thus crowding out the evil. The idle life is doomed to become the devil's tool.
An untiring effort to have wholesome thoughts, to develop right attitudes, and to do good will drive out the unclean spirit and we will "Discover A Life with Purpose."
Adopted From FocusOnGod
Friday, June 6, 2008
Sermon 4/08 Visions Become Reality: From My Utmost For Highest
The parched ground shall become a pool . . . —Isaiah 35:7
We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.
God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.
The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.
For Similar Resources... read.
We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.
God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.
The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.
For Similar Resources... read.
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