My Personal Devotion of the day(probably one of my favorites)

[JimfromOhio]

STILL HUMAN!
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

The great marvel of the Incarnation slips into ordinary childhood's life; the great marvel of the Transfiguration vanishes in the devil-possessed valley; the glory of the Resurrection descends into a breakfast on the sea-shore. This is not an anti-climax, but a great revelation of God.

The tendency is to look for the marvellous in our experience; we mistake the sense of the heroic for being heroes. It is one thing to go through a crisis grandly, but another thing to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, no one paying the remotest attention to us. If we do not want mediaeval haloes, we want something that will make people say - What a wonderful man of prayer he is! What a pious devoted woman she is! If you are rightly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the sublime height where no one ever thinks of noticing you, all that is noticed is that the power of God comes through you all the time.

Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God! It takes Almighty God Incarnate in us to do the meanest duty to the glory of God. It takes God's Spirit in us to make us so absolutely humanly His that we are utterly unnoticeable. The test of the life of a saint is not success, but faithfulness in human life as it actually is. We will set up success in Christian work as the aim; the aim is to manifest the glory of God in human life, to live the life hid with Christ in God in human conditions. Our human relationships are the actual conditions in which the ideal life of God is to be exhibited.

My Personal thoughts:

Salvation is free through Grace (undeserve kindness) of God and His unconditional love. Is God's grace cheap? Becoming a disciple, following Jesus Christ requires personal cost, giving up your selfish "me" and become like Christ. Love is NOT conditional however discipleship is conditional. Love is very unconditional. I love my kids unconditially regardless if they don't love me or obey me. Love is not the issue. Its Grace and Obecience. Reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, "The Cost of Discipleship" which first published in English in 1949. He wrote: 'costly grace' as opposed to 'cheap grace,' which he described as 'Grace without price; grace without cost,' or "grace without discipleship.' To Bonhoeffer, costly grace is inseparable from discipleship. Bonhoeffer’s concept of "costly grace" has appealed to many who think it is the answer to the apathy and worldliness of contemporary (1930's) Christians. Following Christ is costly in many ways. The greatest cost of all is to the old nature, ego, self. Nowhere in the Gospels do I find anything optimistic for earthly promises. Jesus told His hearers the whole truth and let them make up their minds. After Jesus spoke to "followers" (disciples) about the conditions, they turned back and no longer followed him. (John 6:66). Jesus might have grieved over His Cost of Discipleship requirements, but He never ran after them to try to win them with rosy promises. Christians all around us are trying every shortcut they can think of, to get "something for nothing" in the kingdom of God. Although God's grace has been given freely to humans who do not deserve it, the grace of God and point out that Jesus commanded us to take up our cross and follow Him. Our minds are so much set on things earthly and so little on things above. To grow in Christ as God desires demands on our submission to Him.

 

[JPPT1974]

Again thanks Jim and may God bless ya!

 

[JimfromOhio]

THE ETERNAL GOAL
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
"By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing . . . that in blessing I will bless thee. . . ." Genesis 22:15-19

Abraham has reached the place where he is in touch with the very nature of God, he understands now the Reality of God.

"My goal is God Himself . . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road."
"At any cost, by any road" means nothing self-chosen in the way God brings us to the goal.​

There is no possibility of questioning when God speaks if He speaks to His own nature in me; prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says - "Come," I simply come; when He says - "Let go," I let go; when He says - "Trust in God in this matter," I do trust. The whole working out is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.

God's revelation of Himself to me is determined by my character, not by God's character.

"'Tis because I am mean,
Thy ways so oft look mean to me."​

By the discipline of obedience I get to the place where Abraham was and I see Who God is. I never have a real God until I have come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ, then I know that "in all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee." The promises of God are of no value to us until by obedience we understand the nature of God. We read some things in the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times and they mean nothing to us, then all of a sudden we see what God means, because in some particular we have obeyed God, and instantly His nature is opened up. "All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen." The "yea" must be born of obedience; when by the obedience of our lives we say "Amen" to a promise, then that promise is ours.

My Thoughts
God's New Covenant is eternal because Christ is the mediator of the covenant, that we receive the promised eternal inheritance. That Covenant is that He has died as a ransom to set us free from the sins committed under the first Covenant. The Book of Hebrews explains that Jesus is the mediator, the executor, of The New Covenant (The New Testament). The word mediator comes from the verb "to mediate" which means a mediator is one who stands between two parties or two factions needing to be reconciled eternally. With that promise, as a Christian, I always thank God continually for our New Testament guarantees of spiritual life and freedom in Christ. The bond of the Covenant between God and US is ETERNAL that will never fail because it is God who has promised, and I have strong FAITH in His Character of His Eternal Promise. The problem is when Christians adjusting their expectations to the promises of God in complete assurance that God will provide His promise as expected in temporal sense. Faith is confidence in the character of Eternal God, and hope is the sweet anticipation of desirable things promised but NOT YET REALIZED (which means eternal). We need to understand that this New Covenant is sealed in the blood of Jesus, Who is our Savior and Mediator, brought us together with His Grace and Mercy that we have great spiritual and eternal freedom.

 

[JimfromOhio]

WINNING INTO FREEDOM
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36

If there is any remnant of individual conceit left, it always says "I can't." Personality never says "I can't," but simply absorbs and absorbs. Personality always wants more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God; and sin and our individuality are the things that keep us from getting at God. God delivers us from sin: we have to deliver our selves from individuality, i.e., to present our natural life to God and sacrifice it until it is transformed into a spiritual life by obedience.

God does not pay any attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His order runs right across the natural life, and we have to see that we aid and abet God, not stand against Him and say - I can't do that. God will not discipline us, we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring every thought and imagination into captivity; we have to do it. Do not say - O Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts. Don't suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individuality and get emancipated out into personality.

"If the Son shall make you free . ." Do not substitute 'Saviour' for 'Son.' The Saviour sets us free from sin; this is the freedom of being set free by the Son. It is what Paul means in Gal. 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ," his natural individuality has been broken and his personality united with his Lord, not merged but united. "Ye shall be free indeed," free in essence, free from the inside. We will insist on energy, instead of being energized into identification with Jesus.

My thoughts of Today's Devotion
Discipleship and Transformation
Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on the cross have provided the solution for my salvation and the foundation for me to pursue a life that reflects Christ. I believe that the truth of God’s Word have already set me FREE from the bondage of sin. (John 8:32) I believe that Jesus and the Word of God are SUFFICIENT for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3-9) and the Holy Spirit provided me the principles and guidelines to live a life of godliness. It is the Holy Spirit's conviction that God’s design for me is to be radically TRANSFORMED by the renewing of my mind. (Romans 12:2) My hope for this radical transformation is by the POWER of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13). The real question is, will a Christian be a true disciple? Becoming a disciple, following Jesus Christ requires personal cost, giving up your selfish "me" and become like Christ. Love is NOT conditional however discipleship is conditional. Jesus might have grieved over His Cost of Discipleship requirements, but He never ran after them to try to win them with rosy promises. Luke 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Spiritual liberty means the freedom to be all that we were designed to be, but this is not a freedom that is without restrictions or responsibilities. Grace is we live in the Spirit AND also walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us with all the power and gifts of God, necessary to enable us to walk the noble, spiritual, Son-like life with God. With Grace, we can show mercy and help others (Heb. 4:13-16).

 

[l0v3n]

Thank you so much for these devotionals. I have learned much more then I had ever dreamed of learning.

 

[JimfromOhio]

WHEN HE IS COME
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
"And when He is come, He will convict the world of sin. . . ." John 16:8 (R.V.)

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin; we know the experience of being disturbed because of having done wrong things; but conviction of sin by the Holy Ghost blots out every relationship on earth and leaves one relationship only - "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned!" When a man is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every power of his conscience that God dare not forgive him; if God did forgive him, the man would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the rending of His heart in the Death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the Divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. When we have been convicted of sin we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary, and nothing less; the love of God is spelt on the Cross and nowhere else. The only ground on which God can forgive me is through the Cross of my Lord. There, His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness means not merely that I am saved from hell and made right for heaven (no man would accept forgiveness on such a level); forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a recreated relationship, into identification with God in Christ. The miracle of Redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One, by putting into me a new disposition, the disposition of Jesus Christ.

My Personal Thoughts:
My present deliverance sets me free from the penalty and power of sin. Jesus is the Great Deliverer, through whom I have victory over sin, death and Hell. As Paul wrote: For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Romans 10:8b-10). The main source is in the core which is my heart.

Do I really obey God from my heart?

Do I make every efforts to obey God from my heart?

I have learned that I received my faith when the Holy Spirit convicted me to turn to God that if I am saved, it's entirely God's doing, and NOT to my credit at all. All I did was responding to the Holy Spirit's conviction and He did the rest. Its a choice in matter of responding to the Holy Spirit's conviction in my hearts to be saved. Jesus said in John 16:8 "When He (Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." Later in the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 1:5 "because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. I am convicted and cleansed from SINS when I came to Christ in faith, only in terms of the disease of sin which is worse than the diseases.

Spiritual Healing means "PEACE with God" Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (reconciled with God) (Read: Romans 5, 2 Corinthians 5)

(1). Jesus will keep in perfect peace in our mind, because we trusts in Him

(2). The Lord have said, I have created praise on the lips of the mourners " Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the LORD. "And I will heal (reconcile with) them"

(3). Jesus came and preached peace to us who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit

(4). All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God

(5). Because of Christ,"Blessed are the peacemakers, for we are called sons of God

(6). Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification

REFERENCES: 1. Is. 53:5 2. Is. 26:3 3. Is. 57:19 4. Eph. 2:17-18 5. 2 Corinth. 5:18-21 6. Matthew 5:9 7. Romans 14:19

I have learned that there is a difference between doctrinal beliefs and practical beliefs. A doctrinal belief is what I hold in teachings (doctrines), and the practical belief is what I hold in reality and what holds me in my day-to-day living as those great faiths in the Bible (See Hebrews 11).

 

[JPPT1974]

The greatest and best faith of
These is Jesus Christ who is
God's Greatest Gift of all!

 

[JimfromOhio]

November 20th. THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD
"In whom we have . . . the forgiveness of sins." Ephesians 1:7
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Beware of the pleasant view of the Fatherhood of God - God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That sentiment has no place whatever in the New Testament. The only ground on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ; to put forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive sin and reinstate us in His favour is through the Cross of Christ, and in no other way. Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony of Calvary. It is possible to take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and our sanctification with the simplicity of faith, and to forget at what enormous cost to God it was all made ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace; it cost God the Cross of Jesus Christ before He could forgive sin and remain a holy God. Never accept a view of the Fatherhood of God if it blots out the Atonement. The revelation of God is that He cannot forgive; He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God by the Atonement. God's forgiveness is only natural in the supernatural domain.
Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is slight. Sanctification is simply the marvellous expression of the forgiveness of sins in a human life, but the thing that awakens the deepest well of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven sin. Paul never got away from this. When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God.

My Personal Thoughts:
Holiness IS A GIFT from God: Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The concept of “relationship restoration” requires repentance to God first (for reconciliation) and come to the offending person for the restoration (reconciliation). Forgiveness has already completed between all parties, now the both parties are to focus on restoration (continue stay reconciled). In order to restore (reconcile) our relationship with God from eternal death, we are to repent and acknowledge God and Jesus so that we can have eternal life.

God has already forgiven us but He is waiting for those who will respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction to repent so that the relationship can be restored (reconcile) between two parties: God and the Believer. Who is our “Mediator” of God and Sinners? Jesus Christ

The point for Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures is great news. Jesus purged our sins, He mediates grace to all who believe, is wonderful news for this sinful nature world. Our Messiah, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all Christians who did not reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit. God's will is for our redemption, adoption and the obtaining of our eternal inheritance in the heavenly blessings (Ephesians 3:10,11). God's gifts are many; His best gift is one which is the gift of Himself. Above all gifts, God desire most to give Himself to His people so that we can have eternal life instead of eternal death. God's New Covenant is eternal because Christ is the mediator of the covenant, that we receive the promised eternal inheritance. That Covenant is that He has died as a ransom to set us free from the sins committed under the first Covenant. The Book of Hebrews explains that Jesus is the mediator, the executor, of The New Covenant (The New Testament). The word mediator comes from the verb "to mediate" which means a mediator is one who stands between two parties or two factions needing to be reconciled eternally. With that promise, as a Christian, I always thank God continually for our New Testament guarantees of spiritual life and freedom in Christ. The bond of the Covenant between God and US is ETERNAL that will never fail because it is God who has promised, and I have strong FAITH in His Character of His Eternal Promise. Christ through His death and resurrection, every legal hindrance has been met and satisfied. There is nothing that can keep me from assurance except my own faith. Its not about thinking our way into salvation or to reason our way into salvation. The only way to get in is to believe Him with my heart which is sealed by the Holy Spirit. Because of Christ, we are Christians.


Our Christian practice (life) starts in our hearts. Our thoughts are the product of our thinking and it is not our thinking that shapes our character, but the Holy Spirit that leads our thoughts and shapes our character. A person who has the Holy Spirit in the heart will understand God's standards of "sin" because a Christian will understand God's holiness. A person without having the Holy Spirit in the heart will not understand God's holiness therefore a person will define God's definition of sin in a human point of view (rather than spirit).

Salvation is free through Grace (undeserved kindness) of God and His unconditional love. Is God's grace cheap? Becoming a disciple, following Jesus Christ requires personal cost, giving up your selfish "me" and become like Christ. Love is NOT conditional however discipleship is conditional. Jesus might have grieved over His Cost of Discipleship requirements, but He never ran after them to try to win them with rosy promises. Christians all around us are trying every shortcut they can think of, to get "something for nothing" in the kingdom of God. Although God's grace has been given freely to humans who do not deserve it, the grace of God and point out that Jesus commanded us to take up our cross and follow Him. Our minds are so much set on things earthly and so little on things above. To grow in Christ as God desires demands on our submission to Him.

Repenting does not mean this is an addition to salvation but PART of salvation along with Grace. This is a continuous sanctification process of repenting throughout our Christian life. This is an "inward" relationship with the Holy Spirit and His conviction in our hearts to repent. Jesus said in John 16:8 "When He (Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." Later in the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 1:5 "because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." The issue is this: After we sinned, did we repent and ask God to help us to change and learn to live in a Holy life? Romans 12:9 (NIV) "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." Ephesians 4:24 "and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 2 Peter 3:11 (NIV) Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives. Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

 

[JimfromOhio]

I will be posting "most" of my devotions and thoughts in my CF's BLOG. I will still come here post some devotions, thoughts and even quotes. I rather post my devotions at my blog so I can remember them in the future

 

[JPPT1974]

Thanks Jim very much
God bless you!

 

[JimfromOhio]

November 24th.
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
DIRECTION OF ASPIRATION

"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters . . . so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God." Psalm 123:2

This verse is a description of entire reliance upon God. Just as the eyes of the servant are riveted on his master, so our eyes are up unto God and our knowledge of His countenance is gained (cf. Isaiah 53:1. R.V). Spiritual leakage begins when we cease to lift up our eyes unto Him. The leakage comes not so much through trouble on the outside as in the imagination; when we begin to say - "I expect I have been stretching myself a bit too much, standing on tiptoe and trying to look like God in stead of being an ordinary humble person." We have to realize that no effort can be too high.

For instance, you came to a crisis when you made a stand for God and had the witness of the Spirit that all was right, but the weeks have gone by, and the years maybe, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion - 'Well, after all, was I not a bit too pretentious? Was I not taking a stand a bit too high?' Your rational friends come and say - Don't be a fool, we knew when you talked about this spiritual awakening, that it was a passing impulse, you can't keep up the strain, God does not expect you to. And you say - Well, I suppose I was expecting too much. It sounds humble to say it, but it means that reliance on God has gone and reliance on worldly opinion has come in. The danger is lest no longer relying on God you ignore the lifting up of your eyes to Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden halt, will you realize how you have been losing out. Whenever there is a leakage, remedy it immediately. Recognize that something has been coming between you and God, and get it readjusted at once.

Apostle Andrew is the picture of all those who labor quietly in humble places. Not with eye service as men pleasers but as servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. Andrew is not the pillar like Peter, James and John, he is a humbler stone. He could have anticipated the sentiment of the poet Christina Rossetti who wrote: "Give me the lowest place, not that I dare ask for that lowest place, but Thou hast died that I might live and share Thy glory by Thy side. Give me the lowest place or if for me the lowest place is too high, then make one more low where I may sit and see my God and love Him so." That's Andrew. I mean, after all, he was one of the original two called and yet he wasn't in the inner three but it didn't seem to bother him. He was always Peter's brother. He's one of those rare people who's willing to take second place. One of those rare people who wants to be in support. Or one of those rare people who doesn't mind being hidden as long as the work is done. He is the kind of man that all leaders depend on. He's the kind of person that everyone knows is the backbone of every ministry. The cause of Christ is dependent, beloved, on self-forgetting souls who are content to occupy a small sphere and an obscure place, free from self-seeking ambition and yet he will sit on the throne judging the tribes of Israel. Daniel Mc Lean, a Scotsman, who has a special affection for Andrew who has become the patron saint of Scotland, writes about his beloved Apostle these words: "Gathering together the traces of character found in Scripture found about Andrew we find neither the writer of an epistle nor the founder of a church nor a leading figure in the apostolic age but simply an intimate disciple of Jesus Christ, ever anxious that others should know the spring of spiritual joy and share the blessing he so highly prized. A man of very moderate endowment, who scarcely redeemed his early promise, simple minded and sympathetic without either dramatic power or heroic spirit. Yet he had that clinging confidence in Christ that brought him into that inner circle of the twelve. A man with deep religious feeling with little power of expression. He was more magnetic than he was electric. Better suited for the quiet walks of life than the stirring thoroughfares. Yes, Andrew is the Apostle of the private life.

Personal Relationship with God means: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Philippians 2:1-4 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Romans 15:1-7 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

I have learned that it is God's will to submit to the Holy Spirit and keep on filling me (Ephesians 5:18). Like an athlete when training, I should always keep drinking water so that I won't be dehydrated and feeling weak. With that thought in my mind, I should always keep filling the Holy Spirit in my life so that I am able to act and react any difficulties in my life with God's power (Grace). The power of Grace through the Holy Spirit is my strength that I am able to boast and win for Christ at all costs (see 2 Corinthians 12:1-12).

 

[JPPT1974]

We need to submit to God
No matter what occurs
Because He knows what to do with us!

 

[JimfromOhio]

Updated my blog with new devotion thoughts.

 

[JPPT1974]

OK thanks my friend
Appreciate it!

 

[JimfromOhio]

December 11, 2006: "Individuality"
My Utmost For His Highest

Sorry for not being able to post in the last few days. My wife and I went to Chicago to watch my son's graduation from his Navy Basic Training. I am back and starting with my birthday's devotion.

December 11, 2006
Individuality

Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .’ —Matthew 16:24

Oswald's Quotes:
"Individuality counterfeits spirituality"
"The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will."

My Thoughts:
Old Creature (Following flesh's desires) = Self-Centered
New Creature (Following God's desires) = God-Centered

Whoever seeks God from a self-centered desire rather than God-centered desire, God will give you an answer you won't like. Any selfish motives toward the gifts of God can destroy God's blessings' purposes and usefulness. When people are turned away.... who profits? That if we have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make our joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. (Philippians 2:1-2).

A disciple must understand that God is both holy and loving; that I am a sinner, are made in the image of God; that Christ's death was the substitute payment for my sin; and that because of Jesus' payment, I am granted access to the heart of God. Sin by accident as part of our sinful nature: Those who are in Christ.

Old and New are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. We just need to be looking at our adequacy in the Holy Spirit, which will always be in us. This is God's design, and it pleases Him to do so that we can rely on the Holy Spirit that is INSIDE you as a NEW CREATURE. Not on yourself as your OLD NATURE. Christians are no longer "in the flesh": "You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (Rom 8:9). A Christian to have the peace of conscience, not war within because if I rely on "self", or "self-will", I am grieving the Holy Spirit; "not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30).

The bottom line is what the Bible says (The Holy Spirit is the Author (Inspired)). 1 Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Thessalonians 4:8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

As Christians, with the help from the Holy Spirit, we have the understanding of what pleases God; our thoughts, our desires, our affections that are transformed in over time. Christianity is radical because we change from old nature to the new nature, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of God that created us. From our old creature, we learned worldly desires and causing us to think more worldly. Our selfish desire for happiness and getting what we WANT are really more worldly than spiritually. It is interesting that people talks of faith in relation to "getting what you want".

The Cross means we are under Grace and that we are to obey God and follow His Word (the Bible). God wants a pure heart from us and He does not need to give us rules in order for our hearts to be pure. BECAUSE Jesus Christ cleaned our sins and all God wants us to do is be Christ-like. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." God wants our hearts more than He want us to follow rules. If we give our hearts to God, then we will know what is sinful and what is not sinful. The best definition of the Cross is this: "Salvation is free, ... but discipleship will cost you your life." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

It is finished. It is UP to us to GIVE up sinful nature and worldly pleasures. Contentment is enthusiasm with no worldly cause. Contentment is excitement in the midst of illness, compassion over the needs of someone who is worse off than you, joy in the midst of pain. Contentment says, "Thy will be done, Lord," even when His will means a cross. Contentment is never being possessed by your possessions; never being irritated by another's success.

One of the greatest examples I have learn is from Lot's wife. Lot's wife died when she looked back. Looking back means you rely on flesh's desires more than God's commands and desires. A spirit-filled Christian are to focus all of their energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Jesus Christ, is calling us to heaven." (Phillippians 3:13-14 NLT). “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27).

Repenting is picking up the cross by rejecting the world. Romans 6:6 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—" Galatians 5:24 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."

2 Corinthians 12:21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.

Spiritual conviction of the Holy Spirit leads us to "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death". 2 Corinthians 7:10

 

[JPPT1974]

Again my friend thanks
Keep up the good work
BTW, how long were you in the Navy
And what did you do?
Just wondeing out of curiousity.

 

[JimfromOhio]

Again my friend thanks
Keep up the good work
BTW, how long were you in the Navy
And what did you do?
Just wondeing out of curiousity.

My son is in the Navy !!! I could not be in the Navy due to disability.

I am an accountant for the same place for over 25 years. Just a boring guy.

 

[JPPT1974]

How long has your son been in the Navy
And what does he do there?

 

[eoj]

Hi Jim!

God bless you!

EOJ