Wisdom 2

Some more thoughts from my prayer journal.....

"In whatever you face today, ask to be driven further into His love and faithfulness." Chris Tiegreen

Our first response to adversity is usually to either avoid it, usually by running from it. We are not prone to run deeper into His reality in the midst of it. What would be the result if we did? The simple truth is that He will allow adversity, trouble, into your life. He means to use it for our good. He means to reveal Himself to us in it, to deepen our knowledge and experience of Him in it. It's in the wilderness where we are most likely to see the face of God. In His desert experience, Jesus became even more one with His Father, totally assured of who He was, and why His Father had sent Him. In His need, the Psalmist cried out, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than all." His Word tells us that "He is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble." We cannot know that unless we go deeply into the reality of that truth. Satan seeks to drive us, but if we look to Him, trust Him, the only place he can drive us is deeper into the experience of our God. We need to face every need, every adversary, every crisis with the idea that it is yet another opportunity to experience Him in even greater ways. The depth of His love and faithfulness is infinite. Let the stones rolled into your path be steppingstones into a knowledge of Him you never thought possible.

"We have professed believers aplenty, but how many disciples do we have?" Vance Havner

Where do you and I fit in as concerns Havner's quote? What's the witness of our walk? A disciple takes up the life of his master. The life their master lives, they live. This is not the way of the professing believer. The professing believer agrees with all the teachings of the Master, but they don't really believe that they need to totally commit to His life and ways. There is room to pick and choose. In fact, I think if there were an accurate category for the bulk of believer in the western church, it would be "pick and choose believers." The ones who decide where, when, and how they'll follow Him. Jesus never gave us permission to be such a follower, and we see the chilling evidence of that in John 6. Christ had told His followers that they could not be His disciples unless they surrendered all else in order to follow Him with all their being. Scripture says that most who had been following turned away at that. Jesus turned to 12 and asked if they too would leave Him. Peter replied, "Lord, where would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life." A disciple knows this. The professor still believes they can find some order of life, even good life, somewhere outside of Christ. They may never fully leave, but never will they fully follow. Who are you and I more like? The majority who walked away, or the 12 who stayed?

"We're not to enthrone the work, but to enthrone Jesus Christ in the work." Oswald Chambers

Now, in my 38th year of ministry, I can say how easily it is for us to fall into the sin, yes, sin, of exalting the "work" we do for Christ above Christ Himself. We get focused on the task, the goal, the result we want to see. It all becomes bigger to us than He is. We worship the ministry and the work, all the while missing Him, and withholding our worship from Him. When Christ's earthly parents realized that their son was no longer with the caravan returning home from Jerusalem, they returned to the city and frantically searched for Him. They looked everywhere, and finally, found Him in the last place they looked, the Temple, which the Jews saw as the dwelling place of God. They tried to rebuke Him, but He asked them where else would they expect to find Him but in His Father's house? Jesus knew what His calling and purpose were, and why His Father had sent Him. He would be about His Father's business, but that business began with His ongoing dwelling in the presence of His Father. Of dwelling in His heart. We too must be about His business, but we cannot fall into the idolatry of worshipping "the business." We must never cease to worship at the center of our calling. He will accomplish His work through us, but only as He accomplishes His work in us.

Just a few more nuggets of wisdom. I hope they spoke to you.

Blessings,

Pastor O