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Discussion Forum : Devotional Thoughts : What’s Next To Do? -Chambers

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 What’s Next To Do? -Chambers

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What’s Next To Do?

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them —John 13:17

Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated inRomans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice . . ." ( 1 Samuel 15:22 ). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . ." ( John 7:17 ).


For more info:[url=http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php]http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php[/url]


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Giancarlo

 2006/6/8 10:38Profile
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 Re: What’s Next To Do? -Chambers

"The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment."

The Church needs to digest this.


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Tashinga Dekune

 2006/6/8 10:46Profile
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 Re: What’s Next To Do? -Chambers

brethren

Quote:
Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.



brethren it is nice to be in the harbour but i'm off to sea...to go out to sea is to open oneself up to the unknown. what's out there, storms?monsters? to go out and probe the depths of God is to open oneself up to all manner of grief. to seek and to be shown the Holiness and Righteousness of God is to shown that it shall be wrought in you and that is a fearful thing. the Righteousness and Holiness of God once it begins to take form in you through the work of Holy Spirit will immediately expose the false holiness and righteousness of anyone around you and that brings persecution in one form or another. we can expect such from the world but it is even true that the saints will do the same. however we can be sure that if we share in the Lord's sufferings, we shall also share in His glory. we can also be sure that nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ either.

this Faith which we are called to is not for the faint of heart. there is no other religion which is as extreme as this in terms of requirements. We are to put on Christ which is to die to ourselves (ouch) that He may live. our best isn't good enough, our strength is insufficient, even our natural love doesn't cut it, we even have to give that up and put on instead the very Love of God. this religion aint no joke...

Quote:
The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny,



ouch! that is a hard word for it calls us to step outside of what is comfortable and be stretched far beyond our capacity...OUCH!!!

May the Lord do as He sees fit in us and through us. AMEN.


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Farai Bamu

 2006/6/8 19:24Profile
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 Re:

"We are to put on Christ which is to die to ourselves (ouch) that He may live. our best isn't good enough, our strength is insufficient, even our natural love doesn't cut it, we even have to give that up and put on instead the very Love of God."

True bro ironman i agree with you , this is something i am praying that believers reckon daily. We can only advance as christians if we are dead to sin and dead to self, allowing the Lord to keep our "self" on the cross and not to remove it. I am praying about this and waiting upon the Lord, as i want to post concerning "Death to self" .May the Holy Spirit guide me concerning this issue, not to say anything from my flesh but His leading upon the words i will say. Amen.


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Tashinga Dekune

 2006/6/9 2:38Profile
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 Re: we follow a radical faith

Quote:
this Faith which we are called to is not for the faint of heart. there is no other religion which is as extreme as this in terms of requirements .... this religion aint no joke...


That was a loaded statement, Ironman! And the very thoughts God has been impressing on me lately.

In fact, my personal meditation today follows a similar stream as Oswald's mediation. I posted them on [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10918&forum=35]When Jesus Played Hard to Get[/url] ,about the Phonecian woman who hounded Jesus. Perhaps my post really belongs here:
Quote:
The wilderness of this world is sufficiently wide and uncultivated. Sinners abound every where; and there is ample room for all truly religious people, who have zeal for God, and love for their perishing follow creatures, to put forth all their strength, employ all their time, and exercise all their talents, (quote from Adam Clarke)



Think how many of God’s people are eager to be someone, to do something important for God. Yet they bemoan the fact that “it’s” not happening. And we’re waiting for doors to open, for the big moment of revival. Yet doors ARE open for us more than we realize. There is a wilderness all around us that remains largely left uncharted because we Christians don’t seize our God-given opportunities. We don’t have the fervency and determination of our early explorers and pioneers. We want to be significant to God without paying the price. We just don’t have the faith to move forward into the wide-open area of intercession. Yet perhaps that is our highest calling.

Lately the Spirit has been impressing these thoughts on me. While I do pray, there is a big part of me that likes the comforts of this life and is reluctant to move further into uncertain seas. My flesh resists fasting and sleep-loss for the sake of others. I succumb to temporal distractions. Also, there is a part of me that wants to say, ‘Well, God will do whatever he wants, regardless of me. I can’t change anything.”

Really, if I were to take this problem to a deeper layer, I’d have to say, that it is my lack of love - even for my loved-ones. There is no denying that the Phonecian woman loved her daughter, and she was willing to make a fool of herself on behalf of her afflicted loved-one. She wasn’t worried about being out of place or of being rejected. Her love overruled all thoughts about etiquette, or thoughts of her “proper” place in society.

Diane


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Diane

 2006/6/9 9:08Profile
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 Re: we follow a radical faith

Quote:


Lately the Spirit has been impressing these thoughts on me. While I do pray, there is a big part of me that likes the comforts of this life and is reluctant to move further into uncertain seas. My flesh resists fasting and sleep-loss for the sake of others. I succumb to temporal distractions. Also, there is a part of me that wants to say, ‘Well, God will do whatever he wants, regardless of me. I can’t change anything.”

Good to know that you are listening to the Spirit and acknowledge this in yourself. I pray we all do the same and listen to the Spirit and let it correct us and may we yield to His will upon our lives. Remain strong in Faith nd continue to seek our Lord Diane. God Bless you.


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Tashinga Dekune

 2006/6/9 10:10Profile
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 Re:

sis Diane

Quote:
That was a loaded statement, Ironman! And the very thoughts God has been impressing on me lately.



well the Lord is certainly in the process of raising up His saints for His work. it is by his grace that we are brought together like this in the beauty of fellowship to confirm what we hear Him say, lest we think that we are losing our minds or some other such thing!

yes indeed many people want to be great and yet not pay the dues necessary. much like how people want to get into heaven by simply saying they belive the word but yet not doing it. that Christianity is an easy religion with few demands and yet in truth, the cost is everything, even those things which we hold dear! the cross is the bill and it is steep and the truth is most are not willing to pay up.

Quote:
Lately the Spirit has been impressing these thoughts on me. While I do pray, there is a big part of me that likes the comforts of this life and is reluctant to move further into uncertain seas. My flesh resists fasting and sleep-loss for the sake of others. I succumb to temporal distractions. Also, there is a part of me that wants to say, ‘Well, God will do whatever he wants, regardless of me. I can’t change anything.”



i can identify with this because the thought of stepping beyond where the Lord has brought me is rather painful. my natural affections for people would rather not have me preach the gospel as God leads. my flesh would rather goof off rather than knewwl in prayer or search the word as the Lord leads. However in wrestling with these things and learning by His grace to die to self, this work becomes easier. Death to self is is at the heart of our calling to God's Glory for without it we can't glorify God.

Quote:
Really, if I were to take this problem to a deeper layer, I’d have to say, that it is my lack of love - even for my loved-ones. There is no denying that the Phonecian woman loved her daughter, and she was willing to make a fool of herself on behalf of her afflicted loved-one. She wasn’t worried about being out of place or of being rejected. Her love overruled all thoughts about etiquette, or thoughts of her “proper” place in society



oh sister Diane let's get even deeper than this! we all feel as you do, a lack of love even for those we love right? however the issue is even deeper, what we are experiencing is that our natural affections, or natural love which we are born with and express is insufficient for the purposes of God. What did Christ say? if a man come after me and love father, mother, brother, sister etc more than me he is not worthy of me. OUCH! however the Lord showed me something concerning this, the fact that we would love anyone more than the Father signifies a perverted view/expression of love. We are called to love God the Father with all our heart, mind, strength etc. that leaves nothing left for us to love anyone else with. this is the point, so that we love God only and in so doing His love becomes resident in us and we can then love everyone else as He loves them to His glory. in this way we can't be short of love because in God there is no limit to love. The cost though for coming to this place is giving up that natural love we have...OUCH! our love is insufficient, it is very dear to us and it has to go...this Faith is really not for the faint of heart...


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Farai Bamu

 2006/6/10 20:51Profile





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