[b]AM I CONVINCED BY CHRIST?[/b]"Notwithstanding in this rejoice not . . . , but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:19, 20Jesus Christ says, in effect, Don't rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me. The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service, to rejoice in the fact that God has used you. You never can measure what God will do through you if you are rightly related to Jesus Christ. Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you, and it is of His mercy that He does not let you know it. When once you are rightly related to God by salvation and sanctification, remember that wherever you are, you are put there by God; and by the reaction of your life on the circumstances around you, you will fulfil God's purpose, as long as you keep in the light as God is in the light.The tendency to-day is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make usefulness their ground of appeal. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure that ever lived. The lodestar of the saint is God Himself, not estimated usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that Our Lord heeds in a man's life is the relationship of worth to His Father. Jesus is bringing many sons to glory.
_________________SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
You never can measure what God will do through you if you are rightly related to Jesus Christ. Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you, [b]and it is of His mercy that He does not let you know it[/b].Beware of the people who make usefulness their ground of appeal... It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him.
How exciting that you read this devotion this morning! I really need to make more time in the morning to be able to read this devotional along with reading through the Bible. Anyway, I haven't kept up on the daily devotions in "My Utmost For His Highest", but our pastor happened to read this [i]very[/i] devotion to us this morning at our staff meeting. He stressed the part about being "rightly related to Jesus Christ". We discussed about how we tend to find success in the ministry by the results of what we do. But the true success will come when our relationship with Jesus is the priority of each and every day, not through the things we do. We also discussed how everything we do and everything that is done to us is supposed to be for the sole purpose of drawing us closer to God in relationship. I never saw things that way before. The first thing that came to my mind is when trials hit, hopefully seeing things through this light, I'll be less likely to have a pity party or feel sorry for myself, knowing that whatever "bad" thing happens is an opportunity for me to grow in my relationship with Him. Maybe seeing things this way will also take away my fears of bad things happening to me in the future. I get so caught up in protecting my heart and my emotions that I lose sight of the simple solution being to draw closer to God and allowing my relationship with Him to become more and more intimate.Thank God so much for [i]His[/i] truth that sets us free!
_________________Yolanda Fields
Hi Yodi,You've got me smiling..
How exciting that you read this devotion this morning!
We also discussed how everything we do and everything that is done to us is supposed to be for the sole purpose of drawing us closer to God in relationship. I never saw things that way before. [b]The first thing that came to my mind is when trials hit[/b], hopefully seeing things through this light, I'll be less likely to have a pity party or feel sorry for myself, knowing that whatever "bad" thing happens [b]is an opportunity for me to grow in my relationship with Him[/b].
Maybe seeing things this way will also take away my fears of bad things happening to me in the future. I get so caught up...