WHAT JESUS REALLY WANTS

To get the most out of today's devotion, do the following in order:

1. READ THE PASSAGE - Mark 10:21 (NKJV)  Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." 
2. READ THE DEVOTION - My Utmost for His Highest, September 28 (Link will open in a new window)
3. READ MY THOUGHTS

Ok.  The instructions are above.  Have you followed them?  Yes?  Good.  My thoughts springboard off of today's devotion by Oswald Chambers.

Total abandonment to, total reliance upon, total trust in Jesus Christ - that is the demand of Jesus upon our hearts, minds, and lives.  No mere human is worthy of such devotion, or able to rightly make such a demand upon another.  Marriage is about as close as we can come, but it falls short.  Neither husband nor wife can be as fully trusted, perfectly able, or eternally strong enough to successfully NEVER let us down.  And so we need someone above that - and Jesus Christ, the Divine Son of God, is the ONLY one with the character, power, and knowledge to be trusted to our entire being, our soul, and even life itself.

So what keeps you, o soul, from giving to Christ your total "self"?  What doubts, fears, or worries keep you from giving your whole being to Jesus?  

• Do you fear other people?  Could it be that you worry they might mock you?  Will your popularity ratings drop dramatically?  Could persecution be in your future?  
• Do you fear the loss of material comforts?  Do you need your electronics, nice bed, air conditioning/heating, automobiles, and nice house?  Do you need a pantry full of food?  Do you need the latest tools, gadgets, and the like?  Would following Jesus with total abandonment mean the loss of these things?  
• Do you fear emotional rejection?  Do you need constant approval, someone to always be by your side?  Do you need someone else to be your purpose for living?

If Jesus said to you, "It's me or other people."  What would be your choice?

If Jesus asked you, "Do you trust me to provide your needs?"  What would be your answer?

If Jesus asked you to rely upon Him for your emotional well-being, could you?  Would you?  

Would abandonment to Him give your life a purpose higher than even life itself?

Place yourself NOT in the "Holy-Roller Self-Righteous Church" of the rich man who has kept every part of the law, and in the mean time, kept himself from abandoning everything to have a dependent relationship with Jesus Christ.  Instead, join the "Abundant Abandoned Living Church" that lives with and serves Jesus without obstacles!

And that's Just A Thot for today.

Your comments are welcome, and encouraged.  Please share today's devotion with anyone who might be blessed by it.

Seek the Lord

"And David enquired of the Lord." -

2Sa_5:23

David's example is certainly one that we should learn from. He is not one of the bad examples like Samson. He is here a good example. We see him doing the right things, the right way, for the right reasons. We can learn a lot by that. Today, we find David facing the Philistines for a second time. There was a mighty victory the first time, and that would be enough to convince many people that victory is a given. David enquired of the Lord the first time - and won. How many would rest on yesterday's victory for today's battles? It was by the strength of the Lord that David's army won the first time - and David enquires a second time because that same strength is needed this time as well if victory is to happen.

Dear friends, never assume that victory over a sin, over a foe, or over an issue is a guarantee of today's new battles. Spiritual strength - the strength of the Lord - is always needed - and we must enquire of the Lord each day, for each battle. Don't wait to pray, make it a first resort. Look to God in the beginning of your day, not at the end.

There is another truth in this that we must grasp. In the enquiring, we need to wait for the answer. We tend to rush to do battle without having heard the instructions, hoping that we'll hear the still, small, quiet voice of the Lord amidst the clang and clamor of battle. With the world pulling all sorts of directions, we need the instructions from the Lord to help us know which strings to respond to. Wait for His instructions, follow them, and you will find victory for sure.

A third truth is found in this verse: sometimes the instructions God gives you seem strange, weird, or simply silly. Remember that He is God, His ways are higher than our ways, and He wants to do as He wishes. He will not make a fool of you. If He says take a compass and go from an oblique direction against your enemies, it may be because He knows the weaknesses of your enemies - and that direction will ensure victory. If He says bring a candle in a jar and a trumpet, then shine your light and sound your trumpet and watch the enemy quake with fear and flee with fright! Blessed is the soldier in God's Army who follows faithfully His Commander's orders, however strange they seem. God knows the dangers and the directions.

Make an enquiry of the Lord as David did - and make it every day that your day might be his and you can say with the Psalmist, "This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice in Him!"

Jesus Was Sent!

"The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." -

1Jo_4:14

The love of God is seen in that the orders for Christ to come are from Him. Jesus needed His Father's permission, authority, consent, and assistance. Apart from any of these, and the mission would fail. How like us? We need to go, do, and become what the will of the Father is - with His permission, authority, consent, and assistance. Jesus' power to save is wrapped up in his submission to the will of the Father. His power is not His own, His will is not His own.

What words did Jesus speak that did not come from the Father? What deed did Jesus do that did not come from the Father? What journey did Jesus take that did not come from the Father? Why then, believer, is it the Man named Jesus you trust and not the Son? You might find the Man to be a friend, but the God is the Savior. I do not neglect the man in favor of the God, but it is His deity that unites Him with the Father, and through that deity, we also are united with the Father through Christ. His humanity is an essential link for us, giving us something to see, hold, smell, and hear. But we are from there pulled out of the physical and into the spiritual dimension through faith in the Word of Christ. And so the Father sent the Son to be Savior of the world!

This day, I think on the love of the Father to see my need and send His Son. I think on the perfect enterprise of Christ to save my soul. I think on His perfect submission to the perfect will of the Father - and ask Him to help me be as submitted. What love and what peace?!

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Set Your Sail

"When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, then thou shalt bestir thyself." -

2Sa_5:24

It is through continual and faithful prayer that one keeps his sail up for the Spiritual wind that moves both the Christian and the "tops of the mulberry trees." By continual and faithful prayer, the sail is open, and the wind merely need to catch it. There is little preparation, but to turn the sail to catch the wind as it stirs. At such times, there is a special power to prayer, special strength to life, and a special understanding of the Scriptures that delights the believer, empowering him for a unique and wonderful service in the Lord. It is walking in the light as He is in the light. It is the hope of all who serve Him.

But it is also that continual prayer that is so necessary. We must pull hard at times until the wind blow. It is through the tough times of prayer that evil habits are destroyed, the hard work of striving with God is accomplished, and great faith is developed. Let us not grow weary, but pull all the harder, lest we be found unprepared when the wind blows "in the tops of the mulberry trees."

You ask for a movement of the Holy Spirit? Then prepare yourself by setting your sail and freeing yourself from the moorings of sin, that when He answers your prayer, you are ready to go where He sends and do as He bids.

Toddling to Eternity

Bible Reading: (Jude 1:24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy

How safe is the road to heaven, and yet how wrought with dangers it seems to be. The evils are there, combined to trip us up, snare us, wound us. Yet, in all, we will not be waylaid in our journey because our Guide and Savior is able to keep us from falling forever.

Our flesh works against us, and our enemies know that. The emotions are quick to flare, and our enemies know that. Our hope is that we will not walk in the flesh, but in the power of the Spirit. Learning to do so is like watching a toddler learn to walk. First the timid steps that successfully land him in the arms of a waiting Father are taken. Next, the bold steps across the great span of Living Room - taken without the careful watch of Mom or Dad. The trip, the fall, and the sore head are all part of the experience. Mom or Dad rushes to pick up the young one to comfort and encourage him to try some more. In his own strength, there is great stumbling, but no permanent damage. With the help of Mom or Dad, there is no falling and great learning. Too often, we stumble about learning spiritual things without the help of the Spirit - because we have not sought His help and leadership. The good news is that He is patient and watching, ensuring there is no permanent damage, able to keep us from falling and presenting us faultless before His presences in glory.

It is the road of bumps and bruises that often teach us the most about walking with the Lord. The safety is that the bumps and bruises cannot destroy - and that is the goal of the enemy. Safety in Christ means security from destruction, not bumps and bruises. How blessed we are to take our knocks with the knowledge that doom is never their end. We can realize that our knocks are for our betterment, and try again when we trip or stumble. In Christ's strength, and with His teaching, we will be presented without fault, and we will know real joy.

The Lord's Tools

Bible Reading:

(Luke 5:4) Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

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For some reason, the miracles of Jesus involve the work of men. Dear friend, do not think that God's miracles on your behalf will simply "fall from the sky." Likewise, brother, do not think that God's answers to your prayers will be as lightning bolts that do your bidding. The miracles of God will probably involve you - not simply as the recipient, but as the agent through which they are brought to pass. You, Believer, are an instrument of God.

These fishermen, at the command of Christ, needed to receive the huge catch that Christ miraculously made available. Christ has provided for greater miracles that require our participation. For example, it is through the foolishness of preaching that people will be saved. Like the fishermen letting down their nets, we are the instruments that unite men's souls with Christ. Likewise, there are those who were sent to bring healing to the possessed - but could not. When they asked the Lord why, He answered that there were certain spirits that could not be removed except through prayer and fasting. It is through our prayers and fasting that many miracles are done in men's souls.

It is the high privilege of the Believer to serve in the Lord's work. It is also a universal privilege, not reserved for a "clergy" class. These raw fishermen were not "clergy." Their education was far from "complete" when they drew in the greatest catch of their lives. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful blessing to be involved in the miracles of the Lord. Let us therefore approach the commands of Christ as blessings rather than inconveniences. How we miss out on the greatest things in life simply because we will not allow the Lord to use us as His instruments - wherever and however He chooses.

Bro. Greg

Today's Devotion

Bible Reading: Mark 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

One of the attractions of the mystic "religions" such as Wicca, atheism, Hinduism, Buddhism, is that they offer in some way some power over the world around them. In Wicca, for instance, the power of witchcraft is seductive because it involves power over others using the spirit-world. Atheism is seductive in that it involves self-actualization (really, this is humanism) and overcoming others to succeed before death finally fully overcomes. Hinduism and Buddhism offer a self-earned victory over the this stage of life in hopes of a better "next" life on the path to a "nirvana" of sorts.

What a contrast to the picture Jesus offers us. The Scriptures not only declare, but give specific examples of Jesus' deity - and all creation needed to seek Him for any hope of relief of current circumstances. All things are in His power, not ours. Our submission to God is the way to victory, not creation's submission to us. The leper and the possessed, the fisherman and the emperor all must submit to Christ if there is hope of salvation. Jesus was made sin for us, though He was no sinner Himself. Faith and submission to His will is the way to letting Him take our sins and cleanse us. It is His will that we do this.

Jesus' will is sovereign. He is creator. He is judge. He is the justifier of all who put their trust in Him. He is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, putting men on thrones and taking them off again. He is over all, and He cares for you. Moved with compassion upon this lowly, deformed person, said, I will; be thou clean. When He wills a thing, it cannot be stopped. No power on earth or in heaven is greater; no power can thwart the power of God. He who is saved is saved to the uttermost. He who is forgiven is forgiven of all, forever. He who is clean is spotless, without blemish.

Blessed is the one who has learned to lean upon Him, upon His will, upon His word. Will you trust Him today, and not your own powers? Will you learn to accept His will for you as good? What a relief it is to NOT force our will in this world, for in taking His will for our own, we see His mighty power at work accomplishing it always before our eyes.

Bro. Greg