[ecko_quote source="Psalms 23:1-2"] The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; [/ecko_quote]
In the twenty-third Psalm, God has given us a description of the process He uses in training King’s kids (we are the King’s kids). It’s true that we are instantly transformed into new beings when we are born again. In this new dimension of Christian life, soon after the new birth comes either stagnation or growing toward maturity. This growth is dependent on our willingness to cooperate with what He wants to do in us. Let’s look at what happens in the lives of those who choose to grow
The Lord is my Shepherd (v.1): These first two verses of the Psalm acknowledges Jesus as the Lord. King’s kids in training take every one of life’s circumstances and acknowledge Him to be in charge because once they have become new creatures, “all things are of God (2 Cor 5:18). Knowing that, Kings kids never have to bog down in appearances or feelings; they can rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus is in control. The first three words make a positive statement of fact, “The Lord is”. Those who come to God must believe He is, the Scripture says, and that He hears and answers prayer (Heb 11:6).
When the Lord is the Lord in and of our lives, we can say, I shall not want (v.1): These words of the Psalm means that I refuse to be caught lacking for anything in my life. It does not guarantee that I will get everything I ask for, but that I will have everything I need. Most of us would be in a mess if we got everything we asked for. But God is not afraid of saying no when what we request is not His best for us. However, sometimes He lets us have our way in order to teach us something.
In the next verse, we come to the first step of training a sheep, or a King’s kid: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures(v2). According to me, after I had become a King’s kid, I thought I was supposed to run all over the beautiful green pasture, doing my own thing in perfect freedom. But the Lord said, “Down, boy. And stay down until I ask you to move”. Obedience is the first lesson we have to learn in becoming Kings kid in action. We have to obey His instructions to wait when everything of self in us is protesting. We might think “But I have got to get out there and get busy for you, Lord”. Getting ‘busy for the Lord” with all kinds of programmes is one of the commonest ways of evading God’s will. It generally means that we are doing our own thing, and God never honours that.
God has given us a number of persuasive checkpoints for determining whether we are doing our thing or His thing i.e. doing His will. When a servant of God comes back from an assignment totally exhausted, we can know that he has been working like a bee out there operating his own programme, under his own power. But when God’s servant has been out there forty years and is still as fresh as Moses was after the wilderness, we can know he is been operating in the power of God. We can tell it every time.
Learning to lie down and do nothing is the hardest thing imaginable for a King’s kid who is all fired up, raring to get out there and serve Jesus. Early in my Christian life, I did a lot of complaining about it. “ Lord, you are wasting my time, “ I’d point out to Him, “ you must not have understood how valuable I am to your kingdom”. It seemed as if He said, “ I think I do”. Elijah complained to God one time in about the same way I did ( I King 19). He said, in effect, Lord, it’s a good thing you have got me on your team. Without me, why, you’d be out of business, because I am the only one left who is faithful to you”.
Did God say, “ That’s right. I can’t afford to lose you?. No way, What He said was, “ I have got news for you, Elijah, I have got seven thousand more who have not bowed their knees to Baal. I can wheel them out of the crack any time I need them. And since you think you are all that indispensable. I am going to have to put you on the shelf for a while. I will prove I can get along perfectly well without you.
I can use you if you will be obedient, of course, but you have got to learn to lie down and wait before you can walk in my victory. Before you can be led by my Spirit, you have got to get to the place where you are willing to obey me in spite of circumstances. Before we can ever go out on our own, we have to learn to follow where He leads us.
To be continued...
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[ecko_quote source=" Matthew 11:28-30"]Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My Yoke Is easy and My burden is light[/ecko_quote]
In the light of our previous devotion “The impossibility of Christian life,” the fundamental thing that we have to do is surrender our lives so that Christ can live in and through our lives. Surrender is not the surrendering of the external life, but of our will; when that is done, all is done. There are very few crisis in life; among which the great crisis is the surrender of our will willingly. God never crushes a man’s will into surrender. He never beseeches him; He waits until the man yields up his will to Him. That battle never needs to be refought.
Surrender for deliverance “Come unto Me and I will give you rest”. We begin to experience what salvation means only after we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is perplexing your heart or mind is a call to the will- “Come unto Me”. It is a coming that is done voluntarily.
Surrender for Devotion- “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself”. The surrender here is of ourselves to Jesus i.e. our own selves with His rest at the heart of it. “If you would be My disciple, give up your right of yourself to Me.” Then the remainder of the life is nothing but the manifestation of this surrender. When once the surrender has taken place we won't need to think of "suppose" for anything. We do not need to care what our circumstances are or would be; Jesus is amply sufficient.
Surrender to death (John 21:18-19) …” Another shall gird thee” Have you learned what it means to be bound for death? Beware of a surrender which you make to God in an ecstasy; you are apt to take it back again. It is a question of being united with Jesus in His death until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.
After surrender – What? Christ lives in us. The whole of the life after surrender is an aspiration for unbroken communion with God.
All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him; In His presence, daily live……. I surrender all; I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.
Source: Pastor Jonah Ravinder; The Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers.
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[ecko_quote source=" Galatians 2:20"]I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me[/ecko_quote]
Many of us start our Christian life thinking it as very easy. Author and teacher Stuart Briscoe said, When I got saved, it was so wonderful. The burden of sin was gone. Boy, I started out wanting to live for God and be so happy. “It’s wonderful. Here I am, saved. Hallelujah, Jesus! I will never make another mistake. I have been saved; my sins have been forgiven. I have the Holy Spirit in me. This is just wonderful,” I was saying, and then I stumbled and fell. I got discouraged a little bit. I said, “Well, this isn’t as easy as I thought. This is difficult.” And I began to strive and tried to be a better Christian, but again I failed miserably. I stopped saying this is difficult. I hung my head in despair and said, “This is impossible.”
The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that the Christian life is very difficult. I was supposed to love my neighbours. Some of them I hadn’t even got around to liking! God seemed to expect from me a love that would put Him first, and I wasn’t too sure that was what I wanted. Often I pretended all was well when I knew it wasn’t. Then something happened. Reading through my Bible, I have learnt that I had been wrong about the Christian life. First, I thought it was easy. That was wrong. Then I figured it was difficult. But I realised that was wrong too. For the first time in my life, I understood that Christianity was impossible for a human being. Not easy and not difficult, Impossible.
Then God showed me that what He had for me was CHRIST. He had told me to live the impossible because He had given me Christ to whom it was all possible. My inability was the perfect soil for His ability. My defeat was the stage for His victory. My barrenness was the seed plot for His fruitfulness. The answer to my problem was Christ. I got more conscious of my helplessness and failure than ever before. But I was strangely excited to know that the Lord was resident in my weakness and master of my defeat. The next time when I got up to preach, I whispered “Okay, Lord, here we go again. These problems are too big for me but well within your capabilities. I claim your power to triumph” And I began to do just that. God in His goodness had introduced me to a life of faith, trust, and dependence on Lord Jesus. He was becoming increasingly real to me. In fact, that should be the story of the Christian life. Finding it continually impossible to you, but always possible to the One who lives in you, and being excited about being able to prove Him.
A dear friend used to say, we all are the failures that we were meant to be. In other words, our attempts at living the Christian life in own power were always supposed to fail. God never intended for us to succeed by self-effort, self-motivation, and self-striving. We were never designed (of course after Adam's sin) to live holy lives without trusting the Christ who died for us. In short, we cannot live the Christian life without Christ. Only by grace through faith, Christian growth is achieved (Gal. 3:1-5).
When we attempt to live the Christian life in our power, we find it impossible. We grow frustrated. Our up and down experiences of momentary victory and devastating failures prove exhausting. The cycles of perpetual self-confidence/pride and shame/guilt leave us wondering if we are really saved. Then, we realise that our sense of desperation and defeat is what God is waiting for; he wants us to come to the end of ourselves.
God is waiting for us to admit our struggle, repent of our self-sufficiency, and pray for divine help (2 Cor. 12:8-10). It sounds a bit cliché, but God desires for us to stop trying and to start trusting. He wants us to give up striving and struggling to allow Christ to do the impossible: give us liberty and victory over our on-going struggles with sin (2 Peter 1:3-4).
The Lord’s purpose and goal is to allow his Son, Jesus Christ, to live his life in and through us (1 John 4:9). The only person who ever successfully lived the Christian life was Christ himself. Therefore, we need to allow Christ to live his life in and through us for victory over sin, power over temptations, and anointing for ministry (Gal. 2:20).
The Christian life can only be explained in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you, your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarships, your dedication, your sacrifices, or your anything... Then although you may have the Christian life, you are not yet living it!
You know what? Mr Briscoe was right. The Christian life is impossible, without Christ. You see, when Mr Briscoe discovered that God is the God of the impossible and that Jesus Christ was in Him, he then stopped trying, started trusting, and let the Lord Jesus Christ live His life through him. He also stopped saying Christian life as impossible and started saying, “This is wonderful!”
Source: Jonah Ravinder; Mr Stuart Briscoe
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[ecko_quote source="Daniel 6:10"]Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days[/ecko_quote]
How can you follow God and thrive in this secular world at the same time? In almost every workplace/ community and the world at large Christians face this question daily and many find the answer so difficult they are tempted to give up. Daniel, the central character of the Book of Daniel, also faced the same question under extreme circumstances and he was successful in every facet of his life.
There are many characters in the Bible such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and Solomon. Each one of them had played their roles and left a legacy. The Bible writers described their lives without any reservations both positive and negative aspects of their walk with the Lord for our edification.One of the most interesting characters of the Bible and a role model for the 21st century young Christians is Daniel. He is one of the few well-known Bible characters about whom nothing negative is ever written.
His life was characterised by faith, prayer, courage, consistency and lack of compromise. We can notice some excellent attributes in Daniel's life, great teamwork, (with his three friends); great negotiations,(with the chief of eunuchs in relation to the food matters); respect and honour to the king at the same time making it known to the king about the one true God; Daniel never spoke negatively, not even about his enemies; and of visions and their interpretation .
Daniel, even in youth, displayed these characteristics. He was already considered one of the best among the best. Because of Daniel's obedient and submissive heart, God took him and made him better. In fact, the Bible says that in wisdom and understanding, Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were ten times better than any of the magicians and astrologers in the entire empire.
Daniel knew the importance of remaining pure and undefiled, even in a culture that was saturated with pagan practices and idol worship. It was because of Daniel’s love for God and his commitment to purity that God entrusted Daniel with the ability to understand and interpret dreams and visions. Moreover, this divine ability served Daniel well many times during his service to the king.
Daniel lived a pure and holy in the midst of wicked people. Daniel's world is not much different to our present world. The only difference is that this generation is committing techno and cyber sins using phones, computers and other electronic gadgets erroneously. In this era holiness and pure life are outdated and old fashioned lifestyle which is why we hardly see young people looking for a righteous way of living and greater commitment to God. They want new inspiration, new methods of enjoyment and further they have no time to wait; they want everything in real-time.
The book of Daniel shows Daniel to be a faithful man of God. When King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to destroy all the wise men if one of them did not tell him his dream and interpreted it, Daniel and his friends asked for time so he and his three friends could beseech God in prayer to reveal this information (Daniel 2:18). When God answered his prayer, Daniel remembered to praise and thank God for giving them what they had requested (verses 20-23).
Daniel's lifestyle portrays a modest way of life. Adoption of a modest way of life, so that attachment to money, prestige or power do not stand in the way of risking our jobs or careers if we are pressured to do something contrary to God’s commands, values or virtues. Despite reaching the pinnacle of Babylonian education, position and wealth, Daniel and his friends were constantly ready to lose everything in order to speak and act on God’s word (2:24, 3:12, 4:20, 5:17, 6:10, 21).
The secret of his success both in Godly life and as the Governor in the Kingdom lies in his prayer life. He demonstrated his faith by praying to God even though he knew that doing so would endanger his life! “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed [that no one could petition any god or man except the king for 30 days], he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt on his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (Daniel 6:10). I think this was the secret of Daniel's success, and I wish it would be our custom too in this wicked generation.
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[ecko_quote source="Isaiah 30:21"] And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left[/ecko_quote]
One day my wife asked me to drop her at a particular school in South Auckland. Since this area was unfamiliar, I chose to use my map booklet rather than Google maps on my phone. Because there were newly added roads my map book was of no use to me in this instance. I was left with no choice but to use Google Map -App to proceed further. The Google Maps asked me two questions. The first was about my current location and the second was about my destination. As soon as I filled my current location and destination details it immediately showed me the travel time, kilometers and current traffic situation. The App kept speaking to me and gave me instructions I needed to reach my destination. This process taught me a spiritual significance and a lesson for my Christian journey towards our Lord.
As men and women of God, we must know our current location first, in other words, our current spiritual condition. Unless this position is confirmed, we will not go to our destination that is towards our Lord. Hence, we should first examine ourselves and ask the Lord to search our hearts. Unfortunately, people refuse to know their true position not knowing that it would become a hurdle to their journey. Revelation 3:17 states that “You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”. My dear ones it is better for us to know our true current position and ask God for forgiveness when we still have time. Once we know our current position we can set our journey towards our Lord otherwise, we would be called “lost”.
Secondly, during the course our journey we needed to follow the instructions otherwise we would not have reached our destination. Many of us are reluctant to hear the whispering voice of the Holy Spirit and refuse to yield completely to the Lord. In the Old Testament Israelites on their journey to the promised land murmured in their tents and did not heed to the voice of the Lord (Psalm 106:25). As a result, their journey took 40 years instead of a month because of their disobedience. Sadly, all of the Israelites from twenty years old and above died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb. Similarly, when we refuse to obey the voice of God we just prolong our journey and may even fall as Israelites.
Therefore, my dear ones obey the instructions as instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is. Delayed obedience is disobedience. The only way we can obey is to obey” in the self-same day “as Abraham did. It’s better to do this way than not to do it at all. A postponed duty can never bring the full blessing that God intended as it would have brought if done at the earliest possible moment. Martin Luther says that” a true believer will crucify the question, ‘Why?’ He will obey without questioning.
When we look at the lives of many great men and women of God in the Bible we can see that each one of them had to follow a long, arduous road. But it led to a wonderful place, to a wonderful conclusion, to nothing less than heaven itself. George Matheson says that even through sorrow, hardship, and fiery trials, the road is still leading home – and we need to keep walking by faith and not by feeling or sight. Always remember that Our Lord Jesus Christ is walking with you.
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[ecko_quote source="2 Corinthians 6:2"]Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.[/ecko_quote]
God always deals with people in the realm of “NOW”. He is not concerned about what we aim to do in the future or what we had done in the past. Therefore, our obedience must be now. Any delay in obedience is simply disobedience. Abraham, Moses, David and many others in the Bible obeyed to the voice of God right away. Instant obedience is all that matters.
In the final hours, when Jesus was on the cross, the two criminals who were hanging on either side heard what Jesus was saying. One took hold of the opportunity and gave his life to the Lord, while the other accused and blasphemed Him. In response to the one who accepted Him, Jesus said “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will with be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
My dear ones, we do not know when it will be our final hour on this earth and when we will receive our call from the Lord. The Roman Emperor Constantine believed that once he was baptised, his sins would be washed away and that he would attain salvation and entrance into heaven. Because of this assumption, he put off baptism and planned to be baptised just before he died. It has been thought that Constantine put off baptism as long as he could so as to be absolved from as much of his sin as possible. Similarly, many believers play with sin in an anticipation that they may turn to the Lord, ask for his forgiveness, and receive His salvation just before their final moments. How foolish to think this way? Luke 12:20 clearly states “But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul will be required of you”. Dear ones our time is in His hands.
An aeroplane crashed and burned several years ago, killing all the occupants, except for one man who was miraculously delivered without any burns to his body. He was a guest on many of the talk shows and a sought-after speaker for many years, telling his story of the miraculous delivery from certain death. In one of the talk shows, he was asked two questions. The first question was, "What had you done the morning before you took your flight?" His response indicated him spending time in prayer and studying the scriptures.
The second question they asked him was, "As the fuel was igniting and flames were rushing through the cabin, was everyone crying out to God?" I believe his answer will always stay with you. He said that while their clothing and flesh were burning, he fully expected to hear people crying to God for help. But what he heard was cursing and screams of vile accusations towards God. He went on to say, for a long period of time this has troubled him. Why would people, with imminent death ahead, curse God? He said, it was revealed to him during a time of prayer that in a disaster, most people will die no different than the way they have lived. He said it's just like what Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak."
As I think about this man's testimony, it has solidified my belief that what we think, speak, and do in our daily lives builds a foundation in our heart that affects our blessing and protection. Sadly, many Christians unknowingly live their lives with the same attitude, putting off an intimate relationship with God for one reason or another. We must remember that what you put into your heart is what comes out of your heart in the form of words, actions and deeds.
Remember, what we sow into our lives is what we are bound to reap. You can't expect a mango tree to grow out of apple tree seeds. Don't let this article discourage you if you have your course set in the wrong direction, but be encouraged and change your course today while you still have time. Although, it may take time, with persistence and faith in God, it will eventually happen. Speak the promises of God over your life and cast down the vain imaginations of doubt and unbelief that the enemy will attempt to place in your mind.
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