Posted on 01/07/2007 3:54:20 AM PST by .30Carbine
These words were not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise; Jesus was encouraging Philip to draw closer. Yet the last person we get intimate with is Jesus. Before Pentecost the disciples knew Jesus as the One who gave them power to conquer demons and to bring about a revival (see Luke 10:18-20). It was a wonderful intimacy, but there was a much closer intimacy to come: ". . . I have called you friends" (John 15:15). True friendship is rare on earth. It means identifying with someone in thought, heart, and spirit. The whole experience of life is designed to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ. We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we really know Him?
Jesus said, "It is to your advantage that I go away . . ." (John 16:7). He left that relationship to lead them even closer. It is a joy to Jesus when a disciple takes time to walk more intimately with Him. The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ (see John 15:1-4).
Once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely and we never lack for understanding or compassion. We can continually pour out our hearts to Him without being perceived as overly emotional or pitiful. The Christian who is truly intimate with Jesus will never draw attention to himself but will only show the evidence of a life where Jesus is completely in control. This is the outcome of allowing Jesus to satisfy every area of life to its depth. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.
In 1910 Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen, who still resides in London (as of 1992).
In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix.
My Utmost for His Highest, his best-known book, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and in this, the last decade of the century, remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic. [from the flyleaf of the book]
Absolutely no flaming! These daily threads are intended to be devotional in nature. If a particular day's offering says nothing to you, please just go on and wait for the next day. Consider these threads a DMZ of sorts, a place where a perpetual truce is in effect and a place where all other arguments and disagreements from other times and places are left behind.
I can attest from personal experience that reading from Chambers daily will almost certainly change - not one's faith - but one's perspective of his/her own faith, and open up new vistas in your spiritual life. If - when - this happens to a reader of these threads, and they choose to share what has happened within them - we are treading on hallowed ground. Be respectful.
- Religion Moderator
The Command to be satisfied:
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
~Isaiah 55:2
Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be enraptured with her love.
For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
~Proverbs 5:18-20
Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
~Proverbs 20:13
The Prayer for satisfaction:
As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
~Psalm 17:15
That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
~Ecclesiastes 3:13
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
~Psalm 90:14
The Promise of satisfaction:
The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways,
But a good man will be satisfied from above.
~Proverbs 14:14
The fear of the LORD leads to life,
And he who has it will abide in satisfaction;
He will not be visited with evil.
~Proverbs 19:23
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
~Isaiah 58:10-11
I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.
For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
~Jeremiah 31:14, 25
The Praise of being satisfied:
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
~Psalm 63:3-5
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts:
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
~Psalm 65:4
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
~Psalm 145:16
Thank you, thank you, carbine for this beautiful devotion.To think about Jesus as true friend makes my heart rejoice.
Bless you, dear heart and sister in Christ. May you always have that strong and calm balance His friendship brings.
Wonderful words of His love.
Amen.
New tagline bump!
hehehe
Dear Carb,
What a Blessing.
Blessed LORD's day to all.
Mat 11:3..."Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?"
Mat 11:4 And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:
Mat 11:5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
Mat 11:6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."
May this be what transpires in our services to the spirits of those who hunger to know if Jesus is the ONE.
bp7
Amen, Gracie Rose
Romans 5
10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
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I was so close to incorporating this into my Sunday post on the Finest. You posted this to me once, Carbine, and I do love this chapter. I will use it soon.
Thanks for sharing this Scripture, Meg.
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
what a privilege to carry,
Everything to God in prayer.
Happy Lord's Day!
Amen! Thank you, Dear Carbine, and a Blessed Lord's Day to All.
.30, these are verses that remind us how sufficent Christ is to meet our needs. Amen.
The passage you chose is beautiful and so appropriate, and your closing line flares up gloriously in fellowship with this blazing truth from the pen of Chambers.
May this be what transpires in our services to the spirits of those who hunger to know if Jesus is the ONE.
Amen to your prayer: O shine through your friends, Jesus! Your friendship has transformed us! You love us into union with all Your Goodness: oh, that we may so be like Thee, dearest and most desired of Friends, that we in Thy love also draw all men unto Thee, lifting You up! We would be like You, Best of Friends, and already have been brought into amazing likeness - O see! our desires are Thine! This was not of ourselves, but of Thee, of our intimacy with Thee when Thou didst draw us near! Because You are our Friend, the best ever, we have become friends even to our enemies. Make us more like You as we draw ever nearer. Thank You, Jesus our Lord and Brother and Friend, for showing us the Father! Thank You for this great adoption! Add to our number daily those who are being saved!
I'm so glad you used that perfect line here, dear Meg. Thank you!
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
~John 15:13Philippians 2:
1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
For we who have believed do enter that rest!
Hebrews 4:3a
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