Posted on 01/29/2007 3:19:56 AM PST by .30Carbine
"The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand . . ." (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances.
God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, "I know that this is what I should do"-and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. "He . . . rebuked them, and said, ’You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ " (Luke 9:55).
The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty!
Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— "I delight to do Your will, O my God . . ." (Psalm 40:8).
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
This kind of takes spiritual warfare out of the metaphysical fiction category and plops it down at your feet.. Moment by moment, "What kind of spirit you are?", becomes tangible..
Since most would say, I don't know what kind of spirit I am, really, actually.. The reality of the question would drive you to pray.. forcing a kind of humility.. Realizing that your spirit and faith is a battleground.. and that both could be tricked into the arrogance of the flesh..
What kind of spirit am I... ((NOW)) is the operative question..
The question (to myself) in all my dealings..
I appreciate 1 Cor ch 13 which is the base for chapter 12 as an opening and chapter 14 as a closing.. to this question..
Because 1 Cor chapters 12-14 go together as a unit..
Vision, I wonder what the fruit of your day's contemplation was? (:
hosepipe, I agree re: 1 Cor. 12 and 14, with 13 in the middle on purpose! - and I have since the day I was born. (;
That the way to fulfill your dreams does not always have to take the toughest path. I'll see what happens.
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