For some reason I feel like God is pushing me to be active at the LSB. I've told my friend Ous that I hate going to psychology class, solely due to the location. When I'm there I feel like I'm in the lion's den - like I'm surrounded by godless people and honestly, it feels as if satan is attacking me there.
So today I got a couple guy's emails in my psyc class and I'm thinking I might be able to slowly show them how God is working in my life. Maybe I can influence them to believe. Maybe I can be an influence for them to transform.
Maybe something can start there, something that lasts forever.
I'll just have to keep listening...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
My Utmost For His Highest - September 25, 2008
The "Go" of Relationship
"41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." -Matt. 5:41-42
"15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other." -John 15:15-17
I'm not gonna lie; I had to read this devotion a few times. Oswald gets pretty deep. I think my favorite sentence here is: "No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant."
Anyways, I think what he's trying to say is that we need to get to the point where not only are we being disciples, but that we can do it without consciously trying. And the only way to do this is to remain in His love by obeying His commands. In John 15:11, Jesus tells us the reason is that "my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
In his last paragraph, Oswald sums up his message that God doesn't mean for us to get comfortable in our service - that He doesn't ask us to do what's "naturally easy for us", only what we're "perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come."
I'm guessing that the "cross we must bear" is a symbol of doing something necessarily difficult, but I wonder if he means it comes from God's grace, or the fact that He asks us to perform against our nature. Does anybody want to share what they think?
"41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." -Matt. 5:41-42
"15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other." -John 15:15-17
I'm not gonna lie; I had to read this devotion a few times. Oswald gets pretty deep. I think my favorite sentence here is: "No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant."
Anyways, I think what he's trying to say is that we need to get to the point where not only are we being disciples, but that we can do it without consciously trying. And the only way to do this is to remain in His love by obeying His commands. In John 15:11, Jesus tells us the reason is that "my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
In his last paragraph, Oswald sums up his message that God doesn't mean for us to get comfortable in our service - that He doesn't ask us to do what's "naturally easy for us", only what we're "perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come."
I'm guessing that the "cross we must bear" is a symbol of doing something necessarily difficult, but I wonder if he means it comes from God's grace, or the fact that He asks us to perform against our nature. Does anybody want to share what they think?
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