Why Not a Bit of It?

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

The following is taken from Devotions for MORNING AND EVENING with Oswald Chambers.

   “Our Lord never nurses our prejudices, He mortifies them. We imagine that God has a special interest in our particular prejudices; we are quite sure that God will never deal with us as He has to deal with other people. ‘God must deal with other people in a very stern way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.’ We have to learn—‘Not and bit of it!’ Instead of God being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately wiping them out. It is part of our moral education to have our prejudices run straight across by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.

   When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is not a bit of the old order left, the old solemnity goes, the old attitude to things goes, and ‘all things are of God.’ How are we going to get the life that has no lust, no self-interest, no sensitiveness to pokes, the love that is not provoked, that thinketh no evil, that is always kind? The only way is by allowing not a bit of the old life to be left; but only simple perfect trust in God, such trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want Himself. Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him? When once we see God at work, we will never bother our heads about things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in Heaven Whom the world cannot see.” (pg. 612)

 “The teaching of Jesus is out of all proportion to our natural way of looking at things and it comes with astonishing discomfort to begin with. We have slowly to form our walk and conversation on the line of the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations; it is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Sprit is getting His way with us.” (pg.426 )

Some further thoughts from Our Daily Bread for Personal and Family Devotions www.rbc.org

    “Accomplishing a lot for God may make us feel important, but what makes us important to God is what we allow Him to accomplish in us—conforming us into the mage of His Son (Rom. 8:28-30). –Julie Ackerman Link”

                                          “Christ never asks of us such busy labor

                                           As leaves not time for resting at His feet;

                                                The waiting attitude of expectation              

                                  He often counts as service most complete. --Anon

Our value is not measured by what we do for God but by what He has done in us.” (10/ 4/10)

     “It’s important to remember that God has placed us into the ‘kingdom of the Son’ (Col. 1:13). Living in His neighborhood means there are life-transforming behavior patterns that should clearly reflect our spiritual location. This is why Paul reminds us that God’s kingdom is not about arguing and bickering over earthly stuff but about ‘righteousness and peace and joy’ (Rom. 14:17). Living by God’s right standards, living to be a peacemaker, and living to be a source of joy in our relationships are what kingdom life is all about. And, when we live like this, our lives please God and bless others (v.18). –Joe Stowell”

          

                                        “The world gets a glimpse of God

                                              When those who claim to be

                                            The followers of Jesus Christ

                                             Are living righteously.  –Sper

                         

    If you’re part of the kingdom of God,  it will make a difference in how you live.”  (11/ 8/11)

     “Today God dwells in the hearts of believers. Yet the call to craftsmanship has not ended. Now each individual believer is God’s ‘workmanship’ (Eph. 2:19). the Master Craftsman is the Holy Spirit, who chips away at flaws in our character to make each of us like Jesus (Rom. 8:29). And as we yield to His workmanship, we will find that the secret to the final product is the Craftsman’s touch.  –Dennis Fisher”

                                          The Spirit is the Craftsman

                                          Who makes us like the Son;

                                        He’ll mold and shape our being

                                         Until His work is done. –Sper

The Father gave us the Spirit to make us like His Son.” (11/ 21/11/)

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:1, 2)

“There is enough time in every day to do God’s work... in God’s way.”
—Dr. Ted W. Engstrom

jowildflowers@gmail.com  jean-oathout.blogspot.com  Tomorrow’s post: God Needs Our Prayers: Prayer Note # 12