November 9, 2018 My Utmost for His Highest Daily Devotional : Topic - Sacred Service
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ… —Colossians 1:24
The Christian worker has to be a sacred “go-between.” He must be
so closely identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption
that Christ can continually bring His creating life through him. I am
not referring to the strength of one individual’s personality being
superimposed on another, but the real presence of Christ coming through
every aspect of the worker’s life. When we preach the historical facts
of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New
Testament, our words are made sacred.
God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do.
When we say, “What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!” then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32).
Click to read yesterday and previous days of My Utmost For His Highest Daily Devotionals here
God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do.
When we say, “What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!” then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32).
Click to read yesterday and previous days of My Utmost For His Highest Daily Devotionals here
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 46-47; Hebrews 6
November 9, 2018 My Utmost for His Highest Daily Devotional : Topic - Sacred Service
Reviewed by Muyiwa Abodunrin (Muyilight)
on
November 09, 2018
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