By My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers’
Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28
God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. Then we tend to fall back into self-examination, a habit that we thought was gone. Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.
Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. Beware of allowing the influence of your friends or your circumstances to divide your life. This only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth. Beware of anything that can split your oneness with Him, causing you to see yourself as separate from Him. Nothing is as important as staying right spiritually. And the only solution is a very simple one— “Come to Me . . . .” The intellectual, moral, and spiritual depth of our reality as a person is tested and measured by these words. Yet in every detail of our lives where we are found not to be real, we would rather dispute the findings than come to Jesus.
2 comments:
OK... There wasn't any line in this devotional that didn't clobber me over the head! It was speaking directly at me. God knows that I need tough-love now and then to learn a lesson. He has been known to practically clobber me over the head with something before I get it. This is one of those times. Especially, since just this morning I had an incident like this! My Depression & Bipolar have been going nuts lately. But last night I had finally come to feel good and felt God close to me. This morning, first thing, I saw a nasty comment on someones Facebook page, that I knew must have been about me. I was hurt, angry, and practically in tears all morning; even through church. As a matter of fact I cried at the prayer rail, though I always cry at the prayer rail, so I'm not sure it's a special thing this time. Then I came home and had a long exchange of emails with this person which left me in tears and wanting to give up on everything. Anyway, now I can see that the enemy was using these 'friends' to try to cut the connection that I am building with Christ. More and more I'm growing closer to Him. The spiritual warfare is difficult; but I will not give up. The closer I get to Him, the more strength I have to fight! Being aware of my own pain is not a sin. And as for the part that it can be caused by a new set of circumstances... well... that's a whole blog or series of blogs in itself. I certainly have 'new' in my life... most of it not good from my point of view, and I'm not a person who adjusts well to change! How's that for 'turmoil'?!
Just several hours after I left the last comment, I just realized that it is not only the negative situations that arise in my life that can take my focus off Jesus. Positive things can also sometimes take my focus off of Him. I have been reading devotional messages all evening. One after another to help build the spirit inside me. My Depression and Bipolar have been crazy lately. I'm having a hard time battling them and Satan's attacks; all while trying to hear Jesus talk to me. It's a handful to deal with to say the least. The bright spot for me is late at night with one online friend that I chat with. He is a very good friend who gives me good advice, and good support. I realized that in between reading my devotionals, and journaling my thoughts about them, that I keep stopping and flipping back to the chat screen to chat with him. My focus is half on trying to connect with Jesus, and half on chatting with my friend. Do I have to schedule chat time? Will scheduling journal time, or prayer time, or time with Jesus be OK? I mean, it seems like a very 'worldly' thing to do to 'pencil in' time with Jesus in my schedule. Will Jesus be offended? How do I keep friends, keep my hobbies, and other things I enjoy and still keep Jesus as the focus all the time?
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