"But none
of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself." Acts
20:24
"You will be
more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never
realize the call of God. But if once you receive a commission from
Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a
goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the commonsense
basis.
"What do I really count dear? If I have not been
gripped by Jesus Christ, I will count service dear, time given to
God dear, my life dear unto myself. Paul says he counted his life
dear only in order that he might fulfill the ministry he had
received; he refused to use his energy for any other thing.
"Acts 20:24 states Paul’s almost sublime annoyance at being asked to
consider himself; he was absolutely indifferent to any consideration
other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received.
Practical work may be a competitor against abandonment to God,
because practical work is based on this argument—‘Remember how
useful you are here,’ or—‘Think how much value you would be in
that particular type of work.’ That attitude does not put Jesus
Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use.
Never consider
whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own
--
but His.
My utmost for his highest,
March 4th
"Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me
afterwards." John 13:36
“And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, Follow Me.” Three
years before, Jesus had said—“Follow Me,” and Peter had followed
easily, the fascination of Jesus was upon him, he did not need the
Holy Spirit to help him to do it. Then he came to the place where he
denied Jesus, and his heart broke. Then he received the Holy Spirit,
and now Jesus says again—“Follow Me.” There is no figure in front
now saving the Lord Jesus Christ. The first “Follow Me” had nothing
mystical in it, it was an external following; now it is a following
in internal martyrdom (cf. John 21: 18).
Between these times Peter had denied Jesus with oaths and curses, he
had come to the end of himself and all his self-sufficiency; there
was not one strand of himself he would ever rely upon again, and in
his destitution he was in a fit condition to receive an impartation
from the risen Lord. “He breathed on them, and saith unto them,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” No matter what changes God has wrought
in you, never rely upon them, build only on a Person, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and on the Spirit He gives.
All our vows and resolutions end in denial because we have no power
to carry them out. When we have come to the end of ourselves, not in
imagination but really, we are able to receive the Holy Spirit.
“Receive ye the Holy Ghost”—the idea is that of invasion. There is
only one lodestar in the life now, the Lord Jesus Christ.
My utmost for his highest, January 5
"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4:8
"It is essential
to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The
responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot act for
him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical
message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of
refusing to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once
he acts, he is never the same. ...
"Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to
your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically,
but in will. Record it, with ink or with blood. The feeblest saint
who transacts business with Jesus Christ is emancipated the second
he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf.
"We come up to the truth of God, we confess we are wrong, but go
back again; then we come up to it again, and go back; until we learn
that we have no business to go back. We have to go clean over on
some word of our redeeming Lord and transact business with Him. His
word ‘come’ means ‘transact.’ “Come unto Me.” The last thing we do
is to come; but everyone who does come knows that that second the
supernatural life of God invades him instantly. The dominating power
of the world, the flesh and the devil is paralysed, not by your act,
but because your act has linked you on to God and His redemptive
power."
My utmost for his highest,
November 4
"Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you." John 12:35
"Beware of not acting
upon what you see in your moments on the mount with God. If you do not obey
the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in
thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” The second you waive the
question of sanctification or any other thing upon which God gave you light,
you begin to get dry rot in your spiritual life. Continually bring the
truth out into actuality; work it out in every domain, or the very light
you have will prove a curse.
"The most difficult person to deal with is the one who
has the smug satisfaction of an experience to which he can refer back, but
who is not working it out in practical life. If you say you are
sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it is shown in
the life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent; it came
from the pit, no matter how beautiful it sounds....
"Every bit of our life, physical, moral and spiritual, is to be judged by
the standard of the Atonement.
My utmost for his highest,
August 27
Lord, I will follow Thee; but . . . . Luke 9:61
"Supposing God tells you
to do something which is an enormous test to your common sense, what are you
going to do? Hang back? If you get into the habit of doing a thing in the
physical domain, you will do it every time until you break the habit
determinedly; and the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will get
up to what Jesus Christ wants, and every time you will turn back when it
comes to the point, until you abandon resolutely. ‘Yes, but; supposing I do
obey God in this matter, what about . . .?’ ‘Yes, I will obey God if He will
let me use my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.’
...
"Trust entirely in God,
and when He brings you to the venture, see that you take it. We act like
pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his
faith in the character of God."
My utmost for his highest,
May 30th
See
Hope,
God's
covenant with His people,
The Kingdom
of God