Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good

to those who love God, to those who are the called according

to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

Loyalty pretty much sums up Romans 8:28,

does this verse mean that because we love God that only good will come?

no, not at all...

the verse means those who love God are loyal to God,

and they realize that all things work out in the end for good.

When trouble and sufferings come, and they will come,

those who love God understand that no matter the circumstance,

no matter what happens, trusting and putting their faith in God

is most important. Our Loyalty should be unshakable, all things we know

are possible through God, what is more important then your relationship with Christ? Why, how rather, could you let any trouble come between it?
When bad circumstances come it’s not ‘Why me?’ it’s should be more

like ‘Why not me?’. Put your trust in God, have unshakable faith

that everything happens for a reason and nothing can detour Gods will.

We will be loyal to work, to service, to anything,

but do not ask us to be loyal to Jesus Christ.

Many Christians are intensely impatient of

talking about loyalty to Jesus.

Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers

than by the world. God is made a machine for blessing men,

and Jesus Christ is made a Worker among workers.

The idea is not that we do work for God,

but that we are so loyal to Him that He can do His work through us -

"I reckon on you for extreme service, with no complaining on your part and no explanation on Mine."

God wants to use us as He used His own Son.

December 18th My Utmost for His highest

It's easy to get into the mode of

"I'm so loyal to Christ, look at what I do for him."

But that is not of Christ at all,What good is in us really?

the only good in us is Christ himself through the Holy Spirit.

Any credit, any thanks for work that you say you do for God

should go to God not your self.

Stop trying to be pious and Holy and BE pious and Holy...

The more you try to be pious and Holy the more you will fail...

the only way to be pious and Holy is through Christ,

so stop trying to be something and let Christ Be it through you!

Stop trying to mold the clay and let God be the molder without

any interference on your part!

Be what you were always meant to be, we were not Created to

live as we have lived since Adam, we were created to be Holy

and in Gods presence, yet we are far from it because of Sin...

but if you deny that you can be changed, if you deny that you can be made Holy,

then you deny the power of God, you deny what was done for you

on the cross and through the Son.

Disciple of Christ III

These things I have spoken to you,

that in Me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation;

but be of good cheer

I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

I've talked about being a "Disciple of Christ"

mainly about dying to self, and that generally speaking

it's not hard to be a follower of Christ. I want to get across

the fact that by saying "It's not hard to be a follower of Christ"

I do not mean... you will not face difficulties/tribulation.

You see generally speaking I don't think people

have a problem with "accepting Christ". Honestly who would

seriously have a problem with someone dying for every wrong

they ever did or will do, who would have a problem with someone

saying; give me your worries/burdens...answer? NOBODY...

that's probably why so many people claim to be "Christian"

because they have no problem with someone forgiving their

wrong doing, they just want to continue living selfishly and still

be of Christ. The problem is being a "Christian" and being "Selfish"

don't go hand and hand, as again that kind of gets in the way of

"Dying to self"

To get back on point about difficulties/tribulation, People seem to think

(Specially still on the bottle Christians) that when you become a

"Christian" all tribulation all struggles just magically disappear,

like all because "you decided" to follow Christ that He will just

heap blessing after blessing upon you and no trouble will

come your way. All because you decided to be "Christian" and you

go to "church" and you "Tithe your 10%" and you have your little

"Jesus fish bumper sticker" that God is just going to bless you with all

that your little heart desires. Don't get it twisted once again, I'm

not saying God doesn't bless people, I'm saying if you think

life will be all sunshine and lollipops and you deserve some kind

of credit for being "Christian"...pshhh.. THINK AGAIN, as a matter of fact

where are your priorities? are they on the things YOU want? are they on

the hope that you will go through no struggles? OR are they where they

should be... ON GOD ALONE...no matter what trouble/burden

that comes your way.

The fact is, trouble is going to come your way,

struggles are going to come and go...it's about what you do

when that struggle comes that defines you and your faith or

lack there of.

When things come around and knock us down, when tribulations come

as "Christians" we should remain positive, after all...things happen for a reason,

God is bigger then any worry/stress or tribulation that comes our way.

I've probably said this 100 times but why not 101...

YOU DON'T PROVE YOUR FAITH WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING RIGHT

YOU PROVE IT... WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING ALL WRONG.

"An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble. It is deliverance IN trouble, which is very different. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High . . . there shall no evil befall thee" - no plague can come nigh the place where you are at one with God.

If you are a child of God, there certainly will be troubles to meet, but Jesus says do not be surprised when they come. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, there is nothing for you to fear."

Men who before they were saved would scorn to talk about troubles, often become "fushionless" after being born again because they have a wrong idea of a saint.

God does not give us overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome. The strain is the strength. If there is no strain, there is no strength. Are you asking God to give you life and liberty and joy? He cannot, unless you will accept the strain. Immediately you face the strain, you will get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the step, and God will give you to eat of the tree of life and you will get nourishment. If you spend yourself out physically, you become exhausted; but spend yourself spiritually, and you get more strength. God never gives strength for to-morrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute. The temptation is to face difficulties from a common-sense standpoint. The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God."

My Utmost for HIS highest

August 2nd

Difficulty is a part of life, troubles/worries... oh we all get our share,

and things obviously don't always go how we want them to,

but when you are in that moment when you are faced with

adversity, the key is just surrendering to God. Like the good saying goes:

"What doesn't kill you,makes you stronger"

Now this is all meaningless if it's just a nice "thought",

actions speak louder then words.

Seek to live for God, stop crying about the things that

seem to be going wrong and realize you have been

given everything you will ever need. How about

caring for someone else, showing love to someone

and lifting another up, instead of wondering why

"God is not blessing you". Do you not know that we

are called to show the love of Christ, how can you show

that love... when all you do is worry about yourself?

The truth is, Love as we know it, our love is imperfect,

hence why you need to "Die to self" and live for Christ,

live to the Holy Spirit inside of you... that knows how to truly love.

It's like Love has become about requirements I.e

I'll love you if you do this,that or this. Here's a question for you,

what did YOU do... to deserve Gods love?

Yeah, think about that one. (by the way, the answer is NOTHING.)

Further more people have no problem showing love to those who

show love back, but guess what? we are called to have more love

in us then that..

"But if you love those who love you,

what credit is that to you?

For even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you,

what credit is that to you?

For even sinners do the same.

And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back,

what credit is that to you?

For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. "

Luke 6:32-36

Forgive as we are forgiven, Love as we are loved...simply said,

but not easily done. It's not impossible though, people always like to say

"Well, we can't be like Christ! if we could he wouldn't have had to die

for our sins"

you are right, indeed we can not be perfect, you know what we can do

though? DIE TO SELF! we were crucified with Christ! stop thinking about

what "I can't do" and what CHRIST Can do through you!

Those who love those who love them, and those who love

only to receive something in-return should think long and hard,

and should be thankful that the God they claim to follow

wasn't and isn't like that.

A real Disciple of Christ, A real "Christian" doesn't have to walk around

saying "I'm a Christian" you will know them by the love that shines through them. NOT BY WORKS, no no no...NOT BY WORKS....but by the Love

of Christ that overwhelms their whole being.

Disciple of Christ

If the things I do, I do for myself... then I am not in the

right frame of mind.

I struggle in so many areas of my walk,

and one of those areas is my motivation.

What I mean by that is...

Am I for example praying/reading Gods word

or seeking to spread His word

out of a true love for him or am I doing it

for some pharisaical reasons, thinking with

my self righteousness and "works" I can

save myself.

The word of God is crystal clear in the fact

that it is not about what "I Do" in the sense of

the "Things that I do", If "I Do" anything it should

be to choose to surrender myself.

The fact is any good that is inside me is Jesus Christ,

without Him I am NOTHING. We can't save ourselves and

no matter how many "Good deeds" we do, none of it matters

if we are not surrendering ourselves to Christ.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit."

Matthew 5:3

Beware of placing Our Lord as a Teacher first.

If Jesus Christ is a Teacher only,

then all He can do is to tantalize me by erecting a standard

I can not attain. What is the use of presenting me with an ideal

I cannot possibly come near? I am happier without knowing it.

What is the good of telling me to be what I never can be -

to be pure in heart, to do more than my duty, to be perfectly devoted

to God? I must know Jesus Christ as Saviour

before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of an ideal which leads to despair.

But when I am born again of the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come to teach only: He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives are based on that disposition.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces despair in the natural man - the very thing Jesus means it to do. As long as we have a self-righteous, conceited notion that we can carry out Our Lord's teaching, God will allow us to go on until we break our ignorance over some obstacle, then we are willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. "Blessed are the paupers in spirit," that is the first principle in the Kingdom of God. The bedrock in Jesus Christ's kingdom is poverty, not possession; not decisions for Jesus Christ, but a sense of absolute futility - I cannot begin to do it. Then Jesus says - Blessed are you. That is the entrance, and it does take us a long while to believe we are poor! The knowledge of our own poverty brings us to the moral frontier where Jesus Christ works.

"My Utmost For His Highest"

July 21st

What does Galatians 2:20 say?

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

"I do not set aside the grace of God;

for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Galatians 2:20-21

Christ died because we couldn't live up to the law, Our calling

as disciples is not to live up to something we can't live up to,

because through Jesus Christ we can live up to it!

We need to stop living to our own "Ideals" stop riding

on our high horses and just die. It's not about what I DO...

IT'S ABOUT WHAT CHRIST DOES THROUGH ME!

If you keep living for yourself, keep trying to earn what

you never will be able to earn then you are hopeless.

GIVE everything you are to Jesus Christ, surrender yourself

to Him...and let Him guide your path.

"Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of

the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the

kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:20

The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in motive because he has been made good by the super-natural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to put into any man who would let Him a new heredity which would exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus says - If you are My disciple you must be right not only in your living, but in your motives, in your dreams, in the recesses of your mind. You must be so pure in your motives that God Almighty can see nothing to censure. Who can stand in the Eternal Light of God and have nothing for God to censure? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that by His Redemption He can put into any man His own disposition, and make him as unsullied and as simple as a child. The purity which God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is what Jesus has undertaken to do by His Redemption.

No man can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations; His teachings are truths that can only be interpreted by the disposition He puts in. The great marvel of Jesus Christ's salvation is that He alters heredity. He does not alter human nature; He alters its mainspring.

My Utmost For His Highest

July 24th

"The steps of a good man

are order by the Lord,

and He delights in his way.

though he fall, he will not be utterly cast down

For the Lord upholds him with His hand."

Psalms 37:23-24

Paul Washer has a great sermon on "Dying to self"

and explains it far better then I can do.

Still on the Bottle..

I fed you with milk and not with solid food;

for until now you were not able to receive it,

and even now you are still not able;

for you are still carnal.

1 Corinthians 3:2

What exactly is Paul talking about?

Think back when you first became a Christian,

you were a "Baby Christian"...you had to be on a "bottle"

You had to be gently led through the word to see

the forgiveness that is in Christ. You had to be

held up and your eyes opened so that the truth

of salvation could be revealed. It was new and

it was exciting and you were learning what it means

to be a Christian. Do you remember how

judgmental you first were?

Usually new born Christians are some of the most judgmental

people you will ever meet, and that's because they are learning for

themselves "What's Right and what's Wrong" because God

is pointing out all their flaws, and the things they've done.

He is working with them to just give them up, God is

telling them "I Forgive you, and now move forward"

The problem is so many Christians are still in that "New born"

mode, they never MOVE FORWARD. Their in this constant

place of "woe is me" that they deny the power of God. They

essentially become so obsessed that they do nothing but

pick at other peoples flaws because thats all they do to

themselves. When God is first working with you, the thing

he is trying to get you to do is to DIE

DIE to yourself

DIE to selfishness

DIE to greed

DIE to everything you were

He wants all of your attention so that he becomes the priority,

So that you get to the point where all you hear is his voice.

So you will be able to discern between right and wrong

(because of the Holy spirit that is IN YOU.)

Everyone needs to get a biblical understanding, you need to seek

God with all your heart soul,mind and strength, you can't

cut corners. Building a relationship with God isn't

a one time prayer, it isn't about you, in fact the more

you come to know God the less you start caring about YOU.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers,

you need [someone] to teach you again

the first principles of the oracles of God;

and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

For everyone who partakes [only] of milk [is]

unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age,

[that is], those who by reason of use have their senses

exercised to discern both good and evil.

Hebrews 5:12-14

When as Christians are we going to grow up?

to not insinuate what is right and wrong...(good or evil)

but to KNOW..

I thought what was written for June 17th in My Utmost For

His Highest fits pretty well for Christians still on

the bottle.

"Judge not, that ye be not Judged."

Matthew 7:1

Jesus says regarding judging--Don't. The average Christian

is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a

part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain

nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is

a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost

is the only One in the true position to criticize, He alone

is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding.

It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a

critical tempter; it makes you hard and vindictive and cruel,

and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a

superior person. jesus says, as a disciple cultivate the uncritical

temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything

that puts you in the superior person's place.

There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus.

If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my

own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me.

Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-20)

Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is

always one fact more in every man's case about which

we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a

spiritual spring-cleaning; there is no possibility of pride

left in a man after that. I have never me the man I could

despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the

GRACE of God.

Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law,

and make your boast in God, and know [His] will,

and approve the things that are excellent,

being instructed out of the law,

and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind,

a light to those who are in darkness,

an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes,

having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?

You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

You who say, "Do not commit adultery,"

do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

You who make your boast in the law,

do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

For "the name of God is blasphemed among

the Gentiles because of you," as it is written.

Romans 2:17-24