“If I appear great in their eyes, the Lord is most graciously helping me to see how absolutely nothing I am without him …. The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. It could do nothing but for the woodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, and he used it. The moment he throws it aside, it becomes only old iron. O that I may never lose sight of this.”
Samuel Logan Brengle, Salvation Army Commissioner (early 20th century).
Quoted in Christianity Today.
More goodness from Owen today, on the necessity of never letting up in our battle against sin.
“When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even where there is least suspicion… If, then, sin will be always acting, if we be not always mortifying, we are lost creatures. He that stands still and suffers his enemies to double blows upon him without resistance, will undoubtedly be conquered in the issue.
“If sin be subtle, watchful, strong, and always at work in the business of killing our souls, and we be slothful, negligent, foolish, in proceeding to the ruin thereof, can we expect a comfortable event? There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed on; and it will be so whilst we live in this world.”
“The vigour, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.”
The difficulty in life is to know on what we ought to concentrate. The whole art of life, I sometimes think, is the art of knowing what to leave out, what to ignore, what to put on one side. How prone we are to dissipate our energies and to waste our time by forgetting what is vital and giving ourselves to second and third rate issues. Now, says Paul, here you are in the Christian life, you are concerned about difficulties, about oppositions and about the contradictions of life. What you need is just this: the power to concentrate on that which is vital, to leave out everything else, and to keep steadily to the one thing that matters.
Earlier this year, while preparing for Quest Advanced (which is scheduled for summer 2010), I spent a great deal of time examining much of the discipleship curriculum out there for use today. One of the more valuable resources I came across was the material from Core Ministries (http://coregroups.org/). I got an email from them today that will challenge those “brothers of the burning heart” out there:
I am a part of the body committed to doing “whatever it takes.”
I have Holy spirit power. The die has been cast. I’ve stepped over the line.
I am out of the comfort zone. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of Jesus. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, or back away. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame vision, mundane talking, chincy giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, and my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up, or burn up till I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up and stayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus.
I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops.
And when He comes to get His own, He’ll have no problem recognizing me, because I have dedicated my life to be a part of the body committed to doing “whatever it takes.” -Author unknown
“The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend upon that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day.”
Will you trust God completely
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:5–7
Note that harmony is a gift granted by God, rooted in His character, for the purpose of glorifying Him. And it is all about Christ. Will you join me in praying that this benediction would be fulfilled in our midst and our day?
“The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints, and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna…Yet whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ.”
“This is the greatest wisdom—to seek the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world. It is vanity therefore to seek and trust in riches that perish…it is vanity to follow the lusts of the body and desire things for which severe punishment later must come. It is vanity to wish for a long life and to care little about a well-spent life.”
I am a single 20-something young man, in pursuit of knowing Christ and being known by Him. I serve as a ministry leader, work as a paramedic, and live as an adventurer.
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