Devotional 021008

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Since we have finished our devotional study on the book of 2 Corinthians, I plan to use the devotional book, Utmost for the Highest by Oswald Chambers, for my morning meditation. I had purchased this book long time ago but never read it until I started serving in GO international. I found it to be very insightful or thought provoking. It helps to deepen our understanding of the Scripture and our relationship with Christ. I hope you will join me in this journey to grow in Him. I will either down load the whole text for your reading or part of the content if it is too long. Then I will share my own reflection as a response. I hope you would do the same by writing your comment on my blog. It will becomes our online bible study time.
After the glorious experience on the Mount where the disciples witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus and his conversation with Moses and Elijah, they came down to the valley. The Bible says, "When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them..."What are you arguing with them about?" Jesus asked. A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." ...When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." (Mark 9:14-22)
After every time of exaltation we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they are where it is neither beautiful nor poetic nor thrilling. The height of the mountain top is measured by the drab drudgery of the valley; but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mount, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the sphere of humiliation that we find our true worth to God, that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at the heroic pitch because of the natural selfishness of our hearts, but God wants us at the drab commonplace pitch, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship to Him. Peter thought it would be a fine thing for them to remain on the mount, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mount into the valley, the place where the meaning of the vision is explained.
"If you can do any thing . . ." It takes the valley of humiliation to root the skepticism out of us. Look back at your own experience, and you will find that until you learned Who Jesus was, you were a cunning skeptic about His power. When you were on the mount, you could believe anything, but what about the time when you were up against facts in the valley? You may be able to give a testimony to sanctification, but what about the thing that is a humiliation to you just now? The last time you were on the mount with God, you saw that all power in heaven and in earth belonged to Jesus - will you be skeptical now in the valley of humiliation?
Hope you will spend time to meditate on this devotional.
Love you in Christ
Lawrence