Thursday, October 22, 2009

Devotional 221009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. There is no other God but our Lord Jesus. There is no other who deserves our praise and worship but Him who has started the good work in us for His purpose. God is working tirelessly in our lives to transform us into the likeness of His Son. We recognize His work as we humbly surrender ourselves to His hands, just like a piece of canvas surrenders to the hands of a Master Painter, and turns into a piece of beautiful artwork.

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16). We are in danger of getting the bargaining spirit when we come to God; we want the witness before we have done what God tells us to do. "Why does not God reveal Himself to me?" He cannot, it is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the road as long as you won't abandon absolutely to Him. Immediately you do, God witnesses to Himself, He cannot witness to you, but He witnesses instantly to His own nature in you. If you had the witness before the reality, it would end in sentimental emotion. Immediately you surrender to His Redemption, and stop the arrogance of debate, God gives on the witness. As soon as you abandon reasoning and argument, God witnesses to what He has done, and we are amazed at our rebellion in having kept Him waiting. If you are in debate as to whether God can deliver you from sin, either let Him do it, or tell Him He cannot. Do not quote this and that person, try Matthew 11:28 - "Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Come, if you are weary and heavy laden; ask, if you know you are evil. Our Lord said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”(Luke 11:13).

The Spirit of God witnesses to the Redemption of Our Lord, He does not witness to anything else; He cannot witness to our reason. The simplicity that comes from our natural common-sense decisions is apt to be mistaken for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of Redemption, never to our reason. If we try to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder we are in darkness and perplexity. Fling it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give the witness.

God gifts us the power to reason. But we don’t apply our reasoning to God’s witness as though we have higher wisdom than Him. Our Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. You don’t need to proof to others about your new identity in Christ. Not what you did to God that testifies your new identity in Christ. It is when you surrender or abandon to Christ by faith each day that echoes with the testimony of God within you. God whispers to your souls each day that you are His beloved child with whom He is well pleased (Mark 1:11). Listen more to His words than to your own reasoning or arguments. The more you recognize your inadequacy and your limitations, the more you yield to Him and to His Words, and the more you will be assured that you are indeed His children. Enjoy your fellowship with the Lord today. He is waiting to interact with you...

Love you according to His testimony,
Lawrence

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