Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Devotional 101109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I did not realize I was so exhausted until late evening yesterday. I guessed my adrenal thrust finally slowed down from being on high gear for a couple of days. It was so hard for me to get up this morning. My body just craved for rest…. Praise God for witnessing Him at work in the retreat. I feel that this people group is ready to take on the baton from us, in planting indigenous churches for their kinsmen in China. When I shared about my experience with Iu Mienh people in China, many were willing to go with me to Jin Ping. Praise the Lord! However, it still takes a few years of transition because they don’t speak Mandarin but English. Hopefully, they will commit to go with us for couple of years before they completely take over the mission.

"We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith" (1 Thessalonians 3:2). After sanctification it is difficult to state what your aim in life is, because God has taken you up into His purpose by the Holy Spirit; He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself - God has called me for this and that; you are putting a barrier to God's use of you. As long as you have a personal interest in your own character, or any set ambition, you cannot get through into identification with God's interests. You can only get there by losing for ever any idea of yourself and by letting God take you right out into His purpose for the world, and because your goings are of the Lord, you can never understand your ways.

I have to learn that the aim in life is God's, not mine. God is using me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him, and never say - Lord, this gives me such heart-ache. To talk in that way makes me a block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can catch me up for what He wants without any hindrance. He can crumple me up or exalt me; He can do anything He chooses. He simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and in His goodness. Self pity is of the devil, if I go off on that line I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. I have "a world within the world" in which I live, and God will never be able to get me outside it because I am afraid of being frost-bitten.

Yielding, submitting or surrendering to God is the goal of our Christian living. We learn to give God full freedom to do whatever He wants in and through our lives. Yes. We may have our own agenda. We may want to accomplish some great and enjoyable things in life…only to find out later that they are insignificant and empty. There is nothing as meaningful and satisfactory than to do His will or to become instrument in His hands. It is a distinct privilege to become His channel of blessings. I was humbled to see how the Lord had used me in the Mienh’s retreat. When leaders shared how much they were blessed by the messages, I was astonished to hear that God had used me in such a way for His own glory. I lean to let Him freely do His work in and through me. As a result, I experience the fruit of my salvation in Him. I am sure you can taste the same blessing when you seek to give Him the freedom to do His will.

Love you in His will,
Lawrence

No comments: