Verse: “At that day ye shall ask in My name.“
– John 16:26
Quote: “We are not here to prove God answers prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God’s grace.”
Prayer is about communication with God, not having our wishes granted us. God promises to give the desires of our heart, but He also promises to change our hearts to line up with His if we will pursue Him. Focus on talking to God in prayer, not on the answers. The answers will come, but not always in the way we hoped for.
Verse: “The He took unto Him the twelve.“
– Luke 18:31
Quote: “The comradeship of God is made up out of men who know their poverty. He can do nothing with the man who thinks he is of use to God.”
We must put completely out of our mind the notion that God needs us in any shape or fashion. God chooses by His perfect grace and mercy to work through us and give us an opportunity to give back with what was never ours to begin with. Before you can be of use to God, you must realize your uselessness without Him.
Verse: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem.“
– Luke 18:31
Quote: “We are not taken up into conscious agreement with God’s purpose, we are taken up into God’s purpose without any consciousness at all.”
We do not have to know where God is headed in order to follow Him effectively. His vision is so much clearer than ours, that it is impossible for us to see the end result the way He sees it. All we have to do is submit the way Jesus did in Jerusalem: “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30 NKJV).
Verse: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
– John 16:33
Quote: “An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble. It is deliverance in trouble, which is very different.”
This verse alone is enough to give courage to the weakest Christian will, but Chambers always has a way of expounding which sheds light in a new way. God never gives us more power than we need immediately, lest we store it up and attempt to rely on our silo instead of Him. If there were no trouble for us, God would get no glory from our choices. It is how we respond to God in trouble that reveals our true relationship to Him.
Where do you turn for strength when your world crashes down on you? Who do you call for help when calamity strikes? Do not make the mistake of resenting God when trouble befalls, but give Him praise as you overcome with the power He gives you.
Verse: “Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.“
– James 1:4 (Moffat)
Quote: “There should be nothing slovenly, whether it be in the way we eat and drink, or in the way we worship God.”
Everything we do should be deliberate; nothing should be half-hearted and nothing contrived. We should be in such constant communication with our Heavenly Father that every single action of our daily lives reflects His glory.
We are given countless opportunities throughout the day to live out a “thank you” to God by the decisions we make. Regardless if thousands of people are watching you or not a single one, you show gratitude to God’s blessings by the way you live out your life. Be deliberate.
How much worship does God receive from you outside an hour on Sunday mornings?
Verse: “Jesus did not commit Himself unto them…for He knew what was in man.“
– John 2:24-25
Quote: “Many of the cruel things in life spring from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts; we are true only to our ideas of one another.”
We often demand things from one another that no human being can provide; only Jesus Christ can satisfy the “last aching abyss of the human heart.” Jesus knew precisely what we were capable of, which is why He didn’t trust man. But He also knew what God’s perfect grace was capable of, which is why He never gave up on anyone.
We have to lose the illusions we have that this world exists apart from God, and instead put our trust in His nature and rest in His shadow.
Verse: “And straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side…”
– Mark 6:45
Quote: “His purpose is for this minute, not for something in the future.”
As Christians, we think of obedience as the first step towards God’s will for our lives. What Chambers is reminding us this morning is that obedience is God’s will for our lives. “What we call the process, God calls the end.”
God knows where He wants you 15 years from now, but it is immediate obedience that He is interested in. He gives you visions and dreams, but wants you to work them out now in your day to day life. Stop right now and ask God to speak to you; your only goal in view should be immediate obedience to His leading.
Verse: “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine…”
– John 7:17
Quote: “The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience.”
If ever there is a time when you feel spiritually disconnected, or in the darkness, you can be sure there is something God has spoken which you do not intend to obey. Intellectually, we feel disconnected because of ignorance, but spiritually it is almost certainly a lack of obedience. You may not have gone left when God said to go right, maybe you stayed still when God said “Go.” Obedience is heeding God’s direction immediately. You may hesitate before you obey, like the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28-32, but you will remain in the darkness until you do.
Verse: “Out of the heart proceed…“
– Matthew 15:19
Quote: “We resent what Jesus Christ reveals.”
We do not want to hear what Jesus Christ has to say when He tells us what is really in our hearts. “I could never…” Sure you could; you are capable of every possible evil when you reject Christ’s teachings and allow the enemy a foothold in your life. 1 John 3:15 says that whoever hates his brother is a murderer, James 2:10-11 says that if you break only one law you break every law because the same God decreed the entire law.
What does this mean for us? It means you must never take sin lightly, especially when Christ reveals an evil inside your heart. Don’t ever think a sin is too extreme for you to actually commit. If the Holy Spirit takes the time to confront you, take heed and listen. Our lives as Christians are under constant attack from the enemy, and quite frequently we fall in the most unsuspecting ways. Take time to ask God what areas of your life still have flesh dwelling in them, and expedite it’s removal.
Verse: “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
Quote: “The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being.”
It is a difficult thing for many Christians to grasp that doing good is not enough; you must also be doing good for the right reason. I Chronicles 28:9 says to “serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” It has been said that God doesn’t want service, He wants obedience; that is to say, He wants us to want to do the right thing, not feel like we have to do it. It does God no good for us to just go through the motions hoping to earn a gold star at the end of the day. Our chief goal should be that we are so right in our living, motives, dreams, and recesses of our minds that “God Almighty can see nothing to censure” in us.