My husband and I were just talking the other day about how easy it can become to slip into a routine of living "worldly" lives rather than a life of "holiness". The "straight and narrow" life is the harder life, if we are really honest because there is a check and balance system going on. Keeping in check with the Holy Spirit can feel like work at times, but the pay off is ALWAYS worth it. Living according to the standards God sets for us in the Bible is ALWAYS in our best interests. It is ALWAYS out of love for us that God sets those standards for us, and never out of an evil heart. We can trust Him with our lives. Oswald Chambers reminds us in his book that ALL efforts of worth and excellence are difficult, but that should stir us on to overcome them.
Taken from "My Utmost For His Highest", by Oswald Chambers.
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"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." ~Helen Keller
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We are reminded in Romans 8:36-37 that we are more than conquerers through Christ:
As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
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Read on for more of Oswald Chambers take on this particular difficulty, and the drive to overcome it. . .Taken from "My Utmost For His Highest", by Oswald Chambers.
Enter by the narrow gate . . . . Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life . . . —Matthew 7:13-14
If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to
remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The
Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make
us faint and cave in—it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the
miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His
highest—our best for His glory?
God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.
Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10 , and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.
God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.
Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10 , and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.
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May the choices you make today promote you in the future, and not expose you.
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