Jesus Always, Sarah Young
Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin
By Oswald Chambers
This is your hour, and the power of darkness. —Luke 22:53
... View MoreReconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin
By Oswald Chambers
This is your hour, and the power of darkness. —Luke 22:53
Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life.
You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it.
Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.”
The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship— it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.
Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious, because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous.
Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.
Jesus Calling, Sarah Young
Billy Graham
Unto The Hills, A Daily Devotional
JUNE 24
GIVE ME!... View MoreBilly Graham
Unto The Hills, A Daily Devotional
JUNE 24
GIVE ME!
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” JOHN 4:15 RSV
This woman who startled a city, who set the people marching out to meet Christ, was a transformed and changed woman. The power of Christ had changed her, and in that very transformation two things were involved:
First, she had repented of her sin. The only thing that may be keeping revival from your life, from your church, from your home, from your community, may be unrepented sin. God can only use cleansed vessels.
The second thing in the preparation of the instrument was prayer. She said, “Give me,” and what an intensity of desire must have gone into that prayer! Thus, she repented of her sin, she believed that Christ was the Messiah, and she began to pray. This simple woman was used to transform an entire city.
After the experience of this day, the Scripture says that Jesus went with them. Revival is not more and not less than the presence of Christ in the heart, the home, the community, and the nation. It is the practical application of this fact that we so desperately need to work out in our lifetime.
The cry of the old Testament prophet was “that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1). Nothing less than this will do. The Psalmist cried, “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6).
Our greatest need at this moment of confusion and revolution is a moral and spiritual awakening. However, this moral and spiritual awakening is not coming until the people of God repent of their sins, and believe with all their hearts, and begin to pray.
That revival must begin with individuals. In the words of an old hymn, “Lord, send a revival, and let it begin with me.”
Our Father and our God, please use me, as You used the woman at the well, to bring revival to myself first, then to my family, friends, and community. Make me an instrument of prodding and prompting toward moral and spiritual awakening in the name of Jesus, who came to bring revival to all people. In His blessed name I pray. Amen.
Jesus Always, Sarah Young
“Acquainted With Grief”
By Oswald Chambers
He is…a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. —Isaiah 53:3
... View More“Acquainted With Grief”
By Oswald Chambers
He is…a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. —Isaiah 53:3
We are not “acquainted with grief” in the same way our Lord was acquainted with it. We endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of our lives we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin. We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin— and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.
We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue— if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.
Jesus Calling, Sarah Young
Billy Graham
Unto The Hills, A Daily Devotional
JUNE 23
LOOKING FOR JOY IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES... View MoreBilly Graham
Unto The Hills, A Daily Devotional
JUNE 23
LOOKING FOR JOY IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES
For God is love. 1 JOHN 4:8
Some years ago there was a popular song which included the lyrics, “I’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places.” What a profound statement that is.
A Christian song puts the despair of looking for love in the wrong place in perspective: “You have searched in vain for something; now you don’t want that something you’ve found.”
How often have you found what you were looking for, only to realize it did not bring the satisfaction you thought it would? It is the ultimate frustration. That frustrating search, which never ends if we are looking for fulfillment in the things of this world, was never expressed better than on a bumper sticker I saw. It said, “All I want is a little more than I have now.”
We look for love, acceptance, and joy in our careers, in money, in power, in all sorts of material things, but if they really brought lasting joy, would we not have testimonies from millions of people around the world to that effect? Wouldn’t someone have written a book by now, the title of which might be, I Found Joy, Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness in My New Mercedes-Benz?
The rest of that Christian song I mentioned goes, “put Jesus first in your life, and turn your life around.” Order is very important in most everything we do. By putting Jesus Christ and His will for your life first, everything else will fall into place. When Christ is out of order, or way down on your priority list, your whole life is upside down.
Try putting Christ first and watch how your life is turned around. You will discover where the love, peace, joy, and acceptance you’ve been searching for is to be found.
Our Father and our God, I know that true joy comes from being one with You and Your Son, Jesus. I pray for increased trust and faith in You, Lord, and less confidence in the things of this earth that will pass away. Help me look for joy in the right place—in Christ Jesus, my Savior, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Jesus Always, Sarah Young
Jesus Calling, Sarah Young
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