I really love today's "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers!
The Discipline Of Dismay
And as they followed, they were afraid. — Mark 10:32
At the beginning we were sure we knew all about Jesus Christ, it was a
delight to sell all and to fling ourselves out in a hardihood of love; but now
we are not quite so sure. Jesus is on in front and He looks strange. “Jesus
went before them and they were amazed.”
There is an aspect of Jesus that chills the heart of a disciple to the
core and makes the whole spiritual life gasp for breath. This strange Being
with His face set like a flint and His striding determination strikes terror
into me. He is no longer Counsellor and Comrade, He is taken up with a point of
view I know nothing about, and I am amazed at Him. At first I was confident
that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize there is a
distance between Jesus Christ and me; I can no longer be familiar with Him. He
is ahead of me and He never turns round; I have no idea where He is going, and
the goal has become strangely far off.
Jesus Christ had to fathom every sin and every sorrow man could
experience, and that is what makes Him seem strange. When we see Him in this
aspect we do not know Him, we do not recognize one feature of His life, and we
do not know how to begin to follow Him. He is on in front, a Leader Who is very
strange, and we have no comradeship with Him.
The discipline of dismay is essential in the life of discipleship. The
danger is to get back to a little fire of our own and kindle enthusiasm at it
(cf. Isaiah 50:10-11). When the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is
over, because out of it will come that following of Jesus which is an
unspeakable joy.
I have heard it put this way: The closer we get to God, the farther away it seems that we are. As we spend time with Him in praise, prayer, and meditation and obedience to His Word, we become more like Him in those areas. The funny, and sometimes sad, thing about that is this: The closer we get to the LIGHT, the bigger the areas of 'darkness' that we have chosen to hold on to will seem! There will never be a time, here, in this life, when we will become perfect! We simply grow from Grace to Grace, and from Glory to Glory, until the day that we meet JESUS face to face! THEN we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is! 1 John 3:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18:And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
Beloved, we are [even here and] now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [as God’s children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is.
AMEN! So, never be content with where you are in your walk with God. PURSUE Him, and fellowship with Him, so that you can continue to grow in fresh and new illumination of His Word every single day! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with an older song called "Everyday":
Shalom in Him!
