"My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers is very good for today!
My kingdom is not of this world. — John 18:36
The great enemy to
the Lord Jesus Christ in the present day is the conception of practical work
that has not come from the New Testament, but from the Systems of the world in
which endless energy and activities are insisted upon, but no private life with
God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God
cometh not with observation;…for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you,” a
hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives in the shop
window. It is the innermost of the innermost that reveals the power of the
life.
We
have to get rid of the plague of the spirit of the religious age in which we
live. In Our Lord’s life there was none of the press and rush of tremendous
activity that we regard so highly, and the disciple is to be as His Master. The
central thing about the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship to
Himself, not public usefulness to men. It is not its practical activities that
are the strength of this Bible Training College, its whole strength lies in the
fact that here you are put into soak before God. You have no idea of where God
is going to engineer your circumstances, no knowledge of what strain is going
to be put on you either at home or abroad, and if you waste your time in
over-active energies instead of getting into soak on the great fundamental
truths of God’s Redemption, you will snap when the strain comes; but if this
time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in God
on the un-practical line, you will remain true to Him whatever happens
So many born again believers put undo pressure on themselves to 'perform'! They take on the expectations of others to live up to what 'they' say a Christian should do! I remember early on in my life as a born again believer when I was at a particular meeting and the minister was doing what reminded me, for all the world, of a 'scalp' count! He was asking for the number of people each one had led to the LORD! The measure of our 'success' as a believer is NOT how many people that we have personally led to the LORD! No one officially led me to the LORD. The person that was most influential to me was my best friend in high school who showed me, as a 10th grader, where the Bible said "You must be born again" (John 3:3). I had no idea what it meant at that time, but when I was ready, that moment in time came back so clear to me! I'm sure that she never counted me as one that she had led to the LORD! Yes, it is important to share the Gospel, which is why we are even here on earth! BUT, Jesus gave us to very important exhortations! He said this in Matthew 27:18:
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
We also see this that Jesus spoke to Martha about doing good work in Luke 10:41-42:
41 But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 There is need of only one. Mary has chosen the good portion that which is to her advantage], which shall not be taken away from her.
What was Mary doing that, in the eyes of Jesus, was the 'good portion'? Verse 39:
39 And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching.
Mary chose to seat herself at the Lord's feet! Our communion and fellowship with HIM is THE most important part of our lives as born again believers! Everything we do should flow from that fellowship with Him, and at HIS leading and direction! Everything else is just empty works, no matter how 'good' they may seem! Remember, obedience is better than sacrifice in the eyes of God (1 Samuel 15:22; Acts 17:11)! Here is Hillsong with "I Surrender":
Shalom in Him!
