Shalom,

I found today's "My Utmost For His Highest" devotional by Oswald Chambers to be very thought provoking!

But It Is Hardly Credible That One Could So Persecute Jesus!

Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? — Acts 26:14

Am I set on my own way for God? We are never free from this snare until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Obstinacy and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set upon our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Jesus. Whenever we stand on our dignity we systematically vex and grieve His Spirit; and when the knowledge comes home that it is Jesus Whom we have been persecuting all the time, it is the most crushing revelation there could be.

Is the word of God tremendously keen to me as I hand it on to you, or does my life give the lie to the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of one thing only — a perfect oneness with the Father, and He says, “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” All I do ought to be founded on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that I can be easily put upon, easily over-reached, easily ignored; but if I submit to it for His sake, I prevent Jesus Christ being persecuted.

We each must ask ourselves what our own personal WHY is for everything that we do or say! Am I doing what I do in obedience to the Word of God as led by the Spirit of God? THAT should be the only criteria that we use for what we say and do! Remember, we will ONLY be rewarded in eternity for what we did in obedience to HIS Word and Will with the right attitude and motive! I am choosing to take an extra account of myself this year to make sure that I know MY WHY and that it is in line with HIS WHY! I invite YOU to do the same! THIS is true obedience and true LOVE for JESUS! Here are Hillsong Kids with "As The World Shakes":

Shalom in Him!