November 28: The Bounty of the Destitute
Today in My Utmost for His Highest: http://www.myutmost.org/11/1128.html
Dear Jesus, I think it is amazing how you arrange circumstances so that we we repeatedly hear the lessons that You are trying to teach us. The chapter I am reading in J.I. Packer's Finding God is dealing with the exact same topic as today's devotion in My Utmost. As humans we resist thinking that we are really all that bad, or as Chambers calls it, "destitute." We rationalize, compare ourselves with others, and fight to remain in a state of denial about our abject sinfulness so that we can feel like we are in control of our own lives. Even Christians are sometimes largely unaffected by their sin because society's prevalent attitude is, "God will forgive....that's His job!"
Lord, I pray that the children of my heart and I will receive the great spiritual blessing of the knowledge that we are actually destitute and become totally stripped of pride. I pray that we will be hungry spiritually so that we can be filled with Your Holy Spirit and "lifted into the domain where You live."
Some of the children of my heart are going through desperate times right now. Help them to see through spritual eyes and realize that this is a blessing that can draw them closer to You if they will not resist. I know how scary it is to give up control of our lives, for no one resisted You more than I did in my youth. I was so afraid that if I surrendered to You that You wouldn't give me what I wanted. The truth is that in some cases You stripped me of my dreams, but what I could not imagine, was that what You gave in their place was better than anything I would have ever dreamed could be possible. Please give all the children of my heart the courage to let go of everything that they hold dear, even their very lives, and trust that You will only give them what is ultimately for their good.
Dear Jesus, I think it is amazing how you arrange circumstances so that we we repeatedly hear the lessons that You are trying to teach us. The chapter I am reading in J.I. Packer's Finding God is dealing with the exact same topic as today's devotion in My Utmost. As humans we resist thinking that we are really all that bad, or as Chambers calls it, "destitute." We rationalize, compare ourselves with others, and fight to remain in a state of denial about our abject sinfulness so that we can feel like we are in control of our own lives. Even Christians are sometimes largely unaffected by their sin because society's prevalent attitude is, "God will forgive....that's His job!"
Lord, I pray that the children of my heart and I will receive the great spiritual blessing of the knowledge that we are actually destitute and become totally stripped of pride. I pray that we will be hungry spiritually so that we can be filled with Your Holy Spirit and "lifted into the domain where You live."
Some of the children of my heart are going through desperate times right now. Help them to see through spritual eyes and realize that this is a blessing that can draw them closer to You if they will not resist. I know how scary it is to give up control of our lives, for no one resisted You more than I did in my youth. I was so afraid that if I surrendered to You that You wouldn't give me what I wanted. The truth is that in some cases You stripped me of my dreams, but what I could not imagine, was that what You gave in their place was better than anything I would have ever dreamed could be possible. Please give all the children of my heart the courage to let go of everything that they hold dear, even their very lives, and trust that You will only give them what is ultimately for their good.
posted by Jane at 1:32 AM
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