I thought the reading from Oswald Chambers called “Discernment of Faith” was beautiful this morning. It is what I am experiencing so I thought I would share it with others who may be going through the same type of thing.

“We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith. It may be so in the initial stages, but we do not earn anything by faith; faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity. God has frequently to knock the bottom board out of your experience if you are a saint in order to get you into contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of His blessings. Your earlier life of faith was narrow and intense, settled around a little sun-spot of experience that had as much of sense as of faith in it, full of light and sweetness; then God withdrew His conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith. You are worth far more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony.”

“Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working out has to go through spells of unsyllabled isolation. Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him- I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do. ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’ - this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.”

The thing I was thinking on yesterday was the notion that I have the same opportunity that Abraham had when God promised Him a son while Abraham was 13+ years in the waiting. It doesn’t matter what the thing is that God has promised… The reason God makes the promise in the first place is because He doesn’t intend to give it to you right away. He is perfecting your faith. He is forcing you through darkness to readjust your eyes to His light. You must go through darkness for a period to see Him more clearly. What a privilege we have to go through difficulties and bouts and temptations with negative circumstances. God is doing a work!!!!

“Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be entire, wanting [lacking] nothing.” – James

The Word I have been getting is to make sure we are staying thankful to the LORD and careful to always give Him all praise and honor, to ascribe glory and majesty to Him. My reading today was from Deuteronomy 27-28 instructing Israel how TO STAY in the land once they are there. They are told to set stones of memorial up to remember all that the LORD has done and obey Him. It made me think of Jim Cymbala’s ministry at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and how God hasn’t only taken him into the Promised Land, so to speak, but has maintained him there for many years. And I think of how he so faithfully ascribes glory to the King and honors Him.

Also as a part of my regular daily reading: Psalms 50:14 “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High.” Also part of my regular daily reading, now from the New Testament, was Luke 17 which tells the story about the ten lepers that were healed by Jesus and how ONLY ONE came back to give thanks to God.

Oh God…  We thank You.  May we never express anything but honor and praise and glory and thanksgiving to You. Be glorified in us and through us.

What’s the blessing of obedience??? Many times the reason we do not obey is because we feel like, “What’s the point?” I don’t gain if I obey and I don’t see where I lose if I don’t obey so, “Who cares?” You know, the very nature of that response is jacked up because it puts the primary beneficiary as YOU. YOU are obviously the one that YOU are looking out for. YOU are the one that benefits or not and therefore YOU make decisions based upon what YOU perceive as the best thing for YOU. But, even putting that aside, let me share a few verses from my reading this morning from Deuteronomy…

STRENGTH IN OBEDIENCE!

Deu 11:8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

FRUIT IN OBEDIENCE!

Deu 11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, Deu 11:14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

BLESSEDNESS IN OBEDIENCE!

Deu 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.
It’s worth it.

“By intelligent and confident faith we are to abide above in our life-source.”

“Abide above to grow below.”

These quotations speak to what true abiding is and to what true abiding does. Abiding means LIVING WHERE GOD IS.  THINKING FROM THERE… PERCEIVING FROM THERE… SPEAKING FROM THERE… WATCHING FROM THERE… PRAYING FROM THERE…

Spend some time PRACTICING THIS REALITY! This is all about LIVING FROM YOUR LIFE-SOURCE as opposed to living FOR your life-source. When Christ is your life then you are truly living FROM Him.