Quote from Forum Archives on January 29, 2003, 12:09 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Oswald Chambers always touches something in me when he writes and
interprets scripture. The title itself is revealing. What if I
ask that as a question to myself: "How could I be so ignorant?"
Well, it happens.

So many times in my past I thought I knew what I was doing. In
my own mind, I had acquired wisdom about some topic. As I grow
older and the more I actually learn through life experiences, the
more I realize how ignorant I've really been. Even today, as I'm
learning, the scary thing is how many things I remain ignorant
about.

I have come to realize just how precious God really is. I
believe that God is revealing Himself to me - in about as much
dosage as I can handle. How humbling! God can't show me all of
His ways or even a fraction of them, not because of His
limitation, but because of mine!

I say that I delight to do God's will, and I mean it with all my
heart. Then all of a sudden, I hear a voice within me. Could it
really be saying, "Oh, really?"

What is God saying today in the circumstances of your life?

Dear Lord,

This message carries with it both hope and conviction. I realize
how ignorant I am concerning the things You intend. Oh, I know
some things about Your Word, and I serve You as I can, yet I
sense that You want something much deeper than that. Help me,
Lord, for I need You. Help my friends, too. Reveal the
ignorance that is within us, but don't leave us there. Help us,
so that we may be completely Yours, not just Yours in name or
when it seems convenient. I confess, I need You at all times.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

January 29

How Could Someone Be So Ignorant!

Who are You, Lord? --Acts 26:15

"The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand..." (Isaiah 8:11).
There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using
His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the
voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake
the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God
speaks in the language you know best--not through your ears, but
through your circumstances.

God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own
convictions. We say, "I know that this is what I should do"-and
suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by
revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of
Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a
spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We
push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all
right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. "He... rebuked them,
and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of'"
(Luke 9:55 ). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is
described in 1 Corinthians 13.

Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve
Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt
Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My
way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the
spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is
unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our
Lord--"I delight to do Your will, O my God..." ( Psalm 40:8).

www.gospelcom.net/rbc/utmost/today/
My Utmost for His Highest Daily Devotional is provided by RBC
Ministries (c) 2001 RBC Ministries--Grand Rapids, MI 49555-0001

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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