Fantastic Personal Bible Time

January 28, 2009 Oswald Chambers

How Could Someone So Persecute Jesus!

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? —Acts 26:14

Are you determined to have your own way in living for God?

We will never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of "the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11).

Stubbornness 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 on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self-respect, we systematically disturb and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is Jesus we have been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing revelation ever.

Is the Word of God tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand it on to you, or does my life betray the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of only one thing— a perfect oneness with the Father. And He tells us, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29 ).

All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly.

This will means that others may use me, go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to it for His sake, I will prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted.
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I am not talking much anymore about all of my ups and downs with God and my consistent struggle with self reliance vs. reliance upon God as I am sure you are sick of hearing about it but I wanted to share this:

As I begin slowly to break free from the grips (again) of self reliance, I find that saturation with...nay, complete IMMERSION in God is the only thing that keeps one consistently and victoriously walking!
As I realized that pride keeps one's gaze not only upon one's self in constant sizing up, but also upon what others think...When I am concerned with what others think I constantly strive to be better, to be Godly-not in the Pharisaical outward appearance but for REAL. Trying to be sure you are doing God's Work FOR REAL but without God- is pointless. Futile. Kinda funny. Not-too-bright, as it were.

The problem with it is that when you fail, you feel defeated instead of drawn back toward your Dad for a good lesson and a hug.

The problem with that is that though you are trying to be sanctified, you cannot be- for the fact of your trying by 'self". Because sanctification requires failure and forgiveness, and without God, there is none of that. So your failure becomes a matter of pride as well, instead of learning.

You must cast your eyes...your steady gaze upon His face and never take your eyes off of Him, even for a second, lest you get caught in the net of others' scrutiny or worse, SELF scrutiny...where, try as you might, even if you are successful-in one way or the other, seeing it from anyone's perspective but God's, will still end you in failure!

ONLY His approval counts and so when you fail, you fail in forgiveness instead of in the gaze of the raised eyebrow.

We defeat our very purpose for living when we live, breath, or act out of any purpose but to please the Father.

In a life now bent on wanting to please, affect, make a difference in others, in a life now ministering in a medium that can change a lot of people's minds if not lives, and trying to "do good a work" there, I am reminded that I am not the one affecting, I am just the tool being held by the creator who flung the stars into place. A tool that is using a tool to do HIS work, not mine.

I will continue to recalibrate my gaze upon HIS so that my favor will be with HIM no matter what the cost in other's approval or opinion or even changed lives. And my own sanctification will continue, which is where God is most concerned. I mean, I cannot be effective at all unless my own sanctification continues.

Return to your first love daily!