Elizabeth Elliot Devotions

[nChrist]

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet
Scripture: Psalm 84:11
The Path of Lonliness


Is It Good for Me?

Yesterday we looked at a piece of property on the sea. There were lovely woods to one side, two tall, scraggly, very picturesque pine trees on the other, huge rocks which turn pink in the sunset below, and in front miles and miles of blue ocean.

It is not always easy to know whether a thing we long for is a temptation from Satan to distract us from obedience and make us discontent, or something God actually wants to give us and therefore wants us to pray for. There is no such thing as something "too good to be true." God is loving and lavishly generous and has promised to give what is good--that is, what He who is omniscient knows to be good for us.

So today I asked Him to give me the prayers He wants me to pray and to give or withhold anything according to his plan for me. Nothing is too big to ask of Him, not even an ocean lot. It is God's business to decide if it is good for me. It is my business to obey Him.

"No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Ps 84:11).

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[nChrist]

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet
Scripture: Acts 1:17
The Path of Lonliness


All a Mistake?

It is easy to conclude, when things turn out badly, that it was all a mistake to begin with.

The facts of the gospel do not bear this out. Think of Jesus' choice of apostles. He spent a whole night in prayer before He made his selection. Judas was one of his choices. Peter affirmed, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, "He was one of our number and had his place in this ministry" (Acts 1:17 NEB). Things could not have turned out worse for him or for Jesus because of him, yet Scripture nowhere suggests that the original choice was a mistake. Judas was still a man, still free to sin.

When we must make decisions, we should bring to bear on them scriptural principles, prayer, and all the intelligence God has dealt out to us. Then we must go on quietly in faith, knowing that the results of our obedience are God's responsibility, not ours.

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[airIam2worship]

Spiritual Transport
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet

Most of us experience from time to time happy feelings that we think are somehow religious. We feel that we are in a special way in touch with the divine. Our hearts are "strangely warmed." But most of life is not like this. We do not live on the Mount of Transfiguration. We are not riding continually in chariots of fire.

When Jesus was preparing his disciples for his departure from them, He said, "Believe in God. Believe also in me."

The obedience of faith requires that we do our work. We must go on day after day, simply and humbly, not waiting for chills and thrills. Grace, not revelation, is our daily bread. Grace is enough. Receiving that, in the portion given according to the lovingkindness of our God, we must act responsibly in the situation in which He puts us, as the disciples had to do when left behind at Christ's ascension. No doubt they felt bewildered and abandoned and would like to have risen with Him through the clouds. When the angels suddenly stood beside them and asked why they were gazing into the sky, they "came down to earth," as it were, went back to Jerusalem to the lodging where they belonged and carried on with their prayers.

Lord, help me today to receive what You want me to have and to do my work as a good and faithful servant.





                                             
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[airIam2worship]

A Mansion Prepared
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet


Jesus told his disciples of the place He was going to prepare for them. The collect for the fourth Sunday in Advent reminds us of the place we ought to prepare for Him: "Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at His coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for Himself."

A mansion in me for Him? What sort of mansion must it be? It must be swept clean  of all evil, a task we cannot do by ourselves, but only by receiving daily the grace of God in ridding our conscience of guilt.

Come--not to find, but make this troubled heart
A dwelling worthy of Thee as Thou art.
--(Bishop Handley Moule)


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[airIam2worship]

A Chance to Die
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet


To be transformed into the image of Christ I must learn his character, love his obedience to the will of the Father, and begin, step by step, to walk the same pathway. For Christ the pathway of obedience began with emptying Himself. I must begin at the same place.

He "made Himself nothing." (Phil 2:7 NEB)

"You must arm yourselves with a temper of mind like His." (l Pt 4:1 NEB)

"If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, he must leave self behind." (Mt 16:24 NEB)

What does this mean? Is it mere words? How can one leave self behind, make himself nothing? The answer will not come in a vacuum. If a man or woman honestly wishes to be a follower, the opportunity will present itself. Christ will say, "Here is your chance. Now, in this situation, you must make your choice. Will it be self? Or will you choose Me?"

An older missionary said something to Amy Carmichael when she was a young missionary that stayed with her for life. She had spoken of something which was not to her liking. His reply was, "See in it a chance to die."

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[airIam2worship]

The Right Clothes
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet

Only certain costumes suit Christians. To be otherwise dressed is inappropriate.

"Put on the garments that suit God's chosen people, his own, his beloved: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience" (Col 3:12 NEB).

"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom 13:14 RSV)

"You have all put on Christ as a garment." (Gal 3:27 NEB)

"You must put on the new nature of God's creating." (Eph 4:24 NEB)

"You have discarded the old nature with its deeds and have put on the new nature." (Col 3:10 NEB)

"Put on love." (Col 3:14 RSV)

The clothes we wear are what people see. Only God can look on the heart. The outward signs are important. They reveal something of what is inside. If charity is there, it will become visible outwardly, but if you have no charitable feelings, you can still obey the command. Put it on as simply and consciously as you put on a coat. You choose it; you pick it up; you put it on. This is what you want to wear.

Do you want to dress like a Christian? Put on Christ. The act of honest obedience--the fruit of love for Christ--is your part. Making you Christlike through and through is his part.

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[airIam2worship]

What Makes God's Work Shine
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet


Brother Masseo asked St. Francis of Assisi why all the world should go running after him who was neither handsome nor learned nor even of noble birth. At this, Francis was overjoyed, and after kneeling to thank God, said, "Why me? Why me? The all-seeing God, looking down and finding nothing viler on earth, quite naturally fixed His gaze on me. For to make His work shine forth in men's eyes, the Lord takes what is learned, strong, and noble, so that the glory may go to the sole Author of all good."

We are only pots--common ones of clay, so that the splendid power may belong to God and not to us (2 Cor 4:7 NEB).

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[airIam2worship]

Clay Pots
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet


The jungle indians of Ecuador make clay pots of very simple design with no ornamentation or glaze. They challenged me to try shaping them as they did, rolling "snakes" of wet clay and then coiling them round and round until they had a perfectly smooth and balanced vessel. It looked rather easy, but I found that it was a highly developed skill, and my attempts to imitate it were laughable. Mine was not a master hand.

The next step was to build a very hot fire of thorns and brushwood and bake the pot. It was then ready for use, to carry water from the river or to cook in. Nobody thought much about the pot itself once it was made. What mattered was what was in it.

We are, Paul said, clay pots. The Potter has formed us, shaped us into a useful vessel, put us through the fire of testing that we might be fit to hold what He gives us. We are useful and fit--but we are still clay pots--it's what's inside that matters. It is a priceless treasure (2 Cor 4:7 NEB).

I can think of no clearer analogy of our place in God's service and a no more accurate picture of the relative merits of who we are and what we have to offer. We shall always be just pots, quite cheap on the market, but what we carry for others is priceless.

Love, Paul said in another passage, does not "cherish inflated ideas of its own importance" (l Cor 13:4 JBP).

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[airIam2worship]

Death is a Gateway to the Palace
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet


To be a Christian is to be a subject--subject to a king--that is, to welcome the rule of God in one's life. Jesus Himself became subject to the Father--"Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God" (Heb 10:7 AV). This meant that He had come to this world, not to gain, but to lose; not to get, but to give; not to be served, but to serve; not to obtain bread but to be bread, the Bread of heaven, broken for the life of the world.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...He humbled Himself" (Phil 2:5-8 AV).

That puts it in very simple terms. If you want to be a Christian, see that your mind is made up as his was: be humble, be subject, be obedient--even to death. It will mean death. Be sure of that. Death to some of your desires and plans at least. Death to yourself. But never forget--Jesus' death was what opened the way for his own exaltation and our everlasting Life. Our death to selfishness is the shining gateway into the glories of the palace of the King. Is it so hard to be his subject? Is the price too high?

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[airIam2worship]

Tit for Tat
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet


He that would have friends must show himself friendly.

If you sow sparingly, you will get a scant harvest.

This is the way things generally work. There is another verse which falls into the same category but which, being sometimes interpreted as a command instead of a description, has led to confusion. "Pass no judgment and you will not be judged" (Mt 7:2 NEB). Jesus was not promising an escape from divine judgment for those who refrain from making judgments on others, nor was he asking us to suspend our critical faculties. He was simply pointing out the responsibility we assume when we judge. To say, for example, "Don't lie," or "Lying is a sin," is to lay oneself open to scrutiny in this matter. Do I lie? Is it sin for me? Be careful. Jesus said, "As you judge others, so you will yourselves be judged, and whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to you" (Mt 7:1, 2 NEB). A willingness to submit to the same moral law by which we judge is the rerequisite for judgment.

In a time when every man does that which is right in his own eyes (or at least "feels good") it is no wonder we prefer to interpret Jesus' words as a command: "Judge not." We thus absolve ourselves of responsibility for making any moral distinctions in the behavior of others or of ourselves. "If I don't call what they do 'sin,' they can't call what I do 'sin.'"

This is comfortable for both of us. If I let him keep his "speck," he'll let me keep my "plank."

Jesus commanded us to remove both--the plank first, then the brother's speck. Submit, in other words, to treatment. Accept the consequences. To be judged is the consequence of judging, and to recognize one's own need is prerequisite.

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[airIam2worship]

Obedience is not Contingent
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet

The making of comparisons is a dangerous business for a Christian. Each of us must give account, not of his neighbor, but of himself to God. To the workers who, under the guise of a concern for fairness, objected to an equal wage being paid to those who began the job at different hours of the day, the owner said, "Why be jealous because I am kind?" (Mt 20:15 NEB).

To the brother of the prodigal son, put out because this wastrel was being wined and dined, the father said, "My boy, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. How could we help celebrating this happy day?" (Lk 15:31,32 NEB).

To Peter, hesitant to follow the Lord until he found out what was going to be required of the other disciple, Jesus said, "If it should be my will that he wait until I come, what is it to you? Follow me" (Jn 21:22 NEB).

The spirit of godly obedience is not in us; our wills have not been unconditionally turned over to the Master, as long as we determine our own action by what others do. To husbands God says (unconditionally), "Love your wives." To wives He says (unconditionally), "Submit to your husbands."* If each lets his obedience be contingent upon the other's, there is a standoff. The command to husbands is the business of husbands. The command to wives is the business of wives. Let each "mind his own"--direct his attention to the thing required of him--and harmony will be the result.

"There must be no limit to your goodness, as your heavenly Father's goodness knows no bounds" (Mt 5:48 NEB).

*Many wives consider their own cases exceptional. Since no exceptions are mentioned in this passage, I conclude that a wife must be very sure she has a scriptural warrant before disobeying, e.g., if her husband desires her to act in a way clearly forbidden by scripture.

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[airIam2worship]

A Safeguard for the Soul
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet


Souls are vulnerable things. They need safeguards. It was when Paul was in prison that this idea came to him. He had just been writing to the Philippians about the benefits that accrued because of his own sufferings and the possible death he might die. He told them of Epaphroditus' illness and anxiety, and finished with "In conclusion, my brothers, delight yourselves in the Lord!...You will find it a great safeguard to your souls" (Phil 3:1 JBP).

It would be very easy to allow depression and anxiety to overcome us when we look at the dismal circumstances in which we sometimes find ourselves. Who had better reason than Paul for depression? ("Oh well, but he was Saint Paul!" we counter.) He had learned by practice how to apply the soul's safeguard, which is not mere enjoyment. It is delight. This is a command and therefore an act of will, and it is done in the Lord. No circumstance is so dismal as to prevent obedience to the command. No trouble can blast that safeguard. Do it. Do it by faith. Delight yourself in the Lord. Maybe you will have to get out of bed, get up from your chair, go outdoors and walk, sing a song out loud, bake a pie for somebody, or mow the lawn as an offering of praise. You can do something which will help you to obey that command. It is amazing how strongly what we do affects how we feel.

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[airIam2worship]

One Man's Godliness
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet

Let us never imagine that to fear the Lord and find joy in his commandments make no real difference in the world. They matter. One man's godliness may well make the difference between another's shipwreck and his reaching the harbor, for a man who actually enjoys obeying God is "a beacon in darkness for honest men" (Ps 112:4 NEB).

Reading the biographies of men and women whose hearts were gladly given to God has lit the way for me. Seeing the obedience of just one simple Christian has more than once steered me clear of danger.

One of the old gospel songs my father taught us was P.P. Bliss':

Brightly beams our Father's mercy from His lighthouse evermore
But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning, send a gleam across the wave--
Some poor struggling, fainting seaman, you may rescue, you may save.

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[airIam2worship]

Responsible to Praise
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet

We cannot always or even often control events, but we can control how we respond to them. When things happen which dismay or appall, we ought to look to God for his meaning, remembering that He is not taken by surprise nor can his purposes be thwarted in the end. What God looks for is those who will worship Him. Our look of inquiring trust glorifies Him.

One of the witnesses to the crucifixion was a military officer to whom the scene was surely not a novelty. He had seen plenty of criminals nailed up. But the response of this Man who hung there was of such an utterly different nature than that of the others that the centurion knew at once that He was innocent. His own response then, rather than one of despair that such a terrible injustice should take place, or of anger at God who might have prevented it, was praise (Lk 23:47 NEB).

This is our first responsibility: to glorify God. In the face of life's worst reversals and tragedies, the response of a faithful Christian is praise--not for the wrong itself certainly, but for who God is and for the ultimate assurance that there is a pattern being worked out for those who love Him.

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[airIam2worship]

Spiritual Equilibrium
By Elisabeth Elliot
Taken From: A Lamp For My Feet

Sometimes a hope or desire lays hold on one with such power that it becomes almost burdensome, even though the thing is a delight to contemplate. The ordinary business of life must be attended to, but this thing carries a lot of weight in soul, mind, and heart. It has a strong pull. And when you are carrying a heavy weight, you have to compensate in order to keep your balance. The best means to spiritual equilibrium, I find, is to look repeatedly at the things which are not seen, that is, at things which are eternal. What Evelyn Underhill calls "the pressure of the Divine Charity" forever urges me forward, counteracting the pressure of my emotions and human desires, reminding me with great patience and great persistence that this thing--this love, this longing, this huge desire--is the very thing God Himself gave, in order that I might have "somewhat to offer." He will see to it that it does not come to nothing, provided we lay it before Him, put it at his disposal.

Lord, all that I long for is known to you,
my sighing is no secret from you...
I put my trust in you, Yahweh,
and leave you to answer for me, Lord my God.
--(Ps 38:9, 15 JB)

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