EVERY DAY LIGHT

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April 14

The Special Thing

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 29:1-18

"Where there is no vision, the people perish '" (v.18, AV)

    What is the point we are making? It is this: as we are faithful in following the Lord, we can expect Him to reveal His special plan for our lives. Just as Nehemiah caught the vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, so we, too, if we are ready and alert, will catch the vision of what God has specially equipped us to do. Many years ago, I asked God to give me a vision of the special thing He wanted me to achieve for Him. He gave me the vision of launching a daily Bible reading program which is now read by half a million people daily. He also, so I believe, inspired the choice of the title, Every Day with Jesus. I sometimes tremble at the awesome responsibility I now have of developing a spiritual theme month by month which will minister to the needs in people's lives. What if I had not asked God to give me a vision of what He wanted me to do? I might have continued in a ministry that would have been good, but not the best. I believe there are many of you now reading these lines who are living faithful lives for God, but you have never asked Him to show you the special thing He wants you to achieve for Him. And don't think of that special calling in terms of something that will bring you prestige and glamor - to do that will take you right off the track. If you have never done so before, ask the Lord right now to give you a vision of what He wants you to achieve for Him. Who knows - this could be, not just a new day, but a new beginning.

Prayer:

    O Father, I don't just want to achieve the good - I want to achieve the best. If I have not yet caught the vision of that special thing You want to achieve through my life, then reveal it to me today. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

For further study:

    Acts 26:1-19
    1. What was Jesus' message to Paul?
    2. What was Paul able to testify to Agrippa?

[nChrist]

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April 15

Everyone is Special

For reading & meditation: "Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come
and will not delay."

    Arising out of what we said yesterday - that God has a special calling for each of us - the thought occurs to me that some might view that statement as applying only to those who have the opportunity of working in "full-time Christian service". I don't much like the phrase, "full-time Christian service" - hence the quotation marks. Every Christian is in full-time Christian service - every hour of the day and every day of the week. Let me make it perfectly clear that in saying God has a special purpose for every one of us, I mean just that - every one of us. The trouble is, when we talk about Nehemiah catching the vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, or Moses catching the vision of leading his people out of bondage, we tend to think that such visions apply only to those who are specially chosen and gifted. As you read these lines today ask yourself: "Have I taken the time to ask God what He especially wants me to do?" A man may catch the vision today of a special ministry to other men. A woman may catch the vision of teaching other women how to be discreet, to manage their homes and to love their husbands and children (Titus 2:4-5). A married couple may catch the vision of ministering to singles. And those who are single may catch the vision of embarking on some project for God to which they can give their time and energies in a way that married people cannot. Open your heart and mind to what God is saying to you today. God sees everyone as special, and has a special task for everyone.

Prayer:

    Gracious Father, You continue to stretch my faith and my expectancy. I am so grateful. If I have not yet caught the vision of what You want me to do, then help me to do so today. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

For further study:

    1. What does Paul teach about the body of Christ?
    2. Have you discovered where you fit in?

[nChrist]

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April 16

God's Wonderful Ways

For reading & meditation: Romans 11:25-36

"How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (v.33)

    Now that we have spent a few days discussing the importance of catching a vision of the special contribution God wants us to make through our lives, we ask ourselves: What happens next? Usually, the next step after catching a vision is to see it die. There is a special reason for this: our vision often contains a combination of godly concerns and human perspectives, so God has to engineer a way whereby the godly concerns remain and the human perspectives are changed to divine perspectives. His way of doing this is to cause the vision to die. This is a Biblical principle that can be traced from Genesis to Revelation. The vision Abraham received of being the father of a great nation "died" when he found his wife was barren. The vision Moses received "died" when he was rejected by his people and was forced to flee into the desert for forty years. Why, we ask, does God bring a vision to birth and then allow it to die? For this reason: the waiting time in which we find ourselves during the death of a vision is God's classroom for the development of godly character in us. It is in the waiting time, as the vision "dies", that such qualities as patience, persistence, perseverance and self-control are built into us. Has God given you in the past a vision of something that you knew was definitely from Him - but now the vision has died? Then don't be discouraged. This is the way God works. He is using the waiting time to change your ideas to His ideas and your perspectives to His perspectives.

Prayer:

    O my Father, I stand in awe at the wonder of Your ways. Forgive me that so often I have viewed the time of waiting as tedious rather than transformative. Now my perspectives are different. Lead on, dear Father - I want to learn more. Amen.

For further study:

    John 21:25; Isaiah 55:2
    1. What had Peter decided to do?
    2. Why did Jesus challenge him?

[nChrist]

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April 17

The Hour of Temptation

For reading & meditation: Mark 8:27-38

"' he rebuked Peter, and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.' " (v.33, RSV)

    We are seeing that once we have been given a vision of what God wants us to do for Him, the next thing that happens is that the vision dies. The reason for this is that Christian character must be developed in us before God can accomplish His purpose in our lives, and this can only be done by God bringing our vision down into death. Many Christians have been baffled by this strange strategy which God uses to develop Christlikeness in us, but it is yet another illustration of the principle that death must precede life. An important thing to remember is that Satan is extremely operative at this time, for his purpose is to get you to fulfil the vision by your own human effort. And whenever you do this, you will finish up in conflict. Remember what happened to Abraham? Rather than waiting for God to bring the vision into being at His own time, he tried to "help" God by having a son through Sarah's maidservant, Hagar (Gen. 16:3-4). The result of that was conflict between Isaac and Ishmael - a conflict that has continued to this day. In our reading today, we see Peter being used by Satan to talk Christ out of facing death on Calvary, but Jesus recognized the true source of his ideas and responded with the words: "Get behind me, Satan!" One writer comments on this passage: "Satan often uses those who are closest to us to 'protect' us from what we know God has called us to do." Even close Christian friends sometimes fail to understand that before we can live for God's purposes, we must die to our own.

Prayer:

    O Father. I sense that Your ways are written, not only in Your Word, but also in me. Something within me echoes to truth. Help me to be always willing to die to my own purposes so that I can be alive to Yours. Then I will live abundantly. Amen.

For further study:

    Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 2:11
    1. How can we withstand Satan's schemes?
    2. Do it today.

[nChrist]

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April 18

The Power Behind these Pages

For reading & meditation: Isaiah 48:1-11

"I will not yield my glory to another." (v.11)

    Today we ask ourselves: What happens after God causes our vision to "die", and His purpose of building into us the characteristics of Christ has been achieved? This: He then resurrects the vision and brings it to joyous fulfilment. His purpose in doing this is not just to fulfil the vision, but to do so in a way that points to His supernatural intervention. In that way no onlooker can be in any doubt as to whose power lies behind the success of the ministry - everyone recognizes it to be God. While the disciples were with Christ, they received a vision of the coming kingdom, but on the cross they saw that vision die before their eyes. What happened then? Three days later, they witnessed the supernatural power of God bring Christ back from the dead - an event that turned them upside down. I referred a few days ago to the vision which God gave me - the vision of putting together a daily Bible reading and meditation program which would motivate Christians. That took place in 1965. In 1968, three years after the vision was launched, it "died". I do not mean that it discontinued, but for a whole year it was on the verge of collapse. My own enthusiasm for it slowly ebbed away until I came to the place where I said: "Lord, it's not mine - it's Yours." Then came resurrection. From that time to this, God has been seen to have the greatest part in its compilation. The constant stream of letters telling of changed lives, changed families and changed attitudes point to the fact that Jesus Christ is the power behind these pages - not me.

Prayer:

    O God, now that I understand this principle of the birth, death and resurrection of a vision, help me to apply it to those periods in my life when it seems as if nothing is happening and Your purposes are temporarily shelved. Amen.

For further study:

    Isaiah 48:1-11; Micah 6:8
    1. What was Lucifer's downfall?
    2. What was Paul's conclusion?

[nChrist]

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April 19

Men cry out against the heavens

For reading & meditation: Job 5:1-16

"Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward." (v.7)

    We now focus on yet another aspect of our theme - The Corn of Wheat Afraid to Die. Slowly we are coming to grips with one of the greatest truths of Scripture, namely that life comes through the giving of life, and fruitfulness through falling into the ground and dying. When we remain by ourselves, using only human resources, our lives will turn out to be shallow and fruitless. Refusing to pay the ultimate price of giving ourselves, we find ourselves paying the price of the deadness of life itself. Another area of life from which we often cry out to be exempted, but one which, if we are willing to give ourselves, yields great spiritual fruitfulness, is the area of unmerited suffering. Our text for today reminds us that "man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward", and there are few of us who have not had cause to lament the truth of those words. A more modern observer of the human condition puts it thus: My son, the world is dark with griefs and graves So dark that men cry out against the heavens. I suppose there is nothing that makes people "cry out against the heavens" so much as the anguish that comes through unmerited suffering. Horace Walpole said: "To those who think, life is comedy; to those who feel, life is tragedy." There are few of us who do not "feel" - so is life a tragedy to most? God did not deliver His Son from suffering - He did something better. And it is along this line of the "something better" that we will find the answer to unmerited suffering.

Prayer:

    O God my Father, I must find the key to this issue of unmerited suffering. For the doors of life and fruitful service will be closed to me unless I know how to open them and walk through to victory. Help me to find that key. In Jesus' Name. Amen

For further study:

    Job 5:1-16; Jeremiah 8:15
    1. What did the psalmist do in trouble?
    2. What was his testimony?

[nChrist]

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April 20

The World's Answers to Suffering

For reading & meditation: Ecclesiastes 1:1-18

"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." (v.18 )

    Today we look at the various answers - so called - which the world has offered in relation to the problem of suffering. Omar Khayyam, the poet, looked upon the world of suffering and said:

        To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire
        Shatter it to bits - and then remould it to my heart's desire.

    His answer was to remake the world with the possibility of suffering left out. Another answer is to accept the fact of suffering and meet it with resigned anticipation. You say to yourself: "I knew it would come, I was not caught unawares, for everything I hold can be taken away." This is the attitude of disillusioned cynicism.

    Then another response is to give way to self-pity. Those who follow this method of dealing with suffering get pleasure out of feeling sorry for themselves. And many exaggerate their troubles in order to increase the possibility of gaining others' sympathy. Yet another way is the way of stoicism. This is the attitude of accepting the fact of suffering and steeling oneself against it. I read about an Indian tribe in South America who teach their children: "You are born into a world of trouble. Shut your mouth, be quiet and bear it." You can see how this type of thinking produces the stoical Indian. The Eastern religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, have complex answers to suffering, but they, along with the others, lack one important thing - there are no wounds that answer our wounds, no death that will answer our death. Christ and Christ alone gives us the final answer to suffering.

Prayer:

    O God, as I move from day to day in search of an answer to the problem of unmerited suffering, I see clearly that the world has found no satisfying solution to this problem. My trust and confidence is in You. Lead on, dear Father. Amen

For further study:

    1 Peter 4:1-13; Job 11:16; Psalms 30:5
    1. How are we to face suffering?
    2. What is the assurance we have?

[nChrist]

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April 21

The Christian answer to suffering

For reading & meditation: Matthew 26:36-46

"Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go!" (vv.45-46)

    Yesterday we looked at some of the world's ineffectual answers to the problem of unmerited suffering. In them there are no wounds to answer our wounds, no death to answer our death. Their so-called answers remind me of a cartoon I once saw which depicted two toddlers in a children's boxing ring. Stripped for action, with nothing on but shorts and boxing gloves, they were ready for the fray. The attention of one of the youngsters was caught by two butterflies flitting just above his head and he stood gazing up at them, exposing himself to the blow which his opponent was about to land on his nose. Gazing at butterflies while in the midst of a conflict is a dangerous occupation. Any system of thought that takes your attention off the grim facts of life by calling attention to butterflies is doomed inevitably to produce pessimism as the blows begin to fall. What, then, is the Christian answer to this problem? First, we must realistically face the fact that life involves suffering. There is no escaping that fact; to deny it is a denial of reality. I have found from experience that the first thing many Christians do when caught up in a form of suffering is to deny its reality and say something like this: "I don't have any problems, for Jesus is the Great Insulator between me and everything that happens." It is not lack of faith to acknowledge a problem. You don't have to dwell upon it, but before you can deal with it, you must acknowledge it. Remember, you must first be willing to face reality before you can expect to overcome it.

Prayer:

    O God, give me courage to face up to issues and not dodge them. Help me to be open and honest. Father, I look to You now to help me put this into daily practice. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

For further study:

    Matthew 26:36-46; Psalms 34:19-20; 2 Timothy 2:12
    1. What is the purpose of our affliction?
    2. What has God promised?

[nChrist]

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April 22

Is suffering the result of sin?

For reading & meditation: Luke 13:1-9

"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?" (v.2)

    Yesterday we ended by making the point that it is only when we realistically acknowledge a problem that we can take the steps to deal with it. The teaching that says you should not admit to having a problem as the negative thought that comes from such an admission will interfere with your ability to deal with it is psychologically and spiritually unsound. The passage we read yesterday showed how Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, dealt with the problem of His impending death on the cross: He first faced it in His feelings, and then went out to face the fact. "Rise, let us go!" The second thing we must do to deal with suffering is to recognize that not all suffering is due to personal sin. Some suffering is, of course, but not all. The person who violates God's moral laws must not be surprised when these laws kick back. The fact that not all suffering is due to personal sin can be seen from the account in John 9, where Jesus pointed out that personal or parental sin is not always at the back of physical calamities such as congenital blindness. The point is made even more clearly in the passage before us today, where Jesus points out that calamities can stem from man's inhumanity to man (Pilate's butchering of Galilean Jews) or natural accidents or disasters (the collapse of the tower in Siloam), and therefore the people who suffer from them are not especially sinful. This takes away the self-righteous attitude of those who, being free from calamities themselves, view the problems of others as being the direct punishment of God upon their sin.

Prayer:

    Father, I'm relieved to know that suffering is not always the result of personal sin. I'm willing to take my share of the blame for the problems I face, but help me not to become plagued with false guilt. Keep me balanced. Amen.

For further study:

    Job 1:1-5
    1. What does Scripture say about Job?
    2. What did his friends say?

[nChrist]

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April 23

Turning tests into testimonies

For reading & meditation: Luke 21:1-13

"It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony." (v. 13, NASB)

    We look now at the third step in the process of dealing with unmerited suffering: don't spend too much time trying to understand the reason for suffering - focus rather on how you can deal with it. Notice, Jesus spent very little time trying to explain human suffering, much less explain it away. Had He undertaken to explain it, then His gospel would have become a philosophy - in which case it would not have been a gospel. A philosophy undertakes to explain everything, and then leaves everything as it was. Jesus undertook to explain little, but He changed everything He touched. He did not come to bring a philosophy, but a fact. What was that fact? The fact was His own method of meeting suffering and transforming it into something higher. Out of this fact, we put together our philosophy - a system of principles and procedures by which we live out our life in this world. Notice that fact comes first, and then the philosophy about the fact. The good news is not merely "good news"; it is the fact of sin and suffering being met and overcome, and a way of life blazed out through them. The fourth step is this: remind yourself that in God's universe, He allows only what He can use. In the passage before us today, Jesus gives the nine sources from which suffering comes upon us: confused religionists (false Christs), wars and conflicts in society, calamities in nature, and so on. Then He says this: "It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony." In other words, you are not to escape trouble, nor merely bear it as the will of God - you are to use it.

Prayer:

    Blessed Lord Jesus, You who used Your suffering to beautify everything You did, teach me the art of turning every test into a testimony and every tragedy into a triumph. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.

For further study:

    John 17:1-26; Romans 5:3-4
    1. What did Jesus promise?
    2. What did Jesus pray?

[nChrist]

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April 24

Gold and Silver...

For reading & meditation: Mark 1:14-28

"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God." (v.14)

    Yesterday we looked at the final answer to dealing with unmerited suffering: reminding ourselves that in God's universe, He only allows what He can use. Look again at the words of our text for today: "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God." After the finest and truest of prophets had been put in prison and his preaching silenced by a wicked and unjust king, Jesus came preaching the good news about God. How could there be good news about the God who had allowed such a thing to happen? But that is exactly what Jesus did proclaim - and proclaimed unashamedly. And why? Because Jesus knew that everything God allowed, He would use. By His action, He rejected the idea that a man like John should be exempt from suffering, and that God isn't good when He permits such things to happen. Can you see now why God allows us to go through suffering? He does it so that, in the fires of affliction, we learn the secret of an alchemy which transmutes the base metal of injustice, and consequent suffering into the gold of character and the silver of God's purposes. In one place in the New Testament, Jesus refers to being "perfected" by His death on the cross (Luke 13:32, AV). Just think of it: the worst thing that can happen to a man - crucifixion - turns out to be the best that can happen to Him - perfection. This is the attitude we must cultivate if we are not only to face, but use suffering.

Prayer:

    O my Father, how can I ever sufficiently thank You for showing me this way of life? Nothing stops it - permanently. When men and circumstances concentrate on doing their worst - You bring out of it Your best. I see, I follow, and I am unafraid. Amen.

For further study:

    Mark 1:14-28
    1. What was David's declaration?
    2. What is your declaration today?

[nChrist]

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April 25

The triumphant attitude

For reading & meditation: John 14:1-14

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (v.1)

    By now it should be fairly obvious to even the newest disciple of Christ that if, like a "corn of wheat afraid to die", we shrink back from being ploughed into the red furrows of suffering, we shall remain alone alone, and unfruitful. Someone has said, "God never uses anyone unless He puts them through the test of suffering and pain." Strong words. Do you find yourself flinching as you read them? I do. Yet it is not wrong to flinch at the approach of a spiritual test. God knows how you feel. The issue, however, is not about flinching; it is about following. Are we willing to open our hearts to the Lord and say: "Do to me as You will"? I suggest the only way we will be able to do that is when we have the thought clearly fixed in our minds that God will never allow us to go through anything without providing all the grace we need to bear it, and will turn the test into a testimony that will eternally glorify Him and make our characters more like His. Jesus, remember, began His ministry here on earth with a wilderness experience, and ended it w"Let not your hearts be troubled", not because they were to be protected from troubles, but because they were to "trust in God". Faith in God will not save you from suffering, but it will save you through it - the suffering can be made into an instrument of redemption. Remember, you cannot bless without bleeding, and you cannot succour until you have suffered.

Prayer:

    O Father, I see that refusing to pay the ultimate price of surrendering to Your purposes is to choose deadness and death. Today I choose life. I am a "corn of wheat" not afraid, but willing to die. Help me, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

For further study:

    Matthew 27:27-49; Luke 9:22; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
    1. List the indignities Christ suffered.
    2. How many can you identify with?

[nChrist]

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April 26

Going - yet not knowing

For reading & meditation: Acts 20:17-35

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there." (v.22)

    We come now to examine another area into which our Lord, eager to obtain fruit from our lives, may be leading us: that of ambiguity and uncertainty. By ambiguity, I mean those situations we sometimes find ourselves in where the Lord's purposes are not clear, and by uncertainty, I mean the feelings we get when we don't know which direction to take on the road ahead. Are you the kind of person who likes to see the way ahead as far as you possibly can? Do you find yourself getting irritated and frustrated when the Lord unfolds His purposes just one step at a time? If so, then your irritation is saying something about you. What is it saying? Perhaps it is saying that in this area of your life, you are "a corn of wheat afraid to die"; you are fearful of trusting yourself to the unseen and unknown purposes of God. There isn't a Christian reading my words now who hasn't been called to walk this path of uncertainty and ambiguity, and there may be many who are there at this moment. The apostle Paul, in the verse before us today, was in this situation when he said: "I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there" (v.22, GNB). What an honest admission: going - yet not knowing. Yet there seems to be no anxiety or apprehension in that statement. And why? Because the great apostle had died to all self-interest. Having surrendered to God, he was not at the mercy of circumstances, situations, feelings - anything. Sure of God - the one great Certainty - he needed to fear no uncertainty.

Prayer:

    O God, I see that unless my certainty is in You - the divine Certainty - I will be at the mercy of all uncertainties. Forgive my little antics of self-dependence. Help me to live in God-dependence. Amen.

For further study:

    James 4:10-17; Proverbs 27:1; Isaiah 55:8
    1. What should our attitude be?
    2. What picture does James give us of life?

[nChrist]

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April 27

Talking to God all night

For reading & meditation: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation '" (v.17)

    We ended yesterday by saying that because Paul had died to all self-interest, he was not at the mercy of ambiguity and uncertainty. Sure of God, he was sure of the future. You see, if you don't surrender to God, don't think you don't surrender. Everybody surrenders to something. If you don't surrender to God, then you will surrender to something else - your moods, your circumstances, your fears, your self-centered concerns. And if you do, you will end up becoming downcast and disillusioned. A doctor tells of being called to see a patient, the head of a large company, who was having increasing attacks of asthma. The doctor could find no physical basis for the asthma, and so he asked the man: "Is there anything troubling you?" The patient replied: "No, doctor, I'm a member of a church, in fact an official in the church - nothing is troubling me." The next day the patient again sent for the doctor and said to him: "Yesterday I told you nothing was troubling me, but I've been talking to God all night. I looked at the ceiling and saw the words: 'Seek first the kingdom of God.' Doctor, I've been seeking my own kingdom. I've been a completely self-centered man. But last night something happened to me. I'm seeking first the kingdom of God." The doctor said: "I went away with tears streaming down my cheeks. I had seen the birth of a soul." Surrender means not just the birth of a soul, but the birth of everything - new relationships, new perspectives on life, new power to face whatever comes, and a new sense of certainty and belonging - a new everything.

Prayer:

    O Father, it is obvious that unless my confidence is placed in the Ultimate, then I will not be able to cope with the immediate. Help me to be a fully surrendered person. For surrendered to You, I need surrender to nothing else. Amen.

For further study:

    2 Corinthians 8:1-9; Philippians 2:4
    1. What was Christ's example?
    2. How can we imitate Him?

[nChrist]

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April 28

The future - safe with Him

For reading & meditation: Colossians 3:1-15

"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (v.3)

    We are discovering that when we are surrendered to the certain, we need never surrender to the uncertain. Sure of God, we do not have to be sure of anything else. A Christian who shrinks from walking the road of ambiguity and uncertainty in company with his Lord is saying, in effect: "My trust is in myself and not in Him." We don't like to put it in those terms, of course, because it challenges our self-interest. And if there is one thing we must learn about the self, it is that it does not like to be challenged, confronted or dislodged. The self, however, must be disciplined to die. It must die to being first in order to live as second. That is why the centre of the kingdom of God is a cross. We must go through spiritually what Jesus went through physically - we must die and be buried in order to experience a resurrection into freedom and fullness of life. A man who was part of a small group who had met together to deepen their spiritual understanding said: "I see what I need, and I see that I don't want what I need." In those words, he identified the struggle we all have with this business of self. Who is to be first - myself or God? That decision decides all other decisions - it is a seed decision. The moment you fully surrender to Christ, you automatically die to your own intentions and purposes and you gain a new perspective on life. From then on, you live in a state of Christ-reference - not self-reference. You look out at ambiguity and uncertainty and say: "I may not know what the future holds - so what? I know who holds the future."

Prayer:

    My Father and my God, I see now that I've been out of focus, and all of life's pictures have been blurred and distorted. Help me to see life from a new point of view - Your point of view. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

For further study:

    2 Timothy 2:1-13; Romans 6:6;2Cor.4:11
    1. Which saying is trustworthy?
    2. How does this apply to you?