I was reading My Utmost For His Highest this morning and came across this devotion by Oswald Chambers:
I thought this was a really good reminder that my worth before God is not found in what I can do for Him. It's a dangerous mindset to get into when I begin to measure my "performance" as a Christian. I begin to make it about me and what I'm doing. I wrongly take the glory for myself, when it clearly belongs to God. I start relying on myself, rather than God. And then when I mess up, when I can't do all that's demanded of me, I feel that I have failed. I feel like God is shaking His head in disappointment at me.
What. A. Lie. That's not how God sees me at all! I am His daughter, and He loves me so incredibly much!
1 John 3:1 [NIV1984]: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
Romans 8:16-17 [NIV1984]: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
One of my favorite passages is Hebrews 4:14-16 [NIV1984]: "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
God isn't mad at me when I mess up. He wants me to turn to Him for strength, for comfort, for everything.
Psalm 116:5 [CEB]: "The LORD is mericful and righteous; our God is compassionate."
Usefulness or Relationship?
"Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven —Luke 10:20"
"Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).
Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory . . .” (Hebrews 2:10)."
I thought this was a really good reminder that my worth before God is not found in what I can do for Him. It's a dangerous mindset to get into when I begin to measure my "performance" as a Christian. I begin to make it about me and what I'm doing. I wrongly take the glory for myself, when it clearly belongs to God. I start relying on myself, rather than God. And then when I mess up, when I can't do all that's demanded of me, I feel that I have failed. I feel like God is shaking His head in disappointment at me.
What. A. Lie. That's not how God sees me at all! I am His daughter, and He loves me so incredibly much!
1 John 3:1 [NIV1984]: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
Romans 8:16-17 [NIV1984]: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
One of my favorite passages is Hebrews 4:14-16 [NIV1984]: "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
God isn't mad at me when I mess up. He wants me to turn to Him for strength, for comfort, for everything.
Psalm 116:5 [CEB]: "The LORD is mericful and righteous; our God is compassionate."
