Partakers of Grace (Video by Rich Crowe)
Oswald Chambers







Playlist at http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=10F140787559EB2B

Heeding His Command

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. (Psa 148:5)

Adonai command and creation came into being; bringing nothing into form and lifelessness to life. That is the display of the authority the Almighty has. Is there the authority of God over our lives? Does He command our destiny or have we charted out our own future. The thing we normally do is to plan then ask God to bless and call them into being. There is an underlying attitude that we may not be aware of that treats the Almighty liken unto a contractor to build our future based on what we penned on our drawing board.

‘Intellectual darkness is the result of ignorance, but spiritual darkness is the result of something that I do not intend to obey’ – Oswald Chambers

He commands and we obey. If we know Who our God is, then we can believe Him for a good expected end (Jer 29:11). We often fear the future and what will become of us more than having a healthy fear of the Living God (Matt 10:28). We need to be rescued from the prison of self into the freedom of God’s good, acceptable and perfect will by giving our totality to Him (Rom 12:1, 2). Don’t give the left-overs and the spiritually worthless to Him for God is Spirit (John 4:24). Present ourselves to God, abide in Christ and heed His commandments. It’s not legalism that saves us; it is faith to believe that what He says is well with my soul. On the premise of faith we obey, an obedience not out of anything else but in believing in the finality of His word.

Receiving Joy

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.(John 16:24)

Jesus is showing us the sure fire way of receiving fullness of joy, just simply ask in prayer. This is as though the Father is waiting for His children to speak to Him and ask. As the Father seeks those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth, thus He seeks those who would ask, even asking for great inheritance (Psa 2:8). So why miss out on obtaining promised joy from the Father?

Where and whom do we ask? Ask of man and receive that is within man’s capacity, ask of God and we receive that which is heavenly (John 3:27). Getting it from the right Source and clarity will come to us without striving with great glorious revelation…. (Exo 33:18, John 16:25).

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)

From what grounds do we ask? We ask and receive not because the motivation gratifies self (Jam 4:3), where as the Father desires us to bring into realization of His good, acceptable and perfect will in our lives. If we ask from the place of drawing from the life of True Vine (His will, desire, heart, purpose, etc), He will see to it that ‘it shall be done unto you’ (John 15:7). The Lord would want us to be weaned from asking from the perspective of temporal self gratification or even genuine need to seeking His glorification. We have to learn that asking for others first is the outworking of a mature son of God, because there is knowing confidence that the Father will take care of our personal best in Him.

Test of Unrivalled Love

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. (Mat 10:34)

The Lord said some profound things in this portion of Scripture namely talking about the sword bringing division. Didn’t He come as Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6)? The people set in variance in this situation are not enemies but those who belong to a household (Matt 10:36); spouse, parents, children, in-laws. The context of the message is the about the cost of discipleship, about unrivalled love.

A believer once saved is to come out of the world and our love and affection is turned from it toward God (1 John 3:15, Matt 22:37).  Beyond being saved out of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of His love (Col 1:13), discipleship is the pilgrimage of faith that no believer is spared from journeying through. Absolutely no escape in order to raise many sons to glory (Heb 2:10), saved in spirit and now to the saving of the soul (Heb 10:39); mind, will and emotions. How much of our mind bears semblance to the mind of Christ and not of self. A will totally submitted to the Father to seek to glorify Him and not of us and heart that have only one desire and adoration, for God and God alone. It is carnality that He wants to save us from, even the self good trumped up by self effort and celebration of self achievement, void of faith (Heb 11:6). What more can be more telling than our affections and He seeks undivided love? Between the good of family and the best, Him, there will be situations where the sword of division will come.

Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. (Luke 2:35)

The Lord brought a sword between Abraham and Isaac (Heb 11:17) and the old patriarch obeyed not by logical reasoning and fatherly affection but by faith alone. Jesus brings the sword in our good and most loving relationships so that He would know…‘for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me’ (Gen 22:12). Hannah had the sword pierced through her heart to release her son so he ‘shall be lent to the LORD’ (1 Sam 1:28). The cost to Hannah is not just handing her answer to prayer to live under a backslidden priest and exposed to his sons that commit vileness, but also going against what is the ‘normal’ motherly thing to do. Such a life is beyond normal but supernatural because there is a plunging into the depth of faith without human conclusions. The cost to Hannah birthed the prophetic ministry that anointed kings and brought about the promise of a everlasting kingdom (Psa 132:11)! Mary had her share of the sword piecing through her heart at the wedding of Cana (John 2:4, Matt 12:47-50) and finally seeing her son on the cross, the justice of the Holy God meted out for mankind.

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matt 10:38)

The cost of discipleship is very dear. It invites the piercing sword of Christ to separate soul and spirit (Heb 4:12) so that the soul will be brought into subjection to the spirit (Rom 8:9,10) made alive to God. The deepest part of our soul will be tested….’ lovest thou me more than these?’ (John 21:15). Will we pass the gruesome (in man’s calculation, but with the glorious intent of God) test in the cost of discipleship?

Losing Our Self Confidence

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Php 3:3)

Flesh is often considered the negative part of us that God want us to unshackled from, dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 6:11). In Philippians 3 Paul was writing about a deeper dealing that is more deceptive than sin. The detectability of the sin of the flesh is obvious which we can grieve over sin and look to the cleansing blood of Jesus (Rom 7:15, 25). Watchman Nee tells us that sin is dealt with by the blood and the cross deals with the self. Self is not necessary the evil for even those who refuse the Lordship of Jesus Christ can perform or perhaps outdo many Christians in doing good.

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly trust in Jesus' Name.

(Form the hymn ‘My Hope is Built on Nothing Less’, words by Edward Mote)

Paul is not about to let the good be the enemy of God’s best but to ‘be found in him, not having mine own righteousness’ (Phl 3:9). Hidden in Christ and not live in celebration of what self can do and achieve. As one who was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, his character was impeccably unequalled, ‘touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless’. Who could parallel such a life! But in this he counts them loss and dung for excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Beyond uncleanness is the issue of self confidence we have in self righteousness. Beyond the sin of the flesh is the confidence of the flesh. An arrogance that emits the stench of pride and self that God abhors (1 Pet 5:5). Paul was willing to lose what he held on to and suffered the ‘loss of all things’, letting go of the good to inherit the best.

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. (Php 3:18-19)

May we live in total dependency within the confines of a Spirit Led life (Gal 5:16); never having a sense of self attainment (Php 3:12) but possessing a continuous stature of humbly following after, pressing toward the mark. The clarion warning is given, even the ‘good’ flesh need the dealings of the cross (Gal 5:24). The glorying in the good flesh can take us back to where we first began (Gal 5:19-21), let there be fruit that the Lord can harvest unto His glory (Gal 5:22, 23).