"Draw Close to Me"
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus Philippians 2:5
I would like to take just a brief moment and share something that the Lord brought to my attention this morning in my quiet time. I was meditating on some quotes from Charles Spurgeon and John Wesley about the nature of revival and evangelism and I found myself asking God for that compassionate heart that hurts for the lost. Now, I don't want to see people go to Hell but these great men of faith seem to have had an exceptional passion for the lost and this is where I want my own heart to be. So I found myself asking God for that kind of heart. As He so often does, and I so often forget, the Lord reminded me that if I draw near to Him and seek His face then a deep compassion for the lost will follow (I have preached this before and still I manage to forget).
The Bible is filled with this very same advice. The passage at the beginning of this entry from Philippians, your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. This is rich and applies, as the book I'm currently reading by Nancy Pearcy suggests, to all of life. Not only that but we know that Jesus' own description of His mission was to seek and save the lost (John 19:10). Why was this Christ's mission? It was His mission because that was the will of the Father, that was the heart and mind of the Father, to redeem His creation.
As a prelude to this friendly reminder in my reading in My Utmost for His Highest this morning Oswald Chambers was encouraging us to "be in stride with God." He tells us that God has a different way of doing things and that it takes discipline and effort to get in that stride. This turned out to be the other very clear thing that God pointed out to me, this is going to take time. I, not unlike many others, like for things to happen "tout suite." If the Lord could only do to me like they do in The Matrix and simply download all of this instantly I would be okay with that. I know better than that though. I know that, if I could use the immortal words of Aerosmith, "life's a journey not a destination." The spiritual journey that we find ourselves in is a process that only ends, or perhaps begins, with death. I know that the lessons learned along the way come with effort not instantaneously.
So in the end, as He has so many times before, God whispered to me and said simply, "draw close to me." How many requests is that the answer for? Most of them I would wager.
I would like to take just a brief moment and share something that the Lord brought to my attention this morning in my quiet time. I was meditating on some quotes from Charles Spurgeon and John Wesley about the nature of revival and evangelism and I found myself asking God for that compassionate heart that hurts for the lost. Now, I don't want to see people go to Hell but these great men of faith seem to have had an exceptional passion for the lost and this is where I want my own heart to be. So I found myself asking God for that kind of heart. As He so often does, and I so often forget, the Lord reminded me that if I draw near to Him and seek His face then a deep compassion for the lost will follow (I have preached this before and still I manage to forget).
The Bible is filled with this very same advice. The passage at the beginning of this entry from Philippians, your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. This is rich and applies, as the book I'm currently reading by Nancy Pearcy suggests, to all of life. Not only that but we know that Jesus' own description of His mission was to seek and save the lost (John 19:10). Why was this Christ's mission? It was His mission because that was the will of the Father, that was the heart and mind of the Father, to redeem His creation.
As a prelude to this friendly reminder in my reading in My Utmost for His Highest this morning Oswald Chambers was encouraging us to "be in stride with God." He tells us that God has a different way of doing things and that it takes discipline and effort to get in that stride. This turned out to be the other very clear thing that God pointed out to me, this is going to take time. I, not unlike many others, like for things to happen "tout suite." If the Lord could only do to me like they do in The Matrix and simply download all of this instantly I would be okay with that. I know better than that though. I know that, if I could use the immortal words of Aerosmith, "life's a journey not a destination." The spiritual journey that we find ourselves in is a process that only ends, or perhaps begins, with death. I know that the lessons learned along the way come with effort not instantaneously.
So in the end, as He has so many times before, God whispered to me and said simply, "draw close to me." How many requests is that the answer for? Most of them I would wager.
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