Following Jesus
July 2, 2009 by Cath
Filed under Cath's Blog
Today I read Mark 1:9-20 in my quiet time. I’m constantly amazed at how my Bible reading corresponds with Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest. Today the Lord is focusing me on discipleship and following Him. We see in Mark 1:17 that Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” How did they respond to His call? “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” You can’t help but see that word “immediately.” Right now. Not later, or after I finish what I want to do, but immediately. Oswald Chambers says, “Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person, our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause; He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of the Lord Jesus.” I don’t know about you, but those words light a fire in my heart! That’s my desire - personal, passionate devotion to Christ. Plain and simple. I want my spiritual hearing to be so tuned to His voice that when He says go, I go; when He says give, I give; when He says stop, I stop. Oh Lord, work this out in me through Your Spirit.
And then, OC talked about the work of the Spirit in making us Christ’s disciples. He wrote, “The only Lover of the Lord Jesus is the Holy Ghost, and He sheds abroad the very love of God in our hearts (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Ghost sees a chance of glorifying Jesus, He will take your heart, your nerves, your whole personality, and simply make you blaze and glow with devotion to Jesus Christ.” I think we need to remember our dependence on the Lord for everything. He does in us, through the Spirit, what we can never do in and of ourselves. Commitment must be God-wrought in us, not mustered up in the flesh. And that is the beauty and magnificence of following Christ. He makes us brand new - not an alteration of the old, but a metamorphosis. We are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). I have been thinking deeply about these things for many years and the Lord is working them into my own life. And sharing it is just a taste of what I’ve written in a new book I’ve just completed, A Woman’s Walk In Grace - God’s Pathway To Spiritual Growth. Oh that we would, as OC says, blaze and glow with devotion to Christ.
Lord, thank You for calling me to be Your disciple. Do in me what I can never do for myself. Fill me with a passionate devotion to You, and cause your light to shine in me, drawing all to Yourself. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“Keep in step”
July 1, 2009 by Debbie Harris
Filed under A Heart That Dances Blog ~ Debbie Harris
I loved this week so much, and God spoke in so many places – my book is covered and highlighted and written sideways, and crossways, and in between! And I actually am responding a different way to a big decision because of this very week in the Word!! In my quest to “KEEP IN STEP” with God, it is amazing how He works in my heart. I could actually see the benefit for sitting and being still – so much that these four lines came to me as I laid in my bed thinking this week and I jumped up and ran to write them in my journal for keeps: “If I don’t be quiet, and I can’t sit still, I may be guided by You, but I’ll do my own will!” And that’s not what I want – I want to chase after GOD’S will!
Catherine, I must address you and thank you for such a well organized and all inclusive week! When you began on the first page with “KEEP IN STEP” and then finished on the last page with the same, my heart leapt for joy to see those actual words in the Scripture – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us KEEP IN STEP with the Spirit! Gal 5:25, NIV” That verse has become embedded on my heart now! And what a grand message for us showcased this week in the life of David, a man after God’s own heart who kept in step. I also loved how you kept reminding us to personalize the Scripture – it finds its way all the way to our hearts when we do!
Here are some ways to “KEEP IN STEP” that I have personalized from this week!
-I want to “please the Father” as I chase after His will (loved all those verses, pg 116-117)
-I want to “know Him” and “walk with Him” so I can “delight myself in Him”
-I want to “proclaim and bless the Name of the Lord” from the rising of the sun to it’s setting
-I want to “ask of God” and “wait on Him” before anything else
-I want to “celebrate” before the Lord with joy!
Ten more women joined in over the last two weeks, and some are going at their own pace, so we are all in different places in the study, but all committed to sitting at the feet of the same Jesus! Many will not finish by August 6th, and I want to make sure no one thinks that is a requirement for attending. It will be a celebration of being in the Word, not a celebration for completing the book, so everyone please mark your calendars for August 6th. There is an “author’s reception” at 6:00 followed by an “evening with the author” at 7:00. Catherine will be sharing her testimony and her passion for quiet time, and there will be dessert, some worship, a small gift to remember our journey and a “give-away” too. It will be a very special evening! In order to plan for it, if you know that you will be out of town, or unable to be there for some reason, please send me an email so we can begin getting a feel for how many will be joining us for the evening! I pray you ALL can come!
Striving to keep in step,
Debbie Harris
Quiet Time in Summer 09
@ Shadow Mountain
PS It’s never too late to join in. Also, I was able to order some of the 2nd printing and have books available in the Women’s Ministries office (call Kelly 440-1802 ext 3525). Just email me a name and email address to register! Blessings as you “quiet time!”
