Clarity and Purpose

5/7/2020

Luke 14:28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?”

In Luke 14:25-35, Jesus is speaking to a crowd about the cost of being a disciple. Verse 26 states, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Chambers is referring to this when he says, “Our Lord implies that the only men and women He will use in His building enterprises are those that love Him personally, passionately and devotedly beyond any of the closest ties on earth. The conditions seem stern but are glorious.” This certainly is a tall order, and, in our humanity, seems impossible; but ANYTHING is possible with God. He is the Master Builder and, if we are obedient, He will place us where He wants us to be, and use us in mighty ways. We must always remember, though, that the enterprise is God’s and not our own.

Note: Lucky you, there is an extra post because I originally covered the wrong day of Chambers study, I do feel led to add it onto the days reading. 

Mark 9:9 “He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.”

“When you get to the right state on the inside, the word which Jesus has spoken so plain that you are amazed you did not see it before. You could not understand it before, you were not in the place in disposition where it could be borne.” ~ Oswald Chambers

I am thinking back to a time where reading God’s word was like trying to read Shakespeare. I could read all of the words, but they made no sense to me; I could not seem to grasp the context. I was raised to know my catechism, but not to dig deeply into the Bible. In order for me to gain clarity, I had to have a connection to the writer. When my connection is strong, and I am living in obedience, God’s word is illuminated and seeps into the very marrow of my bones. When my spirit is not aligned with the Holy Spirit, the Bible’s words can sometimes still confound me; it is all about how well I am doing at going vertical. When clarity does not come, I need to ask myself if I am right with Jesus.

Chambers says, “Do we know anything about the impartation of the risen life of Jesus? The evidence that we do is that His word is becoming interpretable to us. God cannot reveal anything to us if we have not His Spirit.”