(Video) Is Your Devotion Like That Of the Old Paths?

This video is worth hearing on a weekly basis to stir us away from the lukewarmness. I saved it my real player library.

has anyone else had a chance to watch this?

I think that it is important to realize that our expression of love to Christ is not measured by how many hours we spend in devotions per day, etc. but by our willingness to hear and do what He says.

What I mean is, and I say this at some risk, that I believe there is a 'hypocrisy' in sitting around and pretending to be doing God's will by these long ongoing and extended out devotional times that have no parallel in scripture. The Lord never told us to do things like this and the risk we run is in thinking we are doing God a service when He has clearly given us general direction about what we [i]should[/i] be doing.

[color=000066] Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, [u]ye have done it unto me.[/u] (Matthew 25) [/color]

One of the reasons why so few experience spiritual renewal is that they have not determined to be about the Master's business. Prayer is essential. Devotion is essential. But these are times of fellowship and preparation for the work that God has called us to.

I would not want to stand before God looking for Him to pat me on the back for spending all my time trying to invent new ways to be spiritual or to give my body to be burned when He never required that of [u]me[/u]. The will of God for my life is not the same as the men and women that have gone before us. If we love the LORD let us keep His commandments. It is vain for me to try to invent ways to express my love to Christ when He has already told us where His heart is.

There are people dying and going to hell [i]alone[/i] right down the street from those that believe they are being spiritual doing things that God never required. That is so very sobering. That is so very tragic. It has been my experience that God's favor is upon those that seek to follow His leading in being and doing what He would be doing on the earth. We want to 'do' things for the Lord? We should ask ourselves what Jesus 'received' as things done as "unto Him."

We need to [i]present[/i] our bodies as a living sacrifice. We need to be prepared to be spent for Him [i]in what ever way He seeks to use us[/i]. You don't have to die at the stake to be a witness. I know people right now that their bodies are so racked with pain and their minds so twisted from mind disease, that their whole life is a martyrdom in my mind. Not the minutes or hours of a flaming stake, but days and weeks and months and years of pain and suffering and yet they are still faithful to God. Do these people love Christ? Does God esteem them below Edwards, Spurgeon, Polycarp and others? I trow not.

RobertW wrote:

One of the reasons why so few experience spiritual renewal is that they have not determined to be about the Master's business. Prayer is essential. Devotion is essential. But these are times of fellowship and preparation for the work that God has called us to.

I did not get the video to come up. Will try again later. I saw this thread last night and have thought about a fair amount since. Though I haven't seen the video, I am reasonably confident the comments that are on my mind will be in line.

From personal recent experience, I can agree with what RobertW is saying here. In the context of periods of time, I believe it is vital first that we come to know God. Not just get saved, but that we actually come to know God. That takes time and occurs as we spend time with Him.

This site is a good place to share some of the thoughts we have as a result of that time and a place to see the thoughts of others as a result of their time. It is a very necessary period of time.

But the other part of what RobertW is saying is also very true. Once this period of time has run its course, it will result in ministry. To rush into ministry before that course has been run would not be good, but to never engauge in ministry would not be good either.

If we are in the getting to know God period, we are experiencing spiritual renewal. The purpose for that renewal is not so much for our benefit, though we do benefit from it, but it is more a preperation for what God has for us to do that will benefit others. And God in His timing will make that clear.

But once He begins to move us to do things, if we fail to do it, it will begin to stifle that renewal. At that point, if we try to simply extend the period of personal growth, we will swell up and die. Once we are full, He will want to flow through us for the benefit of others. That is the ultimate goal of all that SI is about. It is not just revival for revival's sake, it is that individuals and ultimately the church could find God in such a way that we as individuals and the church as a whole, could once again be a force in the world that it was meant to be.

It is good for us to be revived. But when are truly revived God will flow through us to revive others. That process is actually taking place here on SI, but outside as well.

I started a thread not too long ago in the 'General' catagory called 'Your Ministry'. Thanks again RobertW for your post in it. The hope was that as we who have run that period to its end and recieved our marching orders, that it would be a place to post the different ways we are being used.

Knowing that it is the end result of personal revival, I felt sure there would be many posts of what different people have been given to do. I have to admit, I had hoped to see more.

Old_Joe wrote:

Sorry to disappoint on this one. Not sure if others had this same inclination or not, but since discussing what we have been given to do more often comes across as boasting, I thought it best to remain silent on that.

Old Joe

I can see your point. I saw it more as a means of helping people along. I thought as people posted what they felt God was using them to do, it would be an opportunity for others who may be beginning to think along those lines to converse with someone who was already doing it.

This very thing happened as RobertW posted what he did and then BrokenOne inquired about it.

I don't say this to argue, but to simply clarify my intent. If you think about it, if God has actually called us to do something, there is no room to boast about it.

In any event, thanks for your comments.

RebeccaF wrote:
Thanks for letting me share.

I feel like you have thanked me for letting you come into your own home. :-)

Humor aside, thanks for sharing. We have a world and church that is off track.

I had an experience not too long ago that I will mention; I hope it is not taken wrong. Ephesians supports what you are doing when it says as children of the light we should expose the deeds of darkness. But this particular day, God seemed to emphasize the positive side of that passage where it specifically says, 'live as children of the light'.

This that I am about to share, I think God initiated for the occasion. Over time it is as if He has chosen to use the light to draw, more so, than to expose. Again, both have their place.

I was with friends for the first time in about a year. We are all Christian, but I had been through a testing fire that they had not been through, and as a result, my interests had changed.

As we sat visiting, I became aware of the change. I remember thinking as we sat there, that I wanted there to be more noticeable change in me than the things I no longer did. I wanted them to see life that was noticeably different. This poem is the essence of the prayer I prayed that day.

A Different Path

We’re called to walk a different path
\tthan those who do not know;
should effect the things we do and say
\tand places that we go.

But if we go and do and say
\tthe same as most of them,
we’re not the light that we should be;
\tinstead, we just blend in.

Help us Lord to be the light
\tand salt that we should be;
not to point at all the faults,
\tinstead, the good to see.

Enrich our lives on this different path
\tmore than what we don’t do;
fill us with good that other’s may see
\tand be drawn by it to You.

MJ