Ouch, that's my toe! March 10, 2015

Have a Message and Be One

Preach the word. 2 Timothy 4:2 ESV

We are not saved to be “channels only,” but to be sons and daughters of God. We are not turned into spiritual mediums, but into spiritual messengers; the message must be part of ourselves. The Son of God was His own message, His words were spirit and life; and as His disciples our lives must be the sacrament of our message. The natural heart will do any amount of serving, but it takes the heart broken by conviction of sin, and baptised by the Holy Ghost, and crumpled into the purpose of God, before the life becomes the sacrament of its message.

There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is one who has realised the call of God and is determined to use his every power to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us out of our own ideas for our lives and we are “batter’d to shape and use,” as the disciples were after Pentecost. Pentecost did not teach the disciples anything; it made them the incarnation of what they preached—“Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.”

Let God have perfect liberty when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other souls, the liberation must be real in you. Gather your material, and set it alight when you speak.

Chambers, Oswald (2011-05-01). My Utmost for His Highest, Classic Edition (p. 50). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Probably should have skipped blog time this morning.  God used Oswald to tred on my tootsies.  He paced on my piggies. 

"There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is one who has realised the call of God and is determined to use his every power to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us out of our own ideas for our lives and we are “batter’d to shape and use,” as the disciples were after Pentecost. Pentecost did not teach the disciples anything; it made them the incarnation of what they preached."

A Pig and a Chicken are walking down the road.

The Chicken says: "Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!"

Pig replies: "Hm, maybe, what would we call it?"

The Chicken responds: "How about 'Ham-n-Eggs'?"

The Pig thinks for a moment and says: "No thanks. I'd be committed, but you'd only be involved."

Am I the chicken or the pig?  Am I merely involved in my Christian life, or am I committed?  Have I had my personal Pentecost?  I ask these questions rhetorically because I already (ashamedly so) know the answer.