Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus
In the previous chapter, (if you want to go there, click here Part 1, I was saying about "Helping God out of a tight spot". We saw that God had promised Abraham a son, but in his desire to make God's work more easier and depended on his abilities and produced Ishmael. But God did not accept him. One thing to remember here is if our service for God originates out of any idea that we are helping God out of a tight spot, we shall only produce unacceptable Ishmaels. That service which has its roots in human energy, fleshly wisdom, human ability and natural talents (even at their very best) is totally unacceptable to God.
Continuing from where I left off...
TRUSTING GOD
Works of Faith
Our self life is so subtle and so deceitful that it can enter the very sanctuary of God and try to serve Him there. We have to watch that and put self to death even when it seeks to serve God.
God's work has to be a work of faith - that is, one that originates in man's helpless dependence upon God. So it is not a question of how effective our work is in the eyes of men or in our own eyes. The important question is whether our work is the result of the Holy Spirit's working, or our own. God is not so much interested in how much is done, as in the question whose power has energized the work. Was the work done by the power of money and intellectual ability, or by the power of the Holy Spirit? This is the real test of a spiritual work, a work of faith. In other words, God is interested in quality than in quantity. God's true work carries on today, as of old, not by human power or might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:6). We forget this truth to our own peril.
In the previous chapter, (if you want to go there, click here Part 1, I was saying about "Helping God out of a tight spot". We saw that God had promised Abraham a son, but in his desire to make God's work more easier and depended on his abilities and produced Ishmael. But God did not accept him. One thing to remember here is if our service for God originates out of any idea that we are helping God out of a tight spot, we shall only produce unacceptable Ishmaels. That service which has its roots in human energy, fleshly wisdom, human ability and natural talents (even at their very best) is totally unacceptable to God.
Continuing from where I left off...
TRUSTING GOD
Works of Faith
Our self life is so subtle and so deceitful that it can enter the very sanctuary of God and try to serve Him there. We have to watch that and put self to death even when it seeks to serve God.
God's work has to be a work of faith - that is, one that originates in man's helpless dependence upon God. So it is not a question of how effective our work is in the eyes of men or in our own eyes. The important question is whether our work is the result of the Holy Spirit's working, or our own. God is not so much interested in how much is done, as in the question whose power has energized the work. Was the work done by the power of money and intellectual ability, or by the power of the Holy Spirit? This is the real test of a spiritual work, a work of faith. In other words, God is interested in quality than in quantity. God's true work carries on today, as of old, not by human power or might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:6). We forget this truth to our own peril.
Hope you all learnt some lessons from the above chapter. In the next issue, I would be presenting on "Man's extremity - God's opportunity". I would like to take this time to thank Zac Poonen for his wonderful book "Beauty for Ashes". The above has been taken from the same book.
I would like all my Brothers and Sisters in Christ to pray for me so that the Lord Almighty guide me, not in presenting the words from other people but also to open my mind His Holy Words and understand them and first accept those words in my life and then present those words to you all.
Your humble Brother in Christ
Jobin George
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