FAITH -- NOT EMOTION . . .

FAITH -- NOT EMOTION . . .

This morning was one of those "whack-on-the-side-of-the-head" mornings.
Everything I read had the same message for my soul today. I love when
God does that -- it is something that only HE can orchestrate. These are
"WOW" moments in helping build my faith. Oswald Chambers drove the final
nail in what I needed to hear this morning . . .

"We walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

"For a while, we are fully aware of God's concern for us. But then, when
God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and
talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is
trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the
spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it.
Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of
us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and
with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God
dealing with us all the time.

A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for
daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature
angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are
to do it an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because
we have been born from above.

If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of
inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming
obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we
are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to
'walk by faith.' How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say,
'I cannot do anything else until God appears to me'? He will never do
it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and
without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find
ourselves exclaiming, 'Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew
it!'

Never live for those exceptional moments -- they are surprises. God will
give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in
danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of
inspiration as the standard way of life -- our work is our standard."

Powerful words for my life, and hopefully they will bless yours today as
well.

This week on KESWICK TODAY radio, Dr. Les Ayars and Robert Hayes share
what will be happening at America's KESWICK Memorial Day Weekend as we
count down the days to the official start of our summer season. Visit
our home page for details and listen to this weeks broadcasts.
http://www.americaskeswick.org/