What Has He Told Me to Do?

What Has He Told Me to Do?

"When he heard this, he became sorrowful, for he was very rich ..." Luke 18:23

Have you been there? God has spoken SO plainly that you knew it was Him speaking. His direction and counsel came in that still small voice ... and you KNEW in your heart of hearts it was Him speaking. Did you obey? Surrender? Or did you simply go on about your business without paying attention?

Listen to these striking words from the pen of devotional author, Oswald Chambers, from the book, My Utmost for His Highest:

The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him?

Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, "If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions."

"Sell all that you have . . ." (Luke 18:22). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God.

Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.

I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.

Lord, I want to be sensitive to YOUR voice, but even more, I want to listen and obey. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 19; Psalm 103-104; 1 Corinthians 2

Great Quote: For such is the weakness of human nature, alas, that evil is often more readily believed and spoken of another than good. But perfect men do not easily believe every tale that is told them, for they know that man's nature is prone to evil, and his words to deception. Thomas a Kempis