The Eternal Goal
By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing . . . I will bless you . . . —Genesis 22:16-17
Devotional writer, Oswald Chambers, has been speaking to my heart for years. I have been reading his daily devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, since 1996. Over and over God has used him to speak to my heart. This is a powerful word for us today:
Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.
My goal is God Himself . . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
“At any cost . . . by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.
There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.
God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.
’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.
It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”
The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . .” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.
Brothers, is there an area of YOUR life where you need to obey? Can you say today, “My goal is HIMSELF, at any cost, dear Lord, by any road?” Take a few minutes and think it through. The purpose to obey! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick
Dig This Quote: Slowly, slowly, if we plug ourselves into the socket of God's way, God's truth and God's life, we will begin to see God's plan for our lives and for the world. If we are attentive to God, and make ourselves present to him, we will begin to know what to pray for in our intercessory prayer. As we begin to plug ourselves into God, we will start to ask for the right things, and our prayers will start to be answered. As Jesus says in the Gospel, "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it." But to ask for anything in Jesus's name means we must first be plugged into God's way, his truth and his life. Benjamin J King
Determined Digging: Level 1: John 11:25-26; Level 2: Matthew 5:1-9
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