This is the devotion that inspired the last post: January 31. My Utmost for His Highest. Oswald Chambers.

http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php

Do You See Your Calling?

Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell— it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers, we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is the only reality. Personal holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes.

Paul did not say that he separated himself, but "when it pleased God, who separated me . . ." (Galatians 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption.

Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. "Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes." To talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to touch me.

There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose— to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3).

We CAN'T get it mixed up

A devotion reminded me of a struggle of mine:

I allow God's holiness to be mixed up in my quest for moral perfection.

Of course, I am less than morally perfect, and I know this, but when it comes to certain things in life (for example, particular struggles), I endeavor to overcome those struggles so badly (without rather, an unabated focus on God's redemptive power over my life), that overcoming those struggles winds up becoming more of a goal and focus than God's word.

Ironically, I am humbled when I fall into temptation and stumble again.

I know I CAN'T overcome who I am without God...so I don't know why I try to.

This, however, is besides the point.

The Gospel teaches me already that I am a sinner: Romans 3:23: "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard."

Thus, there is no "pride" that should be felt when I am overcoming a particular sin. I only know I can do this through God. Notice how when you spend more time with God at certain periods of your life, you are challenged and grow more deeply in your faith.

For me, spending less time with God is dangerous. I gradually become this second person, perhaps someone I don't want to be. Importantly, I forget God's saving grace for my life and start taking more things for granted.

I guess the conclusion is that we should not test ourselves or think that we can do it on our own. We need to continually spend time with God and prioritize Him in our lives, so that we continually remember what He has done for us.

...this, in affect, will help us overcome our particular struggles.

Our focus, however, should be more on Him than ourselves.

..if you find yourself slipping, you should try and make a commitment NOT to fall, and re-enter the world of God's word.

Are we entitled to emotion?

Are we entitled to emotion? The simple answer is yes BUT not all emotion. There are some emotions that God wills us to express. These emotions are said to be the result of surrendering to the Holy Spirit's guidance for our lives. Galatians 5:22 claims that "the Holy Spirit produces...love, joy, peace...and patience" for our lives.

There are other emotions, however, that God prohibits and can be attributed to our sinful nature. These are emotions that God does not wish for us to express...emotions that we do not have a right to express...emotions that we were not created to express. Galatians 5:19 sums up these emotions-- sexual immorality, impurity, lust, obsession, jealousy, anger, selfish ambition (pride), and envy. We are not entitled to these emotions simply because we are not God and our ways of feeling are never justified.

For example, selfish ambition is a failure to neglect the fact that it is God who provides for you. By trampling over and competing with others, you essentially do the same to God. Matthew 25:40 explains that what we do to others affects God and is a reflection of our attitudes towards God. In addition, one neglects the undeniable blessing of others in one's life and the importance of their life events to them. What one has to selfishly compete for is never usually worth it.

Anger is never justified. Jesus explicitly says that we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us (Matthew 18:22). Additionally, Paul tells us to never take revenge, but allow the "righteous" anger of God to do that work for us (Romans 12:19). We learn here that we are not entitled to that emotion, only God's anger is pure because he is justice. By being angry, we forget all the times that others could have expressed that emotion towards us (but didn't), or did express those emotions towards us and how it brought fear and worry into our lives.

Pride essentially is deeming yourself God, as we deserve absolutely nothing and should instead be humble and grateful for our blessings, which exist as bonuses to what could be mundane. Amazingly, God (as a default setting) made life miraculous, and filled with blessings. To him goes all the glory.

Lastly, sexual feeling is to be expressed only within the sanctity of marriage. It is why God created marriage and it protects us as well.

There are many reasons why we should not feel the way we do a lot of the time. We should remember them to change the way we think.

So next time you feel a particular way, do question the emotion and remember what you were created for.