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After being saved, it then is all about growth in the Lord Jesus (Eph 4:15), and the greater this growth the more we are used of God. One of the most significant aspects of faith is that it will be used solely in this life, for then we shall walk by sight, but now it is our walk of faith and what it produces that glorifies God! I also believe that how we walk in our faith will determine our “reward” (1Co 3:8, 14), which I believe will be in the form of authority (e.g. Mat 25:21). Of course, our constant motive in all things is to be God’s love in us to others, and the more active we are in this way, the deeper we learn the aspects of His love.
It can be determined that the more patient one is during a trial, the more can be seen of God being glorified; and the more difficult the trial, the more faith is learned. Even though all trials seem to carry the sense of being at the border of our limit, we can know that this is for producing optimum results! How we endure a trial does not affect the Father’s foreknown purpose, which for us will always be for the good of our faith as we, through it, continue to grow in the image of the Lord Jesus.
NC
Glory Be To God!
When God was about to create man, He said “Let us make man in Our image (look like—NC), after Our likeness (live like—NC.” (Gen 1:26). The image in which man was to be made, the Son of Man, is the Father’s ideal; and from this ideal He has never turned away. In Revelation 19 we see it realized. There a great multitude is seen standing by the side of the Lamb as His Bride, in appearance like unto Himself (specifically verses 8, 9—NC).
We have often stopped at justification, but the Father does not stop at that point. Those “whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified” (Rom 8:30). How glorious is our Father’s thought for us, that we are to be “conformed to the image of His Son” (v 29). How do we obtain this? We are given the answer in the same chapter: “and we know that to them that love God all things work together for good” (v 28).
They know that the Father’s hand guides their way and that He leads them only in paths that are necessary for their discipline and growth. They know that only those shall stand by the side of the Lamb who dare to follow Him. Therefore they walk in His way, even if it should be said concerning them, “We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Rom 8:36). They do not seek gifts and blessedness (though they come—NC); they seek only Him. They exclaim, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside Thee” (Psa 73:25).
Has your Father led you out into the desert? Has He plucked from under your feet all that you depended upon? Then a glorious advance is to be yours! See if this is not the way whereby your Father will be glorified in you! Do not complain about what you have lost (related to the old life—NC), and do not yearn to have it given back again, for then you are like Israel who wished to turn back to Egypt and its leeks and garlic. The Father will lead you on further. Instead of the flesh-pots (Exo 16:3) He gives you bread from heaven, and instead of water from the Nile, water from the Rock (1Co 10:4). But you must put your trust in Him also in the desert, and through days of darkness and difficulty (we learn faith is exercised most from the trials—NC). This is possible however, only for those who have lost their self-assurance in the desert whereto the Father beckons His dear children.
Out upon these ways the Father does not force His children—He rather allures them. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her” (Hosea 2:14). What did Israel find upon this way of the wilderness? She found greater riches, living hope, an undisturbed joy, a deeper understanding, a more inclusive peace, an unbroken security and the most intimate fellowship with her God. Can this be called a desert? Not by those who, like Moses, see beyond reproach, the reward (Heb 11:25, 26); who like David, see beyond suffering, the Savior (Mar 12:35-37); who like the Lord Jesus, see beyond the Cross, the Crown (Rev 19:12). These are sacred experiences! Be very careful therefore, with yourself and others. Run not away from the heavenly Jeweler’s work, for in just such hours the diamond’s facet attains a new brilliance that I may shine yet more clearly thereafter. Thus the Father is glorified—glory for himself the believer does not desire.
—G Steinberger (1865-1904)
Excerpt from MJS devotional for 10/28:
“A believer may know that he is positionally free, and yet have to mourn the fact that his experience is that of a wretched captive. The freedom is so entirely in Christ Jesus, and the maintenance of the living union with Him is so distinctly and entirely the work of divine power, that it is only as we see that the Spirit dwells within us for this very purpose, and know how to accept and yield to His working it, that we can really stand in the liberty with which Christ has made us free.” -A.M.
It can be determined that the more patient one is during a trial, the more can be seen of God being glorified; and the more difficult the trial, the more faith is learned. Even though all trials seem to carry the sense of being at the border of our limit, we can know that this is for producing optimum results! How we endure a trial does not affect the Father’s foreknown purpose, which for us will always be for the good of our faith as we, through it, continue to grow in the image of the Lord Jesus.
NC
Glory Be To God!
When God was about to create man, He said “Let us make man in Our image (look like—NC), after Our likeness (live like—NC.” (Gen 1:26). The image in which man was to be made, the Son of Man, is the Father’s ideal; and from this ideal He has never turned away. In Revelation 19 we see it realized. There a great multitude is seen standing by the side of the Lamb as His Bride, in appearance like unto Himself (specifically verses 8, 9—NC).
We have often stopped at justification, but the Father does not stop at that point. Those “whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified” (Rom 8:30). How glorious is our Father’s thought for us, that we are to be “conformed to the image of His Son” (v 29). How do we obtain this? We are given the answer in the same chapter: “and we know that to them that love God all things work together for good” (v 28).
They know that the Father’s hand guides their way and that He leads them only in paths that are necessary for their discipline and growth. They know that only those shall stand by the side of the Lamb who dare to follow Him. Therefore they walk in His way, even if it should be said concerning them, “We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Rom 8:36). They do not seek gifts and blessedness (though they come—NC); they seek only Him. They exclaim, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside Thee” (Psa 73:25).
Has your Father led you out into the desert? Has He plucked from under your feet all that you depended upon? Then a glorious advance is to be yours! See if this is not the way whereby your Father will be glorified in you! Do not complain about what you have lost (related to the old life—NC), and do not yearn to have it given back again, for then you are like Israel who wished to turn back to Egypt and its leeks and garlic. The Father will lead you on further. Instead of the flesh-pots (Exo 16:3) He gives you bread from heaven, and instead of water from the Nile, water from the Rock (1Co 10:4). But you must put your trust in Him also in the desert, and through days of darkness and difficulty (we learn faith is exercised most from the trials—NC). This is possible however, only for those who have lost their self-assurance in the desert whereto the Father beckons His dear children.
Out upon these ways the Father does not force His children—He rather allures them. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her” (Hosea 2:14). What did Israel find upon this way of the wilderness? She found greater riches, living hope, an undisturbed joy, a deeper understanding, a more inclusive peace, an unbroken security and the most intimate fellowship with her God. Can this be called a desert? Not by those who, like Moses, see beyond reproach, the reward (Heb 11:25, 26); who like David, see beyond suffering, the Savior (Mar 12:35-37); who like the Lord Jesus, see beyond the Cross, the Crown (Rev 19:12). These are sacred experiences! Be very careful therefore, with yourself and others. Run not away from the heavenly Jeweler’s work, for in just such hours the diamond’s facet attains a new brilliance that I may shine yet more clearly thereafter. Thus the Father is glorified—glory for himself the believer does not desire.
—G Steinberger (1865-1904)
Excerpt from MJS devotional for 10/28:
“A believer may know that he is positionally free, and yet have to mourn the fact that his experience is that of a wretched captive. The freedom is so entirely in Christ Jesus, and the maintenance of the living union with Him is so distinctly and entirely the work of divine power, that it is only as we see that the Spirit dwells within us for this very purpose, and know how to accept and yield to His working it, that we can really stand in the liberty with which Christ has made us free.” -A.M.
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