An Interesting Question...

I read this short snippet on SmallGroups.com recently, about 'EGR' or 'Extra Grace Required' people:

Read the article HERE!

What do you think? Do we need to change how we think/talk about this area of Group Life? Post a comment below to tell me...

Who Do You Love?

Oswald Chambers writes, "How many of us are set upon Jesus Christ slaking our thirst when we ought to be satisfying Him? We should be pouring out now, spending to the last limit, not drawing on Him to satisfy us."

This morning, these words made my jaw drop. They seem so obvious when I think about it, but the fact is that I so often believe that I'm 'maturing' because I seek to be satisfied by Christ rather than other things in life. Yet here I am challenged to step back and examine myself; am I wholly devoted to Him?

In the same entry, Chambers goes on to say, "Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him." For a second time today, I am caught off guard by the profound truth in these words. I remember as a young man being reminded that loving Christ is not measured by doing and that my service to Him should always be guided by His leading and prompting, but I feel as though those words fell on deaf ears.

So, what does devotion look like? Is it praying every day? Memorizing scripture? Tithing to the church? Attending a Bible study? Or does devotion take on more subtle forms, like a quiet and deliberate focus on who Christ is as we make choices that honor Him each moment of each day? Can devotion be serving? I believe the answer is, 'YES!', provided that service results from a heart yielded to Jesus first and foremost.

And that is the crux of the matter; am I yielded, surrendered, to Him? Have I this day died to self and chosen to live for Him? Without having done so anything I do 'for Him' is in truth done for the sake of doing it.

How about you? Do you think of Jesus as one to satisfy your thirst, or one to pour yourself out for? Are you devoted to Him, or to doing things 'for Him'? These are questions worth asking ourselves and how we answer will steer our life and ministry.