Yesterday I was listening to the first couple of chapters of John Bevere’s Extraordinary. We will be doing that study on Sunday nights beginning in a couple of weeks. Bevere begins with an Extraordinary but simple point. We can do nothing to make God love us more. His love is constant and unchanging and NOT dependent on anything we do. However, his pleasure with us IS dependent on what we do. This is a point the Church desperately needs to learn. We have overtaught the love of God with a negative impact. Most Christians know that God loves them, no matter what they do. So they conclude that what they do doesn’t matter. The message regarding pleasing God is grossly undertaught.
I am a pleaser. I like to do things that please others. We pleasers need to be ever vigilant of a point as subtle as the love/pleasing issue. It is a wonderful thing to do things for others BECAUSE of our love for them. It’s not so good to do things so that they will love us. We pleasers have to constantly be on guard less we cross that motivation line. This is particularly true with our relationship with God. His love for us is not dependent on what we do, but that love should motivate us to do much for Him.
Today we begin to follow Oswald Chambers’s My Utmost for His Highest. Oswald’s message is much like John Bevere’s. We were created to DO extraordinary things. We are meant to LIVE extraordinary lives. God’s great love for us should motivate us to put forth our Utmost for His Highest callings.
That will be our focus this year, every morning in our devotional time and on Sunday nights as we gather. What are we DOING in response to God’s love?
I plan to give my Utmost to Nick’s Walk. I hope it will uplift me and bless you, but that will not be my goal, nor with it be the measure of my success. The pleasure of God will be the goal and the measure of success.
What are you DOING? Are you giving your Utmost for His Highest? Are you committed to living Extraordinary?
It’s the path to fulfilment and an assurance to blessing.
Be blessed.
Nick
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