We hear this so frequently, almost every time we step off our mission compound. I never doubt it to be true. But tonight, as this filthy barefoot boy in a ripped t-shirt tugged at my elbow, I slipped him a few bills while thinking, "ME TOO."
I am hungry. So hungry that I feel sick. I am feeling starved for more of Christ, and way less of me, in my life.
A few mornings ago I read this from Oswald Chambers.
Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ,
Turn to Him at once,
asking Him to re-establish your rest.
Never allow anything to remain in your life
that is causing the unrest.
Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration between you and Christ
as something you should fight against,
not as something you should allow to remain.
Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you,
and your self-awareness will disappear.
Then He will be your ALL in ALL.
Beware of allowing your self-awareness to continue,
because slowly but surely it will awaken self-pity,
and self-pity is satanic.
Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness,
and He will steady you until
your completeness in Him is absolute.
If we try to overcome our self=-awareness thorough our own commonsense methods,
we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness.
Jesus says, "come unto Me, and I will give you rest."
That is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness.
Wherever Christ comes He establishes rest--
the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself."
What a crazy and beautiful concept: a life unaware of itself.
Me, unaware of me, and only aware of Him.
Him, my steady place, and nowhere, no one, nothing else.
Completeness in Him, not in ministry, in motherhood, in friendships, in marriage, in Haiti, in OMS, in family, in work, in comforts, in money, in peace, or in myself.
Fighting against everything, even things I enjoy, even things that are habit, even things that are comfortable, even things that are popular, even things that are easier, that come between me and Him.
I have such a terribly long way to go. Please pray with us for wisdom, love, and Christ abounding.
Stay hungry! You and Cammie are both challenging me this week in your blogs - making me hungrier! S
ReplyDeleteTo live is Christ, to die gain
ReplyDeleteJesus said that He had food that they didn't know, We know now and you have fed it to us. thank you.
In His Love,
as always,
Charlie