A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice

He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow . . . —John 7:38

Jesus did not say, "He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God," but, in essence, "He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him." Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany "broke the flask . . . of very costly oil . . . and poured it on [Jesus’] head," it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, ". . . there were some who . . . said, ’Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ " (Mark 14:3-4 ). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said, ". . . wherever this gospel is preached . . . what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her" ( Mark 14:9 ). Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did— not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son "that the world through Him might be saved" ( John 3:17 ). Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him?

"He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water"— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. Now is the time for us to break "the flask" of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?

-utmost

***

Comments

Issues of the mom-heart

I've read somewhere that everyone's miserable. They're just good at hiding it. I have been trying to find out why this new season seems to be a burden to me. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy motherhood and I love my little one but something seems to be blocking my view of experiencing it joyfully. Callie's already 10 months and everything just dawned on me -- why I was struggling, why I can't see things the way it should be, why I felt ineffective and frustrated and depressed. I think I just had post-partum depression. I just got back from my US business trip and I just bursted into tears a few days after while singing Jesus loves me -- as if I'm telling that to myself. I'm grateful that I have a husband who listens and understands and encourages me that I can do it! I just realized the root cause(s) of what's going on after that incident. I was too attached to Callie that I don't want her to leave my site when I'm with her. I

Maturity

I was reading a long-overdue-book and I bumped into this: I have been married for almost two years now and I suddenly reminisced my late teenage years... It was in those years when God made me realize that maturity doesn't come with age... I was younger then, when I understood this very excerpt from the book Let Me Be a Woman (funny how everything He taught me is already in this book had I not stopped reading it! Indeed His humor is amazing). I started reading this way back 2007 or 2008 only to continue it now and read this now. I stopped reading it way back then because I don't have plans of getting married yet... little did I know that He will make me understand this in His own personal way. And right now, I was like, "So Lord, You must be saying, 'I told you so..' right?" haha! ... The key to meeting your better half starts with maturity. And maturity comes from God. To those who are still searching for their better half, don't. Don&#

Thoughts

Exodus Moses brought Joseph's bones out of Egypt when God freed them. Joseph made his family swear under oath that when God pays them a visit, they have to carry his bones with them. Joseph mentioned that surely, God will take them to the land He promised Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. Maybe, Joseph's brothers tell this to their sons & daughters so even after x number of years, they are still reminded of Joseph's request. The Israelites know that the time will come when God will take them out of Egypt but maybe they just didn't believe so He needed Moses to perform the miracles, that they might know Him, trust Him and believe in Him. Sometimes, we know what God said and what God promised us... but when it's already in front of us, it's hard to determine that God is already moving. Why? Because we are comfortable with the misery that we are in to. It dulls our senses and makes us forget the promise of God. Be careful with where you are right now.

Livin' only by Grace

Search This Blog