Stop Trying

I read this from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers this morning

 “Our calling is not primarily to be Holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the Gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the Gospel of God should be recognized as THE abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell- it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers, we have to get the revelation that redemption is the one reality. Personal holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes.

            Paul did not say that he separated himself, but ‘when it pleased God, who separated me…’ (Gal. 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption. Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. ‘Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.’ To talk this way is a sign that the reality of the Gospel has not begun to touch me. There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose- to proclaim the Gospel of God (see Romans 3:9).”

Christ paid the price for us to be able to turn; to be delivered from our sin. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, truly accept him, it is an allowing of the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what we need to repent and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can turn away from our old selves and become new creations (2 Cor. 5:17). 

We spend too much time focused on ourselves, we don’t feel good about ourselves so we “try” to do better. We say to ourselves “I’m trying to spend more time with God” or “I’m trying to go to church every Sunday”, when we do this “trying” we offend Him and diminish the work on the cross. His desire isn't for us to “try” so we will feel better; it is to “do” out of love for Him. A life truly, recklessly abandoned for God is not always going to make us “feel” good. He wants us totally surrendered to do His will with His power. Col.1:29(NASB) says “for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” The work is hard and it takes sacrifice but it comes from His strength not our own. (Phil. 4:13)

1 Corinthians 1: 26-30 ...think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things- and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because  of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God- that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption.