First Things First!

Hi Everyone,

A friend sent me this portion of the "My Utmost For His Highest" devotional by Oswald Chanbers today! I thought it was really good.

"August 30th
Am I convinced by Christ?
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not . . ., but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:19, 20.
Jesus Christ says, in effect, Don’t rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me. The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service, to rejoice in the fact that God has used you. You never can measure what God will do through you if you are rightly related to Jesus Christ. Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you, and it is of His mercy that He does not let you know it. When once you are rightly related to God by salvation and sanctification, remember that wherever you are, you are put there by God; and by the reaction of your life on the circumstances around you, you will fulfil God’s purpose, as long as you keep in the light as God is in the light.

The tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make usefulness their ground of appeal. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure that ever lived. The lodestar of the saint is God Himself, not estimated usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that Our Lord heeds in a man’s life is the relationship of worth to His Father. Jesus is bringing many sons to glory."

My thoughts follow below.

I thought this was just a good reminder, as my friend also noted in her own words that it is important to KEEP CHRIST FIRST IN OUR LIVES as our first love and not let SERVING HIM take a role that it is not meant to or let serving Him take the place of our relationship with Christ itself. WE GAVE TO KEEP FIRST THINGS FIRST--LOVING GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE AND SERVING OUT OF OBEDIENCE TO HIM, AND NEVER SERVING HIM OUT OF AN EFFORT TO MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES OR TO GET GLORY BECAUSE ONLY HE IS WORTHY OF THAT!!!!We must also remember that it is HIM that uses us as channels, for some amazing reason, that He chooses to work through, by HIS GRACE TO SHOW HIS POWER AT WORK--and every ounce of EVERYTHING WE NEED in order to do what HE HAS CALLED US TO DO COMES FROM HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE! Apart from Him, we are NOTHING!! The Work is His to do-we are but willing vessels to be used as HE SEES FIT, like the potter with the clay in his hands, molding it, for his purpose! THE GREATEST THING IS KNOWING HIM!!!!!