"By the Grace of God I Am What I Am"

This is a long overdue post that I meant to write on November 30, when I was reading Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest." And by write, I mean tell you all the great things that Oswald Chambers has to say.

"By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain..." - 1 Corinthians 15:10"

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. [...] Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all. There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God's purposes, and yours may be that life.

We complain about our incompetency as much as we acknowledge our imperfection, all in an attempt to achieve some sense of humility. I think, though, that we forget that the standard for perfection is different from the standard for competency. God created perfection; God is perfection. Compared to Jesus' example, we all fall short. We are imperfect. Competency is world-created, based on the people in our lives and in this world who seem to do certain things particularly well. We strive to meet their standard and complain when we do not reach it, but perhaps not all standards of competency are ours to meet.

Lessons from the Ballroom

I've been wanting to get back to dancing for a while now, and tonight I started a 4-week ballroom crash course. We learned the foundational rules of ballroom and the basic steps of the waltz. Next week, we tackle the foxtrot. Reverence Studios, where I'm going, is a Christian studio, meaning we begin class with prayer and the teachers are currently working on a production based on the parables and message of Jesus. Our teacher, Sarah, prayed that we would see the parallels between dance and our relationship with God. The similarities were everywhere!

One that stuck out to me was when Sarah talked about leading. We tend to focus on where we want to go and head in that direction, but we need to wait for the Man's cue to tell us where to go. He may want us to go right and lead us in that direction, but if we are so intent on going left, we are only going to trip. It is also the Man's responsibility to lead His partner is the right direction, to move His partner forward and keep an eye out for obstacles.

Also in ballroom dancing, you have to engage all of your muscles the entire time. If your arms get tired, you can't just give up and collapse onto your partner, expecting Him to dance for you. However, the Man is dancing with you the entire time and maintains a strong frame to support His partner. The beauty of the waltz is in the partnership. It's all about the two people moving as one unit and the inability of the audience to distinguish the dancer from the Partner.

From the Wisdom of Oswald Chambers

Lately I have been reading from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest." This week has offered a lot of great thoughts and verses to motivate and inspire. Though Oswald Chambers died in 1917, his words carry an air of relevancy in the 21st century.

From "The Key to the Missionary's Devotion":
"Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, 'Do you love me?' (John 21:17). And then He said, 'Feed My sheep.' In effect, He said, 'Identify yourself with My interests in other people,' not, 'Identify Me with your interests in other people.' ... The key to the missionary's devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God."

From "The Unheeded Secret":
"In our Lord's life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others. ... You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God's redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come."

From "Is God's Will My Will?":
"Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me - is it my will? Am I willing to let god do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh?"

From "Impulsiveness or Discipleship?":
"Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different."