Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?

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Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?

Postby John_Smith » Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:19 am

Aug 18

When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:23*

The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”

“Sell all that you have . . .” (Luke 18:22*). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.

I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.


from My Utmost for His Highest

*Luke 18:18-29: Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”
But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You.”
So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”


Matthew 13:18-23: “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”




I would advise reading the previous devotional, as the two share an unusual relation together.

My own pastor has recounted how common occurrence it is for young, spiritually on fire individuals to come up to him and say that they are willing to do anything for the Lord, and are ready to give their lives to Him. A typical response from my pastor would be to say, “Alright. Then I want you to write a check, and give your entire bank account to the church.” I’m not entirely certain how serious my pastor would be about going through with such a thing, but he has informed me that so far no one has jumped on the idea.
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Re: Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?

Postby drill » Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:17 am

Well, honestly, it is not exactly a responsible thing to just give all your money to the church, and God did not call us to do such a thing. Just because you have money doesn't mean that you are not living for God. God understands this, and that is why he blessed those in the Old Testament with riches. While today we might receive more spiritual blessings than earthly blessings, but that does not take away the fact that managing your money is important. After all, there are more than 800 verses about money, so God obviously cares that we manage it wisely.
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Re: Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?

Postby John_Smith » Tue Aug 19, 2014 1:12 am

drill wrote:Well, honestly, it is not exactly a responsible thing to just give all your money to the church, and God did not call us to do such a thing. Just because you have money doesn't mean that you are not living for God. God understands this, and that is why he blessed those in the Old Testament with riches. While today we might receive more spiritual blessings than earthly blessings, but that does not take away the fact that managing your money is important. After all, there are more than 800 verses about money, so God obviously cares that we manage it wisely.


Absolutely true. And really thank-you for writing this, I should have made that evidently clear before. I wrote a paragraph that would have explained that, but I didn't like it and deleted it. :eyeroll:

The point I attempted to make (which itself was sort of cherry-picked from the Chambers' passage) is that sometimes we think we're all fired up and ready to do something for God, but "when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately" we stumble.
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Re: Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?

Postby ClaecElric4God » Thu Aug 21, 2014 4:49 pm

Well, I commented on the other one, so I don't have much to add, except that one thing Chambers said really struck me.
"Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself?"
I think he may have hit the nail on the head. I've had a zeal for serving God for as long as I can remember, but quite frankly, I realize it has been more a focus of how I can be the model Christian and do what I'm supposed to do than to truly devote myself to Jesus Christ Himself. It may seem and feel like I'm taking the right approach, but am I really? That's a very thought-provoking concept. It's definitely causing me to do some soul-searching, and to check my motives. What exactly am I devoted to?
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? -Micah 6:8 KJV
They have shewed thee, O teen, what is good; and what doth the world require of thee, but to fit in, be wealthy, have good looks, and be rebellious? -Peer Pressure 1:1
"I hate milk; it's like drinking vomit." -Edward Elric and me. :fmed:
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ClaecElric4God in regards to Wolfsong - You're the coolness scraped off the top of this morning's ice cream, after being pulled out of a beautiful summer day!
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