Thoughts from Bible Study

Today I was reading the devotion, "My Utmost for His Highest", and I came across something that seemed parallel to what we were discussing on Wednesday night. It brings together the supernatural concept of God calling us to be disciples, and how we can ignore the calling but it is something that we can't get away from.

If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally; as long as we have the deadset purpose of being disciples we may be sure we are not. "I have chosen you" That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint that we cannot get away from; we can disobey it, but we cannot generate it. The drawing is done by the supernatural grace of God, and we never can trace where His work begins. Our Lord's making of a disciple is super-natural. He does not build on any natural capacity at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are easy to us naturally; He only asks us to do the things we are perfectly fitted to do by His grace, and the cross will come along that line always.

I love how he says that "as long as we have the deadset purpose of being disciples we may be sure we are not". Often I see my work as a disciple as purely something that I control and direct, instead of reliquishing the control over to God who has the full plan. I know Kelly gave a warning of really asking God to let him have his way - and I have to admit that I often find it safer to trust myself than to trust God. The problem in this though, is that God's sole purpose in the challenges in my life and through my work as a disciple is so that over and over I have to come to the place where I need His grace to be successful. That is when we can truly show and depict the story of the gospel.

Also, I see that if I allow myself as a disciple to run the show, I will only grow to what my natural capacity is at right now. I will only choose to bite off what I can chew. The problem in this is that it leaves no room for growth in my life, and will mean my walk with God will be that of an infant still on breastmilk. That's why I should be glad that God isn't cruel enough to leave me to myself, and I should begin to pray more boldly.