(tm) Day 5

I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4)

Christ, while He was on the earth, honored and exalted the Father. One could say the inhabitants of Judea never really beheld Jesus. What people witnessed was the Father.

Christ did not seek His own will, His own pleasure, His own ambitions. He performed faithfully, exactly, conscientiously, diligently what the Father assigned Him to do. Christ set aside His own life. He gave Himself to the will and work of the Father. As a result, the people of the earth who are believers realize God Himself has visited our death-ridden planet.

Will we continue in that sacrificial love?

It is not possible that the will and work of Christ can be accomplished in the earth unless some human beings are willing to set aside their own desires and ambitions, their own personal preferences, their own likes and dislikes.

If we do not we will leave only the fragrance of our personal attempts to accomplish religious works. If we are willing to go to the cross of self-denial we will leave among men the fragrance of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ has left among us the fragrance of God the Father.

We cannot imagine a more marvelous hope than that of hearing the Lord Jesus tell us we have diligently and successfully completed our assigned task and now can pass over joyfully into the Presence of Christ, there to await with all saints the Day of Resurrection.

Every member of the Body of Christ without exception has been assigned a part to play in the building of the Body, a talent to spend in the market place (Romans 12:6; I Corinthians 12:11). If we will seek the Lord in sincerity, committing our way to Him, acknowledging Him in all we do, He will lead us into the Divine plan for our life (Proverbs 3:5,6).

Then our daily food will be to do Christ’s will and to finish His work.

Christ died that we may live. Now we are to die so He may live in and through us, so His Divine Life may touch the people with whom we come in contact.

If we decide to save our life we will lose it. If we are willing to lose our life for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s we will save it. Our life then will multiply because Christ will bless the offering of our life and feed the multitudes of the earth with the pieces of it.