One of my favorite devotional books is Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest". I don't know when this book was first written but Chambers died in 1917 so it was a long time ago. In the 1960s the book was updated with modern language and modern word usage.
Today I read something that I guess I knew but had not really thought about. Directed to men who were studying to be preachers of the Gospel, Chambers said, "If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle..."
I thought about sermons I've heard in various churches and on TV and realized I have heard many sermons about the "effects" that didn't say a whole lot about Jesus. The "refined religious lifestyle" is what Jesus fought against while He was on earth. I don't know why it is hard for us to comprehend that first and foremost we MUST have a relationship with Jesus. We can be religious all we want but that doesn't save us, doesn't result in new birth.
OK, Nancy. Be ready to expound on this post at home group Wednesday night. I want to know more.
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