Oswald Chambers: Joy - Strength In The LordSample

The great motive and inspiration of service is not that God has saved and sanctified me or healed me. All that is a fact, but the great motive of service is the realization that every bit of my life that is of value I owe to the Redemption. I realize with joy that I cannot live my own life; I am a debtor to Christ, and as such I can only realize the fulfillment of His purposes in my life. The joy of Jesus Christ was in the absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice of Himself to His Father, the joy of doing what the Father sent Him to do, and that is the joy He prays may be in His disciples. It is not a question of trying to work as Jesus did, but of having the personal presence of the Holy Ghost Who works in us the nature of Jesus. One of the consolations of the way is the fathomless joy of the Holy Ghost manifesting itself in us as it did in the Son of God in the days of His flesh. Reflection Questions: What is joyful about realizing I cannot live my own life? If Jesus found joy in surrender, what do I have to look forward to by having Christ live through me? Quotations taken from So Send I You, © Discovery House Publishers