Deciding Beforehand

   Yesterday, Mayre Lou and I watched the news of another shooting at Virginia Tech, and, in our minds, lived through the sadness of the 2007 events that caused so much havoc in the lives of the people of Blacksburg. Some of my thoughts, even as the new story came out, were about how I could incorporate that older tragedy into my blog for this morning. I thought of it again this morning as I got up early to study and write. How could I find something in the Chambers' devotion for today that would tie in with my feelings of 4 years ago? It would be a good thing to relive those traumatic events and explore my feelings again.

   Then comes another thought from somewhere. My stated object in this study and writing is to take the thoughts of Oswald, read and think on them, and see what God was saying to me. Was the correct path deciding first what I would write about and then bending the devotion to fit the subject? A rhetorical question again.

   Chambers says today:

   "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself. . . (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence."

   Do I do what I want to do, even in such a small(?) matter of will?

   Will I do my study to fit my own inclinations and desires, or sit with an open mind and heart and try to listen to what God wants to say, even if that is hard? 


   Who is in control here anyway?

   When God has to get my attention on this "personal independence" thing right out of the box this morning, and remind me that "good" is not often the "best", it could be a long day. 

   The writings of Oswald Chambers are not Holy Scripture, and I am not a slave to what he says, but God has encouraged me to take those, along with the Bible verses contained in them, and use them as a jumping off place for study and reflection, for His purposes in my life.

   God help me not to jump ahead of You in any area of life, but to listen and get out of the way.