Gifts without Presence

There is a different between gifts and God's presence. You can continue to use the gifts for a long time after the presence of the Lord has already left. Saul lost the presence after 2 years and continued serving as king for another 40 years. You can continue in the calling and ministry God gave you without His presence. You can even have good results, but in the end you will be judged by God.

We do not have to prove ourselves.

As I was reading the story of Christ's crucifixion in the gospel of Matthew, I was struck by the fact that the bystanders were mocking Christ's authority and asking Him to prove himself by coming down from the cross.

The Lord spoke to me that we do not have to prove ourselves when we are being obedient to God. We don't have to answer to others but God alone. It sure would have been tempting for Christ to show his power.

If Jesus had listened to their mocking and encouragement to rescue himself, he would of disobeyed His Father and we would not have been saved from our sin. Oh yes, if he had come off that cross many would have believed in Him and followed Him, but provision for our salvation would not have been made. It would have been a short won victory. It would have been a short term gain, but a long term lost.

Let us be careful not to be led by the crowd or choose the path of less resistance. Let us be careful to not let our pride cause us from being obedient to Him. There are many voices out their pulling at us, but there is only one voice that we are to listen to. The idea may look good in our eyes and/or in the eyes of others, but there is only one path. There is no short cuts with God. There is no plan two. We must stay the course.