Tag Archives: work jesus

Passionate Devotion
John 21:17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”
I needed an encouraging word this morning; in my prayer time I pled for God to do so. So much on my mind, the pressures of life come, everything to take my focus off Him. I am no different that you; I struggle just like you in many of the same ways as you. My heart was changed no so long ago, and now my heart yearns for the life after this one, with the One who forgave me and provided that opportunity. That realization has produced in me a passion to seek, serve, and obey my Savior. It is against the current in all that a heart for this world produces. It goes against all that the sin in this world glorifies. That driving force, that love for Christ, must be strong enough to withstand all that comes against that devotion. It must go where it is led by Him; it must endure what is allowed by Him; it must be enabled by Him to continue on at all costs. A disciples heart is a devoted heart to only one cause; their love for Christ, and all that comes with it.
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Service Of Passionate Devotion
Lovest thou Me? . . . Feed My sheep. — John 21:16
Jesus did not say – Make converts to your way of thinking, but look after My sheep, see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Me. We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or a creed. “If any man come to Me and hate not . . . , he cannot be My disciple.” There is no argument and no compulsion, but simply – If you would be My disciple, you must be devoted to Me. A man touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says – “Now I see Who Jesus is,” and that is the source of devotion.
Today we have substituted credal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is a source of deep offence to the educated mind of to-day that does not want Him in any other way than as a Comrade. Our Lord’s first obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of men; the saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat. The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of the life is its unobtrusiveness. It is like a corn of wheat, which falls into the ground and dies, but presently it will spring up and alter the whole landscape (John 12:24).