International Study :: Rwanda

– by Aimable Mutabaruka from Rwanda, Africa –

 

These are two insights I have been saturating myself on these days. Read and meditate on them.

 

WHAT MY OBEDIENCE TO GOD COSTS OTHER PEOPLE
“As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man Simon…, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus” (Luke 23:26).

 

If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything—it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.

 

When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, ‘I will never accept anything from anyone” But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationship we have with others should be any different from those the Lord had. (see Luke 8:1-3)

 

A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him.

 

Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or, will we do just the opposite and say, “I will not cause other people to suffer?”

 

We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will take care of those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.

 

Beware of the inclination to dedicate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.

 

 
TRANSFORMED   BY   BEHOLDING
“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image…” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

 

The greatest characteristic a Christian can exhibit is this completely unveiled openness before God, which allows that person’s life to become a mirror (of God) for others. When the Spirit fills us, we are transformed, and by beholding God we become mirrors.

 

You can always tell when someone has been beholding the glory of the Lord, because your inner spirit senses that he mirrors the Lord’s own character. Beware of anything that would spot or tarnish that mirror in you. It is almost always something good that stains it—something good, but not what is best.

 

The most important rule for us is to concentrate on keeping our lives open to God. Let everything else including work, clothes, and food be set aside. The busyness of things obscures our concentration on God. We must maintain a position of beholding Him, keeping our lives completely spiritual through and through. Let other things come and go as they will; let other people criticize us as they will; but never allow anything obscure the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). Never let a hurried lifestyle disturb the relationship of abiding in Him. This is an easy thing to allow, but we must guard against it.

 

The most difficult lesson of the Christian life is learning how to continue “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord…”