This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Thawing Those ‘Frozen’ Toward God
The “lost” from the Bible standpoint are not doomed. The lost, Jesus Christ is seeking for… To Jesus Christ, all men are lost, and the worker who is going to work for the cure of souls must have the same outlook. …
In Luke 19 we find a specimen of a lost man. “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Notice the setting of this statement. Zacchaeus was a chief publican and as such he would be possessed of many ill-gotten gains; he was a man of wealth and position, a dishonorable man, but perfectly content with his dishonor. … This man Zacchaeus was frozen towards God, his conscience did not bother him, he was “lost,” quite contented, quite happy, and quite curious. When Jesus Christ came his way, the man’s nature unfroze, something began to work at once. …
Look what happened to Zacchaeus—“Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possession to the poor; and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’” Who had been talking to him about his doings? Not a soul. Jesus had never said a word about his evil doings. What awakened him? What suddenly made him know where he was? The presence of Jesus!
Wherever a worker for God goes, the same thing will happen if the Spirit of God is getting His way through that man or woman. … The Holy Spirit’s presence through you has brought the atmosphere that Jesus Christ’s presence always brought, and has thawed the ice around their mind in their conscience and they are beginning to be convicted. …
Oh, do let us get back to this tremendous confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ’s power! Back to reliance on the Holy Spirit, and to remembering that Jesus came to seek the lost.
From Workmen Of God
Is this an amazing thought?!
If Christians will just approach their “frozen” friends and loved ones with the knowledge that Jesus Christ loves them and wants to save them—and with the expectation that Jesus can save them—then the Holy Spirit can work through our presence to begin the thaw around their heart.
“Oh, do let us get back to this tremendous confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ’s power! Back to reliance on the Holy Spirit, and to remembering that Jesus came to seek the lost.” Amen!
“When such embers of contention begin to smoke among Christians, we can be sure satan planted the spark; he is the one great kindle-coal of all strife.
Craig T. Owens 