Up To Jerusalem, With Jesus At The Center
A quiet road toward the city, a simple picture of going up to Jerusalem with Jesus, steady and unhurried.
Devotional Credit: My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Photo Credit: Unsplash
We often start the Christian journey with big dreams about what we will do for God. Oswald Chambers gently redirects our eyes. The aim is not usefulness or numbers. The aim is to go with Jesus wherever He leads. He set His face toward Jerusalem, the place where the Father’s will reached its pinnacle on the cross. If we want companionship with Him, we walk with Him in that same steady obedience, step by step, trusting His life within us.
Chambers reminds us that gratitude or ingratitude from others cannot be our compass. Jesus did not hurry past the hard villages, and He did not linger in the easy ones. He moved in the Father’s will. The disciple does not chase applause, nor hide from scorn. We start with Christ and we end with Him. The beginning and the end are the same because He is the Way and the Goal.
This path is not dour. The cross led Jesus to glory, and those who belong to Him share in that story. Along the way, the works of God will appear through our lives. Some will be thankful, and many will not. None of that determines our direction. Jesus does.
So, dear fellow traveler, let us thank God for voices like Oswald Chambers that point us back to the simple center. Not a program, not a scoreboard, but a Person. Jesus goes up to Jerusalem. We go with Him. He is our life, our companion, and our destination.
Journal Entry, Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I am with you, and I am in you. I set My face like flint toward the Father’s will, and I now share My mind and resolve with you. You are crucified with Christ, and the life you live is My life expressed in you. Present yourself to Me, not as a struggler trying to earn favor, but as one alive from the dead. I work in you to will and to do My good pleasure. Fix your eyes on Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and sat down in glory.
Do not measure your day by who thanks you or who resists you. Abide in Me. As you abide, you bear fruit, and that fruit is My own life flowing through your ordinary moments. When the road is hard, I am your endurance. When the road is bright, I am your quiet center. You were created in Christ Jesus for good works that I prepared beforehand. Walk in them as a branch sharing in the life of the Vine, and you will find that obedience is not leverage, it is overflow.
Take up your cross and follow Me. This is not a summons to self punishment. It is an invitation to share My yoke, to learn My heart, and to walk in step with Me. You are being conformed to My image. As you yield yourself to Me, I manifest My strength, My mercy, and My steadfast love through you. What I begin, I complete. What I promise, I fulfill. My grace is sufficient, and My presence is your true home.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of setting a kitchen oven to a steady temperature. You do not open the door every minute to check if the bread is rising, you trust the heat to do its quiet work. In the same way, you do not keep tugging at your soul to make it perform. You set your heart toward Jesus and rely on His indwelling Spirit to bring the Father’s will to completion in ordinary hours. When a coworker dismisses your effort, or a patient thanks you with warmth, the setting does not change. The Lord within remains your constant.
Practical application today. When you face a difficult conversation or a hidden task, pause from self management and entrust the moment to the One who lives in you. You might say, Lord, I trust You to carry Your will through me in this conversation, steady my words and my pace. Then step forward, not to prove yourself, but to let Jesus love and act through you.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that my beginning and my end are found in You. Thank You that You set Your face toward the Father’s will, and now share Your obedient life within me. I affirm that I am Yours, alive from the dead, and available for Your purposes today. Gratitude or ingratitude will not steer me. Your indwelling presence directs me, Your grace sustains me, and Your joy awaits me. I rest in the finished work of the cross, and I walk forward in the power of Your resurrection life.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Luke 18:31. Luke 6:40. Luke 23:33. John 4:34. John 15:5. Romans 6:1 to 13. Romans 8:29. Romans 12:1 to 2. 2 Corinthians 4:10 to 11. Galatians 2:20. Ephesians 2:10. Philippians 2:13. Colossians 1:27. 1 Thessalonians 5:24. Hebrews 12:2. Mark 10:32. Matthew 16:24.