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April 3: Luke 19:42 The Strange God: Self (Today's Reflection from My Utmost For His Highest)

 

A white abstract figure stands piously to the side, arm raised to shield its eyes from the radiant figure of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. The figure symbolizes “Self,” the strange god that refuses to acknowledge the Lord, turning away from His light.


📖 Bible Verse

Luke 19:42
"If you had known… in this your day, the things that make for your peace! 
But now they are hidden from your eyes."


✨ Reflection

Jesus entered Jerusalem to praise, yet His heart ached.

The ones who should have recognized Him stood apart — unwilling to yield, unwilling to let their self‑rule fall before the true King.

Self‑importance.
Self‑protection.
Self‑image.

These were the gods they trusted — and these same gods still blind many of us today.

Chambers warns that when we refuse the truth God shows us, the door closes — not because He is unwilling, but because we hardened ourselves. That door will not open again. God may open another, but never the one we passed by without acknowledging.

And he goes deeper still:
“Do not be afraid when God brings your past back to mind.”

Self blinds us not only to Christ in the present — but to what God wants to redeem in our past.
When memories rise, it may be His doing.
Not to shame us, but to shape us.

Recently a memory surfaced — faint as a wisp — and God used it to show me what I could have chosen. It was correction, but gentle. And it came just days before I read Chambers’ words about this very thing.

This is where the gospel becomes personal:
We must die to self.
Not our personality, not our worth — but the self‑rule that keeps Jesus from being the center.

This is the exchanged life:
Self dies, and Christ becomes the center.
His strength becomes our strength.
His peace—becomes our peace.
His faith becomes our faith.
His life becomes our life.

His Spirit within us makes Christ real—and everything He is begins to live through us.

This is the miracle of surrender.


🙏 Prayer
Lord, open my eyes.
Let self fall, and let Christ be all.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.


🌬️ Breath Prayer
Inhale: Open my eyes
Exhale: that I may see


🌾 Closing
He is the center.
~ Quil
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