How many times have we experienced a Week of Prayer or an amazing Campmeeting, and with every ounce of our being we have committed our lives to Jesus, just to see it fade away in a few weeks or months?
It is frustrating, but remember, when God begins the work of absolute surrender in our lives, and when Jesus has accepted our surrender, Jesus holds Himself responsible to care for it and keep it. I hope and pray that we can believe that, because our spiritual growth, and our walk with Jesus depends on it!
When it comes to surrender, there is just Jesus and me! Jesus and you! We are weak, frail, self-centered, and Jesus is the everlasting, and all powerful Ruler of the Universe. So, the real question is: Are we as frail, weak human beings afraid to trust ourselves to the all powerful God of the Universe?
Jesus is ready and willing! God the Father is ready! The Holy Spirit is ready! Do we believe that They can keep us continually, day by day, and moment by moment surrendered to Him?
Again from Andrew Murray this wonderful quote:
“If God allows the sun to shine upon you moment by moment, without intermission, will not God let His life shine upon you every moment? And why have you not experienced it? Because you have not trusted God for it, and you do not surrender yourself absolutely to God in trust.” Absolute Surrender p.12
It always comes back to faith! Do we trust Jesus with our life? Do we trust our loving Heavenly Father to do what He has promised? Do we trust the Holy Spirit to come and fill our lives with Jesus? As in every part of our walk with Jesus, He can only bless us to the extent that we can believe!
And I am well aware that a life of absolute surrender has its difficulties. In fact, it is much more than just difficult, for us it is absolutely impossible! But by the grace of God, and by Jesus dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit, it is a life that is not only possible, but in Christ it is a done deal! Our part in all this is to believe that Jesus will maintain our surrender.
Many of you have heard of the life of George Muller, that great man of prayer, who trusted in God to house thousands of orphans in England for over 40 years, and never asked for a penny from anyone but God. On his 90th Birthday he was asked what he believed was the secret of his happiness? He said, “That of all the blessings which God had given him, he believed there were two reasons for his great joy.”
The first was that by God's grace, he had been given the ability to maintain a good conscience before God day by day. The second was his fellowship with Jesus every day in the Bible, and prayer - Friends, that is a life of absolute surrender.
And this life of surrender has two sides - on one side is absolute surrender to do God's will; the other side is to let God work in us, to use us as He sees fit. We do what God wants us to do by giving up ourselves completely to do His will. May our prayer be, “Lord by Your grace I desire to do Your will in everything, every moment of every day. May there not be a word upon my lips, but for Your glory. May my temper be sweet for Your glory. May every affection in my heart be for Your glory, and according to Your will.”
Friends, let's give ourselves absolutely to God - it is Him who gives us the ability to carry out such surrender. We can say, “I give myself absolutely to Jesus, to let Him work in me to will and to do His good pleasure, as He has promised He would.”
God wants to work in us in a way we can't even understand yet, and He wants to do it every moment of every day! He is willing to maintain our life, if we can only believe it, and allow Him to do it.
Have a wonderful week!
I love you! Brad
It is frustrating, but remember, when God begins the work of absolute surrender in our lives, and when Jesus has accepted our surrender, Jesus holds Himself responsible to care for it and keep it. I hope and pray that we can believe that, because our spiritual growth, and our walk with Jesus depends on it!
When it comes to surrender, there is just Jesus and me! Jesus and you! We are weak, frail, self-centered, and Jesus is the everlasting, and all powerful Ruler of the Universe. So, the real question is: Are we as frail, weak human beings afraid to trust ourselves to the all powerful God of the Universe?
Jesus is ready and willing! God the Father is ready! The Holy Spirit is ready! Do we believe that They can keep us continually, day by day, and moment by moment surrendered to Him?
Again from Andrew Murray this wonderful quote:
“If God allows the sun to shine upon you moment by moment, without intermission, will not God let His life shine upon you every moment? And why have you not experienced it? Because you have not trusted God for it, and you do not surrender yourself absolutely to God in trust.” Absolute Surrender p.12
It always comes back to faith! Do we trust Jesus with our life? Do we trust our loving Heavenly Father to do what He has promised? Do we trust the Holy Spirit to come and fill our lives with Jesus? As in every part of our walk with Jesus, He can only bless us to the extent that we can believe!
And I am well aware that a life of absolute surrender has its difficulties. In fact, it is much more than just difficult, for us it is absolutely impossible! But by the grace of God, and by Jesus dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit, it is a life that is not only possible, but in Christ it is a done deal! Our part in all this is to believe that Jesus will maintain our surrender.
Many of you have heard of the life of George Muller, that great man of prayer, who trusted in God to house thousands of orphans in England for over 40 years, and never asked for a penny from anyone but God. On his 90th Birthday he was asked what he believed was the secret of his happiness? He said, “That of all the blessings which God had given him, he believed there were two reasons for his great joy.”
The first was that by God's grace, he had been given the ability to maintain a good conscience before God day by day. The second was his fellowship with Jesus every day in the Bible, and prayer - Friends, that is a life of absolute surrender.
And this life of surrender has two sides - on one side is absolute surrender to do God's will; the other side is to let God work in us, to use us as He sees fit. We do what God wants us to do by giving up ourselves completely to do His will. May our prayer be, “Lord by Your grace I desire to do Your will in everything, every moment of every day. May there not be a word upon my lips, but for Your glory. May my temper be sweet for Your glory. May every affection in my heart be for Your glory, and according to Your will.”
Friends, let's give ourselves absolutely to God - it is Him who gives us the ability to carry out such surrender. We can say, “I give myself absolutely to Jesus, to let Him work in me to will and to do His good pleasure, as He has promised He would.”
God wants to work in us in a way we can't even understand yet, and He wants to do it every moment of every day! He is willing to maintain our life, if we can only believe it, and allow Him to do it.
Have a wonderful week!
I love you! Brad
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