Posted on 09/13/2006 3:08:39 AM PDT by .30Carbine
True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.
Surrender for Deliverance. "Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest" ( Matthew 11:28 ). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— "Come to Me." And it is a voluntary coming.
Surrender for Devotion. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . . " ( Matthew 16:24 ). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, "If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me." And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Philippians 4:19).
Surrender for Death. ". . . another will gird you . . ." ( John 21:18-19 ). Have you learned what it means to be girded for death? Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again. True surrender is a matter of being "united together [with Jesus] in the likeness of His death" ( Romans 6:5 ) until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.
And after you surrender— then what? Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.
In 1910 Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen, who still resides in London (as of 1992).
In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix.
My Utmost for His Highest, his best-known book, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and in this, the last decade of the century, remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic. [from the flyleaf of the book]
Absolutely no flaming! These daily threads are intended to be devotional in nature. If a particular day's offering says nothing to you, please just go on and wait for the next day. Consider these threads a DMZ of sorts, a place where a perpetual truce is in effect and a place where all other arguments and disagreements from other times and places are left behind.
I can attest from personal experience that reading from Chambers daily will almost certainly change - not one's faith - but one's perspective of his/her own faith, and open up new vistas in your spiritual life. If - when - this happens to a reader of these threads, and they choose to share what has happened within them - we are treading on hallowed ground. Be respectful.
- Religion Moderator
Good morning, .30Carbine. Thank you for your daily dedication in posting the Daily Reflections. They are much appreciated.
A lot to reflect on again today, including this one. Thank you.
I respectfully disagree with Oswald here:
*Never* Surrender. Negotiate terms if you must, and live to fight another day. But never, ever Surrender. Death before dishonor.
God does not require us to Surrender: Allah does. And Allah and his False Prophet Muhammad be Dam'ned: I'll see them both in Hell before I *ever* surrender.
God wants us to follow His Son as Christian Soldiers, equipped to fight the wiles of the Devil equipped per Ephesians 6. We are not granted permission to surrender arms: the sword of the spirit, or the breastplate of righteousness, or any of the rest.
When we accept our commission as Christian Soldiers it is to the death. Surrender plays no part: ours is a willing enlistment into His ranks and into His Command. As volunteers: not as conscripts as Allah would have.
I'll voluntarily follow Christ to Hell and back again and take the skin of the Devil as our trophy. And if I'm permitted to lead a host or two of Saints, better still. Either way, the Sword of the Spirit will be wielded in my hand and never surrendered.
Surrender is for the French and other cowards. It is *not* for Christian Soldiers. It is a foreign and repugnant concept to be discarded with contempt immediately.
Me, surrender? Hell No! No way in Texas. Not this Christian Soldier -- not so long as my arse points toward the ground -- and *that* is final.
Crikey. I have not yet begun to fight. And I'd rather die than surrender.
Allah can kiss my arse or meet me in a dark alley.
*DieHard*
Ro 1:1 ¶ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
GOOD TO SEE YOU IN FIGHTING FORM MATE!
CHAMBERS WAS STATING WE SHOULD SURRENDER TO THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST AND NO OTHER,INCLUDING OURSELVES.
LIKE OUR DECEASED BRETHREN THE HIGHLANDERS HAD,COMPLETE FEARLESSNESS BECAUSE THEY NEW GOD IS COMPLETELTY SOVERIEGN;
http://www.personal.kent.edu/~ltaylor1/USFormoutline.pdf#search=%22%22SCOTS%20HIGHLANDERS%22%20AND%20%22GOD'S%20SOVEREIGNTY%22%22
KIA KAHA!
Dear DieHard, I hope you will be patient with me and read my whole post, though it is a long one. I do love you and so I took extra time with this for your sake!
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
I'm so glad you brought up Ephesians 6:10-18! We are to be strong in the Lord and in His Mighty Power! Amen!
As I understand it, the Belt of Truth was the most important item of armor - you will note it is listed first! - for every other piece was attached to this one, and without it none of the other armor could be worn. As I've also heard, the men of that day, much like Scotsmen, wore a skirt-like item instead of pants, and the belt was absolutely necessary so that he could tuck the fabric in and run, not being "tripped up" - even in our own day there is a darn good reason why men wear belts (;
Also, it is important to note what the offensive weapons of our warfare are, namely, Prayer and The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and the Word of God is the Truth! Without the Word of God the Christian Soldier has no Sword, or failing to have the whole Word of God the Soldier has an embarrassingly broken blade.
If you attempt to "fight the devil" with the devil's own weapons, you will lose every time, for that evil one is the master of evil and the father of lies and all liars. Satan is a fallen angel, an eternally conquered foe, but he is an angel nonetheless, and given reign in this time as prince of "the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (6:12)." All who fight with his powers - whether they know it or not - are serving him.
Jude speaks of these things:
And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.God the Father of Truth is very patient with us, not wanting any to perish, but all to come repentance (2 Peter 3:9). As Oswald Chambers phrases it,Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
God never forces a person’s will into surrender,
and He never begs.
He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him...
...The surrender here is of my self to Jesus
Indeed, and so "midwives" are called for!
I appreciate the Reflections and grow in them as much as any. Who shall I thank?! God! - through Jesus Christ! Amen!
I'm delighted to see you again, bw! Thank you for posting to today's thread!
the hardest, and best prayer, "not my will, but Thine, O Lord!"
You are a wise woman and I thank God for our fellowship here and throughout the forum...in the Kingdom!
Amen, He alone offers rest, and the simple call, "Come." Thank you.
Very well put, and I thank you for making it so plain, dear alpha.
Your verse walks hand in hand with today's message. Any other person or thing, including Self, that sits on the throne of a heart other than God its Maker, is an idol. Thank you so much for sharing, dear Vision. Nice to see you again.
Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.
That's what I want! For the display of His Glory, amen!
Indeed.
And long dark nights of the soul; fiery furnaces . . . seem to function as quite tolerable mid-wives . . .
Though I'm still not sure how to wrap my mind well around:
MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN LIGHT.
vs
I won't put on you more than you can bear [Right, but you sure push us right up to the line; stretch us so that our line is expanded and then push us up to that line! LOL]
I'm surrounded by wisdom! Thank you so, so much for appearing!
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
~1 Thessalonians 5:18
For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
1 Peter 2:15
It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
1 Thessalonians 4:3
And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.
2 Corinthians 8:5
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Romans 8:27
"If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own."
John 17:7
"Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
Mark 3:35
It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
1 Peter 3:17
So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
1 Peter 4:19
LUB
(:
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