Days of Faith and Surrender
If I could I would spend all my days doing the things I love the most, like singing, and playing the guitar, and reading the Bible, and writing and sharing the joy of the Lord with all my friends, and visiting with my family and loving on my granddaughter, just to name a few. But, there is a real world that demands attention, and left alone will fall by the wayside. You see that is where my marriage ended up, by the wayside, trampled by the enemy and all his friends. Some might read this and say I’m being too harsh on myself, but I think that some times you need to look deeper and find the real truth behind the how and why of things. That is why I call these “my days of faith and surrender”. I have to surrender all to gain all, exchange my life for the life Jesus has for me, and as Philippians 3:7-16 says, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, (Mature) be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”
I have gained a lot over the last 18 years, and I’ve lost a lot also. To have such a mind set as Paul did is something to attain to, although Paul went through great tribulations in the process, “something to keep in mind.” “Count the cost!” don’t just arbitrarily seek after something without really knowing the will of God first, and don’t forget the fact that there is an enemy waiting just to cause mischief and hinder you on every point. But don’t give up or give in when it comes to following after God, even if it means the lose of everything. God is faithful! He is true, and honest, and just, and pure, and lovely, and good. He is full of virtue and worthy of all praise. Think on that!(Philippians 4:8)
written in 05
Thou Hast Me Still
Thou hast me still in days of faith and surrender, although the trials be of a different sort. Yet in Thy hands I place my heart, my life, my all. For what better place could there be where I may shelter from the storm? Psalm 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble ; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. Psalm 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. O Lord, how precious are Your thoughts towards me! How lovely Thy voice to my ear, may I never grow dull of hearing what it is Thou sayest.
Note found on desk of African Martyr
"I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made - I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer and I labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus.
I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work until He stops me. And, when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me...my banner will be clear.
Steps and Stops
Psalm 37:23, 24 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.”
I like these verses because they give us three exciting assurances as we go through each day with the Lord. First, God directs us in the best way. The steps of a good man or a good woman are ordered by the Lord. David isn’t talking about fate or chance. He isn’t saying that life is a rigid machine. But he does say, “Your Father in heaven is watching you. He planned a wonderful day for you. You may not understand all that He has planned, but everything is in His hands.” Romans 8:28 tells us that “all things work together for good to those who love God.” Second, God delights in us as we obey Him. Just as human fathers experience delight when their children obey them, so our Father in heaven enjoys delight when we obey Him. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). That’s what God the Father said about God the Son, and I want Him to say the same about me. At the close of the day, I want to be able to come to my Father and hear Him say, “Today you’ve been a good son. You have delighted My heart.” Third, God delivers us when we stumble. “He restores my soul” (Ps. 23:3). He upholds and lifts us up, so we don’t have to be afraid of stumbling. Sometimes we do stumble on the path of life, but our steps are ordered by the Lord, and He observes our stops. He knows when you’ve stumbled, and He’s right there to pick you up and get you started again. Stay close to Him, for He guides and guards your path.
God promises to guide you through life, and He gives assurances that you may depend on daily. Be encouraged that your life is not left to chance. Does God delight in you as an obedient son or daughter? Remember, your Father is ready to guide and protect you.
From: Prayers, Praise & Promises, Warren Wiersbe.
We live in a dark and deceived world. But God has promised to guide and guard us through His Word. The Bible is a spiritual treasure, and without it, we soon lose our way and become vulnerable. Do you feed daily on the truth of His Word? If not, begin a program of daily meditation in Scripture. Psalm 43:3 says, “O send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Babylonian books!
To forego your Bible reading for the perusal even of good books would soon bring a conscious descending of the soul.
If you read the 'Babylonian books' of the present day, you will catch their spirit, and it is a foreign one, which will draw you aside from the Lord your God. You may also get great harm from divines in whom there is
much pretence of the Jerusalem dialect, but their speech is half of Ashdod: these will confuse your mind and defile your faith.
It may happen that a book which is upon the whole excellent, which has little taint about it, may do you more mischief than a thoroughly bad one. Be careful; for works of this kind come forth from the press like clouds of locusts. Scarcely can you find in these days a book which is quite free from the modern leaven, and the least particle of it ferments until it produces the wildest error. In
reading books of the new order, though no palpable falsehood
may appear, you are conscious of a twist being given you, and of a sinking in the tone of your spirit; therefore be on your guard. But with your Bible you may always feel at ease; there every breath from every quarter brings life and health. If you keep close to the inspired book, you can suffer no harm; say rather
you are at the fountain-head of all moral and spiritual good. This
is fit food for men of God: this is the bread which nourishes the
highest life.
by Spurgeon
Let Us Keep To The Point
“My eager desire and hope being that I may never feel ashamed, but that now as ever I may do honor to Christ in my own person by fearless courage.” Phil. 1:20 (Moffatt). My Utmost for His Highest. “My eager desire and hope being that I may never feel ashamed.” We shall all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus on the point He has asked us to yield to Him. Paul says; “My determination is to be my utmost for His Highest.” To get there is a question of will, not of debate nor of reasoning, but a surrender of will, an absolute and irrevocable surrender on that point. An overwhelming consideration for ourselves is the thing that keeps us from that decision, though we put it that we are considering others. When we consider what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He does not know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point; He does know. Shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only—My Utmost for His Highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone. My Undeterredness for His Holiness. “Whether that means life or death, no matter!” (v21.) Paul is determined that nothing shall deter him from doing exactly what Gods wants. God’s order has to work up to a crisis in our lives because we will not heed the gentler way. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him, and we begin to debate; then He produces a providential crisis where we have to decide—for or against, and from that point the “Great Divide” begins. If the crisis has come to you on any line, surrender your will to Him absolutely and irrevocably.
(My Utmost for His Highest page 1) Oswald Chambers
Leading Me On
The Lord has always arranged my life that I have had to keep dependant on Him. Over and over again, I went to my knees and asked the Spirit of Wisdom for guidance and direction. There were times when I was tempted to flee from problems and pressures and my inability to cope with them; but somehow, even in moments of confusion and indecision, it seemed I could trace the steady hand of God’s sovereignty leading me on. (Life Wisdom from Billy Graham) p.110
Will You Go Out Without Knowing?
“He went out, not knowing whither he went.” Hebrews 11:8. Have you been “out” in this way? If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question—”What do you expect to do?” You don’t know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God and see if it is a going out of everything, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder—you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a “going out,” building in confidence on God. “Take no thought for your life,...nor yet for your body”—take no thought for the things for which you did take thought before you “went out.” Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He might not tell you. God does not always tell you what He is going to do; but He reveals to you Who He is. Do you believe in a miracle working God, and will you go out in surrender to Him until you are not surprised an atom at anything He does? Suppose God is the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him—what an impertinence worry is! Let the attitude of the life be a continual “going out” in dependence upon God, and your life will have an ineffable charm about it which is a satisfaction to Jesus. You have to learn to go out of convictions, out of creeds, out of experiences, until so far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing between yourself and God.
(My Utmost for His Highest)
