I Surrender All?

“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.” ― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

Why does it still happen to us, who call ourselves Christ-followers? Why do we shy away from this disciplined, more refined lifestyle? God is calling us to something deeper, something far better than what we experiencing in the here and now. Why do we fight it? Could it be that we have something more to surrender? Could it be that we have held back a part of us from Him?

God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. He did what? It’s true. God told Abraham to take Isaac up into the mountains, build an altar and shed his only son’s blood as an offering and as a sign of allegiance to the Almighty. Scripture doesn’t say that Abraham refused, yet I struggle with this passage. How could a father follow through with a request like this? Abraham doesn’t refuse and he does what God asks of him, he goes up into the mountains and takes his son with him. Everything is premeditated, including the murder weapon. Yet I know that Abraham must have dreaded what was to come. He must have mourned and waged within himself over this request from God. Isaac’s name means “He laughs” and that is certainly what Abraham and Sarah did when they received the news that they would have a son. After all, Abraham was nearly a hundred years old when they received this divine news. But Isaac’s name meant much more then their initial response. He would bring joy into their lives. They would laugh until tears ran from their eyes! He was their answer to so many years of barrenness and familial emptiness. Isaac was Abraham and Sarah’s pride and joy…even to the point of replacing God.

We do this sometimes. People and even things have a tendency of replacing God as top priority in our lives. We don’t intentionally run from God, but little by little we find ourselves unwilling to surrender everything before Him. This is a very real danger in our ministries and in our spiritual journey and Christ-followers! We utter the chorus “I surrender all” with our lips and yet in our hearts we’re holding onto something that needs to sacrificed at the altar of self!

Abraham didn’t hold back. He was obedient to God. Perhaps he understood the message that God was trying to send to him way before he held the sharp blade over his bound son on that stone altar. He certainly displayed his obedience in his response to Isaac’s questions about where the lamb was going come from when Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8) Though Isaac had become his pride and joy, and perhaps, for a time replaced God on his priority list, Abraham had faith! His faith was indeed rewarded when an Angel appeared and stopped him from completing costly sacrifice. The angel said, ““Do not lay a hand on the boy,…Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:12)

If, today, we find ourselves far away from God because we have run may we return to Him! If, today, we find that we have placed others of things before God may we be willing to lay them all at His feet in total surrender. God is faithful and longs for us to return to Him! He also longs to make us holy people, the very image of Christ for all the world to see. But that image cannot remain on us if we are unwilling to surrender everything and return to Him!

Prayer:

Lord in my returning, make me holy.

Lord in my renewal, send the fire!

May my life and heart be ever for you

restore me from sin-sick muck and mire!

November 18, 2013 1

Before my day (a Poem)

In the waning hours before the sunrise

when soft light wisps through curtained window panes

and before the sounds of busy lives begin again

I renew my conversation with my God.

In blankets wrapped and pillow propped

before these feet place themselves into gravity

and as my eyes have yet to batten a lash in focus

I find again my deep connection with my God.

And in my counting of as many breaths

these lungs are filled with countless blessings

all my hopes and needs begin and end

with these early morning times of confessions.

So, dear Lord before I begin

and the world with all of its chaos ensues

allow me one more moment here with You

let me linger but for another and then…

come with me into the fray.

-Amen.

November 11, 2013 0

I’ll Fight!

In the years that I have lived, loved and groaned

I have never known the hunger pangs of children

I have never witnessed a child dying from the curable

because resources and money was lacking.

I have never found pleasure in a single morsel of rice

because this was all I would eat in a week.

I have never been witness to the slaughter of my parents

because they believed in Jesus.

I have never had to watch as my brothers and sisters

were sold into slavery on the human trafficking market,

loaded up in boxed trucks by the dozens like animals

heading to market…

Yet I know it exists.

I know that many still today find grace in one ray of sunshine

in the midst of hell and fury of hate.

I know children go hungry as militant leaders steal

their wealth and resources and make child soldiers out of them.

I know Aids has killed and will kill entire generations in Africa

leaving orphans in its wake.

I know human slavery hasn’t been eradicated

but is extricating the innocent still to a shortened life of horror.

I know.

But how can we end this?

How can we bring food to the hungry,

safety to the threatened

and cures to the dying?

My heart yearns to help.

My heart groans to give aid.

I want to fight this.

I want to stand in the gap for those who cannon for themselves.

I want to bring the light of Christ into darkened places.

To be a place of safe harbor to the lives clinging to death.

Lord how?

How can we fight this?

How can we go?

How can we soldier on?

How do we shine when all we want to do cry and weep over

the evils of man?

This fight must begin and end with You!

Your strength.

Your peace.

Your discernment.

Your empowering arms of love.

Father, we cry out to You in a world

sin sick and broken.

Be our salve.

Be our shield.

Our fortress.

Our deliverance.

Our Victory.

I’ll fight!

I’ll fight on!

I’ll fight on into your victory!

November 8, 2013 0

Lord I forgot about You! (A Poem and Prayer)

Life is marred by many things

and busy schedules

with phones that ring

and Lord I confess I forget You.

When worries increase

and time flies by

my space all leased

I am left wondering why…

why have I forgotten You?

These fears flood in

and hope leaks out

under-sieged by sin

and I’m without

why have I forgotten You?

Until on my knees I must bend

In prayer and solitude again

to reconnect with the Eternal friend

this is how is begins and ends.

November 7, 2013 1

“Choose God”

1 Samuel 8:6-9 (NIV)
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

God’s heart must have ached in hearing the pleas of His people. They demanded a king. They looked around at the other nations and coveted what they had. God had provided them food and protection in a barren land during the exodus, and He had provided them lands to call their own, but still they strayed from Him. Still they wanted more. Enemies were vanquished before His people, provisions were met and yet they took it all for granted.

When they cried out for a king in the setting sun of Samuel’s leadership, God reminded him that it was aimed at the Almighty. “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” (1 Samuel 8:7) Imagine for a moment giving up the One who was their fortress of protection. Imagine saying to God, your wealth, though it outnumbers the stars in the sky, is not enough for me…we want something else. God had poured out His love upon His people and they had rejected it again and again.

If there was ever a governmental system in this world that could stand the test of time it was and still is God’s model. No other form of government has ever before or ever will prove more pure and selfless than His. No other form of democracy will ever remain without being tainted by man’s selfish ambitions for power, prestige and wealth. Yet His people chose a lower form of government because other nation’s systems looked more appealing. The lure of other gods and openly degenerate moralistic standards appealed to the people of God. How awful Samuel, God’s prophet must have felt. How hurt and heartsick with grief Samuel must have been.

Have you ever felt the sting of rejection? I have a time or two. It is an emotion that without a doubt begs never to be repeated in the human heart. Though this went much deeper than a single person being rejected, God was rejected by the entirety of His chosen people! They turned their backs on Him. They decided that He couldn’t support their needs any longer and so a king would better suit their pleasures.

I imagine through pain, disdain and hurt God tells Samuel to give the people what they want. But He also warns Samuel to tell them what the results will be of their betrayal and choice. “Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” (1 Samuel 8:9) The idea of a king was far more appealing to the people of God than actually considering the consequences of their choice. The king would reign over them, not like a loving, understanding and all knowing God, but like a man driven by selfish intentions and sin this would be how they would be ruled over.

God allowed them to choose. We are a created with this free-will within us. We are not compelled or forced to love and serve God. Yet when we choose to reject Him and His hand upon our lives we soon find that in our folly the devastating consequences of life without Him! I am not advocating for one form of government over another today, nor am I renouncing any leadership within our government (Scripture clearly says: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:13-17)) But what I am saying is this; above everything choose Him. Don’t turn from the One who created us and has preserved our lives. Choose God. Serve Him, love Him and make Him Lord of your life above and before all else.

-Just a thought for today.

November 7, 2013 4

Honest Questions…

What if I actually did as Jesus instructed? What would that look like? Would the world be better off because of it? If I actually loved my enemy. If I actually extended grace that extra mile. If I actually opened my heart to the whosoever? What would that look like?

What if I actually got serious about disciplining my thought processes? The way that I think. After all didn’t Jesus say that even if we think about adultery we’ve already committed it in our hearts? What would it look like if I applied the Paul principles in my life? If I pondered on all things true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy…(Philippians 4:8)? What would come of thinking this way? If I got rid of all the junk, filth, malice, hate and envy? If I, like David, asked God instead to create in me a clean heart and to renew that right spirit within me (Ps 51)…how would I be different than I am now?

What if I got serious about holiness? If I actually started listening to those promptings of the Holy Spirit to truly surrender all? If I stopped holding onto to those darker portions of my heart. If I stopped messing around thinking that there’s always time later to mature in this thing called ‘faith’. How would this surrender take over my life? Would I be truly transformed? Would I be more confident? Would I have more assurance of His grace in me? What if His holiness became a priority instead of a temporary, on again off again passing phase? What if I got serious and got disciplined in this faith?

What if I stopped talking all the time in my prayers and actually began to listen? What would I hear Him say? What is He saying right now? Am I afraid of His words? Am I dreading wrath or condemnation? Have I been putting off these listening ears because I would rather ask Him for things instead of do what He wants of me? And why don’t I spend more time studying His Word? Why is it laborious for me to read a single chapter but I can spend hours in front of the TV, with my fiction books and surfing the web? Am I afraid of what He might say to me regarding my other idle activities? Would I be convicted too much? I can justify it all away, I can say ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ but never really mean the words that I say.

What if I was honest with myself…with Him? What if…what if…what if. Perhaps it’s time to stop asking ‘what ifs’ and starting asking why not now? What am I waiting for? Why am I stalling? What are the reasons? WHY NOT NOW?

-Just a few honest questions.

September 20, 2013 0

“Doing the will of God”

Jesus got up from the table. Isn’t that unusual for Master of ceremonies to do? He got up. He had been reclined, as they did in those days. There wasn’t a wooden table and chairs as we’re so traditionally used to. He had been enjoying a meal with His disciples. There had been some banter back and forth, some laughter over a good cooked meal. Isn’t that how bonds, throughout time, have been further deepened? Over a meal, together, they bonded, they shared, they loved. Then Jesus got up. What was He about to do? The room was slightly stuffy, and getting warmer. There was a humidity in the air which matched the body heat of those gathered there. As each disciple had eaten their share of the food and had drunken a share of the wine, Jesus did not rest. He didn’t find the nearest lazy boy chair to recline in. He didn’t make his disciples go and do the dishes. He didn’t rest. Instead, He got up and after wrapping a towel around His waist, He filled a basin full of water. The disciples were caught off guard. Some were still chewing the last bits of food and draining their cups of the last drops of wine. Glances were exchanged, expressions of bewilderment and surprise replaced the revelry of celebration.

Having wrapped the towel around His waist and poured the water into the basin, Jesus begins to display for His disciples what a true discipleship looks like: a servant of all. Kneeling down before them, Jesus places himself beneath their dirty, filthy, smelly feet and washes them. He becomes a servant before them. He takes on the very job of a household servant. The son of God stooping down to wiping the dirt from the feet of His people. Is there any better description or account of doing the will of God? The actual Messiah, Jesus kneeling down and cleansing those who needed cleansing the most? Such moments like this had to have left deep impressions upon His followers. Having the One who had been present at the beginning of creation wiping away dirt from their feeble human forms, what a lesson to learn! Master becoming servant. Jesus coming down to their level and preparing them for leadership and for eternity.

This is Discipleship:

In Jewish custom, a disciple was to do as the Rabbi did. A disciple went beyond just ‘doing’ what the Rabbi did though, the purpose of a disciple was to become the Rabbi. Literally taking on his mannerisms, his theological interpretations, his actions…everything to become just like the Rabbi. Jesus knelt at their feet and washed them. Jesus displayed for his disciples what they were to become to the world around them…servants of God, serving others. Jesus even told them this when He said; “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

Discipleship is doing the will of God, not just as a part-time worker, but a full time servant. Many will commit to part-time work as a servant, but few, when faced with choices of comfort and personal gain will accept that full-time role. Yet isn’t that what Christ-followers are called to do? To be full-time disciples in our lives? Full-time disciples of Christ doesn’t mean we give up our professional vocations and don on ropes of white and live off of the land. God can and will use you as His disciples right where you are at. Sometimes He asks us to move and to switch vocations, but many times He can and will use you if you are available for His purposes. True discipleship though looks very much that Jesus with towel wrapped around His waist washing feet. True discipleship may take on roles we feel are beneath us, not befitting one from our status…yet Jesus knelt down and washed the disciples feet, are you prepared to do so as well to those around you? Are you prepared to be a full-time disciple?

William Law once wrote; “The devout, therefore, are people who do not live to their own will, or in the way and spirit of the world, but only to the will of God. Such people consider God in everything, serve God in everything, and make every aspect of their lives holy by doing everything in the name of God and in a way that conforms to God’s glory.” (William Law, A serious call to a devout and holy life)

Do you view your life in this way? Is everything God’s? Are you doing the will of God because you are His humble servant? This is the cost of discipleship, but it’s not drudgery or done with groaning but instead because of love we cannot help but to serve the One who has set us free. Are you prepared to wrap that towel around your waist? Are you prepared to kneel down before those around you and to wash their feet? God doesn’t need any more part-time workers, He wants full-time servants who are committed to do His will.

September 17, 2013 3

“From ‘Worst’ to Faithfully Appointed.”

“I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service.” -1 Timothy 1:12

The man once named Saul, persecutor and murderer of Christ-followers has been redeemed. Now, Christ’s ambassador, a humble servant renamed Paul writes to Timothy his protege and for all intense and purposes adopted son. Paul is nearing the end of his life. He knows that time is now running out for him. He isn’t bitter. He isn’t scorning and cursing his captors – Rome, instead he is making the most of his remaining time. He writes this encouraging letter to Timothy as a father would lovingly pen words on a page to a son. Paul considers himself the worst of sinners and even says son in his letter to Timothy.

Is there regret from his previous life, before Christ cast his light of salvation on him on a dusty Damascus road? Yes. But has this regret stopped Paul from living for Christ alone? No! Though Paul considered himself the worst of sinners, he indicates to Timothy that Christ had also deemed him worthy of calling.

What made Paul worthy? Was it his own hard work and effort to be ‘good’? No. How can a killer of Christians now be considered worthy & faithful? It becomes a matter of the heart. What lives inside our hearts only we and God know. What we feed on within out thought processes only we and God know. Paul was convinced, and the evidence of his ministry results are apparent, that Christ had judged him faithful and appointed him to serve.

What about us today?

Do you feel worthy of being called by God? Are you willing to serve Him wholeheartedly like Paul did? We don’t need to have a theological degree to serve Him. We don’t need to be highly educated to gather a towel around our waist and wash the feet of those around us for His glory. We don’t need to be preachers like Billy Graham to share this message of hope to the world around us. We just need to be faithful. Christ Jesus can and will strengthen you as well, just as He did with Paul. If we say ‘yes’ to His calling (whatever that calling looks like that enables us to serve Him) he will judge us faithful and then also appoint you as well to whatever task He needs you to serve Him in.

You may consider yourself in your own minds to be the worst of sinners also. You may think that God cannot forgive you for what you have done in your life…and you would be wrong! Christ is willing to forgive you if only you will let Him. When we open ourselves up to Him and His holy cleansing we will find love, grace and hope…we will find new life! And in this new life, we too will be judged as faithful servants of the Most High.

Are you willing today to trust Him? Are you willing to allow Him into your life? If you say yes to His calling on your life, watch out! You will never be the same again! Because the Apostle Paul said ‘yes’ to Christ many, many lives for changed including Timothy who did carry on in Paul’s footsteps. Because Paul said ‘yes’ to Christ the very world was changed because of His testimony. Today, this world needs more Pauls to boldly step up and say ‘yes’ to Christ…may you be a Paul today in your answer today!

-Just a thought.

September 13, 2013 0

Shine!

“He said to them, “Do you bring a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” -Mark 4:21-25

Okay, let’s get it over with…”this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

Jesus spoke to His disciples and to the crowd that had gathered there. He spoke wisdom and truth to them and in the midst of these parables He begins to speak about a lamp. What does a lamp do? It illuminates a room doesn’t it? When someone walks into a dark room the first thing most people do is switch on the light so that they might see. The same principle is applied any place that is dark. One would never venture into a deep dark cave unless a flashlight was lit. Does one go into places that are dark without prior preparation? Of course not because that would be dangerous and foolish!

Similarly the Light of Christ is never to be hidden from the world! To do so is dangerous and foolish. Fellow Christians who play church on Sunday yet keep the truth of the gospel to themselves like some sort of private VIP only club are foolish and narrow minded…but if I were truly honest with myself there are times that I have treat the light of Christ this way. I have been one of those ‘members only’ Christians.

Yet if we look at how God works, does He need us to shine the light? Yes and no. Yes God wants us to share His good news to the world and yes we are partakers of His kingdom but does He need us more than we need Him? Of course the obvious answer is ‘no’! So why are we called to be ‘Light bringers’ into this world of ours? The short answer is; so that we can be Christ’s faithful ambassadors to those still in the darkness! He could clearly call someone else, and if we’re not careful He will call someone else. But He wants us to be the torch bearer.

Exposed by the Light:

This world is a dangerous and dark place. Christ brought the light so that everyone might see. What is it that we see when His light is shone upon us? For starters we see how lost we truly are. It is easy to wander in the darkness and to ignore the filth that we have allowed to blemish us. But when His light is cast upon us we find ourselves wanting, dirty and guilty. The prophet Isaiah was given a vision of heaven and in the Light of God and all that he saw, he knew that he was unclean and marred by sin. The light of God does that to His people; exposes the sins. Nothing is hidden from God. Nothing is kept locked away and private. He light shines upon us so that we might finally be free from this life sucking filth which is sin.

When Christ spoke of the light, He was talking not only about Himself but about the truth of God. Everything in this world both hidden and dirty will be exposed and known. We, as His ambassadors are to be faithful to Him. The good news is this world can be freed from the enslavement of sin and death! The good news is that darkness is just the absence of light. The good news is that God is the light that will shine upon all people here on earth. The amazing news is that Christ has come to set us free from these bonds that keep us in the darkness!

This good news must be shared to the world! This amazing light will deliver us all…and in so doing we are then called to pick up His light and share that good news to those still in the darkness.

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…”

September 6, 2013 3

Apathy and the Wilderness

Luke 5:16 (ASV)
But he withdrew himself in the deserts, and prayed.

Apathy is the death of man’s spiritual relationship with God. It happens when we stop caring, or find ourselves at a point in our lives where we are unfeeling. Have you been there before? It can be both terrifying and silent because we are often very good at faking it. We are often quite good at acting the part even when the heart isn’t in it.

I don’t mean to cast any doubts your way today or cause you to feel down…because there is hope in all of this! Sometimes this pathway of apathy leads directly to the wilderness. What do I mean by the wilderness? I don’t mean an empty lonely place full of strife and pain. When I say wilderness I am implying that there are times in which God is longing for us to draw closer to Him. If we are aware of this apathetic pathway we can take steps in the right direction.

Why did God lead His people into the wilderness in the first place? Through this dry and thirsty place God showed His chosen ones how they could fully rely on Him. He was present for them. He was (and still is) in love with His people. When they were in this barren wilderness the total acknowledgement that they needed help became completely apparent. Stepping onto this pathway of apathy is dangerous, but it can also lead us back to the wilderness and back to a right relationship with God.

Are you unfeeling today? Are you simply going through the motions in life right now? Sure the routine is somewhat rewarding but somehow you’ve lost that passion you once had. Perhaps it’s time to take a step into the wilderness once again and get reconnected with the Almighty. Apathy might be the death of man’s spiritual relationship with God…but it doesn’t have to be!

Taking time to stand before God without distractions of all kinds is absolutely necessary! If Jesus had to get away and commune with the Father what makes us think that we can simply ‘go it alone’? The truth of the matter is we cannot! The wilderness is calling…will you go? Will you take the time that your spirit and heart crave? Will you sacrifice some of your schedule in this day and give it completely to God so that He has your undivided attention? It’s not so much for His benefit but rather completely for our benefit and His renewal that we do this.

Go into your wilderness and meet with The Father, and over time you will find that every motion your body makes, every schedule that you keep matters to Him as well. He wants to be included in it all, He wants you to bring glory to Him in all things. But it begins with our time in the wilderness before Him.