In the Bible, Paul wrote
"It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me."
I'd like to really have us take a moment to think about that.
Before we get into this, I'd like to say that I've been reading a book by Catherine Marshall, '
Beyond Ourselves', which is really reshaping the nature of my Christianity. Each chapter has a great story or two to prove a point and Catherine makes sure it is in the scripture before she says stuff. I recommend the book.
Okay, now, the concept of giving your life to Christ might be alien to you or you may be familiar with it. If it's alien to you, trust me, you're better off that the rest of us. Bold statement time, I know most of us have given our lives to Jesus but I don't think that many of us have given our will to Him.
Throughout the Bible we can see God has never violated free-will. He could've have lifted Jonah and thrown him to his destination, the possessed him and made him speak. He didn't. He could've have forced Pharaoh to release the Israelites; He didn't.
He could've forced Adam to froth in the mouth the second he looked at the apple and ignore it. He didn't. More dramatic, He could've forced Hitler to turn from his ways.
We can safely establish that God never violates free-will and God is so powerful that he cannot contradict himself.
Now, have you given your life to Christ? Yes? How's that working out for you? Are you ridiculed? Do you feel out of everything. Do you have a lot of zeal? Yes? That's great. Now tell me, as a Christian do you get occasional bursts of fear? Or are you often unsure of something? Does it feel like God is unclear?
How often have you prayed for deliverance? We all know how it goes: Lord bless all the orphans and the hungry... I pray for ***** that you will deliver us just as you did *****
It's not even very flashy, so it must be good huh?
Wrong!
Let's face it. God answers the majority of our prayers, no matter how selfless with a big, fat
NO! Or else it's vague and "Not at the moment,"
We just lose it. We just lose everything.
Why did he have to die!? Why can't I work out this next chapter?! I don't understand this, God, help! Please! I'm scared! This person is antagonizing me, Lord, stick to Your promise!
Okay, Revelation time:
Through Catherine Marshall's
Beyond Ourselves, I have learn that God works in extremes. Can any of you lift your ring finger without the pinky following? Likewise, God will do nothing in your life until you give up your will. This need not be scary and is the ultimate measure of face.
It means you don't breathe unless God tells you to breathe. Your every step must be Jesus' will. Your mouth is not yours anymore, it is God's. You have died. In other words, the difference is that
YOU HAVE NOT GIVEN YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST THAT WHATEVER YOU DO WILL GLORIFY HIM, BUT GIVEN YOUR LIFE AND FREE-WILL UP TO HIM, THAT WHATEVER YOU DO IS NOT YOUR OWN AT ALL, BUT HIS.With that bold measure of faith can we then say, "It is not I that live, but Christ that lives in me."
Let's have a simulation. Say a certain boy comes to school. Soon his parents are struggling to pay for all his expenses. His grades are slipping. He has no control. He's a good Christian boy. He asks God for guidance. He reads his Bible and is currently reading one of the gospels. He prays to God that whatever he reads next will be a message, clear and loud. The boy reads Jesus' betrayal and his prayer before that. His heart starts beating and a Voice cries inside him, "That's it! That's it!"
He asks, "You want me to be betrayed?"
"No! Look deeper?"
Let's look deeper. In the Bible it is said that Jesus was as much man as if he were not God, and as much God as if he were not man. Paradoxal? Perhaps. Now, Jesus is about to die and He knows that full-well.
Matthew 26:39 (Gideons mini-Bible)
- Quote :
- He went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying,
"O My Father, if it is possible, l;et this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
We can see that Jesus is scared here. He doesn't WANT to die! It wasn't pleasant. Notice what He says. He gives his Will to God so that he no longer has free-will, but is willed by God in everything. Meaning His Body is now God's Body.
Have you prayed the prayer of salvation? Everything you do is now going to glorify God? My friend, I'm sorry but that is not how it works. There's more to it. If you want to glorify God through your own actions, then you are greedy. Your works will be nowhere near effective enough. THAT'S why your atheist friend doesn't listen to you. Because you haven't been around since the beginning of time. THAT'S why your characters don't want to progress, because Shakespear and Wordsworth and Riordan didn't pray to you at night for guidance! THAT's why you find yourself going halfway. You are a free-willed human able to do so much.
God will never take your free-will, but if you just give it over to Him you will find that everything HE wants completed will be. You can't have the cake and eat it. There's no, "I give my will to You to finish my story with." Because if you give your whole will, then it doesn't matter what you want anymore. Another thing, your WHOLE will. You can't lift a ring finger without lifting a pinky. You can't own half of a toy if you want to do something with it. Give God everything and don't expect it to be like you see on TV. Your lvoed ones will still die. Your characters will never work out because God doesn't want them to. You'll get new ones, you may not like them.
But let me tell you something, God is so powerful he cannot contradict himself. It has been said that "Things work out well for those that love the Lord." and the God can turn even the darkest deeds of man to work for the greater good. There are two great examples of this, the betrayal and death of Jesus Christ and Joseph's story. He was thrown in a well but taken to Egypt. Betrayed by his master's wife and thrown in a dungeon for two years. What could be darker? And then he became Prime Minister through that, only because his entire will and life was in God's hands and it took him to give that up. So when you give up to God, don't start crying when things go bad. Because things work out well for those that love the Lord.
So maybe you live for Christ, but does Christ live (not in you) but THROUGH you? It's not enough to keep him locked up in your heart. Pray this prayer in earnest and forget about "Your life!" and "Your problems!" You will have no more talent except what God has given and shall do ntohing except through Him and by Him:
I Give Up. This life is not mine anymore, but Yours. I give my life that you may be a tangible force on this earth and expect nothing, Lord. From YOu I came, to You I return. End of story.
Before I finish off, let me give you a parable from Catherine Marshall's book. This was directed more at problems in your life but God doesn't solve problems, he solves you! So it works both ways.
Figure a son gives his father a toy to fix. He says that he has tried everything but just cannot fix it. So he asks his dad to do it for him. His father does this, but every now and then the son keeps asking, "What're you doing?" and saying "You should do this instead. I'd much rather this!" The father will get nowhere as his son doesn't trust him. And hey, if the son couldn't fix it in the first place, how can he possibly know what to do.
No more fighting. Give up your toy to your Father and trust Him. You tried, you failed. You have no idea what you are doing. But He is ready to fix it for you. If you keep interrupting with suggestions or instead of handing Him black thread you hand Him white, you will get nowhere.
So for the Love of God, Just GIVE UP!
Subject: For the Love of God, Just Give Up! 
