Chap. 5 -
Consecration
God's promise is,
"Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your
heart." Jeremiah 29:13.
The whole heart must be yielded to God, or the
change can never be wrought in us by which we are to be restored to His
likeness. By nature we are alienated from God. The Holy Spirit describes our
condition in such words as these: "Dead in trespasses and sins;"
"the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;" "no
soundness in it." We are held fast in the snare of Satan, "taken
captive by him at his will." Ephesians 2:1; Isaiah 1:5, 6; 2 Timothy 2:26.
God desires to heal us, to set us free. But since this requires an entire
transformation, a renewing of our whole nature, we must yield ourselves wholly
to Him.
The warfare against self is the greatest
battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will
of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be
renewed in holiness.
The government of
God is not, as Satan would make it appear, founded upon a blind submission, an
unreasoning control. It appeals to the intellect and the conscience. "Come
now, and let us reason together" is the Creator's invitation to the beings
He has made. Isaiah 1:18.
(((Isa 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool. ))))
God does not force
the will of His creatures. He cannot accept an homage that is not willingly and
intelligently given. A mere forced submission would prevent all real
development of mind or character; it would make man a mere automaton. Such is
not the purpose of the Creator. He desires that man, the crowning work of His
creative power, shall reach the highest possible development. He sets before us
the height of blessing to which He desires to bring us through His grace. He
invites us to give ourselves to Him, that He may work His will in us. It
remains for us to choose whether we will be set free from the bondage of sin,
to share the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
In giving ourselves
to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him. Hence
the Saviour says, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he
hath, he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33. Whatever shall draw away the
heart from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money,
the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation
and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and
freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. But these slavish bands must
be broken. We cannot be half the Lord's and half the world's. We are not God's
children unless we are such entirely.
There are those who
profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law,
to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by
any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the
Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such
religion is worth nothing. When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be so
filled with His love, with the joy of communion with Him, that it will cleave
to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, self will be forgotten. Love to Christ
will be the spring of action. Those who feel the constraining love of God, do
not ask how little may be given to meet the requirements of God; they do not
ask for the lowest standard, but aim at perfect conformity to the will of their
Redeemer. With earnest desire they yield all and manifest an interest
proportionate to the value of the object which they seek. A profession of
Christ without this deep love is mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery.
Do you feel that it
is too great a sacrifice to yield all to Christ? Ask yourself the question,
"What has Christ given for me?" The Son of God gave all--life and
love and suffering--for our redemption. And can it be that we, the unworthy
objects of so great love, will withhold our hearts from Him? Every moment of
our lives we have been partakers of the blessings of His grace, and for this
very reason we cannot fully realize the depths of ignorance and misery from
which we have been saved. Can we look upon Him whom our sins have pierced, and
yet be willing to do despite to all His love and sacrifice? In view of the
infinite humiliation of the Lord of glory, shall we murmur because we can enter
into life only through conflict and self-abasement?
The inquiry of many a proud heart is,
"Why need I go in penitence and humiliation before I can have the
assurance of my acceptance with God?" I point you to Christ. He was
sinless, and, more than this, He was the Prince of heaven; but in man's behalf
He became sin for the race. "He was numbered with the transgressors; and
He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Isaiah 53:12.
But what do we give up, when we give all? A
sin-polluted heart, for Jesus to purify, to cleanse by His own blood, and to
save by His matchless love. And yet men think it hard to give up all! I am
ashamed to hear it spoken of, ashamed to write it. God does not require us to give up anything
that it is for our best interest to retain. In all that He does, He has the
well-being of His children in view. Would that all who have not chosen Christ
might realize that He has something vastly better to offer them than they are
seeking for themselves. Man is doing the greatest injury and injustice to his
own soul when he thinks and acts contrary to the will of God. No real joy can
be found in the path forbidden by Him who knows what is best and who plans for
the good of His creatures. The path of transgression is the path of misery and
destruction.
It is a mistake to
entertain the thought that God is pleased to see His children suffer. All
heaven is interested in the happiness of man. Our heavenly Father does not
close the avenues of joy to any of His creatures. The divine requirements call
upon us to shun those indulgences that would bring suffering and
disappointment, that would close to us the door of happiness and heaven. The
world's Redeemer accepts men as they are, with all their wants, imperfections,
and weaknesses; and He will not only cleanse from sin and grant redemption
through His blood, but will satisfy the heart-longing of all who consent to
wear His yoke, to bear His burden. It is His purpose to impart peace and rest
to all who come to Him for the bread of life. He requires us to perform only
those duties that will lead our steps to heights of bliss to which the
disobedient can never attain. The true, joyous life of the soul is to have
Christ formed within, the hope of glory.
Many are inquiring, "How am I to make the
surrender of myself to God?" You desire to give yourself to Him, but you
are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of
your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You
cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of
your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your own
sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you; but you need not
despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the
governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice.
Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has
given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you
cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him.
You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according
to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control
of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your
thoughts will be in harmony with Him.
Desires for goodness and holiness are right as
far as they go; but if you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be
lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians. They do not come to the point
of yielding the will to God. They do not now choose to be Christians.
Through the right exercise of the will, an
entire change may be made in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, you
ally yourself with the power that is above all principalities and powers. You
will have strength from above to hold you steadfast, and thus through constant
surrender to God you will be enabled to live the new life, even the life of
faith.'
(((The Lord taught
us to pray….. 'thy will be done'. The Lord did NOT teach us to pray…our will be
done. Truly we need to submit our will to God's.
Paul said--
Rom 7:24 O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I
thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve
the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
We must forever WILL
to serve God. The part in us that chooses must be exercised in daily choosing
for God's will, not ours. Our will definitely will be contrary to God's in many
ways. You think not? You think wrong then. The self in us can't help but try
and steer us towards our own desires, our own self-centeredness. The
TEMPTATIONS will flood us on every side, they'll never end, but…. the
conception of sin doesn’t HAVE to take place. Recognize temptation for what it
is, a satanic assault. The assaults will come fast and furious and aim to do
their dirty work before we have time to take a breath. The conception of sin
can be almost instantaneous upon being tempted, but not always. Sometimes we
have hours between the temptation and the conceiving-- the giving in to that
temptation. Other times we may have a full minute and don't let anyone tell you
that a full minute isn't a long time. Try doing something you don’t
particularly like for a full minute. Recently I've started to do a 7-minute
exercise routine watching a video and following along with it, my sister
recommended it to me. Well, let me tell you, seven minutes is a really, really,
really long time when your body is yelling at you to just stop moving. Yes, a
minute of torture can be agonizingly long. Try having a dentist yanking on a
molar for a full minute even under the numbing you feel that yanking and just
want it to stop instantly, not a full sixty seconds later. Touch a burning pot
right out of the oven and try to keep your fingers there for a sixty seconds
and then tell me it's not very long. That instant jerking away to preserve your
flesh and keep it from an even more painful injury happens for a reason. So,
yes, a minute of temptation before sin is conceived is a long time to make that
decision to allow sin conception. Our
Savior was tempted but He never let sin be conceived in Him, He was ready with
a quick sword strike against the enemy's onslaught. He slashed at Satan with
the sword of the Spirit of the Word of God as soon as He was tempted. He gave
His will to God instantly! We need to give our will to God so that His will can
be done in us. Christ will help us, Christ has sent us a comforter, the Holy
Spirit- He will help us. We choose. God
help us choose You and Your will!
All through Jesus
Christ our Lord, our Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!
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