The Wrath of God (Do I have your attention now?)

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God's wrath . . . it's not a topic that believers talk about much, or even want to  think about.  Depending on which theology you have on the Rapture, you might think that it is not something that you will have to deal with.  Yet our passage of Scripture today forces the idea of God's wrath in front of our eyes, and should cause us to give it some thought today.

"On account of these things the wrath of God is coming."       Colossians 3:6

On account of what things?  In order to correctly dissect this verse, we have to look back at the previous verse, which says, 

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:  sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry."

Our fleshly and earthly sins are the "these things" spoken of in today's verse. It is because of these sin that the wrath of God is coming.  His wrath will be displayed particularly in the last three and a half years of tribulation, and ultimately after the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth. At this point, the earth as we know it will be destroyed forever, and God will usher in a new heaven and earth for those who have believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ and have experienced the necessary heart conversion.

This heart conversion takes place when the believer in Christ surrenders his whole being to the Lordship of Christ.  When we surrender in this way, Christ is then able to live out His life through us by the power of the Spirit within us.  It is only by the Holy Spirit that we will be able to put to death all that is earthly in us.  It is not something that we can simply "will ourselves" to do.  It is God's work to do within us, completing what He has begun in us.  The work is simply this, to put to death every form of idolatry in us.  Every single place in our heart that elevates something other than God to the throne of our life is an idol. If you depend on it without thinking, rather than on God, it is an idol.  It you have to have it or do it (because that's just the way you are made), its an idol.  If it is repetitive and habitual sin, it is an idol.  If it is an attitude (like self-reliance and dependence, prejudice, worry, etc.), it is a sin.  It 

The Spirit's job is to topple every form of idolatry that we practice.  It matters not if it is a physical idol (like a food addiction), a financial idol (like greed), an emotional idol (like anger), or a mental idol (like worrying and fretting).  It matters not whether the people around you can see it or not; it is an idol.  

Now, back to today's verse.  It is on account of the endless idols that are worshiped on earth, by unbelievers and believers alike, that God's wrath is coming.  How very important it is then for all believers to be about the business of truly surrendering our idols to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Why should we continue in our idolatry when we are to be dead to sin and alive in Christ.  How can we continue in our idolatry knowing that our idolatrous sins are the very same sins of unbelievers.  Will we continue to sin with the same sins that will eventually bring to the earth God's full wrath?  God is clearly calling His church to clean house!

Put To Death what is earthly in you! Really? -- Colossians 3:5

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Death . . . it is not a topic that we like to talk about much.  It ranks right up there with surrender and obedience when it comes to living as a believer and convert of Jesus Christ.

Yet, it is impossible to walk in the Light and by the Spirit without a death in us, not a physical death, but a death of our flesh.  That is what makes the topic so very unpopular in the western church. Those who claim to love the Lord struggle with the thought of crucifying their passions, lusts, idols, and sins.  We tend to justify our sins under the guise of, "Well, I am just made that way."  And if that is your excuse, I bet you have one, just like I do.

             " PUT TO DEATH what is earthly in you."

As I came to this verse (and a few that follow it), I found the very flesh that I am to be crucifying rising up inside of  me.  You see, I struggle a bit with anyone telling me what I have to do. Maybe you experience the same struggle.  If so, Colossians 3:5 will likely hit you over the head, especially as you realize, as I did, that knowing that we are to do something does not equal the actual doing of it.  This verse requires strong, immediate, and continual action. This one is our responsibility in Christ.

There you have it!  Everything that comes from the inside of you that is worldly (earthly), must be put to death.  It isn't a suggestion; it is a command!

Thinking back to verse 3, I have to ask myself.a couple of questions  You should, too.

• If I have died and am hidden with Christ in God, then why am I working so hard to keep my flesh alive? 

• Can I be 'positionally' hidden in Christ, and still have sins that are clearly not hidden?

• What is preventing me from surrendering my earthly (and very fleshly) sins, and walking in obedience to what the Word commands me to do or not do?

• Why have I not reacted more diligently to the truth that what is of this world in me is NOT of Christ?

It is my responsibility, given to me by God Himself, to put do death my very flesh . . . every bit of it.  That includes some very specific sins (that will be included in my next blog), but it really includes every sin that can be found in me.  I am not walking in obedience if I do not take full vengeance on my every sin, idol, evil thought, passion and lust, personal goal, desire, dream, attitude . . . well, you get the picture!  To not hide them in the shadow of Christ and His every desire for me is to leave them active.  When they are active in me, they expose the true measure of my love for Christ, and it is not a favorable review.

The one who desires to be totally focused on what is above, not on what is earthly, will begin to take up his own cross of earthly and fleshly crucifixion, and walk after the Savior.  This one will discover what I am beginning to understand:  My part is to surrender; the Holy Spirit in me will live the Life of Christ through me as I do so.  But I must surrender in order to climb onto the cross of my own crucifixion.  When I do, the Spirit will lead me to the death of myself in every area where I am prone to stumble.

What sins, lusts, idols, and attitudes need to be put to death in you?  

 

 

Appearing With Christ -- Colossians 3:4

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In order to fully understand the meaning of today's verse from Colossians 3, we have to look back at the first three verses.  Here are the first three, followed by today's text.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."   (Colossians 3: 1-4)

To take that last verse out of context, only looking at what it says without the previous verses, would surely keep us from discovering the reality behind its truth.  Let's see what we must do to actually appear with Him in His second coming.

When Jesus returns to earth in His 2nd Advent, the church will be returning with Him.  The church is biblically defined as the Body of Christ, or in other words, those who have been redeemed in the Church Age, from the Day of Pentecost to the Rapture.  The raptured Church, then,  is the body of Christ that will be raised up from the earth and into heaven at the end of the Church Age.  Those who are true believers who die before the Rapture will already be raised up. Understanding this part of the timeline found in the word of God will help us to better understand what Paul is writing about in Colossians 3.

Paul is telling the Church (whom have not yet died or  been raised in the Rapture) that if we are truly a part of the body of Christ, we have a responsibility to be seeking the heavenly things while we are on earth.  Remember, your focus must be on what is important to God, not on the things of this earth.  

In order for you to set your mind and your eyes on the truly important things, you will, by necessity, have to begin to die to yourself.  Your life must become less and less important, and the life of Christ, who dwells within you in the form of the Holy Spirit, must be come the only life that matters.  This is the criteria for being raised.  Those who live life in a state of crucified flesh will, by definition, be allowing the Spirit to live in us and be released out of us.

When you are dead to yourself,  your "life"  becomes all wrapped up in Christ.  This is the desired outcome:  that we are truly hidden in Him and only His desires are what come forth from us.  The believer who lives in such a way will not only be in heaven when they die or are raptured, but they will also be the ones who return with Christ in His glory!  (See Rev. 19:14)

Those who learn to live life hidden in Christ, those who have willingly surrendered their lives so that Christ is the One alive in them, these are the ones who will ride white horses with Christ in His 2nd Coming IN GLORY!  

Does your lifestyle line up with this picture of one who is "living dead?"  Are you seeking the things that are above and setting your minds on them?  Have you died to yourself so that you can be hidden in Christ?  Is He truly all of your life?  The ones who do these things are the ones who will appear with Him when He appears.

Today, contemplate the state of your life, and consider your standing before God.  I know I am.

The Tests of God

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“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.”  (Ex. 20:20)


Oh, how we struggle with the idea that God will test us!  Yet, after God gave the 10 Commandments to Moses, the Israelites became terrified.  They had just seen the lightening, heard the thunder, saw the mountain smoking, and heard the trumpet of the Lord.  Of course, they were terrified!  They wanted Moses to remain as the one who God would speak to.  They were afraid, and were happy for Moses to continue in his job. 

Sensing their great fear, Moses speaks to them the words I quoted above.  Jesus also came to test the hearts of all men.  Some will permanently fail the test; others will pass the important test (belief in Him), but fail countless other tests, and never attempt to consistently please the heart of God. 

I pray that I can be found in this last category.  I know that I have passed God’s first test of believing in my need for a Savior, and inviting Him to come into my life and change me.  And I am now in the process of learning how to pass His tests every moment of the day.  These individual tests have only one question that I must answer:  “Who will be in charge right now?”  This one question only has two answers:  The Holy Spirit or my sinful flesh.

God desired that His chosen people would not sin.  He still desires that I would not sin.  They Israelites had no Old Testament or New Testament.  I have both.  Israel had no Holy Spirit inside of them to help them make the right choices and do the right thing.  I do.  I can understand why they struggled so in the tests God brought to them, failing miserably most of the time.  I, however, have absolutely no excuse!

For the Israelites, God used their fear of Him to motivate them toward surrender and obedience to His word.  God uses something quite different in me; He uses my faith and my need of Him to motivate me toward that same surrender and obedience.  In both cases, God has only one goal.  “That we may not sin.”

I desire to pass all of my tests today, and everything is a test!  I surrender to the Lord Almighty, and to His Spirit within me, that I may walk by the Spirit in obedience to the will and command of God.  I desire an A+ at the end of the day!  What about you?

Welcoming The New Year

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As 2012 is drawing quickly to a close, my flesh wants desperately to do what it has done for countless years.  It desires to make plans and promises regarding how I will live in the coming new year.  For as long as I have been old enough to understand what a resolution is, I have made them.  Some were utterly ridiculous, while others have been truly important and desired out of my love for God.  But the truth of my resolutions has been just that:  they were MY resolutions.  You see, I have always been a planning,  goal-setting and goal-achieving sort of girl.  But if this past year has taught me one thing it would be that all my plans and goals and resolutions will come to nothing if they are not in line with God's plans for me.  This has been the principle that God has been driving home (sometimes painfully) in my heart in 2012.  This has been the year that He took all of the comfort of my plans and goals and turned them upside down.  And I know He has only had one purpose in mind:  to help me see clearly my self-sufficiency that keeps me from greater intimacy with Him.

As I turn my gaze from looking back at 2012, I see the coming year with eyes that cannot detect exactly what lies ahead.  I know I am not alone in this for none of us knows what our future holds.  But I am excited this year at my inability to "have a plan,"  because it is forcing me to live in greater trust and dependence on the only One who knows the plans He has for me.  He is asking me, "Will you surrender ALL to Me?"  I know my heart desires that, but will I be faithful to do it?

So instead of making well-meaning resolutions and promises this New Year to do this or not do that, I only seek to sit more at the feet of Jesus, simply listening to Him as He tells me all the plans He has for me, day to day, and even moment to moment.  It is in this simple act of surrender that I will truly find joy and peace and rest in 2013.  This is the "better part" that Mary discovered.  What a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders as I place the government of my life upon the shoulders of the One who was sent to carry it.

May you find this same joy and peace and rest in 2013!

With love and gratitude for you all!
Cheryl

Jesus, Light of the World (12-18-12)

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Advent Devotional, "Jesus, Light of the World," for preparing to light the fourth Advent Candle, the Wise Men candle.)

Matthew 2: 3-8
"Something new was on the horizon, and the very ones who had been told of a new king for countless years were the one who remained completely in the dark.  The King of Judah, King Herod, was troubled by the news that the magi had brought to him.  Because he was so troubled, all of Jerusalem was troubled as well.  The life that they had become accustomed to and were perfectly content with seemed to be at stake.  King Herod's blood pressure must have risen to an all-time high as he considered being dethroned by some baby in a manger!

Herod had no personal knowledge of where the Messiah of the Jews was to be born.  Therefore, he had to gather together all the chief priests and scribes to ask them where the Christ would be born.  Strangely enough, the religious leaders of the day did know where He was to be born, but they had not recognized the star that would have led them to Him.  They quote to their King from the prophet Micah, who said, 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a ruler, who will shepherd My people Israel.'

'Ah, I see...Bethlehem is where He is,' the King said to no one in particular, rubbing his hands together with a strange smile on his face.

And from there the plot thickens even more as we observe King Herod's inner darkness be revealed.  Secretly he calls together the magi to find out from them when they first saw the star light up the night sky.  His cold and calculating ways probably were not obvious to the wise men because they left from Herod's chambers to head straight to Bethlehem, to find the Christ Child, as they had been asked by the King to do.  Herod feigns a deep desire to know where the King might be, and he asks the band of wise men to report back to him when they have found Him.  He lies to them when he tells them that he want so go worship this Child King, as even as he is speaking, his dark heart clearly is focused on how he will 'handle' this little matter.  Worshiping this new king, the King of Kings, is the last thing on the mind of the jealous king.

Do you see how King Herod's spiritual darkness is threatened by the true Light of Jesus?  His heart is dark and closed to this infant king who should become his  Light and Salvation, the only One who can save his soul from an eternity in hell.  But instead, King Herod's eyes can only focus on himself and what this new king can do to his own reign.  Thoughts like, 'What will this mean for me?' and 'How will this king affect my rule?' and 'Will my loyal subjects turn on me, replacing me with rule and reign of their Messiah?'  In his mind this new king would only have negative affects on him personally.  These very dark thoughts clouded even more his already dark heart and mind.  And Herod never received the Light of the world.

Self-focus will always cloud our vision.  If we look at what we think it might cost us, or what we might have to give up in order to deepen our relationship with the Light of the world, we are already defeated.  It is only when our eyes are fixed on the Light, knowing that, in the end, we will have to sacrifice everything fleshly and sinful, that will we grow deeper in our walk with the Light.

What sacrifices do you need to bring the King of Kings.  What thoughts, emotions, and/or actions rule you?  Are you willing to take your eyes off of yourself in order that you might surrender your body, mind, and soul to Jesus, so that He might have full reign over you?  When we hang on with a death grip to what we think  'belongs to us,' we are in danger of our own sinful flesh taking up complete residency in us and full control over us.  God is seeking our surrender.  To refuse Him this one thing reveals the darkness that still resides within us.  Surrender is the match that ignites the Light within.  It is time that the jealous 'king Herod' that resides in us all is put to death, once and for all."

Jesus, Light of the World (12-14-12)

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Advent Devotional, "Jesus, Light of the World," for preparing to light the third Advent Candle, the Good News candle.)

Ephesians 5: 3-10

The greatest detriment to 'good works' is a life that doesn't reflect the Light of Jesus Christ.  The lost world recoils from us when our actions are different than our words.  Christians who are living a life of sin will likely never have their good works received by unbelievers.  In their eyes we are nothing more than hypocrites if they see that we are not doing what say.  How can we avoid blowing our witness before those who are walking in darkness?  Our Scripture reading today will hit us right between the eyes with on possible answer to this question.

We are called to deal with our weaknesses and sins through a daily time of fellowship with the Lord.  It is in our time of studying the Word and praying to God that we can recognize those things that still need to change in our hearts (inner thoughts) and lives (actions).  Consistently leaving God out of the equation by trying to 'will' ourselves into better behavior will only end in failure.  Have you ever made a New Year's resolution?  Have you ever kept one?  Our fleshly 'willpower' is faulty.  It will never lead us to eternal victories over the daily sins we commit.  Only the Spirit of God in us can do that, but He must be released to work in us by our surrender and submission to Him.  We must stop trying to clean up our lives in our own strength if we desire to bear the fruit of good works that leads others to salvation.  God says that when we claim to make broad-sweeping changes in our lives, they are nothing but empty words, they reveal that we are 'sons of disobedience,' and therefore we are walking in darkness.  Is it any wonder then that we are unable to reach those in darkness themselves.  They can see our darkness just as easily as we can see theirs.  The world looks for the Light, but they can't see it because we are still living so much of the time in the darkness of our own sin because we have never surrendered it to God.

Look closely at verses 7-10 again.  God is clearly telling us that if we want to change our sinful habits, then we will have to stop walking like those who are in darkness.  God does not desire our empty words.  He knows that we formerly, when we were still lost, tried to make all kinds of changes through our own power and strength.  But now that we are the light, He wants us to walk like children of the Light.  The way that we do that, in part, is to begin to discover what it is that truly pleases the Lord.  And just how do we do that?  By reading the only Book that will reveal His heart to us!  When we read and pray about what He discloses to us, then He will begin to make the changes necessary in us by His Spirit.  There is no magic fairy dust that can be sprinkled on us that will simply change us because God wants us transformed.  He requires our surrender first, then our obedience to all He says.  That is the recipe for His Light to shine out of us. 

When we become involved with God at that level, the fruit of out relationship with Him will become evident to all.  In verse 9 God clearly states what the 'fruit of the light' is.  It is all goodness, all righteousness, and all truth.  When we walk in God's light by our deep fellowship with Him, the fruit of good works will quite naturally spring up in us and out of us.  You won't have to look for ways to share your faith.  You won't have to muster up the courage to share.  It will simply be the by-product of your loving, intimate, relationship with THE Light!  His light will be reflected  in your good works that He has called you to.  Then those in the darkness who witness your good works will see a reflection of Jesus, the Light of the world.  Then, given a chance,  the Holy Spirit will move in their lives. And with the Spirit, there is always an opportunity for them to meet Jesus personally!  And isn't that the point?  Jesus the Light desires and calls us to be the light to the world for the sole purpose of pointing others to the Light!  That is preaching the gospel!

What will the world, those still lost in darkness of their sin, see in you this Christmas season?  Will they see that you are just as greedy, impatient, irritated, short-fused, grouchy, and self-centered as they are?  Or will they see something different, a light coming out of you that is loving and compassionate, a light surely not of this world?

Choosing Joy

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Ever had one of those days?  You know the kind I am talking about.  The ones that are a truly "Murphy's Law" kind of a day.  From the moment you get up, the snowball starts rolling down the side of the mountain.  Everything you touch seems to fall apart.  And if that were not enough to try to handle, the constant interruptions and the "rearranging" of your schedule seems endless.  Then there are the feelings of not getting anything accomplished, and the realization that you are just "spinning your wheels."  I had one of those days last week. 

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I was well aware that the Spirit was with me, residing in me with all kinds of power for me to overcome this day  in spite of how it was unfolding.  My Bible was available to me to be my moment-to-moment guide book for navigating through this already unsettling day.  But I soon learned as I sat down to read my devotional that both the Spirit and the Word would be useless to me unless I surrendered my "right"  to experience my feelings in full bloom, repented of them, and turned to face my God, bowing in His presence.  It would be in that posture alone that I could choose the joy of the Lord, the only strength I needed for my discombobulated day.

These are the words that the Spirit spoke to me in the midst of the waves that continued to sweep over me:

"This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep . . . Go your way.  Eat the fat and drink sweet wine . . . for this day is holy to our Lord.  And do not be grieved, FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!"  (Nehemiah 8:10)

When I read those words a smile lit on my face, for in them I could see what my solution to my day would be.  If I would crucify my irritated flesh and surrender my right to be "grieved" by my day and to moan and complain about how much seemed to be going wrong, I would be able to celebrate in the day with joy.  Realizing my marching orders, I chose to receive the command to go and "eat and drink,"  the command to just continue through the day with a different attitude.

No matter what our days hold we will always have a choice in how we walk through them.  Frustration can become joyfulness; busy-ness can become joyfulness; being overwhelmed can become joyfulness.  Even sadness and mourning can become joy.  And when you choose joy, your inner man is strengthened.  Out of our inner being will flow rivers of joy, contagious joy, that will minister to those around you.  And through our emotional transformation from upset to joyfulness we will be strengthened with enough might to overcome even the hardest of days. 

Choose joy!  It will reverse the effects that a bad day can have on you and those around you!

Clearing Out Your Cluttered Heart

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To be quite honest, this picture offends me.  Not because messy homes offend me, but because I fear that this is what my heart looks like to God.  Can you relate?  I chose this picture for this blog based on two sentences I read in my devotional, Jesus Calling.  I needed to convey the idea of "clutter" through a picture that could speak a thousand words.  This is the one that jumped out at me, and then God continued to speak to my heart.  Here is what He spoke as I pondered this thought.

"My main work is to clear out debris and clutter, making room for My Spirit to take full possession.  Collaborate with Me in this effort by being willing to let go of anything I choose to take away."  (November 7, page 326)

"My child, you have allowed Me to remove so many sinful things from your life, yet your heart remains cluttered.  My Spirit is trapped inside your very messy heart.  He wants to be the Ruler of His home, but your sinful debris keeps Him from doing His job.  He desires to clear it all away and rule from a place of holiness, to clothe you in regal robes of holiness inside your heart .  This holy attire can be attained in no other way.  You must let Him clear  the unholy debris out of your heart.  This is surrender.  And this surrender is what leads to holiness in Me.

The act of putting aside your sin is one in which you must collaborate with the Spirit.  He will do the hard work, but you must be so surrendered to Him that you are willing to let go of anything that He says must go.  There is still much that must be cleaned out of your heart.  A bag of envy, a stack of anger, a mess of unkind thoughts and words, a heap of spiritual hypocrisy. [I Peter 2:1] Under the furniture you are hiding pieces of bitterness, and crammed in the boxes and bins of your heart are the evidences of quarreling with and railings about your own brothers and sisters in Me.  [Eph. 4:31]  These are the things that I  will require you, and you are the only one who can let them go.  

I desire to to complete what I have already begun.   Are you willing to let Me, my precious one?"

O Jesus, how short I have come of the mark.  How blind I have allowed myself to be when it comes to the reality of my heart, thinking I had done pretty well in letting you clean house.  But with scales removed I can clearly see that I have been housing the Holy Spirit in a filthy shack of a heart.  Forgive me for allowing such a thing! Today, I choose to be a willing collaborator with you, Holy Spirit.  What you say must go, I will surrender to You.  Take it all, anything that is offensive to You.  I desire not to just make a pathway in which You can walk through my heart.  I desire instead that You be able to move though my heart completely unhindered, with no obstacles around which You must maneuver. 

Oh, how I long to worship you in holy attire!  Beautify Your home, my heart, O Lord!  Dress me in robes of righteousness befitting a daughter of the King!

The Barriers That Separate Us From God

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Today, while reading my daily devotional Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, I was struck by the first two sentences.  God's voice seemed particularly clear and direct as my heart heard these words come forth:

"You can live as close to Me as you choose.  I set up not barriers between us; neither do I  tear down barriers that you erect."  (November 5, page 324) 

While reading the first few words my heart was shouting a big "Oh, yeah!"  But the jubilation only lasted a second.  My heart was pierced by the last part.  "Neither do I tear down the barriers that you erect."  Stopping myself from reading the rest of the devotion, I sat silently pondering those words.  God's direct approach this morning had caught me so completely off-guard, I knew that I could read no further until I had addressed His comment spoken so specifically to me.

"Neither do I tear down the barriers that you erect."  You see, I love the idea that you I can live in such close  proximity to God that I experience many intimate moments throughout the day.  And I also love the idea that I could never go so far wrong that God would build a brick wall between us.  God set in motion a plan of relationship with Him that involves me running boldly into His throne room, without hesitation or fear, so that I can jump into His lap and be encircled by His loving arms, and at any point during my day, frequently if desired.  But what I don't like about what He said is that if there are any walls that are put up between us, it will be of my doing.  And what's more, He will not be the one to tear them down.  If I build a wall, I will be the one to have to destroy it, if I want it down.  Even worse for me to hear, there seems to be the implication that I have erected and will erect these walls.

My convicted heart knew in that moment that there is still a wall of barrier between me and my Lord.  I have built this wall, brick upon sinful brick, as I walk in the disobedience of my own fleshly heart.  What stands between me and the Lord are my sins, and the only way those bricks of sin are coming down is if I surrender myself to the Spirit within me,  and I  begin to obey the commands of God's word.  In a nutshell, the wall will come down as I repent, turning completely and resolutely away from each individual sin that is a brick in my wall.

Once again, my Lord has brought me back to the same thing He has been addressing in my life for several months now.  It is the issue of the individual sins and idols that are still in my heart, and  they are  affecting my spiritual  life and walk with Jesus.  This has ramifications on my intimacy with Him, too.  The bottom line is this:  I can spend much time in the Word; I can learn all that it says to me by dissecting the words I study by defining them more correctly in the Greek and Hebrew; I can do endless cross-referencing that will support the concepts found in a single verse; I can sit in on multiple Bible classes and teachings each week.  But if I am not applying what I am learning, and if nothing really changes in my thoughts, words, and actions, then all my knowledge and understanding comes to nothing.

For years I have basked in the idea that "knowing" is a great blessing.  But the blessing only comes when we "do" what we say we "know."  Jesus told His disciples a powerful truth, just after He had washed their feet and challenged them to live spiritually higher and more intimately than they could completely understand.  These are the words He spoke to them, and to me today, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."   I have coined a saying that is similar to what Scarlett O'Hara said in Gone With The Wind.  Here is my thought that seems to line up with what Jesus said to His disciples, "Knowin' and sayin' ain't doin'!"

In the end, my biblical knowledge on the topic of the importance removing sin and idols from my life, the verses I can quote about it, even teaching the Word's truth of it to others, will never equal the 'living it out' in my own life.  The wall I have created out of multiple bricks of sin and dependence on things other than God Himself must come down!  The difficulty of the task can never be my excuse to avoid tearing it down.  The state of the mortar that holds it together (whether hardened by years, partially solid, or still soft from its very recent application) is irrelevant.  The wall must come down if I want to experience life in the Holy of Holies.  My wall is the veil between the Inner Court Classroom on my spiritual journey and the intimate presence of God in the Holiest Place of All.   The wall, the veil in the Tabernacle, is my own flesh!

To turn away from the difficult work of rooting out all sins, idols, and wrong attitudes in my life through my surrender and repentance is to make a choice to live farther away from God than He desires.  It is a choice to live with my sin-wall between us.  Yes, my wall MUST come down!

Spiritual Healing Begins With Surrender

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 12)

"For quite a while now I have believed that a heart can never be transformed by an act of our will, mostly because our will resides in our flesh, and that flesh is ever-decaying and can never be improved.  I believe that, in the same way that we may not be saved without an act of God's will, we cannot be sanctified and transformed without the same kind of act of God's will.  When God transforms my heart, then my obedient actions follow.  If I choose to act out of my flesh, as I have when I have made New Year's resolutions, it is possible that I might get some results to begin with, but they are always short-lived.  I am capable of changing some things for a period of time, but only God can change my heart.  When God is given the opportunity to work out His will in my heart and life through my surrender and obedience to Him, there is a lasting, even eternal, transformation that takes place in me and in  my heart.

But there is one act of my will that God requires of me.  God is looking into hearts, not just to see if we will stop a particular sin.  He is watching to see if our will is desirous of lining up with His.  The specifics of our sin are far less important than the act of our will that wants to surrender and obey in child-like faith.

Our surrendered heart is seen when we are faithful to ask the Spirit to reveal our sin.  Our surrendered heart is seen when we are faithful to confess what is revealed to us as sin, knowing that it is displeasing to God.  Our surrendered heart is seen when we are faithful to place that sin under His full control so that He might be Lord over it.  This is the surrender that He requires of us.  When we bring this sacrifice of surrender, He, who is capable of transforming the heart we bring to Him, will be faithful to accomplish His goal in us--a spiritually healed heart.

When we put our sins and idols into His hands to deal with, God will then, by His Spirit, give some directives for our surrendered hearts to follow, directions that will challenge us to obey Him.  This obedience will then reveal to Him and the world around us that we have given Him Lordship over the sin and idol-stained chambers of our heart.  When we choose to obey His directives, and continually walk in surrender, heart change will occur.  This is the work of the Spirit, and this is the reason I refer to it as spiritual healing.  Spiritual healing will always be a matter of the Spirit's work with in us, not an act of human will.  Spiritual healing is only experienced when we surrender, and that surrender will bring victory to our spiritual lives."

The Graft That Produces Godly Fruit

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 12)

Yesterday, I revealed to you that I would be sharing a quote from Joanna Weaver's book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.  She let's us have a peek into her thought process before she understood the meaning of being grafted in to the Vine, which is Christ Jesus.  Can you relate to living with wrong suppositions, only to discover the truth later?  I surely can.  Here is her testimony.

"'It is not enough simply to be associated.  To be acquainted.  We have to be spiritually grafted on--to draw our life from [Jesus], to be so closely attached that we would wither and die if we were cut off. 

I missed that point for a long time.  I had spent so much of my life concentrating on the 'fruit' of my own personal holiness, that I missed out on the connection, the sweet intimacy of being attached to the Vine.  And as a result, what I tried to do was as ludicrous as an apple tree branch trying to produce apples by its own effort.

"Be good, be good.  Do good, do good," the broken branch chants as it lies on the orchard grass.  "That apple should be popping out anytime," says the helpless lifeless stick.

But that is not how it works.  It's the tree, not the branch, that determines the fruit.  The tree is the life source.  The branch has no power of its own.  But once it gets connected, once that sap gets flowing and those leaves start growing, that insignificant little twig will find itself loaded with fruit.  And it didn't have to do anything--except abide.'

Our lesson from the Israelites is that hard work will be required of us to rebuild our hearts and bring them under Christ's full control.  But the hard work of learning how to walk by the Spirit, to make the Word our life's road map, and to worship as God desires will reveal to both God and others something of great significance--our surrender."

If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are a grafted in branch.  Having now been grafted into Jesus the Vine, you must now begin to recognize and accept that the Holy Spirit is the life-transforming, fruit-producing sap.  He is the life of Christ inside of you.  It is His job to cause fruit to be produced out of you.  Your only job is to surrender to Him.  And as you do, you will become the bearer  of the fruit.  He produces through you; you simply bear what He produces.  In essence this is the definition of abiding in Christ the Vine. 

Have you been a successful graft?

The Heart United

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, from Chapter 12, "Unite My Heart to Fear Your Name")

"Have you heard the old adage, 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'?  Well, here is the real truth of that statement.  You can't even lead a horse to water if he refuses to go!  All you can do for some horses is say, 'There's the water over there.  If you want to drink, you will have to walk yourself there.  I will come along for the journey, if you'd like, but I'm not going to drag you there!' You have nearly completed this book.  It has been full of information about your heart and how it can be, and should be, transformed.  As you read this last chapter, my prayer is that you will look forward, see the 'water', and go take a thirst-quenching drink, over and over.

Throughout this book, you have been given three visual aids to help you grow in your understanding of what your heart truly looks like.  We have examined the Tabernacle of the Old Testament in light of how it represents the journey of our hearts, our very life-path, from the moment that we step into Christ to the moment that we are face to face with Him in eternity.  We have looked at a simple representation of our heart with all of its breaches and cracks, gaining a unique look at the sins, the gods, and the idols that have accumulated there since our birth.  Finally, in the chapters on surrender, we were able to visualize how those layers of sin can trap the Holy Spirit inside of us, unless we break through the sin with our surrender and repentance.  I believe that these visuals will help us all see that the matter of our heart is serious business to God, and the journey through it will be difficult, but necessary, for us to make.  He desires that our hearts be a proper home for Him, one in which He is comfortable.  But for Him to have that proper home, we will go through processes that will make us uncomfortable.

Without an understanding that we are to enter into a relationship with Jesus so that we can begin to be conformed to His image, we will helplessly wander in the wilderness of salvation without sanctification.  From our salvation all the way to standing in the presence of the Living God, we are to be engaged in a progressive process that is designed to unite, bind up, and restore our broken, damaged, and yes, sin-filled hearts.  This sanctification, our perfecting in Christ, is accomplished when we begin to surrender piece by painful piece to the only One who can transform our hearts into hearts that are united and that fear the name of Jesus."

The Upward Call--A Strenuous, Godly Lifestyle

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

"Finally, I will share with you one more insight from the Greek definition for 'run.'  It compels me to run more diligently, and I hope you will find it equally compelling.  This word 'run' is used to compare, figuratively, the public races of Biblical times to a Christian's call to a strenuous, godly life.  This race, this course that has been set for us by God Himself, which allows for the weeding out of sin and encumbrances along the way, is to be the priority of our lives.  We are to become like Christ, and that will never happen if we leave our sin unattended and unchecked.  This race is not intended to be for fun and games, nor for a Christian life of ease.  It is for the prize, upward call of Christ Jesus!  [Those who ran in the Biblical games competed for one reason: to win.  They had no other motive.  They ran strenuously and with reckless abandon!  They removed every obstacle to gaining the prize, and ran, leaving all of themselves on the race track.]

But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind [our sin] and reaching forward to what lies ahead [our holiness and the active knowledge of God's constant presence with us], I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:13b-14).

You are nearing the end of this book [these particular blogs of excerpts from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory) , but the journey of the spiritual healing of your heart is just beginning.  Our hearts, tattered and ripped by our sin and our stumbling blocks, are also divided by them.  But we can still run with endurance the race of which every believer is a part:  the race of holiness and Christ-likeness as characterized by our surrender of the sin in our lives and by obedience to Christ, which replaces it.  By enduring the race in this way, our hearts will be sewn up, and we will begin to see God 'unite our hearts to fear His name.'  To have a united heart is the goal.  It is the prize.  Living the upward call is our spiritual healing!  And now it is time to tie on your running shoes!  Ready, set, GO!

INTROSPECTION

1. What are you practically doing to lay aside your 'encumbrances and sin'?  Are you surrendering those places in your heart daily to the Holy Spirit for transformation?
2. What is currently impeding your walk that is not specifically a sin?
3. What sin is satan using to attack you, seemingly from every direction, so that he can prevent you from finishing the race and being a positive influence on other believers?
4. What can you do to make a course correction and run the race well?
5. You have not yet endured like Jesus, to point of death.  But since He has, He is your example.  Are you willing to make 'enduring the journey' your life task?"

(My husband Nevin, the runner, chose this picture from many, because it portraits the struggle at hand, as well as the strength required to accomplish this run.  Wasn't it a great choice?)

Making A Course Correction

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

If we put together all of the words and phrases from Hebrews 12:1 that we have looked at in the Greek, we are able to write the verse with even greater clarity. 

"Putting all of those definitions together, we will see an 'amplified' version of what it is really telling us."  Let me show you.

Considering that God has designed for us a particular race to run, one in which we are to lay aside the things that trip us up on our journey to Him, we should set our minds on giving the race a strenuous effort so as never to surrender to our stumbling blocks and sin.  We should attack this race as our course on earth, one of mastery and victory over satan and sin.

If we do not live out this verse in our daily walk of obedience to God, our sins and our encumbrances will keep us from the kind of runner's race of faith that could influence others.  Have you considered what effect your sin and 'allowances' have had on those around you?  What impact could it have if you continue in your disobedience?  Do you remember the legacy left to us by the great cloud of witnesses?  What legacy do you really want to leave behind for others to follow?  Do you want your legacy to be that you tolerated your own disobedience to your Creator while He abhorred it, or that  your fought the good fight, that you ran a great race, that led you to the surrender the brought victory into your life?

Do you find that you now have a course correction to make?  The masterful author of Hebrews has the 'how to' in verse 2 of Hebrews 12.  He says to 'fix your eyes on Jesus' because He is the Author and Perfecter of faith.  Our faith began at our salvation, with Jesus and our belief in Him.  Though we are a character in the book He is writing of our faithful journey, He is the Author of it, not us!  He is also the One who is doing the perfecting in us.  We would never be capable of heart transformation on our own!

As a reminder, let's revisit the 'let us' phrases and what they are telling us to do:

• Lay aside what is holding us back.
• Run with endurance.

The 'laying aside' of our sin and heavy encumbrances is a call to Lordship in our lives.  As we begin to walk in the Spirit and lay aside our stumbling blocks, we are actually making Jesus the Lord of those particular areas of sin and barriers to holiness.  In surrendering them, we are giving Him His rightful seat in our hearts, which allows Him full control over the things that can entangle us and get us off course."

Discovering How You Can Endure To The End

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

"The words and lessons found in this book are meant to encourage and admonish you on your journey to a healed heart, a heart that is single-minded and single in purpose, aiming to please and imitate Jesus by our surrender and the obedience that follows.  Wouldn't it be great if it only required just one act of and choice for obedience, or even just a day of it?  The problem is this:  our journey here on earth is long, especially when one considers the number of times we will be called upon to be obedient!"

Beginning in early October  I will be posting on the topic of how we can endure the rest of our journey to an unbroken heart.  We will be taking a closer look at Hebrews 12: 1-4 where you might just discover the scriptural prescription for the endurance that will be required of you to not only complete the race, but win it!

Be watching for more of my posts in a couple of weeks!

Who Controls You?

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 9)

This morning I want to teach you a practical principle.  Let me begin with a question.  Is Jesus the LORD of your life?  To know Jesus as your Lord is to know that you are not in control of anything--He is.  And in order for Him to be in full control of you, you must live in a perpetual state of surrender. Moving from knowing Jesus as your Savior to knowing Him as both Savior and Lord requires a shift in your mindset.  You must begin to consider, over and over, that you are no longer in charge of your life; He is in control of it...every moment and aspect  of your today and everyday!

"Jesus will never be the Lord  of the lost in this world because they have yet to receive Him as their Savior.  We believers tend to accept and know Him readily as our Savior, yet we struggle to allow Him to be Lord.  Quite often the only real difference between the lost and the saved is that we believe that Jesus died to save us.  Most of us do not know Him as Lord  any more than the world does.  We only seem to know that He is supposed to be our Lord.  In actuality, for Him to be Lord, we have to live life surrendered to Him.  That will require us to crucify our desire to be in control of everything in our lives."

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  (Romans 12: 1-2)

"By looking at the Greek definitions of a couple of phrases (one today and one in tomorrow's blog) from Romans 12:1-2, we see a critical step in the walk of every believer.  The true rendering of the phrase 'present yourselves' is this:  a presenting and a yielding of your whole self.  Now let me ask you [another] important question.  Were you fully surrendered at the time of your salvation?  If you are like me, the answer is a resounding 'no!'  Jesus did not become the Lord  of everything in my life the moment I was saved.  He was both capable of and available to be that, but on the day that I was saved, I only surrendered to Him as my Savior.  I had no understanding of what it meant to know Jesus as my Lord,  my Master, as the one in full control of me."

Is that your testimony as well?  Then we must find motivation in our spiritual journey to discover the place where Jesus is Lord of us. That motivation can only be found and realized as we begin to truly know that Jesus is to be in full control of us, and respond to that by fully surrendering to Him.

God's Call To Surrender--Part 2

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(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 9)

"If you have ever wondered what it is that you have to do when you surrender , verse 14 [of the well-known verse of 2 Chronicles 7: 13-14] will clear up any any confusion you may have experienced.

If . . . My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

God is not asking you to just simply say a prayer in which you tell Him that you are surrendering a sin or idol to Him.  He expects you to live out 2 Chronicles 7:14 by humbling yourself before the Creator of the universe.  You are to talk to Him about your sins and idols.  You are to seek His face by surrendering your will to His.  As you seek Him, you will discover afresh and anew the call to obey Him.  If you constantly gaze into the eyes of the Savior who offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice and model of surrender, how could your response be anything other than repentance?  Turning away from what is sinful in your life is entirely different than merely telling God how sorry you are that you have sinned and asking His forgiveness.  To repentantly turn away from your sin is to do a 180-degree turn, away from the direction you had been heading.  This is surrender!  This is true worship!

God has called us to a repentant, heart-surrendering concert of prayer, to be on our faces before Him, the One whose very face we seek.  Until we find ourselves prostrate before Him, we will likely continue to wander in our self-made wildernesses, stagnant and unfulfilled, never reaching the 'land' that He has promised us.  Surrender is the key to passing through the 'veil' and into the daily presence and will of God, dwelling in the Holy of Holies!"

Second Chronicles 7:13-14 is written as a conditional statement--'If My people will....then I will....' The way God states this clearly shows us that if we desire for Him to respond to our prayers for forgiveness of our sinful ways, and to bring spiritual healing of our hearts where our sin and idols dwell, then we must respond to God's call to repentance by actively humbling ourselves before Him, praying diligently for the removal of sin, seeking His face by searching out what the Scriptures tell us to do, and then turning away from the sin by obeying what we have been told.  "If My people will . . . then I will!"

God's Call To Surrender--Part 1

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(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 9)

"Take a moment now to remind yourself of the definition of surrender.  See for certain that surrendering is not a negative thing when it comes to your relationship with God.  It is the most positive thing you can do.  It is also the one discipline that will catapult you into a true love relationship with God.  Surrender is giving God possession and power over your will, your desires, your goals and dreams, and your whole heart.  It is yielding to Him and His commands.  When you surrender in a particular area of your life, in a sinful chamber of your heart, you give up your selfish desire to do as you wish.  Surrender is the resignation of your flesh.  And that leads you to a place where you can joyfully come under the power and control of the Holy Spirit.  Surrender was graphically described to you in the story of Abraham and his altar of death [Genesis 22].  His test of obedience and surrender was a part of his growth in the Lord, and it will be a part of our growth as well.

Second Chronicles 7: 13-14 also points us to surrender as a way of worship.  Though it is often quoted on patriotic holidays as a call for our country to turn back to God for revival, these verses are specific to God's Body as well, and maybe even more specific to the individual believer.  Read through them and take note of the verbs that the Lord uses as he speaks to us.  Notice that they demand action.  Pay close attention also to the events and circumstances that surround God's call to us to worship.  They are found in verse 13.

If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people . . .

God may be allowing some very difficult circumstances to touch your life.  Maybe they are the result of your sin and idolatry. Or maybe they are being allowed simply to bring you to the end of yourself.  Either way, our call is the same.  We are to surrender to Him."

Where is God requiring your surrender today?  Will you hear His call to surrender to Him as an insult to your flesh, as it rises up to have its own way, or will you hear it as a loving invitation to check your flesh at the door and reside in the embrace of your Father? 

(More tomorrow in God's Call To Surrender--Part 2)

Failure To Yield

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(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 9)

" 'The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance.  Immediately he told his signalman to send a message:  Alter your course 10 degrees south!  Promptly a return message was received:  Alter your course 10 degrees north!  The captain was angered; his command had been ignored.  So he sent a second message:  Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!  Soon another message was received:  Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones.   Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear he would evoke:  Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship!  Then the reply came:  Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse.

In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do how to adjust our lives.  Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite the opposite to the rest--something almost absurd.  But the voice happens to be the Light of the World, and we ignore it at our peril.'  (quoted from Paul Aiello Jr. at www.sermonillustrations.com)

Surrendering to the voice of God is the call of and command to every believer, and it is vital to the process of our spiritual growth.  But we all seem to have trouble bending to the higher authority.  We so desperately want to remain in control of our lives, struggling with the concept of surrender and submission to anyone, let alone God.  We much prefer, with booming voice, to tell God what we will and won't do, and why, often expecting Him to be the one to alter His course for us."

How willing are you to yield to God? Do you demand your own way or do you, with crucified flesh, yield your way to Him? The answer to that question reveals who is in control of your life.