Surrender. Obedience. Attack.

Surrender. Obedience. Attack. 

I've decided that you can learn a lot if you're willing to pay attention to detail. Especially in the Bible. Recently, I read through Psalm 40. It's an amazing Psalm, but I noticed something this time that I'd never noticed before. There's an order in how it is written. Specifically throughout verses 6-13, as we see David's heart poured out before God. 

"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." (Psalms 40:6-8) 




Surrender:  It is almost impossible for God to do anything with someone who isn't surrendered to do His will. David knew this. God didn't want Sacrifice and burn-offerings. He didn't even want sin-offerings. He wanted complete surrender. God is not a tyrant. He won't force Himself upon you. Does He allow things in our lives to get our attention? Absolutely. He lovingly draws all men. But forced love is not love at all. Forced obedience is not service, but slavery. The surrender of our wills to His lordship is not something He demands...but something He asks. It is given. And when we get real with God, when we humble ourselves, when we repent before Him, when we realize just who we are and who He is, we can say like David, "Lo, I come...and..."I delight to thy will". 

 After the first nuclear bombing on Japan, near the end of World War II, Japan sought for "conditional surrender". However, these terms were not accepted and the United States of America insisted upon "unconditional surrender" or further destruction. This was proven by the 2nd nuclear bomb that hit Japan, for which afterward, Japan unconditionally surrendered. I think sometimes this is like us with God. The Bible says that we cannot serve two masters. But we try to. We come to God with "conditional surrender". (Lord, I surrender, but _________.)  But conditions with surrender are not acceptable terms to God. He desires "unconditional surrender". 


Obedience: To say that we are surrendered to God, and yet, we do nothing that He says... means, in fact, we truly aren't surrendered to God. We are most certainly lying. We may not know that we are lying...but in truth, we are. The book of James makes this very clear. We may very well be self-deceived. This is why it is important to ask God to search our hearts continually.

And after David came in surrender to Christ, after he told the Lord that he delighted to his will... God took him up on it. And what do we see?

"I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation." (Psalm 40:9-10)

I am amazed by the things David declares in these verses. He preached righteousness. (As woman, we aren't given the liberty to "preach" exactly, but proclaiming righteousness isn't necessarily just seen through what we might consider "traditional preaching", but also through our actions and daily lives.) David refrained not his lips. He spoke out. He witnessed. He was bold in proclaiming truth. He declared the faithfulness of God. He declared the salvation of God. He concealed not the Lord's lovingkindness. In other words, he loved people. David also said that he had not "hid the Lord's righteousness within [his] heart." He extended it to others. This really stood out to me. A lot of Christians today are content to keep God for themselves. They "hide Him", if you would, within their own comfort-ability and houses. But not David. And this is all said of the person God said before, was a "man after his own heart". This is all said, right after David surrendered to do the Lord's will. 


Attack: 

"Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me." (Psalm 40:11-13)

When you submit yourself to God. When you set out to do His will. When you are serious about righteousness. When you set out to actively obey Him. Be sure of it. You WILL be attacked. Sometimes, it takes us by surprise...but it shouldn't. Satan is a deceitful and ruthless enemy. He sets out to destroy. He isn't interested in playing games. He isn't okay with you being a light in darkness. He isn't happy about sincere and real Christianity. But, this shouldn't stop us. We shouldn't allow it to discourage us! God is so much greater! 

I've never experienced more spiritual attack in my whole life than I have this past year. It is a very REAL thing and it can take many different forms. David describes some of them here in these verses. Innumerable evils. Iniquities (sins), to the point that he isn't even able to look up to God. This one is the most subtle and shocking when it comes. Also known as, condemnation. I've seen over and over again, when you step out in obedience to serve God, your past sin creeps in to haunt you, to condemn you, to discourage you. Sometimes, it is just seeing your flesh for what it truly is (wretched) ...and allowing it to make you feel worthless and hopeless and unable to be of any use to God. This isn't the spirit of Christ. God already KNEW who you were before you suddenly became aware of it yourself. Your sin isn't shocking to Him. He knew. He knows. But sometimes it is shocking to us. Maybe because we are self-deceived into thinking that we really weren't as bad as the Bible made us out to be. But your sin isn't the biggest problem to God. He already paid for it on the cross of Calvary. He has already forgiven you, if you accept that forgiveness. But Satan loves to back us into a corner that cripples us to any action. He wants you to give up. He wants you to feel worthless. He wants to, as he subtly did to Eve, get us to doubt that God really loves us and has the best in store for us. Satan, in any way he can, wants to distract you from looking towards God. If he can simply get you to take your eyes off Christ and place them on yourself...he's won a victory. Because it's when we look at ourselves, we either become proud or discouraged and are therefore hindered in our work for God. David knew what it was to have your heart fail you. And it came after he set out in obedience to God. Don't be surprised when the enemy sneaks in to attack you in any way he can. Instead, be ready. Seek God. Through submission and resistance, he will flee. David said, "make haste to help me". If we are on God's side...than it stands true that He is on our side too. 

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;" (Psalm 46:1 and 2)

I'm learning to be encouraged, instead of discouraged, when attack comes beating down. Because, it means God is doing something. That Satan has a reason to be afraid. And God certainly won't leave you alone. He wants you to submit to His good will. He wants to use you for His kingdom, more than you know. 

Quote of the Day

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.” -Spurgeon

A Witness

Spiritual Lessons

A Witness

I swiveled in my chair to watch as she stepped out the door and confidently walked down the brick steps. I watched her leave the office and my heart grieved for her lost soul and it yearned for her salvation.  I almost cried right there in the office it was so strong.  God is reaching out to her through me and it hurts.  And He isn't reaching through me because I'm this special, usable tool, but because He lives in me and yearns for her soul, and when He is presented before her, He reaches out.  I simply am the container of the Love.  Love reaches out in pure, deliberate desire and concern and care.  It's not me, or my love.  It's Love Himself.  I'm the hands, the mouthpiece, the vessel.  Why does He choose to use weak fallible vessels?  I'm just the little box He resides in.  
It's almost overwhelming when He over-powers my pitiful emotions and intellect and stretches out and grasps for someone I wouldn't ordinarily try to reach.  There's such a difference between me wanting to bring someone to Christ, and when God Himself is grasping.  
His is more passionate, an urgent plea.  He hurts to have her.  He is moved by her state.  It's not a mission or a challenge, it's a cry, a calling out, an intense yearning.  He has invested everything -- it means so much to Him.  It's not a duty, but the very dearest desire of His heart.  He rents my heart in order to stretch out His hand towards her.  And I am awed by His love.  Nothing selfish.  What does He gain but the soul of a finite being?  And yet He pines for her.  Every chance He knocks, woos, cries out, because He cares.  And He plants me in her path and uses incapable, awkward, mistake-prone me.  He must really enjoy extending lovingkindness through incapable, unthinkable, silly people.  

***

I have realized that God sees each lost person with inconceivable love and compassion. He longs for their soul. His hand is constantly extended to the wicked. Not just the drug addict, the prostitute, the stereotype that comes to mind, but the people we know – the neighbor we detest, the mean check-out lady at the grocery store, the heartless man who slandered our name. He cries out for them also.

Practically speaking, how does God “reach out” to these people He longs for? Us! God chooses to use His children as His arms and hands to reach the lost. It is my opinion that if we could see humanity through Jesus' eyes for a moment, we would have a different heart when it comes to souls.

The love of God is supposed to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. (Romans 5:5). Not only is the Holy Spirit our comforter, He also is the power that throbs inside us to save the damned.

I think our purpose on earth is multifaceted, but certainly it cannot be argued that at least a sliver of that purpose is to reach the dying. Recently I have been convicted of how imperative it is that I personally fulfill His will in this commandment. The “Great Commission” did not exclude women.

Outside of my church and my family, what am I personally doing to reach the lost? Certainly, if it is God's desire that we share Jesus with unbelievers, He must have a plan on how I am to do this. Have I ever thought to ask Him?

Jesus says to go out. He says the fields are white with harvest. He says He desires to be proved, to show Himself strong. He says to sow in the morning and in the evening, not to withhold our hand since we have no idea when that seed will prosper. (Ecc. 11:6). He asks that we stop looking at people but through them.

He would be glad to delay the death of the wicked if we would just ask. Christ dared to ask for the wicked – will we?

“Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Psalm 2:8

Related Posts:

To Be His Witness (By Toni H.)

Being a Jeremiah in a Jerusalem World (By Melissa B.)

Worn Out Love (By Chris H.)

To Be His Witness

Spiritual Lessons

To Be His Witness

Recently a Maid Arise reader asked that I post on witnessing. This has been something on my mind of late as I have gone out with my brothers to do more of this, as well as having our missions conference last week and also recently joining my local pregnancy center; all of which giving the gospel have been a key issue.

The Law and the Sinner

I was pretty sure he'd just shrug me off and leave like many dozens before him. But I had that familiar tug on my heart to say something. I quickly left my conversation with a friend and approached him.

“Hi, did you get one of these?” I offered a pamphlet on the sin of abortion.

He abruptly turned toward me and frowned. “Oh don't...don't give that to me, I don't want to talk to you.”

Normally I don't pressure, but I stopped and lowered my hand and simply asked: “Why?”

He was an intellectual. An agnostic. He'd heard about Jesus all his life. Once upon a time he was a Christian but now he knew better. I had to smile to myself. How easily the unbelievers correlate Christ to those who take a stand for life. Little did he know, it was his own life that was on the forefront of my mind just then.

“You know..." he began, "there are necessary evils in this world. Abortion is necessary because the world is becoming over-populated. For example! During WWII when the Americans figured out the Germans secret code of communication, the American military felt it couldn't break every code or the Germans would catch on to the fact we had broken their code. American men died because of it. It was a necessary evil.”

The pamphlet I held mentioned how America had also once deemed slavery a necessary evil. But I decided a different route as I prayed for wisdom.

“I understand what you're saying, but there is a difference. These men willingly sacrificed their lives when they joined the military. Babies are innocent victims without a choice. They didn't sign up for anything. But Eric, do you know that I'm not only out here in behalf of the voiceless. I'm not only here for the babies lives, but for these people's lives as well.” I motioned toward the crowd that walked the sidewalk, passing us by.

Eric didn't look surprised. He stared at me, but he was quiet.

“Eric, do you know where you'll go when you die?”

“Mmm, probably nowhere.” He shrugged. He was obviously unconcerned.

“So, have you ever stolen anything?”

“Yes.”

“Lied?”

“Mmhm.”

“Lusted after a woman?”

“Yeah.”

“Then by your own admission, you're a thief, a liar, and an adulterer at heart.”

“In other words human.”

“Yes. God says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God – even to fall short makes us a sinner and we will go to Hell as a sinner. Even though Jesus can be a lover and a best friend He also is a righteous judge. Doesn't this concern you?”

“Absolutely not.”

“How come?”

“I don't believe in God.”

“Well, if you're right you have nothing to be concerned of...”

“Exactly.”

“But, if I'm right you are going to Hell.”

I could tell he stopped to process that thought before answering – 
“But I'd have to believe that for it to be true.”

“No, if you walked into the street and didn't believe in cars, but a car pulled out and hit you, you would still be run into whether you believed cars existed or not.”

“But a car is something I can see – I know it's real.”

“God is just as real, just as real as the air we breath but can't see. I know, because I talk to him every day. Would you at least consider what I have to tell you? Eric you admitted you are a sinner, I know where you are headed. If you died right now you would go to Hell. That is the reason I'm seeking you out. I wish I could convince you...I hope you'll think about it tonight when you go to bed.”

By the end of that half hour conversation he had dropped his arrogant attitude and quietly listened. He realized he had a need, now he only had to make the choice. I still pray for this man to this day.

The more I share Christ with others the more I am convinced that this sin-sick world has no idea of their need. They not only disbelieve that they are already condemned, but they are certain that they are honestly “not that bad”. I've talked to homosexuals, satanists, and murderers, and they all think they are good enough to get to heaven. The world is condemned, dying, and they don't know. Before we can ever begin to share their only hope (Jesus) they must be shown their need.  

Compassion and You.

  The more I witness the more I am sincerely saddened by the masses of people who harden their heart, purposefully hating their only hope. I've had women shriek at me and curse and threaten me, simply because I held a sign that said there is forgiveness for sin through Jesus Christ. I've been flipped off, called foul things and reproached. But I have learned that it actually isn't me they are offended with. It's the message. It's the person Jesus Christ who is a rock of offense. (Romans 9:33). It used to be so exhausting and disturbing to have them attack me. It still is draining and sometimes unnerving, but recently I stand and my heart goes out to each person that passes me. I realize that the majority of the crowd is headed for Hell. And Satan has them duped that they are good people. That they are even Christians. They don't hate me...when they attack me it's because they hate Jesus Christ. And what a tragedy! He not only created them, He also is the only way, He is the truth, He is life...and they are rejecting their hope and only Savior. They lash out because they are lost and weary and wounded. There is no defense needed on my part. I don't have to be angry or hurt at their response. “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36

Jesus touched many hearts and ministered to many crowds. He still desires to. But through us. He personally strove after hearts in Palestine. Now He plans to cover the rest of the earth through us. We are to go to all nations. We are to continue on in what He began. He has allowed Himself to need us. God, throughout time has waited on human action. Of course He is the power, we are nothing without Him, but the power needs a channel. The world waits, and only on willing men, for God has already provided His son.

If we truly believed in a literal Hell. If we could grasp that the majority of the world is headed there – our neighbors, our family, our community, our state, our country our world-- If we had Jesus' heart for mankind and were moved with His compassion, we would go. We would swallow every fear. We would give every anxiety to Christ and with concern for the condemned we would say something.

"What was there to attract the Lord Jesus to these crowds?  Their need, you answer.  Yes, no doubt, their terrible need did move Him with compassion, to the hurting point.  But was there more than this? Something He said one time has made me think there was something more, a pathetic, tremendous more, that took hold of His heart. Could it be that He saw some lingering trace of the Father's face in these faces? His eyes were very keen. He had seeing eyes. And these men have all been made in the Father's image. Has that image ever been wholly lost? Terribly blurred and scarred by sin, yes; but wholly lost? Do you think so? I think not.

...Was it though the Father's face cried out to Him out of these poor beaten faces? I think so. Their need is His need; their cry, His. It's Jesus coming to us in these crowds. …You may not be sent to some distant field...Your personal place may be at home. But the crowd, the need, is everywhere; at home, in the social circle, and among the men driven by...this prosperous land of ours. ...The Spirit will guide. He has a passion for men in their need.”   S.D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Following the Christ

The M&M Syndrome and Believers

There was a certain man who was stripped of all he had, beaten and left to die. By chance a priest and a Levite came by, and though able, decided to pass him by without helping him. What excuses they used we can only imagine. But the Samaritan saw the bloody helpless man and did everything within his ability to help him. He had compassion. He healed. He paid for his inn. He loved his neighbor. Love acts. (Psalm 102:19-20)

Who lie bloody, condemned and dying in our day? Every unsaved soul. (Also the voiceless who are appointed unto destruction Proverbs 31:8 – the murdered unborn). There is no excuse good enough to keep us silent. And yet so many Christians “pass by” and do nothing. The two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor. Christians are failing miserably.

From this story we learn compassion.  Following the Samaritan's example is a given. But there's a little more to the story. Who in the story do we hold in contempt? The priest and the Levite.  We have to ask ourselves who's example we follow in our day to day life.

 If not ourselves, we know many priests and Levites, in our life.  Sometimes our brothers and sister's lack of interest in souls can dishearten those of us who have desired to shirk common Christian apathy. The lack of fellow soldiers is discouraging. And this is when the M&M syndrome can come to plague us.

Right after explaining the two greatest commandments to the lawyer in Luke 10, Jesus goes to Mary and Martha and Lazarus home. Martha becomes upset with Mary because Mary isn't "doing."

Both the lawyer and Martha had one thing needful. Something Mary had found. Love. True Love.

We shouldn't become upset with our siblings in Christ if they leave us to “serve alone”. Martha stomped right up to Jesus and boldly asked Him to bid Mary to serve with her.

“And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken from her.” Luke 10:41-42

Every Christian inspired with His love should actively be obeying Christ and sharing Him with the lost. They should stop and minister to their bloody helpless neighbors. But it is not our place to condemn those who won't. Becoming bitter with our apathetic brothers and sisters is not the answer. In Love we can pray and encourage and even stir their hearts, but we must beware of the Mary and Martha Syndrome and not be found wanting. We obey. That's our responsibility. With compassion and Love we tell the world of their need, show them the Truth and Life, and let Him prick consciences around us.

***

For some helpful resources on evangelism please click the links below:

www.voicesofdissidence.com

www.livingwaters.com

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