Here's My Life – I Surrender

In the gospel of John, chapter 4, Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman. He asks her for water. He soon explains to her about living water, that flows from deep within. It is this water that gives us abundant life.

To have this living water, would be so beneficial, so satisfactory, so...wonderful, would it not? To have this living water is something we all need.

He goes on to speak about worshiping God. He tells this woman, who had a messed up life, about true worship. 

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship in Spirit and in Truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." (John 4:23)

Living Water, flowing deep within; a life full of abundance in Christ; and True Worshipers – these beautiful things Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman. Isn't that wonderful? 

To live a life like Jesus did, listening to His Father about: when He should talk, when He should go somewhere or do something. A life lived in total surrender to His Father, the One He loved above all else. This is living life in abundance. To surrender your own will, and do His, is being a true worshiper. When you put His will, and everything He wants before yourself, you are worshipping Him. 

He wants you to give up your ways for His. His ways are higher than ours. His paths are beyond tracing out! What a way to live —totally surrendered to the One who formed the heavens! 

Some days along the road are never easy. In fact, many days are difficult, and there hardly seems to be any simple way around them. Some days you have difficult temptations. Trials come to test your faith to find out: Where do you stand? 

Through all the tough trials, surrender your will for His. Be ready to say, "Here's my life, Lord. I surrender. Here's my dreams I'm letting go..." {M. Holloway}

The Father is faithful — you WILL see. 

It is difficult to surrender sometimes, isn't it? You want something so bad — but you know you must surrender. Pray. Remember that He knows whats best. Trust Him. Obey. He will lead you on, He is faithful! 

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Not My Will but Thine

Being sick and taking medicine is not always fun, but if you take the time to listen — the Father will have something glorious to teach you. 

Apple Cider Vinegar, amazingly, helps you get over a cold. Garlic is something else that really helps. However sugar is something that will hinder you from getting better. We have two choices. Either delightful, or the total opposite. 

To make the Apple Cider Vinegar when you are ill, you warm hot water and add two or three tablespoons of the Vinegar. It smells horrendous! If you drink it, it will burn your throat a little, and leave an awful taste in your mouth. 

Sugar, on the other hand comes in many forms, and leaves you with a sore throat. 

The other day I was drinking several cups of Apple Cider Vinegar since I caught a very bad cold. It helped so much. 

As I was drinking it, the Father brought something to my mind. I had a cup in my hand and this un-delightful smell rising to my nose. 

When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemene, He prayed a simple prayer with loud crying and tears. He prayed that the cup the Father had given Him could be taken away. It was not delightful for Him either, but He also prayed that if the Father wanted Him to, He would.

"Not my will, but thine be done." 

Jesus took the cup, and did His Fathers will. He prayed three times that it could be taken away, but it was not the Fathers will. Since Jesus had such a reverent fear and submission to His Father, He did what His Father wanted from Him. 

There are many little 'cups' that are given to us, and it is up to Him whether He takes them, or if He would rather us deny our own will and do HIS. Will we take the cup He has given us? Or will we choose the other; the plentiful 'sweet' things of the world that leave you sore? 

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Take Time to Be Holy

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.

Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,

Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

   Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

 

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;

And run not before Him, whatever betide.

In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,

And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,

Each thought and each motive beneath His control.

Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,

Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

~William D. Longstaff~

When I read or sing this song, my soul is challenged. It encourages me to take time with my Lord. In a busy world, with busy schedules, we often forget to take time only with Him. We also can easily forget to pray. A quote that Amy Carmichael wrote comes to mind about prayer:

“We have one crystal clear reason apart from the blessed happiness of this way of life. It is this: prayer is the core of our day. Take prayer out, and the day would collapse, would be pithless, a straw blown in the wind. But how can you pray – really pray, I mean – with one against whom you have a grudge or whom you have been discussing critically with another? Try it. You will find it cannot be done.” (Amy Carmichael, Roots, p.55)

Always be in prayer, just as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” It is such a blessing to be in prayer with the Father. To talk with Him, and to not only have us requesting from Him, but to also hear His voice. That is what I truly love. When I hear His voice, correcting me, convicting me, and even just telling me how much HE loves me, is truly a blessing. Living on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, is the way He desires us to live.

Another encouragement from this song is this, abiding in Him and feeding on His Word. (the word again His Word the Bible and listening to what the Father has to say) In the gospel of John, Jesus speaks about abiding in Him, which, in other words is living IN Him.

“God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this love is perfected in us, so that we may have confidence in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.” (1John4:16-17 Italics added)

What the Father has revealed to me is this, if I love, He lives in me, and I in Him. To truly abide in love, I must walk in love, and His light. Also, I must know what true love is. Love is the opposite of selfishness. Love puts selfishness out of the window. When we deny our own will, and take up our crosses, we will be following our master from the Love He has poured out within us.

The song adds, ‘Make friends with God’s children, help those who are weak’ here again, the only way to do this is to have God’s love in our hearts. If we did not have His love, we could not do these things. It says in 1 Corinthians 13 that even if we had so many things, but had not love we would have/amount to nothing.

It is indeed true, the world rushes on, and we need to take a lot of time in secret with Jesus alone. Even if the Father brings it to mind to pray at work, we can speak to Him alone if there is time. We must take time to speak with Him, spend time in His word and perhaps books and messages that draw us ever nearer to the Lord. Something comes to mind that Lenard Ravenhill said, “The hardest thing to suffer is to be alone, but that is how God makes saints. We cannot have fellowship with one another, unless we love being alone with our Father.  "Fellowship" will then, be truly found.”

I love the verse, “Run not before Him, let Him be thy guide.” If we run before Him, we will be doing our own thing. Instead, let us remain behind Him, patiently waiting on Him to show us where He wants us to go.

Sometimes we look ahead and wonder what the future will bring. We then start to worry and become anxious. I often wonder how come we are so easy to forget. God wants to show us His power in our weakness. If we let Him, He will show us the way to go, just ask Him and wait patiently for His answer.

Lastly, the very last verse is music to my ears, “Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.” We must keep on taking time with Him, loving Him, serving Him and surrendering our will to Him. He will conform us into His image.

He is truly wonderful, is He not? He IS. That is why we owe Him our everything.

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Choosing God's Highest

Something that has been on my heart for the past few days are some challenging words the Lord has brought into my life.

In September, there was a family conference that we were not able to go to. However, I am thankful the Lord can use youtube to allow us to listen to it anyway!!

One of the messages from that time has really challenged me, and has left my thoughts changed. When I read the Bible - the Father brings light in new ways because of some of the words in these messages. I am so thankful the Father allowed me to hear it.

The message is called, "Choosing God's Highest". It speaks about obedience, which I wrote a little about a few days ago - I had to. It helps for me to remember when I write. This has impacted my life so much, I just wanted to share this with you. Please, take the time to listen - ask the Father to open the eyes of your heart so you can hear what He wants to speak to you through it.

I know it will be a blessing for you, as it certainly has been to me.

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Our Appointment Here

"But if impatient, thou let slip the cross

Thou wilt not find it in this world again

Nor in another; here and here alone,

Is given thee to suffer for God's sake.

In other worlds we shall more perfectly

Serve Him, love Him, praise Him, work for Him

Grow nearer, nearer to Him with all delight

But then we shall not anymore be called

to suffer, which is our appointment here.

Cans't thou suffer one hour or two?"

~Ugo Bassi~

All known sin must be given up. Completely. It must all be completely surrendered at the feet of Him who gave His life for us. He deserves it - does He not? What more could we give Him, than our lives, surrendered, ready to do His will?

These little areas, where we want our own way, are where we need to suffer. We must not let our cross slip. It is here, where our own will crosses the Father's, that we must be ready to take up our cross and do His will.

An old book, which has encouraged me these days is called "Parables of the Cross". It has been such a blessing, I have been so challenged by reading it. I just had to share a little piece of it with you all.

 "Yes, there lies before us a beautiful possible life--one that shall have a passion for giving: that shall be poured forth to God--spent out for man: that shall be consecrated "for the hardest work and the darkest sinners." But how are we to enter in? How are we to escape from the self-life that holds us, even after the sin-life has loosed its grasp? 

Back to the Cross: not only from the world of condemnation and from the world of sinning does it free us as we accept it, but from the power of outward things and from the thraldom of self: not only does it open the door into the world of acquittal, and again into that of holiness, but yet again into the new realm of surrender, and thence into that of sacrifice. For the essential idea of the Cross is a life lost to be found again in those around." ~I. Lilias Trotter~

There is so much more, so I encourage you, if you love to read and to be encouraged, read "Parables of the Cross" by  I. Lilias Trotter. You are sure to be blessed.

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He Will Satisfy All Your Needs

(Originally written in 2013) 

Who are you looking for to satisfy all your needs? Are you looking for satisfaction from people around you and friends?

God is the One who you need to look to for strength. Instead of desiring for others to satisfy your needs look to Him and He will satisfy your innermost needs that no one else can satisfy them.

 So many times we want others to give us what we need. When they do give us something, we are disappointed because they did not give us what we needed. They become sad as well because we wanted something more and might have mentioned something that hurt them.

 Look to God for your satisfaction, He can give it and in its fullness, ask Him. Whoever calls upon the Lord will be saved. His desire is for you and nothing can separate us from His Love! Do His will, and cry out for His Spirit, who will lead you into all truth. The Spirit will testify to you that you are Gods child. Trust God, He is faithful, even though we are not, He will give you the Power to overcome your sin and not desperately need others but Him.

 I am not saying fellowship is bad, no! We desperately need fellowship! What I am saying is that we need to make sure we are not trusting others for our satisfaction and looking for them to give us what we need. Only God can truly give us what we need most.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

~Philippians 4:19

 He did not say, “And my God will meet some of your needs, no, but He will meet, all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. He is the One who will give us what we need most.

 He will satisfy all your needs. Not all your wants, but your needs. He will not give you ice cream because that is something that you want. He will satisfy what you need. We may long for many things of this world, but they are passing away.

We must truly desire for the things of the Lord, and those will be granted to us. He will satisfy all that we need – and He sees the big picture, so He knows exactly what we need and when. Trust Him.

~John 2



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What will you choose?

Just a little something I hope you all will be encouraged with. Written by Zac Poonen.

A mother does not care whether others around her are sacrificing anything for her child or not. She joyfully sacrifices everything herself. In the same way, one who has seen the church as his own baby will not be bothered whether others around him are sacrificing anything for the church or not. He will sacrifice himself joyfully, and he will have NO complaint or demand against anyone else.  Those who complain that others are not sacrificing for the sake of the church are not mothers but hired nurses. Such nurses have fixed working hours and will complain when the nurse for the next 8-hour shift does not come on time.

But a mother does not work 8-hour shifts each day. She works a 24-hour shift daily - year after year - and she does not even get paid for it. Even when her child is 20 years old, the mother's work is not over!!

Only mothers can have milk for their babies every day. Nurses cannot produce milk for the babies they care for. In the same way, those who are like mothers in the church will always have a word for their spiritual children - in every meeting. Many elders have no word for the church because they are nurses, not mothers.

A mother does not expect any payment from her children. No child ever pays its mother for her service. In fact, if you were to calculate the wages a mother should be paid, at the rate of 40.00$ per hour (as paid to nurses), you will find that every child owes its mother more than 6 million dollars by the time it is 20 years old!! Which child can ever repay such an amount to its mother?

Now the question that comes to us is: Who is willing to work like that for the Lord and for His church - without receiving any payment, but giving oneself, day after day, year after year, until Jesus comes?  If God can find just one person with that spirit anywhere, He will use him to build the church, much more than He can use 10,000 half-hearted believers who try to serve Him without the spirit of sacrifice.

When Jesus returns to earth and you stand before Him, will you have any regrets over the way you lived, or will you will be able to look back over a life spent usefully for the kingdom of God Many are drifting along and wasting their lives on earth. What will you choose?

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