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ABSOLUTE SURRENDER

sermonindex Oct 16, 2008

I totally surrender to God:

* My spirit
* My will
* My mind
* My emotions
* My body
* My circumstances
* My plans for the future
* My family
* My dreams and hopes
* My past successes and failures
* My habits
* My problems
* My relationships
* My finances
I promise you five things if you give your life to Jesus Christ on HIS terms:

* Affliction
* Persecution
* Tribulation
* Ridicule
* Eternal life

I give up the following rights:


* The right to pleasant circumstances.
* The right to be accepted.
* The right to be successful.
* The right to my possessions.
* The right to be rescued from my circumstances.
* The right to see results.
* The right to know the specific will of God.
* The right to understand my circumstances.
* The right to be proven right.
* The right to be loved.
* The right to have a mate or children.
* The right to be used by God the way I want to be.
* The right to live in the place I choose.
* The right to the job I want.

I give God permission to do anything He wishes to me, with me, in me or through me that would glorify Him. I once claimed these rights as mine, but now they belong to God and are under His control. He can do with them anything He pleases.

E
enid Oct 16, 2008

Quote: 'I give God permission...'

Well, I don't know if I would phrase it that way, but I think I know what you mean.

Good article.

sermonindex Oct 16, 2008

Yea... thats the only thing I have a problem with. God doesnt need our permission to do anything. But I understand the spirit of what your post is saying.

Now, if we could all just live that out...!

Krispy

sermonindex Oct 16, 2008

Yes, we do need to give up OUR control.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

sermonindex Oct 16, 2008

Krispy,


I guess by what you said, you are still in control.

That is why you do not experience HIS life because you are still in control of yours.

E
enid Oct 16, 2008

I guess we could all plead guilty of being in control of our own lives.

Can we say, along with the apostle Paul, 'I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me...,Gal 2v20.

I feel I've a long way to go before I can truly say that.

B
broclint Oct 16, 2008

I believe we could add one for all on SI:
I give up the right to be right!

Clint

J
JoanM Oct 16, 2008

When we HEAR the Truth, maybe the word that best catches what occurs is AGREEING with the Truth. The Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Christ, reveals and elaborates the Word of God from then on.

I wish I could just post the word AGREE as an offering here. Our lives as an unfolding agreement with God, with the Truth of His Word, all of it and nothing else. Maybe I’ll try just posting that. Sigh. Maybe not. How would that make sense to anyone?

M
murrcolr Oct 16, 2008

FreeCD

May I ask if you are entirely surrendered to Christ?”

M
murrcolr Oct 18, 2008

FreeCd the reason I ask this question on the ealier post is that I would hate for you to be trying to surrender all in your own strength.

God has been talking to me about surrendering everything for over a year know. I have not got to that point yet but I can hear the Holy Spirit saying surrender all to me.

I have read your early post about where you lay out different points about what you give up and stop and what you get in return but to me that is not what surrender is about. Thats not the surrender God is requesting from me.

The surrender that God is requesting from me is the giving of my whole heart to him, it's loving God with all my heart, trusting God with all my heart. That's the impression the Holy Spirit is giving me.

When I wrote that I thought about scripture where Jesus says in Matthew 22 v 37 Love your Lord God with all your heart, with all you soul and mind. He then goes onto to say in v 38 this is the first and greatest commandment.

To me that's Absolute Surrender, it's submission a opening up so he can fill every part of your heart. It not like a surrender that a military conquest brings but a humbling of the I in you. It's like what Pauls says in Gal 2v20 I have been crucified with Christ, I no longer live but Christ who lives in me.

So how do I get from where I am, to where the Holy Spirit wants to lead me. I will wait, I will pray and I won't get stressed out by trying to do it as I cannot do the things of God in my own strength. There will come a time that God will help me to surrender all to him. Where I die and will be crucified with Christ and it will be no longer I that lives but Christ who lives in me and I'll love God with all my heart, soul and mind.

I hope this helps you in your quest.

sermonindex Oct 18, 2008

Let me say, first of all, that God claims it from us.

God Expects Your Surrender

Yes, it has its foundation in the very nature of God God cannot do otherwise. Who is God? He is the Fountain of life, the only Source of existence and power and goodness, and throughout the universe there is nothing good but what God works, God has created the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the flowers, and the trees, and the grass; and are they not all absolutely surrendered to God? Do they not allow God to work in them just what He pleases? When God clothes the lily with its beauty, is it not yielded up, surrendered, given over to God as He works in it its beauty? And God’s redeemed children, oh, can you think that God can work His work if there is only half or a part of them surrendered? God cannot do it. God is life, and love, and blessing, and power, and infinite beauty, and God delights to communicate Himself to every child who is prepared to receive Him; but ah! this one lack of absolute surrender is just the thing that hinders God. And now He comes, and as God, He claims it.

You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You know that everything has to be given up to its special, definite object and service. I have a pen in my pocket, and that pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing, and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with it. If another holds it partly, I cannot write properly. This coat is absolutely given up to me to, cover my body. This building is entirely given up to religious services. And now, do you expect that in your immortal being, in the divine nature that you have received by regeneration, God can work His work, every day and every hour, unless you are entirely given up to Him? God cannot. The Temple of Solomon was absolutely surrendered to God when it was dedicated to Him. And every one of us is a temple of God, in which God will dwell and work mightily on one condition — absolute surrender to Him. God claims it, God is worthy of it, and without it God cannot work His blessed work in us..

God not only claims it, but God will work it Himself.

God Accomplishes Your Surrender

I am sure there is many a heart that says: "Ah, but that absolute surrender implies so much!" Someone says: "Oh, I have passed through so much trial and suffering, and there is so much of the self-life still remaining, and I dare not face the entire giving of it up, because I know it will cause so much trouble and agony."

Alas! alas! that God’s children have such thoughts of Him, such cruel thoughts. Oh, I come to you with a message, fearful and anxious one. God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your will; God is willing to work it in you. Do we not read: "It is God that worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure"? And that is what we should seek for — to go on our faces before God, until our hearts learn to believe that the everlasting God Himself will come in to turn out what is wrong, to conquer what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing in His blessed sight. God Himself will work it in you.

Look at the men in the Old Testament, like Abraham. Do you think it was by accident that God found that man, the father of the faithful and the Friend of God, and that it was Abraham himself, apart from God, who had such faith and such obedience and such devotion? You know it is not so. God raised him up and prepared him as an instrument for His glory.

Did not God say to Pharaoh: "For this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power"?

And if God said that of him, will not God say it far more of every child of His?

Oh, I want to encourage you, and I want you to cast away every fear. Come with that feeble desire; and if there is the fear which says: "Oh, my desire is not strong enough, I am not willing for everything that may come, I do not feel bold enough to say I can conquer everything" — I pray you, learn to know and trust your God now. Say: "My God, I am willing that Thou shouldst make me willing." If there is anything holding you back, or any sacrifice you are afraid of making, come to God now, and prove how gracious your God is, and be not afraid that He will command from you what He will not bestow.

God comes and offers to work this absolute surrender in you. All these searchings and hungerings and longings that are in your heart, I tell you they are the drawings of the divine magnet, Christ Jesus. He lived a life of absolute surrender, He has possession of you; He is living in your heart by His Holy Spirit. You have hindered and hindered Him terribly, but He desires to help you to get hold of Him entirely. And He comes and draws you now by His message and words. Will you not come and trust God to work in you that absolute surrender to Himself? Yes, blessed be God, He can do it, and He will do it.

God not only claims it and works it, but God accepts it when we bring it to Him.

God Accepts Your Surrender

God works it in the secret of our heart, God urges us by the hidden power of His Holy Spirit to come and speak it out, and we have to bring and to yield to Him that absolute surrender. But remember, when you come and bring God that absolute surrender, it may, as far as your feelings or your consciousness go, be a thing of great imperfection, and you may doubt and hesitate and say:

"Is it absolute?"

But, oh, remember there was once a man to whom Christ had said:

"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

And his heart was afraid, and he cried out:

"Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief."

That was a faith that triumphed over the Devil, and the evil spirit was cast out. And if you come and say: "Lord, I yield myself in absolute surrender to my God," even though it be with a trembling heart and with the consciousness: "I do not feel the power, I do not feel the determination, I do not feel the assurance," it will succeed. Be not afraid, but come just as you are, and even in the midst of your trembling the power of the Holy Ghost will work.

Have you never yet learned the lesson that the Holy Ghost works with mighty power, while on the human side everything appears feeble? Look at the Lord Jesus Christ in Gethsemane. We read that He, "through the eternal Spirit," offered Himself a sacrifice unto God. The Almighty Spirit of God was enabling Him to do it. And yet what agony and fear and exceeding sorrow came over Him, and how He prayed! Externally, you can see no sign of the mighty power of the Spirit, but the Spirit of God was there. And even so, while you are feeble and fighting and trembling, in faith in the hidden work of God’s Spirit do not fear, but yield yourself.

And when you do yield yourself in absolute surrender, let it be in the faith that God does now accept of it. That is the great point, and that is what we so often miss — that believers should be thus occupied with God in this matter of surrender. I pray you, be occupied with God. We want to get help, every one of us, so that in our daily life God shall be clearer to us, God shall have the right place, and be "all in all." And if we are to have that through life, let us begin now and look away from ourselves, and look up to God. Let each believe — while I, a poor worm on earth and a trembling child of God, full of failure and sin and fear, bow here, and no one knows what passes through my heart, and while I in simplicity say, O God, I accept Thy terms; I have pleaded for blessing on myself and others, I have accepted Thy terms of absolute surrender — while your heart says that in deep silence, remember there is a God present that takes note of it, and writes it down in His book, and there is a God present who at that very moment takes possession of you. You may not feel it, you may not realize it, but God takes possession if you will trust Him..

God not only claims it, and works it, and accepts it when I bring it, but God maintains it.

from
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER

by Andrew Murray

P
PaulWest Oct 18, 2008

There will come a time that God will help me to surrender all to him. Where I die and will be crucified with Christ and it will be no longer I that lives but Christ who lives in me and I'll love God with all my heart, soul and mind.

Dear brother, God's Word teaches that you have [i]already been crucified[/i] with Christ. If you are still looking to attain this death through prayer and patience and fasting, you'll never receive it; you will wait your entire lifetime and be severely disappointed and confused, because you are asking for God to do something to you which has already deen done. You are asking to die a death that has already occured. The Bible says that you [i]have already been crucified[/i] with Christ and are dead to sin, and that you [i]have already been[/i] buried and risen with Him. The Bible teaches us that our old men [i]have already been slain[/i], and that we [i]already have positional victory[/i] in Christ over the world, flesh and devil. It teaches that we have [i]already been seated[/i] in heavenly places with Christ. God has already done all the "footwork" of killing and positioning us so that we can live the true Christian life in Christ, and the blessed news is that there's nothing at all we can do to add to it or make it more real.

Where we get into trouble today is in the failure to simply believe this fact and appropriate it through faith. Our confusion stems from the failure to [b]reckon[/b] ourselves dead and yield our members unto to God as such that are dead to sin and self but alive to God in Christ. In all the cases where Paul speaks of our death and our new positions in Christ, he uses the Greek aorist verb tense - which denotes an action which has already taken place at one point in the past and is now forever accomplished. Our part in this is to simply "let" the peace of God rule in our hearts and minds, and we "let" this happen by first reckoning, then yielding and finally presenting ourselves to God as such. Ah, but this is easier said than done! Much brokeness and refining and self-denial and mortification of flesh is needed, because the spirit and flesh are arch-rivals. This "working out of our salvation" takes a lifetime of care, and no one masters it before they are glorified in their new bodies.

But it is integral that we first understand our positions in Christ and our relation to God in death before we can successfully proceed in the working out of our salvations. Praying to attain something God has already given us is asinine; we should pray instead that God open our eyes to the divine revelation [i]that we are already dead and that Christ is already our life[/i]. Let us pray for the grace to begin appropriating this "normal Christian life" experience. If God opens our eyes to this glorious truth, we will in an instant experience this life from moment to moment by continuous faith in what God has already accomplished for us.

M
murrcolr Oct 18, 2008

PaulWest said;

Ah, but this is easier said than done! Much brokeness and refining and self-denial and mortification of flesh is needed, because the spirit and flesh are arch-rivals. This "working out of our salvation" takes a lifetime of care, and no one masters it before they are glorified in their new bodies.

I hear what your saying and unless God had shown me otherwise then I would agree with you fully. First of all I am not talking about my body being glorified I am talking about my heart.

Do you know anyone that can claim honestly that they Love God with all there heart. But I believe that it can be attained. Why do I think that because it says that we should Love the Lord God with all our Heart, Soul and Mind. As you said this easier said than done if we try in our own strength it is impossible.

So it has to be by faith. We are justified by faith, I also believe we can be sanctified made Holy by faith.

In essence it will take a act of faith to surrender all your heart to God and when that heart is surrendered God cleanses it the fills it with his spirit. This would then be called a pure heart or a perfect heart.

This is what I believe God is showing me and what I am waiting for. I do not claim to have it yet but men in the past have testified about it.

Duncan Campbell in his testimony testifies about how he was cleasned and made Holy in a instance on the battle field. Can you fall from that place of Holiness? Yes Duncan also lets us know that he did when he was concerned more with money and left the faith mission to take up post that received money.

But he went on to regain that position after God used the word of his child to convict him. He paid the price and went for God. His words "Go for God whatever the cost" ring inside me to this day.

I will Go for God whatever the cost the things that hinder me form recieving the blessing I will lay down with God's help.

P
PaulWest Oct 18, 2008

I hear what your saying and unless God had shown me otherwise then I would agree with you fully.

But brother, what I shared with you is the theology of Paul the Apostle. What didn't you agree with?
First of all I am not talking about my body being glorified I am talking about my heart.

But does the Word teach literal perfection (in the heart) before glorification? Do we even know what heart-perfection is, or how to gauge it or what to look for when we've finally achieved it? Is perfection tangible? Can anyone say that their heart is perfect before the Almighty and not tremble in the fear of knowing that God sees their secret faults? If something told you that perfection on earth is attainable, it must mesh with the Word of God, otherwise it is to be rejected (or at the very least crash-proof tested). Wesleyanism is not Godism. If the Apostle Paul reached it, I will support it and preach it; If Paul did not teach it or reach it on earth, I categorically reject it, no matter who testifies that they have achieved it. It doesn't matter if it comes from Duncan Campbell or Wigglesworth or John Wesley or Colonel Brengle, I believe it still must be weighed in light of God's Word and in the experience of the Apostle Paul. I happen to believe the Apostle Paul is the apex the Lord uses for all generations to demonstrate the summit and culmination of all what man can achieve on earth for Christ while indued with the Holy Spirit, and adhering to this belief has kept me safe time and time again as others shipwreck. If Paul didn't achieve it, or teach it, I also do not expect to achieve it or teach it. And in this case, Paul specifically said that [i]he had not attained it[/i]. He consistently regarded himself as low, the chief of sinners, in whom nothing good dwelt, and the least of all the apostles. Paul knew better than any man just how deceitfully wicked the heart was and how it could not be trusted. He also taught that the flesh can not be improved.

I think it is safe to hold the same view of yourself, and to be divorced from seeking this riddled concept of "perfection before glorification" which no man has ever attained, beginning with the Apostle Paul. But since you have brandished the ace of all aces, and the trump of all trumps - the "God has shown me" bomb - I realize the debate is over, and all hope to persuade you is lost, even if I show you scripture that repudiates what you were shown. If this voice told you to keep seeking and praying for crucifixion and subsequent perfection...I really don't know what to tell you. I dread to think of all the disappointment and disillusionment that awaits those who invest in this type of theology. God will often allow you to perform for a season in a supposed "perfected state", before a wave of failure hits you. In a moment, you see that all the supposed perfection you thought you had attained was but a house of cards that collapsed under a strong wind. Now, when the house falls, if can somehow restrain ourselves from immediately starting to build again under the pretense of our own righteousness - i.e. "Next time I'll just pray harder and fast more frequently and maybe my house won't fall again" - and instead empty ourselves of all [i]our[/i] effort and resolution to be better Christians and just look to Christ to build the house with His own supplies, we will at last succeed and be on our way to true perfection - which is Christ's own.

I believe perfection is possible only through the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is the Embodiment of Perfection, and Who dwells in us and us in Him. There is nothing to attain through prayer but a greater knowledge of His grace and love and peace to be shed abroad in our hearts. We are not seeking perfection in and of itself, but Christ alone Who is our Perfection.

Brother Paul

G
ginnyrose Oct 18, 2008

I totally surrender to God:
* My spirit
* My will
* My mind
* My emotions
* My body
* My circumstances
* My plans for the future
* My family
* My dreams and hopes
* My past successes and failures
* My habits
* My problems
* My relationships
* My finances
I promise you five things if you give your life to Jesus Christ on HIS terms:

* Affliction
* Persecution
* Tribulation
* Ridicule
* Eternal life

I give up the following rights:


* The right to pleasant circumstances.
* The right to be accepted.
* The right to be successful.
* The right to my possessions.
* The right to be rescued from my circumstances.
* The right to see results.
* The right to know the specific will of God.
* The right to understand my circumstances.
* The right to be proven right.
* The right to be loved.
* The right to have a mate or children.
* The right to be used by God the way I want to be.
* The right to live in the place I choose.
* The right to the job I want.

I give God permission to do anything He wishes to me, with me, in me or through me that would glorify Him. I once claimed these rights as mine, but now they belong to God and are under His control. He can do with them anything He pleases.

So, then, when this becomes normative in my lfe, the personal pronoun "I" will be of little use - right?

ginnyrose

EDIT: BTW: did y'all ever notice how few times the Biblical writers use this personal pronoun "I"? Ever wonder about that? Thoughts?

M
murrcolr Oct 18, 2008

Sorry about this there are a lot of scriptures here. For your information there was no voice God can speak to you in many ways through scriptures he used Job in my case, through others Duncan Campell and a sister who had written a book on the subject.

Lenoard Ravenhill said "a man with a arguement is no match for a man with a experience". You cannot and will not tell me any different because what has been revealed to me came from heaven but I am more that willing to listen to rational and unsarcastic posts.

Gen 6v9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Gen 17v1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

Duet 18v13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God

1 Kings 8v61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

1 Kings 15v3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

1 King 15v14 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

2 Kings 20v3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

1 Chr 28v9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

1 Chr 29v19 And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.

2 Chr 15v17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days

2 Chr 16v9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

Ps 37v37Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace

Ps 101v2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart

Isa 38v3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

Mat 5v48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Mat 19v21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Luke 8v14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

John 17v23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

1 Cor 2v6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

2 Cor 12v9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Cor 13v9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.

2 Cor 13v11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace
shall be with you.

Esp 4v12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Esp 4v13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Col 1v28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Col 3v14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Col 4v12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

2 Tim 3v17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Heb 2v10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Heb 6v1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward
God,

Heb 10v14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified

Heb 12v23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Heb 13v21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Jam 3v2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

1 Pet 5v10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

1 Joh 4v18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Know we should look up Holiness, Holy, sanctification and sanctified. Its all through the bible when your eyes are open to it.


P
PaulWest Oct 18, 2008

Lenoard Ravenhill said "a man with a arguement is no match for a man with a experience". You cannot and will not tell me any different because what has been revealed to me came from heaven but I am more that willing to listen to rational and unsarcastic posts.

Brother, I had no idea my posts seemed irrational and sarcastic to you. I'll conclude here. Thank you for the discussion.

D
death2self Oct 19, 2008

Do you know anyone that can claim honestly that they Love God with all there heart. But I believe that it can be attained. Why do I think that because it says that we should Love the Lord God with all our Heart, Soul and Mind. As you said this easier said than done if we try in our own strength it is impossible.
Amen, this is what Wesley taught and it was by faith. This is the normal Christian life and it simply means the absence of rebellion in my heart to God. Everything is given to him.

It's much easier said than done and it's a process. It can be a very short work as it often is in revival (or in the case of a dear brother like Finney or can be one that goes for many years, such as Wesley).

Trust Jesus to do this work and stand on his promises to do it...

G
ginnyrose Oct 19, 2008

Amen, this is what Wesley taught and it was by faith.

So, what does this look like where the rubber meets the road?

ginnyrose

M
murrcolr Oct 19, 2008

Thank you death2self for yor encouragment.

Let us believe the message that tells us: This God of peace, He will perfect you in every good thing.

“Perfect” here implies the removal of all that is wrong, and the supply of all that is lacking.

Here is Chapter from the book Be Perfect by Andrew Murray.

Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the Great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Heb. 13: 20, 21.

These two verses contain a summary of the whole Epistle in the form of a prayer. In the former of the two we have the substance of what was taught in the first or doctrinal half -- what God has done for us in the redemption in Christ Jesus. In the second of the two verses we have a revelation and a promise of what this God of redemption will do for us; we see how God's one aim and desire is to make us perfect. We have said before, the word “perfect” here implies the removal of all that is wrong, and the supply of all that is lacking. This is what God waits to do in us. “God make you perfect in every good thing.”

We need a large faith to claim this promise. So that our faith may be full and strong, we are reminded of what God has done for us; this is the assurance of what He will yet do in us. Let us look to Him as the God of peace, who has made peace in the entire putting away of sin; who now proclaims peace; who gives perfect peace. Let us look to Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, our High Priest and King, who loves to care for and keep us. Let us remember the blood of the eternal covenant, in the power of which God raised Him and He entered heaven; that blood is God's pledge that the covenant with its promises will be fulfilled in our hearts. Let us think of God's bringing Him again from the dead, that our faith and hope might be in God; the power that raised Jesus is the power that works in us. Yes, let us look, and worship, and adore this God of peace, who has done it all, who raised Christ through the blood of the covenant, that we might know and trust Him.

And let us believe the message that tells us: This God of peace, He will perfect you in every good thing. The God who perfected Christ will perfect you too. The God who has worked out such a perfect salvation for us, will perfect it in us. The more we gaze upon Him who has done such wondrous things for us, will we trust Him for this wondrous thing He promises to do in us, to perfect us in every good thing. What God did in Christ is the measure of what He will do in us to make us perfect. The same Omnipotence that worked in Christ to perfect Him, waits for our faith to trust its working in us day by day to perfect us in the doing of God's will. And on our part, the surrender to be made perfect will be the measure of our capacity to experience what God has done in Christ.

And now hear what this perfection is which this God promises to work in us. It is truly Divine, as Divine as the work of redemption: the God of peace, who brought again Christ from the dead, perfect you. It is intensely practical: in every good thing, to do His will. It is universal, with nothing excluded from its operation: in every good thing. It is truly human and personal: God perfects us, so that we do His will. It is inward: God working in us that which is pleasing in His sight. And it is most blessed, giving us the consciousness that our life pleases Him, because it is His own work: He works in us that which is pleasing in His sight.

“God perfect you to do His will:” this is the conclusion of the whole Epistle. “To do His will:” this is the blessedness of the angels in heaven. For this the Son became man: by this He was perfected: in this, -- “in the which will,” as done by Him, “we are sanctified.” It is “TO DO His WILL” that God perfects us; that God works in us that which is pleasing in His sight.

Believer, let God's aim be your aim also. Say to God that you do desire this above everything. Give yourself, at once, entirely, absolutely, to this, and say with the Son, “I come to do Your will, O my God.” This will give you an insight into the meaning, and the need, and the preciousness of the promise, “God perfect you to do His will.” This will fix your heart upon God in the wondrous light of the truth: He who perfected Christ is perfecting me too. This will give you confidence, in the fulness of faith, to claim this God as your God, the God who perfects in every good thing.

The perfecting of the believer by God, restoring him to his right condition to fit him for doing His will, may be instantaneous. A valuable piece of machinery may be out of order. The owner has spent time and trouble in vain to put it right. The maker comes: it costs him but a moment to see and remove the hindrance. And so the soul that has for years wearied itself in the effort to do God's will, may often in one moment be delivered from some misapprehension as to what God demands or promises, and find itself restored, perfected for every good thing. And what was done in a moment becomes the secret of the continuous life, as faith each day claims the God that perfects, to do that which is well pleasing in His sight.

Yes, the soul that dares say to God that it yields itself in everything to do His will, and through all the humiliation which comes from the sense of emptiness and impotence, abides by its vow in simple trust, will be made strong to rise and to appropriate and experience in full measure what God has offered in this precious word: “The God of peace perfect you, in every good thing, to do His will, working in you that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ.”

And it will sing with new meaning, and in fulness of joy, the song of adoring love: “To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

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