An Unholy Supremacy

“I will pay my vows unto the Lord. “ Psalm 116:18.

I come to You, most Blessed Lord, to renew my vows. My soul lies low in penitence before You, as I recall all Your patience and loving kindness, Your forbearance and tender pity, towards one of the most unworthy of Your followers. I have so often failed You, and brought shame upon Your name; I have disappointed You, when I might have given You pleasure; I have thwarted You, when I might have yielded to Your holy purpose. My only plea is Your most precious Blood. You have magnified Your mercy in saving me at all: now magnify Your grace in forgiving and restoring my souL Let me now stand again in Your holy presence and speak with You face to face.

“May there be nothing between us, Lord, nothing between us.”

From this moment, I solemnly, and by Your grace, renounce and put away the evil things which have gained an unholy supremacy over me – the companionships that lower the temperature of my inner life; the television programs, movies, und amusements which have cast a shadow on my hours of fellowship; the sin which so easily besets me; the soft yielding to sloth which has robbed me of so many seasons of hallowed communion; the desire to please men rather than You, and to succeed in this world rather than to be a humble servant in Your glorious household. All these I hereby steadfastly renounce and forsake. Other lords have had dominion over me; but henceforth by You onIy will I make mention of Your name. Especially do I steadfastly resolve by Your grace to renounce the devil and all his works; the world and all its vanity; the flesh and all its selfish and sinful desires; so that I may not follow or be led by them.

In myself I cannot keep these resolutions – my will is like a bruised reed, my desires like smoking flax; but oh, keep me true! You have kept my soul from death; will You not also keep my feet from falling, that I may walk before the Lord in the light of the living? You are able to keep me from stumbling, and present me faultless before the presence of Your glory with exceeding joy; into Your hands I commend my spirit: and I am persuaded that You do accept and will keep what I commit to You against that day.

And now, Lord, I yield myself to You – spirit, soul, and body – that as these were once filled and used by the Spirit of EviL they may henceforth be filled and used by Your Holy Spirit, who is one with You and the Father in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Never again, by Your help, shall sin reign in my mortal body, that I should obey the lusts thereof. It may tempt me by its suggestions; but it shall not reign, since I desire to present myself unto God as one alive from the dead, and my members as instrument of righteousness unto God.

In my inner life, I desire to be kept absolutely pure and lovely. O Holy and Spotless One, be in me the crystal fountain of purity! O Lamb of God, be in me the source of absolute meekness and humility! O Lover of Men, be in me a fire of unwaning, all-subduing tenderness! Make me instantly sensitive to the least taint of impurity and uncharity. Before ever the suggestion has assumed a tangible shape, may I detect it, and shelter in You. In my home life, may I be made a blessing; its sunbeam when the days are dark; its inspiration when the days are sad and hopeless; its tender comfort when the days are full of pain and tears. Always thinking of others before myself; never imposing my private sorrows or moods; washing my face, and anointing my head, and confiding my grief to You only.

In my spiritual life, may the neglect of prayer and Your Holy Word be things of the past. Wake me morning by morning to hear as a disciple. Enable me to spring up at Your call; and, like all Your true servants, to rise up early in the morning to gather the manna before the dew is gone from it. May my fellowship with You be unbroken through the day, that I may often look up into Your face, even if I have not time to speak. Draw me, and I will run after You.

In my daily calling, make me diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. May I do my work, not for the wages I may get, nor to secure an advance – but so as to please You. May it be the one object of my daily striving to do all to the glory of God – not with eye service, as pleasing men; but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord; doing the will of God, as it is indicated in the circumstances of my life, and looking for my reward from Your hand, O Divine Master!

In my use of money, may I not be anxious about the future, nor hoard up and keep for myself of that which You have given me; I want to be Your very slave, counting myself, and all I have, as Your purchased property, and using all things as Your representative and steward.

In my use of time, and health, and all the opportunities of life, I desire to act with reverent care; redeeming the time; buying up each opportunity; conserving my body as the pure temple of the Holy Ghost: so partaking of recreation, food, natural scenery, travel, and all lawful pastimes, that I may the better serve Your purpose in my creation and redemption. Show me what my talents are which You have entrusted to me, and help me to make the two, four; and the five, ten.

Now, bless me, even me, 0 Lord. I am Yours:

Your Father gave me to You before the world was made; You did purchase me for Yourself by Your most precious Blood; You have begun a good work within me by Your Holy Spirit: and now, afresh take me to Your heart, and seal me with Your Spirit. May He enlighten, comfort, and sanctify me; teaching me to pray, and opening the eyes of my heart that I may know You and the power of Your resurrection, that, as You have ascended into the heavens, so I may also in heart and mind there ascend, and with You continually dwell, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end.
Amen.

A Form of Dedication
By F. B. Myer, from his book “Saved and Kept”
Adaptation by John Brown

 

Abiding In Christ

Abide means to live, dwell, or to stay at home. In the New Testament Greek it has the idea of “holding and maintaining unbroken communion and fellowship with another.” It also is a military term meaning to stand fast or stand firm.

Jesus said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” (John 6.56) “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” (John 14.10) “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15.4-5).

In Psalm 91.1 it means live (dwell) and rest with the connotation of protection, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

In 2 John 1.1-2, abide means literally to live within: “The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the Truth, for the sake of the Truth which abides in us and will be with us forever ….” John is saying “Those of us who love in the truth, also love on account of the Truth” (JFB Commentary). “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14.6). “I have come into the world to bear witness to the Truth” (John 18.37).

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15.10) “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17.22-23). “If you love Me you will keep My commandments” (John 14.15).

When Jesus says “Abide in Me and I in you” He means literally “I will live IN you and I will reign through you.” In Galatians 2.20 (KJV) Paul says “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” In Romans 8.10, 2 Corinthians 13.5, and Colossians 1.27 Paul specifically refers to “Christ IN you”. In Galatians 4.19 Paul refers to Christ being “formed in you.”

In Matthew 22.37-40 Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

So then, there are these three: Obey, love, and abide – “Keep My commandments”, “Love the Lord”, “Abide in My love.” One must love the Lord to know the Truth and love his or her neighbor in the Truth – because of the Truth. Jesus will love others through us as we rest in Him – as we abide in Him – and Him in us. We become vessels to contain Him. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4.7). Without submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ there is no obedience. Without obedience there is no love, only self-exaltation. Without love we cannot abide. “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (1 Cor. 13.3).

“The person who abides in the Lord lives not for himself but for Jesus Christ. As I meditated on these verses (John 15.4-5), I discovered that it was not my responsibility to strive for anything. My part was to submit my life to God and allow Him to live His life through me. At my discovery, an enormous weight was lifted and removed from my life. Peace like anything I’d ever known filled my life. The energy and strength that ran through the life of Jesus Christ became mine.” (Charles Stanley in Living the Extraordinary Life, Nelson Books, Nashville, Tennessee, 2005)

Do you believe God? In John 5.24 Jesus says “Truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life.” Jesus does not say “whoever believes IN Him” but rather “whoever believes Him“. The difference is profound. There are many who believe IN God – but do not believe God.

Abide in Christ and be free. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5.1). “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5.13).

 

What Does “Abide” Mean?

What does “abide” mean? What did Jesus mean when He said “Abide in Me, and I in you.”? (John 15.4) Abide IN me! IN me? Jesus is not somewhere “out there” in the sky, who may or may not show up when I need Him. He’s HERE – IN me. So that’s what this Treasure is in earthen vessels. He is the Treasure IN me.  I’m just a vessel – a container.

” In John 15, the abiding of the Christian in Christ refers to his maintaining unbroken fellowship with Him. He makes his spiritual home in Christ. There is nothing between himself and his Savior, no sin unjudged and not put away. He depends upon Him for spiritual life and vigor as the branch is dependent upon the vine. The abiding of Christ in the Christian is His permanent residence in Him and His supplying that Christian with the necessary spiritual energy to produce fruit in his life through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.” – Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament

Continual Abiding: “There is a simplicity of the Life. But it does mean sin-sensitiveness; that’s a tremendous verse isn’t it? “If my eye is single it is full of light; if it’s anything else but a single sight of Jesus, it is evil.” Let me call it what it is. A verse that lines up in my mind with that and is much the same is in Romans 14:23, the last phrase of the last verse. It says it in another connection but we can pick it out I think quite fairly and make it a general statement: “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Well faith is seeing Jesus, of course. We have the faith of Jesus for we see Jesus. Of course we do. Faith is believing Jesus, seeing Him in our hearts, and knowing Him. That’s believing Jesus. So faith is seeing Jesus. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” is the same idea. The moment I am not seeing Jesus in a situation, the moment I am not seeing Christ in my neighbor, the moment I am not seeing Christ in a crisis, or Christ in a difficulty, [or in my husband, wife, or child], I am sinning because it’s not of faith. I’m not seeing Jesus; I’m seeing something else. That’s evil. Not to see Jesus is evil. That’s big! I’ve got to see Jesus in every one of my neighbors. I’ve got to see Jesus potentially even in the lost, those for whom, though there was only one on earth, He would have died.

“I’ve got to see Jesus in every circumstance, not a single circumstance but that it’s Jesus coming to me. That, I take it, is what Paul meant when he made that terrific statement around which I circle in my mind again and again and wonder at: “To me, to live is Christ.” That doesn’t leave much else, does it? “To me, to live is Christ.” That’s a single eye. Every circumstance, every person is just Christ to him. That’s this Life. Anything less than that is sin, because it veils Him.”

See March 26, 2007, post “Abiding In Christ”.

Norman P. Grubb
Karuizawa Japan Conference of 1954
Topic: “Daily Walk in the Spirit”

 

Feel Good Prayer

Is prayer a last resort? When you’ve run out of options, energy, money, patience – when the pain has become unbearable, when you finally realize that you’ve really messed up badly … is this when you pray? What do you expect to happen? Do you hope you’ll feel better? Do you hope that somehow you won’t really have to deal with the consequences of your own screw-up? Are you hoping that your prayer will make it all go away?

“Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce feelings there by the action of their own wills. When they meant to ask Him for charity, let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves and not notice that this is what they are doing. When they meant to pray for courage, let them really be trying to feel brave. When they say they are praying for forgiveness, let them be trying to feel forgiven. Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling; and never let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment.” (from C. S. Lewis in Paved With Good Intentions, A Demon’s Road Map To Your Soul)

God wants us to seek Him and honor Him – first and foremost above all else. If prayer is your last resort, He may not answer – He may wait to see if you are sincere, if you REALLY believe Him. He may answer your “last resort, feel-good prayer” by humbling you. However He deals with you, He will accomplish what He has set out to do, whether or not you find it inconvenient.

It is a great blessing for God to deal with us. He loves us, but Grace will run out sooner or later. If we reject Him, if we suppress the Truth about Him to follow our own passions, He will give us up to what we want. “God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts, to vile passions, to a debased mind, deserving of death” (Romans 1.18-32)

I believe God deliberately brings us to a point where we have run out of options, energy, money, patience – when the pain has become unbearable, when you finally realize that you’ve really messed up badly. He does this so that we will turn to Him and trust Him. And I believe, if He so chooses to deal with us in our continual rejection of Him, He will eventually bring us to a point where there is nothing but pain and God. Now He has you at perhaps the final place where you must decide.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” – John 15.4, 15.5

What does “abide in me” mean? It means something. Why can’t I (me, myself) do anything? Because I am not in control of my life. I would like to think I am (that’s pride), but either God is in control, or the ruler of this world has deceived you into thinking you are in control – as he controls you.

When He says “Abide in Me”, He means, among other things, “Honor Me in every thought, word, or deed.” Understanding “Abide in Me” is of the Deep Things…

See March 26, 2007, post “Abiding In Christ”