GOD WANTS TO LEAD US ON INTO REALMS OF GRACE IN WHICH WE SHALL GLIMPSE HIS GLORY!
"Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways; for the perverse person is an abomintion to the Lord, but His secret counsel is with the upright"
Proverbs 3:31-32
Cynicism, criticism, and complaining often pollute the atmosphere and cause the saints of God and the body of Christ to suffer unnecessarily. Our hearts break and we agonize over the struggle for victory we so much desire. Giving unto self is difficult and takes a determination to allow God to discipline and mold us into His own image. We find ourselves asking, "What is God's way of self-denial?" Being stubborn creatures we often get ourselves into the most ridiculous and preposterous dilemmas.
We willfully display utter sinfulness and the reigning power of self steers us far from our walk with God and growth into the ways of Christian maturity. We refuse to give in even at the tugging of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts. The door swings wide open and the devil gleefully steps inside. He knows there is a deadly self-life that lies deep inside each one of us, and he sets out to destroy us, prowling around and waiting for us to take the self-plunge.
The stubborn, self-willed, proud, self-sufficient person that persists in pursuing its old path will end up on a deadened road with no escape route. The world we live in is full of such people. The greed and selfishness of mankind leaves behind a legacy of ruin and remorse. Even though we tend to be stiff-necked and stubborn, amid all the chaos of wanting to do things our own way, but falling flat on our face, the Lord reminds us to lift up our heads and behold the Son of God. He offers us hope in Matthew 8:34 when he says, "If any man will follow Me, let him deny himself daily and take up his cross and follow Me."
Like a stubborn sheep we will struggle, kick and protest when the Master puts His hand upon us to work out His purpose in us. Even if it is for our own good, we will rebel and refuse to allow Him to help us when we need it so desperately. We often become bullheaded when troubles come and then these overwhelming situations produce stress. We begin to blame God and become angry at Him. We refuse to give Him the opportunity to stretch our faith and increase our Christian growth. Instead we form a mind-set - we will not bend. We acquire headaches literally and metaphorically. Nonetheless, God persists in us and will not let us rest at any stage of our Christian growth. Therefore, complaining and arguing will not change the purpose God has set out to develop in our lives. It really does us no good to do battle with Him.
Letting go of our stubborn behavior and willfulness brings delight to the Lord, and even though giving our full surrender to Him is a risky business, we must take that first step of trust and move forward with confidence. It's scary, as it is a big step of faith. As we grasp the full potential to the life He has given us, we learn to cooperate with God. We find ourselves in touch with the awe and wonder of God; we want to grow in Christ. Ours is to be willing. The rest is up to God. We begin to long for the kind of faith which surrenders all we are in faithflness - not guilty fear - and issues in a consuming passion to taste all the potentials we have put in our grasp.
The Lord Jesus does make strigent demands on us once we belong to Him. Pig-headed behavior is never in His plans for us. Unconditional surrender is a fitting response to His love. Confessing our past failure and disobedient behavior patterns, let us courageously face up to the claims of God upon us and seek henceforth to be true disciples of our glorious Lord. Our self-love becomes one of the stubbornest hindrances to daily growth. When we give it over to a full surrender, the cross becomes a pathway that we deliberately choose. A spasmodic obedience to the Scriptures will not do. Real discipleship demands a continuance.
William MacDonald in his book, True Discipleship quotes H.S. Evan Hopins when he says, "The Savior is not looking for men and women who will give their evenings to Him - or their weekends - or their years of retirement. Rather, He seeks those who will give Him first place in their lives. He looks today, as He has ever looked, not for crowds drifting aimlessly in His track, but for individual men and women whose undying allegiance will spring from their having recognized that He wants those who are prepared to follow the path of self-renunciation which he trod before them." (thoughts by William MacDonald, True Discipleship, Midwest Christian Publishers, Oak Park, IL, 1962)
This attitude does not and cannot lend to saints being involved with contumacious behavior of any degree. There is no room for personal pride when we submit to Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. Therefore, child of God, if you come to realize that your commitment to Christ is only a spiritual miscarriage - come to know yourself - converge a yielding of all unsurrendered areas of your life over to God's control. Away with stubborn, obstinate behavior! Thrive in the glow of repentance toward God. Claim victoriously, "For me to live is Christ!"
"My Master, lead me to Thy door:
Pierce this now willing ear once more,
Thy bonds are freedom; let me stay
With Thee to toil, endure, obey.
-H.G.C. Moule
