» Read more: Praying to God in Secret

We have renounced the hidden things of shame… —2 Corinthians 4:2

Have you “renounced the hidden things of shame” in your life— the things that your sense of honor or pride will not allow to come into the light? You can easily hide them. Is there a thought in your heart about anyone that you would not like to be brought into the light? Then renounce it as soon as it comes to mind— renounce everything in its entirety until there is no hidden dishonesty or craftiness about you at all. Envy, jealousy, and strife don’t necessarily arise from your old nature of sin, but from the flesh which was used for these kinds of things in the past (see Romans 6:19 and 1 Peter 4:1-3). You must maintain continual watchfulness so that nothing arises in your life that would cause you shame.

“…not walking in craftiness…” (2 Corinthians 4:2). This means not resorting to something simply to make your own point. This is a terrible trap. You know that God will allow you to work in only one way— the way of truth. Then be careful never to catch people through the other way— the way of deceit. If you act deceitfully, God’s blight and ruin will be upon you. What may be craftiness for you, may not be for others— God has called you to a higher standard. Never dull your sense of being your utmost for His highest— your best for His glory. For you, doing certain things would mean craftiness coming into your life for a purpose other than what is the highest and best, and it would dull the motivation that God has given you. Many people have turned back because they are afraid to look at things from God’s perspective. The greatest spiritual crisis comes when a person has to move a little farther on in his faith than the beliefs he has already accepted.

_________________________________________________

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
That part about your “blight and ruin” didn’t fit the God I am learning to love. Probably sowing and reaping would be a better description.
The last sentence spoke loudest to me today… which is often the case. “…spiritual crisis comes when a person has to move a little farther on in his faith than the beliefs he has already accepted.” Things have been stirring in me for a few months but I’ve only been able to generally say that I was restless and sensing that there must be more. Couldn’t really articulate it and when I tried, the words just weren’t right. I still don’t have all the words but I have a few. I’m seeing that my God has been too small. You’re bigger than I imagined. And you’re all about love and I get to learn how big you are and how big you love and to find my place in you and you that big God in me. It’s kind of mind blowing. Especially since there are 3 of you and you’re all in on this…and inviting me in too. No more ATM in the sky or vending machine that works if I get may prayers just right. Or angry Judge, or Santa Claus checking his list to see who’s been naughty or nice.
So, I’m going to have to (get to) move on in my faith journey. Where I have been just won’t do anymore. I have seen too much, even though thru a glass darkly. I have no clue where this journey will lead. and am a little apprehensive, as I’m sure Abraham was when you called him to move on.

Gen 12:1 “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.

So I’ll stay curious on the balcony as you’ve taught us. and Habakuk.

Habakuk 2:1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint

And like you told him, I’ll do my best to write it down

Habakuk 2:2 The LORD answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.

…the simplicity that is in Christ.  —2 Corinthians 11:3

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4

True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.

Surrender for Deliverance. “Come to Me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— “Come to Me.” And it is a voluntary coming.

Surrender for Devotion. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, “If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me.” And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Philippians 4:19).

Surrender for Death. “…another will gird you…” (John 21:18; also see John 21:19). Have you learned what it means to be girded for death? Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again. True surrender is a matter of being “united together [with Jesus] in the likeness of His death” (Romans 6:5) until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.

And after you surrender— then what? Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.

_____________________________________________________________

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Today Chambers asks if we know what it means to be “girded for death.” I suppose getting this cancer diagnosis at least got me considering that question. Actually, I’ve been surprised… as I consider my mortality, I thought I would be more panicky. I don’t feel any of that. Maybe it hasn’t sunk in… Maybe I’m just committing my life to you, including the time of departure. Whatever the case, thank you for the peace, and the gift that this sabbatical time is being. I’m looking forward to diving deeper.
Neither JD nor I related to having a “once and done” surrender experience that lasted the rest of our lives as Chambers mentions. It seems to us that there may be a big surrender, but in our experience, that is followed by us picking up our lives again… our taking control with one of the big four (must look good, feel good, be right and be in control) so to speak… followed by surrender again, perhaps deeper this time, and on and on the cycle goes, until we get to the final surrender of death. Am I missing something here?

He only said you don’t have to worry…”once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient” Isn’t that just what you were saying about the peace about your mortality?

OK, I see that part and I am beginning to worry less. Getting out of “dual thinking” where everything is either good or bad, for me or against me, leaving room for paradox and mystery and a third way…. that has been freeing and helped me relax and enjoy or walk together. Thank you for all the things you’ve shown us since we started this blog. When I go back to it’s beginning or think about our initial retreat at Shaver lake… I was a pretty uptight and self assured guy. Thanks for not giving up on me. What we went for, and didn’t receive…now we are receiving in spades. You are good.

Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask.” —Matthew 20:22

…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… —2 Corinthians 10:5

Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “…I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ….” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself…” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.

Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.

We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind….” (Romans 12:2).

_______________________________________________________________

September 9, 2016

Journal entry for today-JDV

Good morning God, and thank you for this devotional and the lessons You are teaching us from these devotionals. After dedicating our study to You and praying that You lead us, we once again substituted the word “surrender” in front of any activity or action on our part and concluded that one way for us to “bring every thought [and project] into captivity” is for us to start every project or activity of every day with a short prayer of surrender. In this way we can live knowing we will be “praying without ceasing” and we can absolutely look through the rear view mirror of our day knowing that the results of our day fit into Romans 8:28…”all things work together for our good.” Such a simple lesson but one we have not truly executed throughout each day. Thank You for showing us this opportunity.

And God says…”Good intentions and good outcomes” are not indicators that you have taken EVERY thought captive, or that I am in the outcome.  Early in your Christian life you learned this scripture… “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… —2 Corinthians 10:5” as a guide for casting out secular, natural and sinful thoughts. And this scripture was used by your teachers to help motivate you to lose secular and sinful thoughts; to live out of thoughts captive to Me. However, this scripture is also a guide as to how to live a connected life. Take every thought; secular or “spiritual” and surrender it to me. Take every project, large or small, every household duty and surrender it to Me. Do not just say grace over your breakfast; surrender the preparation of the breakfast to Me. Surrender every thought, every project, whether you believe it to be spiritual or not; surrender it to Me in advance of any action on your part.”

“When you live this way, you can be sure that you are in fact praying without ceasing and living a life of surrender and connection. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will take care of your daily needs, projects and opportunities. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight.”

…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God… —2 Corinthians 10:5

Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to “stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord…” (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier “against the knowledge of God” is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).

It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers “against the knowledge of God.” We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).

The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. —John 4:14

He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. —John 7:38

Stay here and watch with Me. —Matthew 26:38


“Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.

The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they “all…forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:4). “They” refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our Lord had said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.