I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me… —Galatians 2:20
These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, “…for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). That is what makes a strong saint.
Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ….”
The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?
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Journal DJR
Good morning, Lord
This whole idea of surrender seems pretty important in living the Christian Life. It would be easy to skip over that point and just focus on your teachings…. Love your neighbor, etc. But that seems like skipping first base in baseball… what comes after falls short. If I am not surrendered, my idea of “loving my neighbor” will be defined by my preconceptions of what that will look like, and my neighbor may not perceive the love at all.
It is easy and normal to pick and choose what you like from my words. Cults do that. Charismatic teachers do that. Even denominations emphasize some of my words and ignore others. But ignoring this surrender piece and jumping ahead to favorite doctrine will lead to a sub-standard life. It means surrendering your right to your life and giving up demands about outcomes. Once you have truly surrendered, you can live in a joy and exuberance that is rare. And impossible to experience without surrender. Surrender your rights and expectations, Strive only to maintain our connection, Stay curious and expectant about what I’m bringing next and stay ready to be obedient to the nudges from my Holy Spirit. It can be an exciting life.
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