When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment . . . and plunged into the sea —John 21:7
Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.
If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.
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Journal, DJR
Good Morning Lord. At first I was feeling guilty that I had not had the total emotional surrender that Oswald talks about at the beginning … but then he ties it all together in the last sentence and we both said, “Yes, that’s what we’ve been learning” Making the decision ahead of time is also a good technique.
I did that in Gethsemane. After Satan came and tried 3 more times and saw that my mind was made up … he departed … and I marched through the next events without having to make decisions … I had already made them, It was now just a matter of walking them out. You can do that too. It’s what Oswald is talking about today.
I will try to pre-decide to 100% surrender all to you in various potential situations. Like you did in Gethsemane. It seems helpful to imagine possible situations, in addition to a general blanket surrender. Help me stay on the surrender track. I seem to get off track when circumstances arise that are different than I imagined. Sometimes I am half way through a situation, or all the way through it, before I remember consciously to surrender. I’m glad you are patient with me.
I’m glad you keep coming to me. Together we’ll work it out. There is no other way to overcome that lethal dose of humanity that you inherited from the Fall. But I see past your sins to what I created and what I died for. Keep coming to me.
OK, I love you.
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