Where He Leads Us We Will Follow
I was studying a devotion in My Utmost for His Highest this morning that gave me some light into the place the Lord has Martie and me at this point in our journey. By place, I don't mean Waveland, I mean in our faith walk. I am by nature an observer of processes ... this recovery and our personal response to it are co-incident processes. Independent yet not independent ... they are divinely connected by the will and purpose of God.
We know that recovery means that the condition goes from bad to better, until the recovery is complete. As with our bodies, it does not mean that everything will be restored as it was or fully recovered, but there will come a time when there is nothing more that can be done to improve the condition. If it is a doctor that is treating a patient, the doctor will focus on another patient in the waiting room ... if it is a missionary working in the field ... the missionary will focus on the One who called him/her for their next "patient". Some missionaries work in the same field for their entire lifetime. For us, we are more like migrant workers, I think .... moving from field to field .... harvesting where the crops are in.
MUFHH -- 17 April
“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.”
So here it is. We are not to “ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see” But, Lord, I want to know ahead of time. Still all He shows us, like the leaves blowing in the wind before the storm arrives, is that change is coming. There is a catch in our breath and spirit. Lord are you taking us deeper in this walk? We may have climbed out of one boat to walk to Jesus, but we eventually found another boat to crawl in to. (The name of the boat is "Serving in Mississippi") Oh, those who have not gotten out of the first boat marvel at our boldness, but this faith walk is not about leaving one boat to find another boat … it is about walking with Jesus ... on the water. And now He is calling us to get out of the boat again. Where to Lord? What to Lord? No answer … but ‘Wait”.
Lord, we ask, “Don’t you know we will be 60 years old this year?” He smiles and replies “don’t you know that I formed the earth you stand on, gave you the air you breathe, and knew you before you, yourself, were formed.” The verses from His Word scroll across our mind’s eye. We remember that there is nothing He does not see and nothing He does not know, already. No place He can send us where He is not there waiting on our arrival. It is our lack of faith that we struggle with, and it is that very lacking that He wants us to yield to Him. So we say … ‘Here we are Lord …. We trust You and are willing to go where you lead. We will rest in His faithfulness … and trust in His way. God is Good.
We know that recovery means that the condition goes from bad to better, until the recovery is complete. As with our bodies, it does not mean that everything will be restored as it was or fully recovered, but there will come a time when there is nothing more that can be done to improve the condition. If it is a doctor that is treating a patient, the doctor will focus on another patient in the waiting room ... if it is a missionary working in the field ... the missionary will focus on the One who called him/her for their next "patient". Some missionaries work in the same field for their entire lifetime. For us, we are more like migrant workers, I think .... moving from field to field .... harvesting where the crops are in.
MUFHH -- 17 April
“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.”
So here it is. We are not to “ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see” But, Lord, I want to know ahead of time. Still all He shows us, like the leaves blowing in the wind before the storm arrives, is that change is coming. There is a catch in our breath and spirit. Lord are you taking us deeper in this walk? We may have climbed out of one boat to walk to Jesus, but we eventually found another boat to crawl in to. (The name of the boat is "Serving in Mississippi") Oh, those who have not gotten out of the first boat marvel at our boldness, but this faith walk is not about leaving one boat to find another boat … it is about walking with Jesus ... on the water. And now He is calling us to get out of the boat again. Where to Lord? What to Lord? No answer … but ‘Wait”.
Lord, we ask, “Don’t you know we will be 60 years old this year?” He smiles and replies “don’t you know that I formed the earth you stand on, gave you the air you breathe, and knew you before you, yourself, were formed.” The verses from His Word scroll across our mind’s eye. We remember that there is nothing He does not see and nothing He does not know, already. No place He can send us where He is not there waiting on our arrival. It is our lack of faith that we struggle with, and it is that very lacking that He wants us to yield to Him. So we say … ‘Here we are Lord …. We trust You and are willing to go where you lead. We will rest in His faithfulness … and trust in His way. God is Good.
posted by Charley Elgin @ 8:33 AM
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