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 His! -chambers

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His!

They were Yours, You gave them to Me . . . —John 17:6

A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: "You are not your own" ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 ). To say, "I am not my own," is to have reached a high point in my spiritual stature. The true nature of that life in actual everyday confusion is evidenced by the deliberate giving up of myself to another Person through a sovereign decision, and that Person is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit interprets and explains the nature of Jesus to me to make me one with my Lord, not that I might simply become a trophy for His showcase. Our Lord never sent any of His disciples out on the basis of what He had done for them. It was not until after the resurrection, when the disciples had perceived through the power of the Holy Spirit who Jesus really was, that He said, "Go" (Matthew 28:19; also see Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8 ).

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" ( Luke 14:26 ). He was not saying that this person cannot be good and upright, but that he cannot be someone over whom Jesus can write the word Mine. Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, "[You] cannot be My disciple." This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.

Our Lord makes His disciple His very own possession, becoming responsible for him. ". . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . ." ( Acts 1:8 ). The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, "I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me."

Be entirely His!

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

 2006/9/4 17:59Profile
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Joined: 2006/9/3
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 Re: His! -chambers

I really like Oswald's position that we have only one thing of value to give to the Lord - that is our claim to our right to ourself. Here he says we "belong" to somebody. It kind of goes along with another argument he makes in that he says we can be a Christian and not a disciple. I think I agree. He says that there is always and "IF" connected to discipleship, not compulsion. In the Psychology of Redemption "How many of us are of any worth to Jesus Christ" Our attitude is rather that we are much obliged to God for saving us, but the idea of giving up our chances to realize ourselves in life is too extravagantly extreme. Some of us will take all God has to give us while we take good care not to give Him anything back." This is in regard to Romans 12:1-2. The question is "Have I sacrificed myself to Him, or have I refused to give up my right to myself?" He goes on to say that as God engineers the circumstances of our lives we will find out if we have surrendered or not. Once you do - you are made so much one with the Lord that you no longer think of the cost. His other point is that it is not your "sin" that God wants - he has already dealt with that in Redemption - it is your "holy" self - that which he perfected on the Cross that he wants- now that I am made free from my former predispostion to sin - I can now present something of value - ie I can sanctify my right to myself. Will I give Him my naked self with no strings attached - as a living sacrifice? You bet.


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Robert P. Fairman, Jr.

 2006/9/5 1:01Profile





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