Poster | Thread | Chad Member
Joined: 2003/11/17 Posts: 56 JC MO
| BEND UNTIL I BREAK | | I thought about a statement made by sermonindex in a previous post. He said, "Bend us, Lord!!" Leading up to that He said that [i][b]we[/b][/i] try to bend [i][b]God [/b][/i]to our desires. (Italics mine, for emphasis)
In praying this prayer I realize it's big- God will hold me accountable to my stubborness should I not comply, after flooding the altar with desperate sounding words. I'm ready. My prayer, simply put, is this--- "Jesus Christ, bend me until I break. Let my heart have no defense, but to be broken and ready for You to work in me." I know I've got things to change and I am desperate- this puts me at a crossroads again- puruse my ends or to abandon those and follow Christ, because He is worthy. Bend me, God, to You. _________________ Chad Lough
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| 2004/4/1 9:33 | Profile | moreofHim Member
Joined: 2003/10/15 Posts: 1632
| Re: BEND UNTIL I BREAK | | Chad,
I posted this awhile back but thought it really goes with what you are saying here. :-)
~Broken vs. proud~
What kind of heart does God revive? A broken and contrite one.
~BROKEN~ ~~~~~~~~~
Are overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need. Therefore, they can esteem all others better than themselves.
Are willing to yield the right to be right
Have yielded their rights; have a meek spirit, self-denying.
Desire to serve others and make others a success.
Are thrilled that God would use them at all, they rejoice when others are lifted up
Quick to see when they were wrong; they recieve criticism with a humble spirit
Willing to be open, transparent and get close to others
Quick to admit failure and seek forgiveness.
Grieved over the cause, the root of their sin.
Compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for His mercy
Not concerned with self at all
Continually sense their need for a fresh encounter with God
~PROUD~ ~~~~~~~~
Focus on the failures of others; they have a critical fault-finding spirit. They look at everyone else's faults with a microscope, but their own with a telescope
Have to prove that they are right
Are protective of their time, their reputation, and their rights
Desire to be served and be a success
Have a drive to be recognized and appreciated; they get wounded when others are promoted
Quick to blame others for their problems; are unapproachable or defensive when criticized
Keep others at arms length; find it difficult to share their spiritual need with others
Have a hard time saying, "I was wrong, will you please forgive me?"
Concerned about the consequences of their sin
Compare themselves to others and think they are doing alright. Don't think they have anything to repent of
Self-concious
Don't think they need reviving, cleansing - but they're sure everyone else does! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our generation has been programmed to pursue happiness, wholeness, good feelings about ourselves, positive self-image, and affirmation. But God is not as interested in these ends as we are. He is more committed to making us holy than making us happy. And there is only one pathway to holiness, and that is the pathway of humility or brokenness.
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Prov.16:18
Brokenness does not mean, as some think, having a sad, gloomy, downcast countenance-never smiling or laughing. It is possible to shed buckets of tears, without ever experiencing a moment of brokenness.
Brokenness is not a feeling: it is a choice, an act of will.
Brokenness is a lifestyle of unconditional, absolute surrender of my will to the will of God - a heart attitude that says, "Yes, Lord!" to whatever God says.
Brokenness means the shattering of my self-will, so that the life and Spirit of the Lord may be released through me.
Brokenness is my response of humility and obedience to the conviction of the Word and Spirit of God. And as the conviction is continuous, so must the brokenness be continuous.
Finally, do the very thing you know God wants you to do, but your flesh is telling you not to do! Ultimately, brokenness is a matter of surrendering control of my life to God. The heart that has been emptied of itself and broken of it's willfulness and resistance, is the heart that will experience the filling and the reviving of our glorious, holy God, Who humbled Himself, that He might lift us up.
Proud/Broken by Nancy L. DeMoss Revive our Hearts ministry
_________________ Chanin
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| 2004/4/1 10:44 | Profile | sermonindex Moderator
Joined: 2002/12/11 Posts: 39795 Canada
Online! | Re: | | Quote:
In praying this prayer I realize it's big- God will hold me accountable to my stubborness should I not comply, after flooding the altar with desperate sounding words. I'm ready.
Hey Chad, its intresting to note that Evan Roberts the man God used powerfully in the Welsh Revival of 1904 prayed the prayer: Lord bend me. And God did! the rest is history. _________________ SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
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| 2004/4/1 22:53 | Profile | eagleswings Member
Joined: 2003/12/30 Posts: 297 Connecticut, USA
| Re: BEND UNTIL I BREAK | | Dear Chad,
I was deeply touched by your contribution to the Daddy come home thread, but I want to post here:
Andrew Murray had a real pastors heart. If you do not already know it, I trust you will find some good consolation, encouragement and equally good food in his book, Absolute Surrender, available at http://www.fillthevoid.org/ChristianGrowth/AbsoluteSurrenderTOC.htm
Click on the first chapter, (Absolute Surrender), and scroll down a bit into where youll find:
GOD ACCOMPLISHES YOUR SURRENDER
I am sure there is many a heart that says: "Ah, but that absolute surrender implies so much!" Someone says: "Oh, I have passed through so much trial and suffering, and there is so much of the self-life still remaining, and I dare not face the entire giving of it up, because I know it will cause so much trouble and agony." Alas! alas! that God's children have such thoughts of Him, such cruel thoughts. Oh, I come to you with a message, fearful and anxious one. God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your will; God is willing to work it in you. Do we not read: "It is God that worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure"? And that is what we should seek for -- to go on our faces before God, until our hearts learn to believe that the everlasting God Himself will come in to turn out what is wrong, to conquer what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing in His blessed sight. God Himself will work it in you.
Look at the men in the Old Testament, like Abraham. Do you think it was by accident that God found that man, the father of the faithful and the Friend of God, and that it was Abraham himself, apart from God, who had such faith and such obedience and such devotion? You know it is not so. God raised him up and prepared him as an instrument for His glory.
Did not God say to Pharaoh: "For this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power"?
And if God said that of him, will not God say it far more of every child of His?
Oh, I want to encourage you, and I want you to cast away every fear. Come with that feeble desire; and if there is the fear which says: "Oh, my desire is not strong enough, I am not willing for everything that may come, I do not feel bold enough to say I can conquer everything" -- I pray you, learn to know and trust your God now. Say: "My God, I am willing that Thou shouldst make me willing." If there is anything holding you back, or any sacrifice you are afraid of making, come to God now, and prove how gracious your God is, and be not afraid that He will command from you what He will not bestow.
God comes and offers to work this absolute surrender in you. All these searchings and hungerings and longings that are in your heart, I tell you they are the drawings of the divine magnet, Christ Jesus. He lived a life of absolute surrender, He has possession of you; He is living in your heart by His Holy Spirit. You have hindered and hindered Him terribly, but He desires to help you to get hold of Him entirely. And He comes and draws you now by His message and words. Will you not come and trust God to work in you that absolute surrender to Himself? Yes, blessed be God, He can do it, and He will do it.
God not only claims it and works it, but God accepts it when we bring it to Him.
Yours, dear brother, IN our beloved.
Roger
_________________ Roger P.
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| 2004/4/2 7:15 | Profile | one Member
Joined: 2004/2/28 Posts: 22 usa
| Re: BEND UNTIL I BREAK | | "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, oh God, thou will not despise" Ps 51:17
"Bend me until I break!" in prayer these words keep comming up since i read them a few days ago. i'm ready. i know this flesh may kick but "Lord tie the sacrafice to the horns of the altar." it reminds of something lenard ravinhill said "it's time to stop hanging aroud the cross and get on it!"
"verily verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Jn 12:24 i'm convinced this is only normal christian life. christians in nations where there is persecutoin have counted up the cost long ago. it's time we joined them with Christ outside the camp.
your writtings have truely inspired me. stay hungry! in the fellowship of the burning heart, one _________________ Allison Coalz
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| 2004/4/2 13:17 | Profile | crsschk Member
Joined: 2003/6/11 Posts: 9192 Santa Clara, CA
| Re: | | Oh indeed!!
[i]All[/i] of this is just such a blessing, including the other post by our brother Chad...
Quote:
Say: "My God, I am willing that Thou shouldst make me willing."
How many times I have prayed that prayer...
Thanks Roger, these words from Murray... this is a true blessing as well.
And a grand reminder...
Mike _________________ Mike Balog
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| 2004/4/2 13:37 | Profile | InTheLight Member
Joined: 2003/7/31 Posts: 2850 Phoenix, Arizona USA
| Re: BEND UNTIL I BREAK | | Quote:
In praying this prayer I realize it's big
It is big indeed! As Greg said, Evan Roberts prayed this prayer. What he didn't mention was that Mr. Roberts also asked for 100,000 souls to be won to Christ. This prayer was answered shortly afterwards. You can see a short video clip on this [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=402]HERE[/url]
Jesus give us a hunger and thirst for your righteousness, and a burning desire for the lost around us that cannot be quenched until we are face to face with You!
In Christ,
Ron _________________ Ron Halverson
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| 2004/4/2 13:49 | Profile | RobertW Member
Joined: 2004/2/12 Posts: 4636 St. Joseph, Missouri
| Re: | | Beloved,
What a beautiful thread! I am learning these things as I confess my sins before God and men. I am so tired of strong-holds in my life. I have to find a place of utter brokenness before the Lord. I have to make myself of no reputation and glory in my infirmities. I must cause my sins to go before me in this life that my good works may follow after. I have to take the mask all the way off. I have to admit that I don't have it all together. I want to be in a place where there is no sin before me and God and in a very real sense. I have stumbled for years and want to life righteously. I want to count my good works as dung that I may win Christ. I want to humble myself and remain humble no matter what. I think of the old hymn:
When I survey the wonderous Cross on which the Prince of Glory Died My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride
God Bless,
-Robert
_________________ Robert Wurtz II
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| 2004/4/2 16:13 | Profile | Chad Member
Joined: 2003/11/17 Posts: 56 JC MO
| Re: | | Trials test me. They refine me. In myself I am weak, yet still cocky, I see me and hate this flesh. I want to grow and break the bond of this flesh, and serve God. For me whatever I go thru at home is an answered prayer and God is breaking me. They hurt. They sting. But didn't the cross?
When I question how my mom or brother can say or do the things they do, I remember Gethsemane- and am humbled. I am crumbling, breaking, at the foot of the Cross. May the name of Jesus be forever glorified in me. _________________ Chad Lough
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| 2004/4/5 10:14 | Profile | RobertW Member
Joined: 2004/2/12 Posts: 4636 St. Joseph, Missouri
| Re: | | Heres a few thoughts to think on along these lines:
Moses was the meekest man alive when He lived and look at all God did through him.
God defended Moses when people would speak against him- as he was the meekest man alive at the time.
I propose that genuine 'meekness' is one of the primary missing keys to the Moses and John the Baptist preachers issue that we must have to be in that place.
Jesus said that no man born among women was greater than John the Baptist. Not Moses not anyone. If Moses was the meekest man in the world in his day- it is likewise true for John the Baptist. And in that meekness God was able to use these man. God raised men of great meekness up to do His will.
John 3:30 says all we really need to know about John The Baptist's Character... here he said... "I must decrease and He must increase." When we find a people like this, beloved,- we will find the John the Baptist's we need to preach this message of repentance for God's glory. We are starting to see them, but we MUST maintain that meekness and we MUST minister in love. This is not a contradiction- it is the reality of the life of a true prophet of God. He weeps on the one hand and he ministers out of love for God and the people. That love and heart brokeness drives the person and God anoints them with radical messages and methods. God can only use a person in proportion to their meekness and love and willingness to give Him ALL the Glory (Isaiah 42:8). The life of a prophet was one of despair. Jesus wept over the city as they rejected him. paul said he wished he was accursed from Christ for the people. Moses said... if your going to blot them out- blot me out to. That is humility and love that God can use friends. Indeed this is a hard thing; but if we will till our fallowed ground God will bring us to a place to use us like He did these men- for God is no respector of persons.
God Bless and much love in Christ,
-Robert _________________ Robert Wurtz II
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| 2004/4/5 10:49 | Profile |
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