" Surrender.."

[amadeus]

Commendable.


Lol...I just hope and pray that there are some things left after the fire!

Amen! That is what is needed, something that in spite of the worst trials is able to endure to the end with God.

 

[Frank Lee]

Jesus certainly fought more than one battle before he finally was able to say, "... I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Why would we suppose that we have only one battle to fight in our war?

I hear those so called faith teachers saying if you ask God more than once it's because you have no faith.

Jesus said we must ask and keep on asking.

My wife and I prayed and prayed for years for children, for a home, for me to be able to work close to home, for hundreds of needs. God heard our repetitive poles and answered yes.

Battles come again and again. Wars are comprised of many conflicts not just one.

 

[Helen]

I hear those so called faith teachers saying if you ask God more than once it's because you have no faith.

Jesus said we must ask and keep on asking.

My wife and I prayed and prayed for years for children, for a home, for me to be able to work close to home, for hundreds of needs. God heard our repetitive poles and answered yes.

Battles come again and again. Wars are comprised of many conflicts not just one.

True indeed , we fight the good fight of faith...we lay hold of eternal life...It is not a one shot deal.

That said...In those years of the dominant "Word-Faith" of the 80's I learned a lot. It did bring balance to "where I was" at the time.
In my time, as I am sure with others...God has lead us in and out of much foolishness of teaching and also some good rich teachings.

If our attitude is to always glean in every field that we are in..we will come out richer and wiser...with some rough corners chipped and rubbed off. A stone fit for His Temple.

I am one who does not believe in accidents in God. I believe every place we are...we can learn...even when we make a wrong turn...and end up in some backwater or boggy field ...if our heart to always seeking our 'Magnetic North' He will still bless and teach us something, before leading us out and back on to solid ground.
Been there, done that....and have the scars....

But I firmly believe that I needed every sect, denomination, group, movement or whatever ...needed the good times and the so called bad...all good lesson of Love from Father.

 

[Frank Lee]

Hard times bring more learning than easy ones. Like Elijah we come awake when the stream dries up and the crows stop bringing cheeseburgers from Ahab's table.

Like Job we snap to attention when "but now it touches you" kicks in.

When "the things I refused have become my unwanted supper".

 

[amadeus]

I hear those so called faith teachers saying if you ask God more than once it's because you have no faith.

Jesus said we must ask and keep on asking.

My wife and I prayed and prayed for years for children, for a home, for me to be able to work close to home, for hundreds of needs. God heard our repetitive poles and answered yes.

Battles come again and again. Wars are comprised of many conflicts not just one.

Give God the glory my friend and keep on asking and asking until He tells you to stop or there simply is no more time.

 

[larry2]

After Surrender— Then What?

Good morning Sister ByGrace.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; IF so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (There is a difference in our rewards)

2Ti 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

2Ti 2:12 If we suffer (ENDURE), we shall also reign with him: (the entire church is not Jesus’ bride.)

The church in Smyrna is told it this way in Rev 2:10. be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

In Jesus' name.

 

[Invisibilis]

Accept and be grateful for the lesson, accept and be grateful for the lesson, . . .
After about three months or so, this becomes automatic throughout the day.

 

[Prayer Warrior]

Okay...I read this short quote and thought.." I don't feel that it is THAT easy!!"

Has anyone found , that once we have surrender fully ( and really believe that we have done so ) ...that it is a "once and for all thing". Over with, done and dusted...never ever to fall back into our own will or way again?

I wish that I could say that for me what is written below is true.
I have thought so many times over the decades...but I cannot say that it all "stayed in it places" ..and the old-man is dead and over with.
Or have I got it wrong ?...that the will and my own life, which I surrendered in what I believed to be genuine brokenness...is not one and the same with the 'old-self man'? Please comment on the below.
I wish I could affirm that it is where I am too.
=========================

After Surrender— Then What?
By Oswald Chambers

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4


True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.

Surrender for Devotion. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, “If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me.” And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Philippians 4:19).

O.C.

I have surrendered my self to Jesus overall, but I have found that I still have to deny myself, take up my cross DAILY, and follow Him. I've come to see the Christian life as a continual choosing to surrender myself to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. I don't expect this will change until I'm done with this earthly life.... It would be nice to experience what Chambers is saying, but in over 40 years of being a dedicated Christian, that hasn't been my experience.

 

[Helen]

I have surrendered my self to Jesus overall, but I have found that I still have to deny myself, take up my cross DAILY, and follow Him. I've come to see the Christian life as a continual choosing to surrender myself to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. I don't expect this will change until I'm done with this earthly life.... It would be nice to experience what Chambers is saying, but in over 40 years of being a dedicated Christian, that hasn't been my experience.

Agree.
Nowhere do I read that it is a done deal. Paul did not tell us that he was 'home and dry'...he continued to Run the Race before him.....and told us to do likewise.

 

[Prayer Warrior]

True indeed , we fight the good fight of faith...we lay hold of eternal life...It is not a one shot deal.

That said...In those years of the dominant "Word-Faith" of the 80's I learned a lot. It did bring balance to "where I was" at the time.
In my time, as I am sure with others...God has lead us in and out of much foolishness of teaching and also some good rich teachings.

If our attitude is to always glean in every field that we are in..we will come out richer and wiser...with some rough corners chipped and rubbed off. A stone fit for His Temple.

I am one who does not believe in accidents in God. I believe every place we are...we can learn...even when we make a wrong turn...and end up in some backwater or boggy field ...if our heart to always seeking our 'Magnetic North' He will still bless and teach us something, before leading us out and back on to solid ground.
Been there, done that....and have the scars....

But I firmly believe that I needed every sect, denomination, group, movement or whatever ...needed the good times and the so called bad...all good lesson of Love from Father.

I think this is wise. I learned long ago that no single Christian denomination has a corner on the truth. Each one teaches an aspect of Bible doctrine based on their understanding of Scripture. Of course, there are plenty of cults that veer from basic Christian doctrine. I steer clear of these.

BTW, thanks for the welcome!

 

[TheHolyBookEnds]

Of course, there are plenty of cults that veer from basic Christian doctrine. I steer clear of these.

I would be interesed in your Top 5-10 list of cults (as you identify). The number one on my list is Roman Catholicism, even as they utilize the Latin word "cultus" for their religious devotions.

 

[Invisibilis]

One denomination sees other denominations as cults. Those other denominations see that one denomination as a cult. However, there are those that surrender to God's will, regardless of denomination.

 

[Frank Lee]

A cult doesn't have to be a largeorganization. In fact the smaller assemblies are more apt to be or get off the straight and narrow path

Of course large ones too get warped. The bible actually spotlights the first RC spirit speaking in the presence of Jesus and His reply to them.

The first documented RC.

Luke 11:27 KJVS
And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

And Jesus' reply to her;

But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
Luke 11:28 NASB

Every single entry into the Bible is at God's direction. It very important that He wanted this particular event documented for all time. It's the first documented time that the spirit behind the error of Roman Catholic cultism had stuck forth its ugly head.

1. Mary was exalted above the populace.
2. The spirit had spoken through a woman.
3. God dealt with this saying that this was an unacceptable doctrine.
4.God is amazingly jealous over those that profess faith in Him. He will not share His glory with anyone or thing.

Cults usually adopt a few weird doctrines and then try to control it's members to the extreme.

One mini cult church we attended for awhile had church on Saturday night in addition to Sunday. If you DIDN'T attend on Saturday night you could feel the condemnation radiating from others! It was, weird and we left ASAP.

Many pastors of small congregations get weird and their churches have strange and unbiblical practices, doctrines. Some folks, we knew were very very religious and peculiar. They would not even let their women or men show arms or legs. They all wore clothing that covered up everything. They allowed NO makeup at all on women.

The funny part? The pastors wife sold Mary Kay cosmetics! It was OK for the "heathens" that didn't go to church with them to wear makeup and to sell it to them.

These people looked down their noses at us. The church taught tithing as a law. They thought you must tithe even if your children went hungry. They were very religious in their practices but not holy. You could discern the strange spirit about them any time you were around them. As usual they believe that they only have the truth and all others are deceived. A DANGEROUS belief.

Their are multitudes of weird little churches that practice laws and doctrines far from what the Lord intends. Be aware it really is a spiritual jungle out there.

 

[Helen]

One denomination sees other denominations as cults. Those other denominations see that one denomination as a cult. However, there are those that surrender to God's will, regardless of denomination.

Very true. Well said.

 

[Prayer Warrior]

I think that we need to be careful what we label as a cult. I see a cult as a group who calls themselves Christian, but they widely veer from the basic Christian doctrines clearly spelled out in the Bible. I hesitate to list those groups here because I'm not up for a debate about this, but groups that cherrypick the Scriptures and base their whole doctrine on a few verses without taking the whole counsel of God's Word, or groups who write their own version of the Bible to suit their doctrines, or groups that elevate other "sacred" writings to be above or equal to the Bible would be at least be borderline cults in my opinion.

Of course, every Christian denomination stresses certain aspects of Bible doctrine over others, like 2 sides of the same coin, but I wouldn't consider this to be the sign of a cult. They ALL do this based on their understanding of the Scriptures, but overall they adhere to basic Bible doctrines.

What's important is that we each take responsibility for reading and studying the Bible so that we know when a group's doctrine veers from basic Bible doctrine. Also, we have to keep in mind what Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth. So, I don't believe that anyone can have a strong grasp on truth apart from the Holy Spirit who indwells believers. I believe that cults often form when man's logic (apart from God's Spirit) is elevated above the truth....