After Surrender---What?

“The whole of life after surrender is an aspiration for unbroken communion with God.”

 From DEVOTIONS for MORNING and EVENING with Oswald Chambers

     “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” (John 17:4)

       “Surrender is not the surrender of the external life, but of the will; when that is done, all is done. 

       There are very few crisis in life; the great crisis is the surrender of the will. 

       God never crushes a man’s will into surrender, He never beseeches him, He waits until the man yields up his will to Him. 

       That battle never needs to be re-fought.

       --It is after we have begun to experience what salvation means that we surrender our wills to Jesus for rest. 

       Whatever is perplexing heart or mind is a call to the will—“Come unto Me.” It is a voluntary coming.

      --"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself." 

       The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, my self with His rest at the heart of it.

       "If you would be My disciple, give up your right to yourself to Me." then the remainder of the life is nothing but the manifestation of this surrender. 
       When once the surrender has taken place we never need ‘suppose’ anything. We do not need to care what our circumstances are, Jesus is amply sufficient.

       --Have you learned what it means to be bound for death? 

       Beware of a surrender which you make to God in an ecstasy; you are apt to take it back again. 

       It is a question of being united with Jesus in His death until nothing ever appeals to that did not appeal to Him.” (pg. 530)   Sept. 13

The following are also quotes taken from Chamber’s devotional:  

       “Watch when God shifts your circumstances, and see whether you are going with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh and the devil.

         We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings round us. Never! 

      God engineers circumstances and whatever they may be like we have to see that we face them while abiding continually with Him in His temptations.

       The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. 

       Are we going with Jesus in the life we are living now?” (pg. 542)  Sept. 19

      July 25  tells us:  “The teaching of Jesus is out of all proportion to our natural way of looking at things and it comes with astonishing discomfort to begin with. 

      We have slowly to form our walk and conversation on the line of the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances.

      The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations; it is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting His way with us.”  (pg. 426) 

      July 27  “The teaching of Jesus hits us where we live…When Jesus brings a thing home by His word, don’t shirk it. 

      If you do, you will become a religious humbug. 

      Watch the things you shrug your shoulders over, and you will know why you do not go on spiritually.  

      First go—at the risk of being thought fanatical you must obey what God tells you.” (pg. 430) 

YOUR STORY INDWELLS GOD'S

            “God wants you to know his story. Stories about Bethlehem beginnings and manger miracles. Enemy warfare in the wilderness and fishermen friends in Galilee. The stumbles of Peter, the stubbornness of Paul. All a part of the story.”

From God’s Story, Your Story    Week of September 30/11

            “But they are all subplots to the central message: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is the headline of the story: God saves his people! He casts his net over cities and individuals, princes and paupers, the Pontius Pilates of power and the Peters, James’s, and Johns of the fishing villages. God takes on the whole mess of us and cleans us up.

            This quest is God’s story. And we are a part of it!

            We can easily miss this. Life keeps pulling us down. The traffic, the troubles. The doctor visits and homework. One week you are having a baby; the next you are having to move out of your house. “Good news, a bonus!” “Bad news, a blizzard.” Hectic. Haphazard. Playgrounds and cemeteries on the same block.

            Is there a story line to this drama? As David discovered, “God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes” (2 Sam. 22:25 MSG). But what is the text of our lives?

            Your story indwells God’s. This is the great promise of the Bible and the hope of this book. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone” (Eph. 1:11–12 MSG).

            Above and around us God directs a grander saga, written by his hand, orchestrated by his will, unveiled according to his calendar. And you are a part of it. Your life emerges from the greatest mind and the kindest heart in the history of the universe: the mind and heart of God. 'He makes everything work out according to his plan.'  (v. 11 NLT).

Let’s dive into his story, shall we? Our plan is simple: journey though the New Testament in search of God’s narrative. Who knows? In his story we might find our own.”

From God’s Story, Your Story Week of September 30/11

Copyright (Zondervan, 2011) Max Lucado

Listen to UpWords with Max Lucado at OnePlace.com

Jean’s e-mail is jowildflowers@gmail.com

Blog is  jean-oathout.blogspot.com

 

Life in the Seed

  

“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6 (KJV

Moments for you from Moments With The Book  Vol. 55, 1^st quarter, 2011

   “The circulation of tracts as a means of preaching the Gospel is actually older than the art of printing. Wycliffe, the reformer, was a great writer and distributor of tracts, employing his pupils and friends to multiply copies by hand. Martin Luther was a worker through tracts as well, but with the help of the printing press in the spreading of Gospel tracts.

    All these years our God has been watching over these silent messengers, and, no one but the Lord Himself can tell into how many hands they have fallen, and how many hearts have been moved to receive the truth as to God’s salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

   Gospel tracts have the amazing ability to deliver their message to many souls that the distributor of the tract will never even meet. Hudson Taylor, who was used of the Lord to reach countless souls in China, is an excellent example of this.

   One day while seeking something to read, Hudson turned over a basket of tracts in his father’s library and selected one that looked interesting. While reading it he was struck with the phrase, ‘The Finished work of Christ.’ Immediately the words attracted his attention. ‘What was finished?’ he asked himself. Reading further, the tract explained the finished work as ‘a full and perfect atonement and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.’

   Then Hudson thought, ‘If the whole work was finished on the cross of Calvary, and the whole debt of sin pain, what is there left for me to do?’ Hudson was thus convinced, as the light of God’s truth flashed into his soul by the Holy Spirit, ‘There was nothing to be done but to fall down on my knees and accept the Saviour and His salvation and praise Him forever.’

   Do we realize the extraordinary dynamic of the printed page? Dr. Goodell, of the American board of missions, passed through Nicodemia, Turkey, in 1832. Having no time to stop or preach, he left a gospel paper with a stranger along the street. Seventeen years later he visited the area again, and found a Christian community of more than 200 members.

   The life is not in the sower, but in the seed. Divine literature is somewhat like thistledown, precious seed which is blown by the winds of the Spirit, and floats over the world. When this precious seed finds good ground, it produces fruit.

   The printed page is deathless: you can destroy one copy, but the press will produce millions more. Its very mutilation can be its sowing. Discarded tracts have been used to save many lost souls. Even torn and shredded tracts—fragments containing only two words—have been used by the Lord.

   The printed page never flinches, never shows cowardice. It is never tempted to compromise. It never tires and never grows disheartened. It travels cheaply, requires no stage, and works while we sleep. It never loses its temper and it works long after we have passed on. the printed page is a visitor which gets inside the home and stays there. It always catches a person in the right mood, for it speaks only when it is being read. It always sticks to what it has said, and never answers back.

Visit online at www.mwtb.org to see the many tracts, and to place your order.

   I, Jean, am presently placing them, and other tracts from Good News Publishers  www.goodnewspublishers.org) in a plastic with Gospels of John from The Pocket testament League, (www.ptl.org ) and a bookmark I’ve made, and my personal card. I’m encouraging others to start their own effort to get the Word out and in the hands of many who need the Redemption story shared with them! I trust that you will look into doing this, too.

www.ClearBags.com  B64B for the bags I use. I make bookmarks from real flowers and leaves, and then make prints..

 My email is jowildflowers@gmail.com
Blog  jean-oathout.blogspot.com

The Butterfly from the Garden of the Lord

Lift the Cross of Jesus!  by Hope Flinchburgh

"Well, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to see that butterfly pic posted on the BBC website (see previous post for link).  I sent 3 pictures and 3 captions.  BBC editors chose not match the pic with the caption, which is OK with me.  I submitted the pics as a whim.

In truth, this picture was taken as I invested time with the Lord in my very small garden in our back yard.  I saw a tiger swallow butterfly perch at the top of my butterfly bush.  I laid down my Bible and journal and picked up my camera--click!  Another moment with the Lord captured on a Canon.  The Canon took the great photo, but it was truly God's artwork that we're all staring at, mouths gaping, wondering, How'd he do that?

I spend the first hours of my day "under the Tree of Life".  I can't wait to get there!  He speaks to me and I write down what he says. Does that ever happen to you?

God has shown me that there are still two trees in the Garden and every day (morning or evening) we must choose where we will settle down--under the "stuff we know" or under the LIFE of God.

I wrote previously in this blog about these two trees, but I must tell you that every day this week as I asked our Father, "What do you want me to write about now on the blog?"  He answers, "Write about the Tree of Life.  I WANT them to be childlike and return to creation (like a little child) to see me and feel me again."

Tall order!  Holy Spirit, help us all!  I'm an adult, too, and obtaining this childlikeness is not always easy.

But God is jealous for our attention.

Autumn is here.  Cool, wet mornings give way to rain or sun, white or gray or blue, always fresh, always there for the one who will pause to touch it.

Picture this:  Hot coffee and toast in hand, you peer out a window or sit outside in the great outdoors.  No reading, no talking, just nibbling and watching, sipping and listening; barely breathing because you don't want to disturb the wonder you know will come to the canvas.

Cardinals play King of the Mountain on a small pine tree--up, down, left, right, until they tire of the game and fly off.  A dove lands on the porch railing and inspects the scene before her, doing 180 turns as she determines her next flight.  A black and white speckled woodpecker knocks on every door, tree to tree, gathering wood-bound insects.  The fingers ofthe sun rise to streak the landscape, pointing west.  The sun . . . the crown of the glory of God.
                                                                        
We blink into the sun's contents and glory angels unseen by earth guard its rhythms and rotations and stoke its fires.  God was here.  I can tell.  The imprint of his beauty and divine order, all set in perfect motion, decry the fall of man call him and call her tolook again into the heavens for the face of their Creator.

Do they see me? he asks.

She drives to work, her cell phone to her ear.  A teenage girl sleeps in and misses the symphony.  A boy plugs his ears with earth music and slumps into his seat on the school bus. The office manager rushes into the building, checks his watch, and pushes open the door.  The writer sits in his "cave" and tap-punches his fingers against a deadline.

Do they see me? he asks.

There!  A toddler with hooded jacket wanders onto the canvas of green, squats, and squishes its wetness between his fingers.  COLD!  He shakes his hand and shoves his fingers into his mouth.  MORE!  He repeats the exercise until he tires of it or he spies a robin, whichever comes first.
He sees me, God says, with a smile.

And the child falls on his rump and rolls to his side.  Giggles!  Back and forth, back and forth, side to side.  Feels good!  A line of drool slides down his chin.

Deep smelly grass stains.  Wet shoes.  Dirty hands. God laughs.
Belly down, the toddler looks up.  Eyes twinkle upward.  Eyes twinkle downward. Giggles!
God is satisfied."

Lift the Cross of Jesus! | October 7, 2011 at 1:17 PM | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p1Kveb-37    liftjesuscross  (for her new post)

[originally posted 10/7/11]
If you want to view the gorgeous photos Hope posted, you'll need to go to her blog!

jowildflowers@gmail.com  www.jean-oathout.blogspot.com

Can We Know What True "Holiness" Is?

  “The one thing that matters is whether a man will accept the God Who will make him holy. At all costs a man must be rightly related to God.

The following are excerpts from “Devotions for MORNING and EVENING with Oswald Chambers” (Sept. 1)

  "The preaching of the gospel awakens an intense resentment because it must reveal that I am unholy; but it also awakens an intense craving. God has one destined end for mankind, viz., holiness. His one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing-machine for men; He did not come to save men out of pity: He came to save men because He had created them to be holy. The Atonement means that God can put me back into perfect union with Himself, without a shadow between, through the Death of Jesus Christ.

   Never tolerate through sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, unsullied thinking with the mind—every detail of the life under the scrutiny of God. Holiness is not only what God gives me, but what I manifest that God has given me." (pg. 506)

(Sept. 8)  “The conflict is along the line of turning our natural life into a spiritual life, and this is never done easily, nor does God intend it to be done easily. It is done only by a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense of character; He makes us holy in the sense of innocence, and we have to turn that innocence into holy character by a series of moral choices. These choices are continually in antagonism to the entrenchments of our natural life, the things which erect themselves as ramparts against the knowledge of God. We can either go back and make ourselves of no account in the Kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things and let Jesus bring another son to glory.”  (pg. 520) 

Gal. 2:20  “I am crucified with Christ.”

 (Sept. 8 evening)  “The evidence that I have accepted the Cross of Christ as the revelation of Redemption is that the regenerating life of God is manifested in my mortal flesh. Immediately I accept the Cross of Christ as the revelation of Redemption I am not, I must not be, the same man, I must be another man, and I must take up my cross from my Lord. The cross is the gift of Jesus to his disciples and it can only bear one aspect: ‘I am not my own.’ The whole attitude of the life is that I have given up my right to myself. I live like a crucified man. Unless that crisis is reached it is perilously possible for my religious life to end as a sentimental fiasco. ‘I don’t mind being saved from hell and receiving the Holy Spirit, but it is to much to expect me to give up my right to myself to Jesus Christ, to give up my manhood, my womanhood, all my ambitions.’ Jesus said, If any will be my disciple, those are the conditions. It is that kind of thing that offended the historic disciples, and it will offend you and me. It is a slander to the Cross of Christ to say we believe in Jesus and please ourselves all the time, choosing our own way.” (pg 521) 

Oct. 6)  “If Jesus Christ is to regenerate me, what is the problem He is up against? I have a heredity I had no say in’ I am not holy, nor likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is to tell me I must be holy, His teaching plants despair. But if Jesus Christ is a Regenerator, One who can put into me His own heredity of holiness, then I begin to see what He is driving at when He says that I have to be holy. Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the hereditary disposition that was in Himself, and all the standards He gives are based on that disposition: His teaching is for the life He puts in. The moral transaction on my part is agreement with God’s verdict on sin in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

The moral miracle of Redemption is that God can put into me a new disposition whereby I can live a totally new life.” (pg.578) 

I hope this helps to better understand what "holiness" looks like.

My e-mail is jowildflowers@gmail.com

My blog is  jean-oathout.blogspot.com

WHY DO WE PROCRASTINATE? DO IT NOW!

“To one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him, it is sin”. (James 4:17, NASB).

Do it now!  by  Mary Southerland   September 19, 2011   Friend to Friend

   "Procrastination is one of the greatest sources of stress in life. I once heard a preacher tell the old story of three demons who were arguing over the best way to destroy the Christian movement. The first demon had it all figured out. “Let’s tell all the Christians that there is no heaven. If we take away the reward incentive, their movement will collapse.” The second demon responded with, “No, I have a better idea. Let’s tell all of the Christians that there really is no hell. If we take away their fear of punishment, their movement will collapse.” The third demon offered, “Both of those are great ideas, but there is a better way. Let’s tell all the Christians that there is no hurry.” The other demons applauded in delight! “That’s it!” they said. “Our best weapon of all is procrastination.”

  Procrastination is understandable and normal – humanly speaking – but procrastination is not part of God’s best plan for our lives. We don’t often view procrastination as sin, but it is. Sin is not merely doing wrong. It is failing to do what you know you should do – when you know you should do it. Knowledge equals responsibility. Procrastination and disobedience are just opposite sides of the same coin.

  Sin usually brings pleasure for at least the moment. If you are on a diet and want to have just one bite of a chocolate candy bar – but end up eating three chocolate candy bars – it is because you wanted more of that chocolate pleasure and simply could not make yourself stop at one bite – right? Or maybe you go shopping with a set amount you can spend on a new pair of shoes and end up buying three pairs of shoes only to realize that you need a dress to go with them, and a new purse to go with the dress, and new jewelry to match the shoes, purse and dress and … well, you get the idea. It is easy to understand how we get caught up in sins like gluttony, lust and greed because they all bring momentary pleasure.

  Procrastination is different in that it helps us avoid doing the things we don’t want to do – the tasks that require personal discipline and a commitment to godly goals. Wasting time often creates a restless feeling that produces a sense of failure. When the deadline we were supposed to meet has come and gone or the dreaded task we keep putting off spirals out of control – guilt sets in. We try to rationalize it away when the simple truth is that we have sinned.

  The key to dealing with procrastination begins with a commitment to obey God and exercise His wisdom. Joyce Meyer once said, "Wisdom always chooses to do now what it will be satisfied with later on." We can choose to be led by wisdom rather than our momentary feelings. We can choose to make right choices. We can learn to be good stewards of the time God has given us.

  I once attended a leadership conference that changed my life in many ways. The speakers did not talk about money or success. They focused on the fact that God created each one of us in response to His unique plan for our lives. One of the simplest but most powerful mottos I came away from that conference with was: “Do it now!” Do you realize that it takes as much energy to avoid a task as it does to do it? Procrastination drains energy while action produces energy. God empowers us to do what He calls us to do.

  Matthew 6:33 (NCV) “The thing you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you.”

  Truth is for now. God is not impressed with good intentions. Obedience today is the greatest preparation for every tomorrow. So do what you know to do today! The Proverbs 31 woman did. In fact, Scripture tells us she could “laugh at the days to come” (Proverbs 31:25). In other words, this woman fully lived in the present but carefully planned and prepared for the future. Proverbs 31:19 indicates that she made thread with her hands and weaved her own cloth: “In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.” Notice she only made thread and cloth – not the finished product of clothes. That was a task for the future. She was simply getting ready today to meet the needs of tomorrow. The result was a life filled with hope and lived out in purpose.

Let’s Pray

              Father, please forgive me for putting off what I know You want me to do. Help me to be more disciplined with my time. Teach me how to find and live by Your priorities for my life. I want to do what You created me to do, Lord. Show me how to live a life of power and purpose.   In Jesus’ name, Amen."

Do it now! by Mary Southerland September 19, 2011 Friend to Friend on Crosswalk.com   info@girlfriendsingod.com   www.girlfriendsingod.com

 jowildflowers@gmail.com http://www.jean-oathout.blogspot.com

MAKING MY HEART SIT DOWN

“Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, NLT).

              “Every minute of every day is either wasted or invested. 

              Since the Bible contains over 400 verses about time, we can safely assume that time management is important to God. 

              In fact, it is a spiritual discipline that helps determine the rate of growth and maturity of our faith. 

              We not only need to view time as an eternal investment, but as an immediate one as well. One of the most valuable investments we can make is to spend time in solitude.   

              I once read an African proverb, ‘Lord Jesus, make my heart sit down.’ Solitude is deliberately and diligently setting aside time to ‘sit down’ at the feet of Jesus. 

              It is in those still, quiet moments of solitude at His feet that we can more clearly hear God speak and gain strength and wisdom for the journey ahead. 

              In order to practice solitude, we must learn how to budget time.   

              It’s been said that women must balance their time more carefully than men because women don’t have wives. 

             The fact is that we are all responsible for how we spend the time God has given us. Time is a precious gift. 

             Every morning we are credited with 86,400 seconds. No balance is carried into the next day and every night erases what we fail to use. 

             If we use it in the wrong way, that time is lost forever and cannot be reclaimed. 

             Time that is not purposely and wisely budgeted will inevitably gravitate to our weaknesses and be stolen by others or wasted on the unimportant. 

             We must budget time, just as Jesus did.

              "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men"  Luke 2:52 (NIV).

              At the age of 12, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem with His parents for the annual Passover Celebration. When His parents began the long trip home, they did not miss their son at first, and when they did, assumed He was traveling with friends. 

             Jesus was found in the temple - teaching.

             My first reaction would probably have been pride in the fact that religious scholars and teachers were actually listening to my young son. 

             I would most likely have encouraged Jesus to continue, basking in the looming recognition and acclaim. 

            Instead, Jesus returned home where, for 18 to 20 years, He simply grew and matured.

            Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus grew mentally, physically, spiritually and socially.

                 Luke 3 records the beginning of Jesus’ ministry – the single most powerful ministry and life ever lived. 

           In other words, Jesus Christ budgeted His time wisely, resulting in a balanced life of fulfilled purpose. 

           We can live the same kind of life if our priorities are right."

Set priorities: Eccl. 3:1 (NLT). tells us ‘there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven" We either set our life priorities or allow circumstances and other people to set them. 

           We are often guilty of allowing human standards and expectations to determine priorities for our lives when what we need to do is set our priorities and then plan the days of our lives around them.

 Schedule priorities: There is a right time and a right way to carry out right priorities. Ecclesiastes 8:5-6 (NASB). warns, "For a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight" 

            We must schedule time for solitude. We must set aside portions of each day to spend with God.

Stick to priorities: The apostle Paul teaches us to "make the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:16 NIV). Every challenge will either wreck our priorities or affirm them. 

            Right priorities stand firm in the face of changing circumstances because God empowers them and honors obedience.

             One day, we will all stand before the Father and give an account of how we have invested our time. 

             Today, examine your time management habits in light of eternity. 

             Initiate schedule changes that honor God and give Him first place in your life. 

             Make a new commitment to invest your time wisely.

Prayer:

              Father, I recognize my need for time alone with You. I lay down my schedule, my agenda and anything else in my life that would keep me from that time. Please forgive me for the way I often squander away the minutes, hours and days of my life. Give me the power to invest time wisely and the wisdom to live a balanced life that pleases and honors You. 

              In Jesus’ name,

              Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

                             Choose to practice solitude in your daily life.

                             Select a place to spend time in solitude.

                             Lay down your agenda.

                             Focus on Him and listen for His voice.

                             Memorize Psalm 37:7 (NIV) "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him."

Ask yourself these questions and use the answers to shape a plan for regular solitude:

• Why am I afraid of silence?
• What is the greatest obstacle to solitude in my life?
• What steps do I have to take in order to remove those obstacles?
• What do I hope to gain from time spent in solitude?”

In Girlfriends in God    Friend to Friend by Mary Southerland

info@girlfriendsingod.com    September 30, 2011