READY TO GIVE UP?

 

                               

Mary Southerland

   Truth for the Journey: 

"Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind"' (Matthew 22:37 NIV).

   Facts for the Journey

  "From the moment of birth, we are taught that successful people never give up. Yet, I have discovered the paradoxical secret that true success can only be found in complete surrender.  

 

   Dr. Billy Graham tells the story of a little child who was playing with a very valuable vase. The child put his hand into the vase but could not pull it out. His father tried to free the little boy’s hand but couldn’t. They were thinking of breaking the vase when the father said, “Son, let’s try one more time. Open your hand and hold your fingers out really straight and then pull.” The look of alarm on the boy’s face surprised the dad until the little boy explained, “Oh no, Father. I can’t hold my fingers like that. If I did, I would drop my penny.”

 

   Many of us are like that little boy – holding onto something that is keeping us from letting go and letting God have His way in our lives. It doesn’t really matter what that something is. If it is keeping us from surrendering to God, it is our captor, and we are its hostage.

 

   Jesus longs for us to come to Him in total surrender. Not because He wants to win or prove His power, but because He longs to set us free. Matthew 22:37 goes straight to the heart of surrender and abandonment when it says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind." Let’s take a closer look at the meaning of this verse: 

 

“Heart” means “thought and emotion.”

“Soul” means “life or whole person.”

“Mind” means “understanding.”

 

   In other words, to truly experience God, we must lay down everything. Every thought and emotion, every dream and plan, every bit of human knowledge or understanding, our past, present, and future – everything - just like the woman in Luke did. 

    

   Luke tells us that a certain woman came to Jesus bringing “an alabaster jar of perfume.” In Jesus’ day, alabaster jars were very common and of little value. It was the substance hidden inside that was so precious.

 

   The perfume was the woman’s most priceless possession. It was very expensive but very necessary in her line of work as a prostitute, working the streets, selling her body in order to live. The money given to her by the men she slept with paid for the perfume she brought to Jesus.

 

   She could have put a small amount on His feet, and it would have been a great financial sacrifice. But she brought it all and she gave it all. She came to God with a “yes” in her heart and a “whatever” in her soul, totally abandoning herself and all that she had to Him.

 

   “Abandon” literally means “without restraint or hindrance, a total relinquishment.” This woman came to Jesus, walking through her shame, straining against every hindrance, and relinquishing her old way of life. She came, ignoring the ugly whispers and judgmental stares of those who knew her so well.

 

   Why? I believe she was simply worn out. The emptiness and sin were eating away at her soul. She was tired of being used, unloved and unwanted. She came ready to give up everything and in a desperation that is always winsome to God. He met every need of her heart and changed the course of her life.

 

   Today, dear friend, He is calling you to that same kind of abandonment. Are you ready to exchange your life for a life far beyond your greatest hopes and dreams? Are you desperate for Him? The Father is patiently and tenderly calling you to His arms. Come and rest in Him. 

 

   Steps for the Journey

   What is keeping you from fully surrendering to God? Are you ready to relinquish anything keeping you from the life of freedom Jesus has for you?

  Prayer for the Journey

   God, I am so tired of trying to live without You. I come today, desperately longing for You, and seeking Your presence. Right now, I surrender completely to You, giving everything I know about myself to everything I know about You. Thank You for meeting me at my point of need. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."

My weekly advice from the book, "We All Married IDIOTS, by Elaine W. Miller: (P. 127)

   "When bumps rise up on your road, are you tempted to give up? Do you realize that running over those bumps makes your legs stronger and equips you for the mountains you may need to climb? Hebrews 12:2 tells you to fix your eyes on Jesus. Do you spend your days concentrating on the potholes that threaten a fall, or on the One who promises to help you through adversity? Jesus — He gives you strength far superior to any weight-room workout. And He comes with instructions."

 

#129 Testimony- A friend

    I realized that throughout my growing-up life, I had been trying to earn God's grace and be good enough to get into Heaven. However, when I read in the Bible: 

          Ephesians 2:8,9 "For by grace are you saved through faith, and not 

          from yourselves; It is the gift of God — not from works, so that no one 

          can boast."

    I saw that all my striving and works were for nothing! 

   The gift God gives us is through faith in Jesus as our Savior. We need to accept the grace He gives to believe in His Son, Jesus, who made the way to Heaven through His death on the cross and His resurrection to New Life. It is nothing we have earned. A true revelation to me!

1691-1695 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted- 
 

1691- Prov. 30:13 "There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their 

          eyelids are lifted up."

1692- Is. 45:21a "Let them take counsel together."

1693- Ez. 14:11b "That they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord."

1694- Is. 40:18 "To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare 

          unto him?"

1695- Luke 18:30 "Who shall . . . receive manifold more in this present time, and in

          the world to come everlasting life."

 #129 Hymn- Take My life and Let It Be 

   Although hymnist Frances Havergal, 36, had served the Lord for Years, she felt something was missing in her Christian experience. Then one day in 1873, she received a little book called, "All for Jesus," which stressed the importance of making Christ the King of every corner and cubicle of one's life. Soon thereafter, she made a fresh and complete consecration of herself to Christ.

   Years later when asked about it, she replied, "Yes, it was on Advent Sunday, December 2, 1873, I first saw clearly the blessedness of true consecration. I saw it as a flash of electric light, and what you see you can never un-see. There must be full surrender before there can be full blessedness."

   Not long afterward, she found herself spending several days with ten people in a house, some of them unconverted. Others were Christians, but not fully surrendered to Christ. "Lord, give me all in this house," she prayed. She went to work witnessing, and before she left, all ten were yielded Christians. On the last night of her visit, Frances—too excited to sleep—wrote this great consecration hymn, "Take My Life and Let It Be."

   In the years following, Frances frequently used this hymn. On one occasion, as she pondered the words, "Take my voice and let me sing/Always only for my King," she felt she should give up her secular concerts. Her beautiful voice was in demand, and she frequently sang with the philharmonic. But from that moment, her lips were exclusively devoted to the songs of the Lord.

   Have you given your whole life—over to Jesus? Why not make this the date of your own complete consecration?

 Some encouraging words-

   "Where there is true prayer for grace in the heart the prayer is heard before it is offered, for it is grace that makes us pray in such a fashion. He who asks for grace sincerely has grace already in a measure or else he would not be inclined to ask for more. 

   Let this encourage us. Since God waits to be gracious, and has in wondrous condescension endowed prayer with such privileges in His sacred courts, who among us will unto turn unto him now, with all our heart, and cry to Him, 'My Father, save and help me now'"?  [Condensed from a sermon, printed in the Herald of His Coming newspaper].

Church Notes:    FIVE VISIONS

1. Break ground for additions

 2. Build up men's ministry

  3. Breakthrough anointing in Spirit and worship

   4. Salvations, and believers added

    5. Compassion Ministry- Food Pantry [renovations for enlargement]

As iron sharpens iron, we need each other to grow in fellowship and in our faith.

 Marriage is the process of being made whole, as we learn to live as one.

  Christian friendship bonds us together through troubles and deep connection.

   Hospitality is more than just friendship.

    Wounds of someone go deep and need forgiveness to be free from bad feelings.

     Christian friends sharpen convictions and influence us to live right.

      Bad company ruins character.

We're to build up one another - smile!

Let's be people who help one another!

Upcoming posts:

21st. THE SECRET OF HOLY LIVING- Melvin H. Snyder

28th- ONWARD AND UPWARD- Diane Derringer

4/4-   GOD BLESSED WHEN YOU UNITE IN PRAYER- Wesley L. Duewel

Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)

Pages  

Prayer for salvation

For God Seekers- Healing Thoughts and Prayers 

Samples of Jean's crafts

 

The North Country Christian Fellowship Center Churches,

located in the St. Lawrence county of NY,

broadcast their Sunday services at 10 or 10:15

You can view past services too.

Sermon listing:https://www.cfconline.org/sermon-library 

OUR TRUE REFUGE IS GOD

 

   Karen Huang- After his wife died, Fred felt he could endure the pain as long as he had his Monday breakfasts with his buddies. His fellow retirees lifted his spirits. Whenever sadness came, Fred would think about the next time he'd enjoy their company again. Their corner table was his safe place from grief.

   Over time, however, the gatherings ended. Some friends became ill; others passed away. The emptiness led Fred to seek solace in the God he'd met in his youth. "I have breakfast by myself now," he says, "but I remember to hold on to the truth that Jesus is with me. And when I leave the diner, I don't leave to face the rest of my days alone."

   Like the psalmist, Fred discovered the safety and comfort of God's presence: "He is my refuge . . . in whom I trust." (Ps. 91:2). Fred came to know safety not as a physical place to hide, but as the steadfast presence of God that we can trust and rest in (v. 1).

   Both Fred and the psalmist found that they didn't have to face difficult days alone. We too can be assured of God's protection and help. When we turn to Him in trust, He promises to respond and be with us (vv. 14-16).

   Do we have a safe place, a "corner table" we go to when life is hard? It won't last but God will. He waits for us to go to Him, our true refuge.

Let's pray-

   "Dear God, You're my safe place. Yours is the presence that will never leave me to fend for myself. Your help and protection always surround me."

My weekly advice from the book, "We All Married IDIOTS, by Elaine W. Miller:

(p. 122) “We are all common man; therefore, we are all idiots. There was only one uncommon man—He is Jesus Christ. He is not an idiot. He knows you, and He joined you as one with your mate. It is He, and He alone, who can change you, your spouse, and your marriage. He longs to bless you. You must look up for help.”

#128  Quote - Embracing The Cross Of Christ A. W. Tozer

   "Let us plant ourselves on the hill of Zion and invite the world to come over to us, but never under any circumstances will we go over to them. The cross is the symbol of Christianity, and the cross speaks of death and separation, never of compromise. 

   No one ever compromised with a cross. The cross separated between the dead and the living. The timid and the fearful will cry Extreme! and they will be right. The cross is the essence of all that is extreme and final.

   The message of Christ is a call across a gulf from death to life, from sin to righteousness and from Satan to God. The first step for any Christian who is seeking spiritual power is to accept his unique position as a son of heaven temporarily detained on the earth, and to begin to live as a saint. 

   The sharp line of demarcation between him and the world will appear at once - and the world will never quite forgive him. And the sons of earth will make him pay well for separation, but it is a price he will gladly pay for the privilege of walking in fruitfulness and power." 

1686-1690 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted- 

 

1686- Ez. 18:31b "Make you a new heart and a new spirit."

1687- Ez. 16:60a "I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth."

1688- Micah 7:2a "The good man perished out of the earth."

1689- Ez. 33:22c "My mouth was opened."

1690- Job 27:10 "Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call 

          upon God?"

 Some encouraging words-

"What we have to do is to wait on God. Therefore be encouraged to wait on God and expect great things from Him , and you will find that neither your waiting on Him, and your exercise of faith will not be in vain, but God will in the end give far more abundantly than you expected; BEYOND OUR LARGEST EXPECTATION WE SHALL RECEIVE. 

(Eph. 3:20; Ps. 27:14; 62:5; 130:5; Isaiah 30:18; 40:29-31; Lamentations 3:25; Habakkuk 2:3).

Church Notes:      ABUNDANCE

Abundance is more than enough!

   God wants to bless us with way more than enough.

      He wants to move mountains that seem overwhelming!

         We need to celebrate that God's our "over-the-top" God!

We're not to be disheartened, as it brings poverty. 

 #128 Hymn-  Sweet By and By

   In 1868 a Pharmacist named Sanford Fillmore Bennett, 31, was filling prescriptions and handling sales at his apothecary in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. His friend Joseph Webster entered the store. Joseph was a local musician, vocalist, violinist, and amateur composer who suffered from periods of depression. The two men had occasionally collaborated on hymns and songs, Sanford writing the words and Joseph the music.

   On this particular day, Joseph was unusually blue and his face was long. Looking up, Sanford asked, "What is the matter now?" "It's no matter," Joseph replied, "it will be all right by and by."

   An idea for a hymn hit Sanford like a flash of sunlight. Sitting at his desk, he began writing as fast as he could. The words came almost instantly. Two customers entered the drugstore, but no attempt was made to assist them — so they sallied over to the stove and visited with Joseph. Finally, Sanford rose and joined them, handing a sheet of paper to his friend.

   "Here is your prescription, Joe," he said. "I hope it works." Webster read the words aloud: 

 There's a land that is fairer than day,

   And by faith we can see it afar;

 For the Father waits over the way,

  To prepare us a dwelling place there.

        In the sweet by and by,

 We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

        In the sweet by and by,

 We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

   Instantly a tune suggested itself, and Joseph jotted down some notes. Picking up his fiddle, he played his melody over a time or two, then said to the others, "We four make  a good male quartet. Let's try the new song and see how it sounds."

  As "Sweet By and By" was being sung for the first time, another customer, R. R. Crosby entered the store. "Gentlemen," he said, "I never heard that song before but it is immortal."

   He was right. For over a hundred years we've been singing an immortal hymn that was written in less than thirty minutes in a drugstore.

Upcoming posts:

3/14th- READY TO GIVE UP?- Mary Southerland

21st-    THE SECRET OF HOLY LIVING- Melvin H. Snyder

28th-    ONWARD and UPWARD- Diana Derringer