Seeking and Surrendering

Picking up the small, tattered book, I blew off the dusty cover. It fell open in my hands and I read this preface, one I had read many, many times before.

THE SEEKER

     God is a Father. I a weary child. He is beyond all thought or reach of mine, but if I come to Him, He will lead me blind and weak among the dangers—guiding on, I follow through the strangest winding paths: and He will lead me to His own belief. I trust everything to Him. (Diaries, 1856 {age 23})

Instantly, I remembered why I had used this little devotional guide for so very many years. As before, my heart thudded in my chest and my eyes spilled over with tears. Hannah Whitall Smith spoke my language, expressing in powerful and touching words the cries of my soul, the swirling, elusive thoughts of my brain. Words I just didn’t have. Words I so wished to be true.

And I had forgotten.

For the past several years, I had chosen a variety of authors and different devotionals to accompany me on my yearly journeys with my Father. And, honestly, none had lived up to my pretty high expectations. Because I am usually adamant about finishing the things I start and, honestly, because I already spent the money, I will continue this year’s devotional selection through December. Maybe it will get better. Come January, though, God is Enough, this well-worn classic by Mrs. Smith, will sit on top of my Bible in my chair once again.

But for today, I flipped eagerly through the coffee-stained pages and ended with glancing at my scribbled notes on the inside of the back cover. When I am reading, I love to write down subjects and verses that particularly touch me or ones that I want to study further or use in my writings. I like to remind myself down the road of particular things God is teaching me or ways He wants to refine me or use me. Most of my books are pretty marked up.

At the top of that last page, in fairly large print, I had scrawled:

Aug 29-

Prayer of Total Surrender

Curiously, I flipped back the pages and searched for that date. Here is what I read.

Totally Consecrating

Lord, I am Yours, Yours wholly and Yours forever! I am Yours by the purchase of Your blood, and I give myself to You now as a living sacrifice—body, soul, and spirit—to be as clay in Your hands.

I give you my heart, Lord, to love only what You love, to hate what You hate, to endure all things, to suffer long and be kind, to be not easily provoked. To think no evil, not to seek my own, help me, oh my God!

I give You my mind to be wholly devoted to Your service and perfectly under Your control, to think only those thoughts that will please You, to devise only such plans as You suggest, to yield the management of all its affairs to You. To bring every thought to the obedience of Christ, help me, oh my God!

I give You my body to be used by You—my eyes to see only what You would have them see, my ears to hear only what You would have them hear, my feet to go only where You lead, my hands to do such work only as can be done in fellowship with You, my tongue to speak only words that please You. I give my time to You, Lord, to be all Yours. Help me, oh my God!

I give You my children, my husband, and all whom I love, to be disposed of according to Your will. I leave to You the ordering of my whole life, and with Your help will follow You wherever You lead. I will give You the control of my feelings and of my prejudices. I submit in short my whole being and life—all that I am, and have, and will be, to Your control; and ask only that Your will may be perfectly done in me, through me, and by me! Take me and keep me, oh my God! (Diary.1859)

Wow. I needed this, I said out loud. I need to make this declaration. 

And there, right by August 29, I had penned “2007” and the words, “I needed this.” And my all-knowing and gracious Father had led me right back to this prayer of consecration again, one I needed then, one I needed now. He is so kind. And He wants all of me. All the time. Still.

I thought about life since 2007, sixteen years of some pretty difficult and ugly life (and death) situations and circumstances. Also many beautiful ones. I am so thankful I was safe in my Father’s protective arms. In joy and sorrow, He was always near. And for much longer than just sixteen years!

This is not a one-and-done surrender. Too many times I find myself untying myself and crawling off the altar. How often I try to go it alone, impatient at perceived delays in getting what I want! How often do I chase after false saviors or fall into idolatry? I get busy. I get lazy. I get careless. I am broken. I am messy. I am easily fooled. No matter. I am His child and He still wants me. He patiently calls me. He forgives my wanderings. Oh, I need to give myself to the loving Father every day.

Did you need this reminder today too? Did you need to remember Whose you are and tell Him you do?

Hannah Whitall Smith, such a faithful woman of God, will be happy to remind you too. I have learned a lot from her honest and insightful writings.

Maybe you will want to read through God is Enough with me next year.

Let me know.

We can be Seekers and Surrender-ers together.   

He is waiting.

—Eileen Hill

Yoked with Christ for Joy in Heaven

In Luke 10, Jesus sends out His disciples to prepare the way before Him. He tells them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Today, may we be jointly yoked with Christ, laboring as sons and daughters in our Heavenly Fathers vineyard. Now, in mercy, Christ has redeemed us from the worthless way of life we had learned from our ancestors. He has atoned for our sin and purchased us with His own precious blood, employing us in a new ministry, the Ministry of Reconciliation. We have been made fishers of men, ambassadors of the Living God. God now makes His appeal for others to be reconciled to Him through Christ in us.

As we number our days, we remember Jesus’s words as recorded In Luke 15. Jesus tells us that there will be more rejoicing in heaven for one sinner that is lost that for ninety-nine righteous who need no repentance. Invest in the lives of the lost. Their reconciliation to God through Christ brings more rejoicing in heaven than any other worldly achievement we could take part in.

Commissioned in His name, our message is two-fold. First, we proclaim peace with God through Christ Jesus and His finished work on Calvary. Loving as He loves us, we bring good news of great joy to all peoples from every nation. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is hope in Christ for the sinner who repents. Second, still in love, we must warn of the horrible consequences and ultimate consequence of rejecting Jesus, the appointed Judge of the living and the dead.

As we go out, we do not go alone. We take on Jesus’s yoke, uniting us to His gospel and His Father’s will. We serve trusting in His faithfulness to keep all His promises, especially to save from sin and death. By taking on His yoke, we receive help from the Holy Spirit who helps us keep pressing onward with Him to the prize. 

With every breath may we joyfully serve the Lord of the Harvest. No eye has seen or ear has heard, nor mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Today, choose to serve Christ in building an eternal kingdom that will not pass away. Let’s be yoked with Christ for joy in heaven.

In Christ,

—Roger Garrison

The Thief

I had to spend a significant part of Monday repairing damage a thief did to our church mailbox. Someone thought they would make off with money or checks sent to the church. Our Vineland police say that what we experienced is becoming common in our area. While spending valuable time repairing someone’s damage is frustrating, not intentionally seeing and stopping the perp that Jesus called “the thief” has a much higher cost in terms of lives and valuable eternities. Unfortunately, the Thief is much more subtle than a drive-by with a prybar. Perhaps that is why his shenanigans go often unnoticed and largely unresisted by those given the power to do so.

Jesus made some bold claims about this fella (the cosmic Thief). And the good news is that Jesus was there to see the Thief’s fall from heaven and the sad, prideful build-up that made it necessary. When our Savior took on human form, The Thief threw his bitter worst at the unwavering Son of God and, ultimately, had to withdraw in fear from His blazing resurrection authority. The blood of the beloved of heaven was enough to purchase, for those who call on Him, eternal life given as a gift and freedom from the tyranny of the Thief. To top it off, Jesus clearly gave His brothers and sisters the power to tread upon the works of the Thief, stopping him in his tracks.

The apostle Paul said of the Thief, “We are not ignorant of his devices,” which begs the question: “Is it possible that someone is stealing the mail belonging to you, me, our families, or our church?” How might the Thief be taking our provision right under our distracted attention? Is he breaking into your and my protected spaces with accusations, fiery darts, intimidations, speculations, bitterness, unforgiveness, and the like?

Let’s engage in the spiritual fight as Paul laid it out in his letter to the Ephesians. Look for the Thief’s smudgy fingerprints around you and your loved ones; be on guard and call it out with the authority of the Word of God and our testimonies.

We have mighty tools at our individual and corporate disposal. Let’s care about destroying the works of the evil one. Our commander certainly is on the job to guide us to victory. Stand fast and stand your ground wherever and whenever the Holy Spirit shows you where the Thief is killing life, stealing destinies and provisions, and attempting to tear down the works of Father’s kingdom all around.

—George Davis

Rejoicing and the Presence of God

Have you ever sat to rest and thoughts of a current challenge, concern or hardship were invaded by thoughts of God’s goodness, faithfulness and power? It’s been happening to me a lot lately. Something inside of us is intrigued when reminded of the realities of God’s nature. The energy stirred by thoughts of our Creator and King’s steadfast love, kindness, might and consistency eventually comes out of my body in some way – tears, raised hands, audible words of gratitude, a dance, a song of praise – rejoicing with resolve to trust and obey. 

I admit the rejoicing gets a little embarrassing and seems random at times. I know these thoughts preceding rejoicing are certainly not random; what I feel compelled to do in response often seems to be. The embarrassment is definitely a fear response, an internal attempt to protect myself. Oddly enough, embarrassment also centers self which is the opposite aim of the invading thoughts of God that are clearly a grace to center the Holy One, instead of me or my circumstances. The Holy Spirit is empowering us to obey the Word of God’s command to “rejoice in the Lord always!” (Philippians 4:4). In these precious moments, faith and hope are activated, joy is restored, and we are delivered from our desperate state, whether or not our circumstances change. 
It’s like the Holy Spirit acknowledges our despair, exhaustion, fear, frustration, confusion, etc. (Psalm 34), and the strength of the Master of the Universe is made perfect right there in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). An accompanying reality tough for me to come to grips with is that we are still weak after God shows up. God’s strength and our weakness, God’s joy and our despair seem to be held in this redemptive tension that occasionally makes me very uncomfortable yet is still so good. We are being made perfect, and God shows up in all perfection — Holiness and Glory…AWEsomeness. Hallelujah! This is joy. God’s presence. (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬)

—Anyah E. R. White