| Author | Message | ||
| Cathy2 Registered user Username: Cathy2 Post Number: 84 Registered: 2-2006 |
"Christ says 'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.'... "Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you know that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself!" | ||
| Belvalew Registered user Username: Belvalew Post Number: 999 Registered: 7-2004 |
Cathy, thank you for that quote from C. S. Lewis. It is so easy to forget that Jesus is recreating us every day. This is such a lovely reminder of that fact. We may individually be content to remain small and obscure, but God may have huge plans for us, and we are simoly called to surrender and stand where he has planted. The more I read his Word, the more I am convinced of that one true fact! | ||
| Riverfonz Registered user Username: Riverfonz Post Number: 1450 Registered: 3-2005 |
Cathy, Thanks for the Lewis quote. It reminds me of when SDAs first start to see that there might be problems in their house that Ellen built. At first some think that maybe just a few leaky holes in the roof need to be fixed, and then their house will be OK. But as time goes on in their study, they find that the whole foundation of the house is built on nothing but sand, and the whole house needs to be replaced by starting from scratch, by relying on the Holy Spirit to teach us His Word. Stan | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 3610 Registered: 12-2003  |
Thank you, Cathy. That's a wonderful quote! I love your comment, Belva, "ÖJesus is recreating us every day." That is so true. He does call us simply to stand, as you say, and allow Him to do His work in and through us. He brings us the jobs He wants us to do. We merely stand, fully armored in His armor, and after we have done everything, STAND (Ephesians 6:12). Colleen | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 2405 Registered: 3-2004  |
Thank you, all of you, for the quote and your comments. God does indeed want to remake us, not just do repairs. And as Colleen said, he brings us the jobs He wants us to do. We merely stand, fully armored in His armor, and after we have done everything, Stand." This is very meaningful to me at this moment. God has shown me something He wants me to do, out of the blue. He will help me to do it. God you are Awesome. Diana | ||
| Cathy2 Registered user Username: Cathy2 Post Number: 85 Registered: 2-2006 |
 I think Christ is throwing up a new 'wing' in myself, right now, but I sure don't know what it's going to become or look like like in the end. But that's ok; I know I'll like it. Your posts remind me of an article I read the other night; the same site where I read those quotes, in fact. I don't agree with thier eschatology and everything, but I have found some gems, here & there, on this site, 'Acts 17:11', based on this verse: ~Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true~ (NIV) The article is asking what is the one particular gift of MESSAGE and/or any other thing, which God has given you, empowered within you, to bring to, bless others with? Your most burning passion in the Lord to give to others? Like Jesus said, "..As you have been given, give freely..." It blessed me and made me think. I think it helped me to know what I most dwell on, am most passionate about, in message and practicality, to give to others from Christ. Each person has this from Christ, within themselves, for others. Article posted below. (They *want* articles to be freely distributed & posted): Why are We Here? 'Extracted from an email from Dean VanDruff on personal MISSION. Over the years, I have often challenged people to consider their "core message", what God has put in them as an emphasis. I ask "if you could jump into someone else's body (that you love and are praying for) and impart one insight--give one example of obedience, allow one godly passion to course through them--WHAT WOULD IT BE?" In other words, what has God shown YOU of his nature that words "get in the way of" (and everything else in this sin-sick world) but that is bursting to get out? Not that we should be one-trick ponies, but that we would do well to know why God has us here and to focus on the grace he has given us to the building up of others. 1 Cor 1:17 (NAS) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel... What is our principal insight, message, or mission in life? What is the ray of the light of Christ that reflects most purely off of us? What is the basic instinct of faith God has deposited in us? What do we have of God that we can "feed" to others? For what earthly reason has Christ "taken hold of us"? For me, this is Repentance. Repentance is the core of ALL of my teaching. It is the first study on the Acts 17:11 Bible Study Home Page, and what each of the following teachings is merely an application of. It is this that the Lord gave me as a basic message. It is this message that I am most passionate about, and I burn with zeal to impart it to others. I feel God's presence most vividly when I am laboring thus. For Laura, it is Forgiveness. For Reggie, it is the Sovereignty of God. For Mark, it is the Fullness of the Spirit. For Joy, it is Death to Self. For Dan, it is Salvation. For Gary, it is Service. For Don, it is Worship. For Joseph, it is the New Wineskin. I cherish these saints all the more because they know what "gift they wish to impart" to me, and I look forward to their encouragement in these areas. If Gary could just jump in someone's body and show them the JOY of service. If Don could just get people to see what he sees of God... What is this for you? Not that we (or you in however you would answer this) are perfect examples of these qualities, nor even that advanced. But nonetheless, this is what God has put "in us" and we would do well to "fan into a flame" what God has imparted. Let us enjoy our place in the body of Messiah in the bounty of the Holy Spirit, who is rich in grace and able to supply all things to us for our benefit. Phil 3:12-16 (NIV) Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.' |
