Emptying Yourself – The Spirit of Surrender – Purity 1380
Purity 1380 06/20/2024 Purity 1380 Podcast
Purity 1380 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of my canine pal Harley leading the way down the recently blacktopped stretch of Waite Rd under the bright sunshine of a new day comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene during our morning walk last Saturday.
Well, It’s Thursday and I send this blacktop pathway photo as a visual reminder and encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship by establishing, developing, and maintaining a daily spiritual practice that includes gratitude, meditation on the word of God, and prayer.
A newly discovered John Bunyan quote reminds us that: “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer”.
Bunyan’s quote drives home the point that if we aren’t going to God in prayer regularly, our battle to become more Jesus will be hindered by sin – missing the mark of becoming the people that God created us to be. We are either going to live for and with God or we are going to live by and for ourselves. You can’t really follow Jesus on your own. You have to meet with Him, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit – through regular interactions – conversations – prayer – where we not only report on our progress and confess our faults and ask for strength, but where we also listen for his guidance and surrender to His will for our lives.
So which are you doing more of: praying or sinning?
The answer to this question can say a lot, particularly, if you ascribe to a “sinner saved by grace” mentality rather than accepting your identity in Christ as a saint.
Some Christians with a checkered past will fail to fully accept the new life that they have received from Christ and balk at any suggestion that they are a saint, regardless of their behavior. They know what they did in the past and because of guilt, shame, or fear will not say they are a saint – because they either believe they would be a hypocrite for saying so or that their admission of sainthood would immediately lead to their downfall.
But the word of God, the New Testament epistles, calls the followers of Jesus – saints (who are in Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, etc.), not sinners, and the sooner we accept who we are in Christ the sooner we will be able to live out the freedom that the Son has given us.
And the way we can do that is through surrender. The whole MT 4 Christ motif for the blog and podcast is based on the spirit of surrender – the emptying of ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit to become the people God created us to be.
Just as Jesus “emptied himself” of His divine attributes to take on the form of man, we are to empty ourselves to be bondservants to the will of God and take on the likeness of Jesus.
The “Get Used to Different Student Guide” by the Chosen Team touches on the spirit of surrender and I am surrendered to the idea of sharing what they wrote to remind us, or to help us, to surrender to the life Jesus has for us. The Chosen team writes:
“… accepting the Lord’s invitation meant Nathaniel would have to give up his own plans and dreams. He would have to turn over his deep seated desires, along with his beliefs about what would make him happy.
Nathaniel had to surrender.
Ironically, when he did, he found the same freedom God offers you. Freedom from the relentless drive to have everything go your own way. Freedom from needing the approval of others. Freedom from insatiable desires like pride, greed, vanity, and lust. Freedom from your self-centered nature and the sin it breeds in your life.
When we choose to surrender, we’re in good company because Jesus lived his entire life with that same attitude: “(Jesus) did not count equality with God something to be grasped, But emptied himself, by taking the form of a bondservant… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on the cross. (Philippians 2: 6, 8).
And He’s the one we follow.
Today’s spiritual exercise will help you take baby steps down the path of following Jesus into a life of surrender. What you’ll do is super simple and only takes a few seconds. But there’s a catch because simple doesn’t mean easy… surrendering never is.
Nevertheless, sit up and place your hands on your knees. Make fists with your hands. Now, close your eyes (well, you might want to finish reading this first) then take a deep breath. As you exhale, turn your fists over and open them. Then say this line from the Lord’s prayer:
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
There’s nothing magical about those words, and they won’t automatically change your desires. But you’re learning to turn things over to God. You’re posturing yourself on the outside in the same way you’ll need to posture your heart. Because following Jesus means you’ll have to entrust your dreams to Him.
So, pray this prayer as you unball your fists and begin the process of surrender.
Pray
Father, I’m hanging on to my dreams so tightly. There are some things, even now, that I don’t really want to surrender to You. Help me learn to let go. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give me the strength to mean it, Lord.”
(Get Used to Different Student Guide, The Chosen Team: Covington, Bennett, Hershberger, Claypool, Mallerna, Campbell, & Murdock, 2024).
Amen!. I just love how the Chosen has introduced people to the gospels in a new way and how the material they produce are geared to directing new believers to be followers of Jesus Christ, to be disciples – to be learn from Jesus with a spirit of surrender, to be his apprentices and to learn from Him.
I know there can be objections to the artistic license that the Chosen takes at times, but their resources show that they aren’t trying to make Jesus more palatable for a wider audience, their materials are inviting their viewers to be authentic followers of Jesus – following Him into repentance and surrendering their will for His.
So check out that “Get Used to Different Chosen Student Guide” if you need some basic guidance to get you started, or just pick up the source material – The Bible – and begin your surrender to the Lord by developing a daily spiritual practice where you can walk and talk with Him.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
( While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Divorce.
Romans 12:18 (NLT2)
18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Today’s verse is the first of three passages of scripture that fall under the ninth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Divorce.
9. The believing spouse must seek reconciliation when trouble arises.
Today’s verse is a good instruction for all our relationships as Christians, and thus it should be remembered and practiced in our marriages, troubled or not.
Gary Thomas’ book Sacred Marriage suggests that marriage was God’s gift to us, not to necessarily make us happy, as much as it is the way he can make us holy! Marriages are the close relationship where we can’t hide our worst selves and where we will continually come into conflict with our spouse and their different desires, ideas, and preferences for living. And so out of love for our spouse and love for God, we should consider having a servant’s heart toward our spouses and surrender our own desires for what is best for our marriage and our spouse and to establish peace.
Today’s verse tells us to do all that we can to live at peace with everyone. “Everyone” starts at home and so we should do all we can to have peace in our marriages.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 7
“Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state
in which he was called.” – 1 Corinthians 7:24
Here is a message to my own heart: find contentment in the things I have and the ministry to which He has called me.
This requires patience. For very often, my calling requires waiting periods. O, to know the truth of the words, “They also serve who only stand and wait.”14
This calling also requires consistency. It is so easy to be spasmodic in Christian service, especially when circumstances lend themselves to extra efforts. But to be consistent and patient necessitates God. Hence, the apostle says, “Remain with God” (v. 24). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
No wonder Moses said, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Ex. 33:15).
Teach me, Lord, to be content with such things as I have,
and in the vocation wherewith I am called.[1]
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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