Positioning Myself

I have been pondering this faith walk a lot lately. What it truly means to be completely and absolutely surrendered to God. And what it means to be holy. What it means to be fully aligned with the will of God as someone who trusts and obeys.

Foster, in his book “Life with God” says that you can’t be holy by trying harder. This was revelatory for me. For, by nature, I am a hard worker. And I think, in the past, my faith walk had poorly depended much too much on my own efforts - as good as they were intended to be. I had rationalized it by thinking I just needed to work on my faith. Unfortunately, this translated into self-effort, and the unfortunate consequences of pride, arrogance, and self-righteousness. I am happy to say that those chains are gone. I have been set free. I am no longer that "prodigal's brother". This is my ceasing of ceasings... my sabbath!

Foster speaks true of positioning yourself to receive God’s work. I think positioning yourself has a double meaning. For one I think it means, as Foster says, "a relational process whereby we receive from God the power or ability to do what we cannot do by our own effort". And I think this means that, through quiet times and other times alone with God, that we are so aware of when He speaks that when He does we are ready to act!

And for the second, I think it also means to rightly elevate and continuing to elevate God to the status He deserves - which is more. And thus to rightly put me in the position I deserve - which is less. And it puts other things, other people, and other circumstances there also.

Today’s Our Daily Bread spoke to this. Even a Godly affection for anything, other than God, will, in the end, not be sufficient. The only sufficiency is in Christ alone. For if I esteem anything else, it will detract from what I really think about God.

That reminds me of a great Rich Mullins quote:

Christ didn't ask us to esteem ourselves. I think if Christ were asked, I think He would probably say, ‘Look buddy, you would be lucky if you could forget yourself. If you could lose yourself, you would be luckier than if you found yourself.’ It would be wonderful if you knew the names of the trees between your house and where you work, between your house and your church. If you knew that that was a tulip tree and you knew that that was a red bud. It would be great if you knew the names of the constellations. It would be great if you knew something about your neighbor. It would be a lucky thing for you if you forgot yourself, if you lost yourself... Why esteem yourself? Forget yourself. You'll have a lot more fun.

I have seen it still in my life – creeping in even now. "Things" and "self-effort" getting bigger than they need be. Yet I know the bondage of the stronghold has been broken. And maybe that’s why it’s so apparent and notice so readily now. I just ask God to keep my focus on Him. It is ONLY by His strength that it will happen.

I will walk in faith. God is love. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Let it be only God's love. That's our new command... to love like Jesus did.

All for now,
Lisa