God's Word on That

Author: Myrna L

  • Our Place In God

    God honored man above all other beings by creating him in His own image. Man is dependent each moment for his existence upon the One who created him — not man only but everything that exists.

    Everything that exists exists to show God glory.

    Because man is born a rebel, he is unaware that he is one. It is only when in the gospel the soul is brought before the face of the Most Holy One without the protective shield of ignorance that the frightful moral incongruity is brought home to the conscience. To save us completely Christ Jesus must reverse the bent of our nature; He must plant a new principle within us so that our subsequent conduct will spring out of a desire to promote the honor of God and the good of our fellow men. The old self-sins must die, and the only instrument by which they can be slain is the Cross of Christ.

    The simple truth is that the miracle of perpetuation of life is in God, known as the Eternal Continuum. All life is in Him and out of Him, flowing from Him and returning to Him again; a moving indivisible sea of which He is the fountainhead. No creature has life in itself; all life is a gift from God. The correct way to think of God is as the One who contains all, who gives all that is given, but who Himself can receive nothing that He has not first given.

    Nothing is above God, nothing beyond God. No one can promote Him, so no one can degrade Him. Were every man on earth to become atheist, it could not affect God. To believe in Him adds nothing to His perfections; to doubt Him takes nothing away. God is not greater for our being, nor would He be less if we did not exist. That we do exist is altogether of God’s free determination. Man’s only claim to importance is that he was created in the divine image.

    Final assessment: God exists for Himself and man for the glory of God.

    In His love and pity God came to us as Christ. For the blessed news is that the God who needs no one has in sovereign condescension stooped to work by and in and through His obedient children. He needs no one but when faith is present He works through anyone.

    [adapted from The Knowledge of the Holy, by A. W. Tozer]

  • Knowing The God We Serve

    Another book that is out on public domain is A. W. Tozer’s Knowledge Of The Holy. In it we get a very good idea of the God we are supposed to be worshiping, the God we just surrendered ourselves to. I will try to sum up Tozer’s thoughts on this subject.

    “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

    The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives we must begin to think of God more nearly as He really is. Let us be encouraged to begin the practice of reverent meditation on the being of our God.

    A right concept of God is basic… to practical Christian living. The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for these [any temporal problems] have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long. But one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him: his obligation to God.

    No matter how we try to perceive God, He is still God and we are not. We must forever remember the original — and still primary — sin was to try to become like God in terms of knowledge and understanding. We are to get to know God, but we will never fully know [everything there is to know] about Him. We are to take on His character, but we cannot approach His majesty. This is both exciting and frustrating. But the promise remains that one day we will be like Him and see Him as He is.

    The philosopher and the scientist will admit that there is much that they do not know; but that is quite another thing from admitting that there is something which they can never know. To admit that there is One who lies beyond us, who exists outside of all our categories, who will not be dismissed with a name, who will not appear before the bar of our reason, nor submit to our curious inquiries — this requires a great deal of humility.

    We are the handiwork of God; all our problems and their solutions are theological. Some knowledge of what kind of God it is that operates the universe is indispensable to a sound philosophy of life and a sane outlook on the world.

  • God Blesses Your Surrender

    A life of absolute surrender has two sides — on the one side, absolute surrender to do the work that God wants you to do; on the other side, to let God work what He wants to do in you.

    O the joys that follow the surrendered heart!

    Give up yourself absolutely to the will of God. You know something of that will; not enough, far from all. But still, you know some. Say “Lord God, not a word upon my tongue but for Your glory, not a movement of my temper but for Your glory, not an affection of love or hate in my heart but for Your glory, and according to Your blessed will.”

    God wants to bless you in a way even beyond what you expect. It is God who will enable you to carry out the surrender. He is waiting to help you do it. Come and say: “I give myself absolutely to You, God, to let You work in me to will and to do of Your good pleasure, as You have promised to do.” Only let your absolute surrender be one of simple, childlike, and unbounded trust.

    God wants us to be separate from the world; we are called to come out from the world that hates God. You have been praying for blessing. But do remember there must first be absolute surrender. At every tea-table you see it. Why is tea poured into that cup? Because it is empty and given up for the tea. But put vinegar into it, and one cannot pour tea into it. Can God fill you, can God bless you if you are not absolutely surrendered to receive from Him?

    Let us believe God has wonderful blessings for us, if we will but stand up for God and say, be it with a trembling will, yet with a believing heart: “O God, I am Yours and all that I have is Yours. Absolute surrender is what my soul yields to You.” As you bow before Him, just accept God’s teaching that in your flesh “there dwells no good thing,” and that nothing will help you except another life which must come in. You must deny self, and then Christ will come in and take possession of you.

    As the Spirit reveals Christ Jesus to us, Christ comes to live in our hearts forever, and the self-life is cast out. Separation and death — separation from the world and death to self. Surely one ought to say: “Anything is good that brings me to separation and to death, for a life of full fellowship with God and Christ.”

    Cast this self-life and flesh-life at the feet of Jesus. Then trust Him. Do not worry yourself with trying to understand all about it, but come in the living faith that Christ Jesus will come into you with the power of His death — and the power of His life; and then the Holy Spirit will bring the whole Christ – Christ crucified and risen and living in glory – into your heart.

    [adapted from Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray]

  • God Accepts Your Surrender

    God urges us, by the hidden power of His Holy Spirit, to come and talk it out; then we are to bring and to yield to Him that absolute surrender. It may, as far as your feelings or your consciousness go, be a thing of great imperfection, and you may doubt and hesitate and say: Is it absolute? But remember there was once a man to whom Christ Jesus had said: “If you can believe; all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23).

    God always accepts a yielded heart.

    If you come and say: “Lord, I yield myself in absolute surrender to my God,” even though it be with a trembling heart and with a conscience of “I do not feel the determination”, it will still succeed. Be not afraid, but come just as you are, and even in the midst of your trembling the power of the Holy Ghost will work.

    We want to get help, every one of us, so that in our daily life God shall be clearer to us, God shall have the right place and be “all in all”. And if we are to have that through life, let us begin now and look away from ourselves, and look up to God. Let each believer, a poor worm on earth and a trembling child of God, full of failure and sin and fear, bow here and now, and say, “O God, I accept Your terms; I have pleaded for blessings on myself and others and not received. I now accept Your terms of absolute surrender.”

    Remember there is a God present that takes note of it! You may not feel it, you may not realize it, but God does take possession if you will trust Him.

    When God has accepted your surrender, then God holds Himself bound to care for it and to keep it. In this matter of surrender there are only two: God and I — I, a worm; God, the everlasting and omnipotent Jehovah. Believe that He can keep you continually, day by day, and moment by moment. If God allows the sun to shine upon you without intermission, is God not also able to allow His life to shine upon you every moment?

    A life of absolute surrender has its difficulties. I don’t deny that. It is a life that with men is absolutely impossible. But by the grace of God, by the power of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, it is a life to which we are destined. A life that is possible for us, praise God! Let us believe.

  • Absolute Surrender

    God had placed on my heart the need for His children (including me) to grow closer to Him. I have found this little book by Andrew Murray that is entitled ABSOLUTE SURRENDER. I adapt pieces of it in this blog to get us started on this undertaking. Please follow me on my journey to draw closer to our Father, to see what delights He may have in store for us who believe!

    A fresh and wholesome beginning.

    The condition of God’s blessings is absolute surrender of all into His very capable hands. If our hearts are willing for that to be so, there is no end to what God will do for us! Your God in Heaven answers the prayers which you have offered for blessing on yourself and for blessings on those around you by this one demand: Are you willing to surrender yourself absolutely into His hands?

    Who is God? He is the Fountain of Life, the only Source of existence and power and goodness, and throughout the universe there is nothing good but what God works. God has created the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the flowers, and the trees, and the grass; and are they not all absolutely surrendered to God?

    God is life and love, and blessing and power, and infinite beauty; and God delights to communicate Himself to every child who is prepared to receive Him. But this one lack of absolute surrender is just the thing that hinders God. And as God, He has a right to claim it.

    Every one of us is a temple of God in which God will dwell and work mightily on one condition — absolute surrender into His hands. God claims it, God is worthy of it, and without it God cannot work His blessed work in us.

    Many a heart will say, “Ah, but that absolute surrender implies so much… There is so much of the self-life still remaining, and I dare not face the entire giving of it up!” Alas, that God’s children should have such cruel thoughts of their God. Do not be afraid God will change you into something you do not want — He gave you what desires you have to begin with. He knows you! Trust in God’s goodness.

    Also, God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your own strength, or by the power of your own will; God is willing to work it in you. “It is God that works in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 ). The everlasting God Himself will come in to turn out what is wrong, to conquer what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing — trust Him for this.

    Did not God say to Pharaoh: “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16)? And if God said that of a heathen, will not God say it far more earnestly of every child of His?

    Cast away every fear. Come with that feeble desire; and if there is the fear which says: “I am not willing for everything that may come, I do not feel bold enough to say I can conquer everything” — then learn to know and trust your God now. Say: “My God, I am willing that You should make me willing.” If there is anything holding you back, or any sacrifice you are afraid of making, come to God now and prove to yourself how gracious your God is!

    Be not afraid that He will command from you what He will not also bestow.

  • Pray the Promises

    There are many earthly saints (and heavenly ones) who urge us on to pray and plead the promises as we have need of them. Only God can satisfy our needs and fulfill our true desires. Pray often. Pray without ceasing. Pray to the Father in the name of the Son by the aide of the Holy Spirit. And see if your world doesn’t change for the better!

    In accordance with Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ Jesus has made us free…” Liberty — we are free to what is in the Bible, what has been handed down to us. We are a welcome guest at the table of the promises of God. Scripture is a never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. It is the Bank of Heaven; we may draw from it as much as we please, without hindrance. Come in faith and we are welcome to all covenant blessings. There is not a promise in the Word of God which shall be withheld. In the depths of tribulations let this freedom comfort you; amidst waves of distress let it cheer you. When sorrows surround you let it be your solace. This is your Father’s love-token, you are free to it at all times. You are free to the Throne of Grace also. It is a believer’s privilege to have access at all times to our Heavenly Father. Whatever our desires, or our difficulties, or our wants… we are at liberty to spread all before Him. It matters not how much we have sinned, we may ask and expect pardon. It signifies nothing how poor we are, we may plead His promises that He will provide all things we need. We have permission to approach His Thorne at all times — at midnight’s darkest hour or at noon-time’s most burning heat. Exercise your right and live up to your privileges. You are free to all that is treasured up in Christ Jesus: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It matters not what your need is, for there is fullness of supply in Christ, and it is there for you. Oh what a “freedom” is ours! Freedom from condemnation, freedom to the promises, freedom to approach the Throne of God, and freedom to enter heaven. (C. H. Spurgeon)

    And again Charles Spurgeon urges us on to pray the promises:

    God wants you to trust His love, power, faithfulness, and for you to believe He will answer your prayers. When doubt creeps in, bring them honestly before God (Mark 9:24). To believe that the Lord will hear prayer honors His faithfulness, His power, His love, and His generosity as well as His wisdom. To put a crown on the head of Him who saved you, believe that if you ask, He will give. (C. H. Spurgeon)

    Dearest God and Loving Father, Help me!

    According to Your Word, dear Lord, the key to not gratifying the desires of the flesh is to live by the spirit. Kindest Lord, help me to feed the spirit and not the flesh — for I know that changing the way I think will change the way I feel.

    Lord God, Almighty One, I acknowledge to You that, like the ancient Israelites, I eat but am often not satisfied. Help me not to confuse bodily appetites with hunger of the soul. Please help me discern a greater need when I cannot feel satisfied with earthly things. For You alone can truly satisfy the hungry soul.

    Christ Jesus, if You do not condemn me, I have no right to condemn myself. Help me not to get caught up in a defeating cycle of self-condemnation.

    Above all else, dearest God Father, help me to love You with all my heart and soul and strength and mind. And help me to love my fellow man as I would love myself, looking after his/her needs as a caring neighbor should, for that puts a smile on Your face. My loving Father, help me not to grieve the Holy Spirit, for Your joy is my strength.

    Jesus, Lord and Teacher, open our hearts to be attentive; that seeing, we may perceive, and hearing we may understand, and understanding, we may act upon Your Word — to the glory of God our Father. Amen.

  • We Were Made To Praise Him

    Father, You say that You rejoice over me with joy (Zephaniah 3:17), that spirit of rejoicing, joy and laughter is my heritage. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty — emancipation from bondage, freedom. I walk in that liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). You fill my heart with joy and with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:52).

    Accept God’s gift of joy as a little child.

    O the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or stand around with sinners or join with scoffers, but who delight in doing everything the Lord wants. Day and night I think about His law (Psalm 1:1-2).

    Who would not fear You, O King of the Nations? For this is Your rightful due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You… My Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King (Jeremiah 10:7, 10). From everlasting to everlasting You are God (Psalm 90:2)!

    Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty. For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord God, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand is it to make great and give strength (1 Chronicles 29:11-12).

    I delight myself in my Lord Jesus, and He gives me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4). Whatever I do in word or deed, I do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Colossians 3:17). The Lord commands His loving-kindness to me in the daytime, and His song will be with me in the night — [my every breath shall be] a prayer to the God of my life (Psalm 42:8).

    I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart. I will glorify Your name forever (Psalm 86:12). I will praise Your name in song and glorify You with thanksgiving (Psalm 69:30). I will celebrate Your abundant goodness, O God, and joyfully sing of Your righteousness (Psalm 145:7). For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done. I will sing for joy at the work of Your hands (Psalm 92:4).

    Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You, O Lord my Redeemer. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods, and with singing lips my mouth will praise You. (Psalm 63:3-5)

    You, Father, faithful Lord, are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. You, my loving God, are good to all; You have compassion on all You have made. All You have made will praise You, O Lord; Your saints will extol You. (Psalm 145:8-10)

    In response to all He has done for us, let us out-do each other in being helpful and kind to each other, and in doing good (Hebrews 10:24 Phillips).

  • Overflow With Joy In Jesus

    This is the day the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). I rejoice in You always, Father God. And again I say it, I will rejoice (Philippians 4:4). I delight myself in You, O Lord my God (Philippians 3:1). Happy am I because God is my Lord [my God and my Father] (Psalm 144:15). My spirit rejoices in God my Savior (Luke 1:47).

    Praise always lifts us up into the heavens!

    Father, my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips (Psalm 63:5). I speak out in psalms and hymns and make melody with all my heart to You, always giving thanks to You for everything in the name of my Lord Jesus (Ephesians 5:19-20). My happy heart is good medicine and my cheerful mind works healing (Proverbs 17:22). The light of my eyes even rejoices the hearts of others (Proverbs 15:30). My countenance radiates the joy of the Lord (Proverbs 15:13).

    I will sing to the Lord a new song for He has done marvelous things (Psalm 98:1). Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, and today I will declare Your marvelous deeds (Psalm 71:17). It is good to praise the Lord and make music to Your name, O Most High; to proclaim Your love in the morning and Your faithfulness every night (Psalm 92:1-2). You are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things — even purposes planned of old [and now fulfilled] in faithfulness and truth (Isaiah 25:1). Let men everywhere give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for the human race (Psalm 107:8, 31).

    I will rejoice before the Lord my God in everything I put my hands to (Deuteronomy 12:18). I will rejoice always; I will pray without ceasing, and in everything I will give thanks, for this is God’s will for me (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). I will praise and give thanks to You, O loving God of the Cosmos, — in all ways, on all days, regardless of my circumstances — continually, for I walk by faith in Your love.

  • Using My Tongue

    I am in the Body of Christ. I am redeemed from the curse. Because of what Jesus Christ did for me, ALL that He did for me, none of the curse can befall me. Therefore I profess with confidence that I forbid any sickness or disease to come on this body! In Jesus’ mighty name: every disease germ, every virus touching this body dies instantly. Every poisonous thing coming onto or into this body has no effect. Every bone in this body aligns to God’s plan for it. Every muscle of this body strengthens according to God’s plan for it. Every organ and every tissue of this body functions to the perfection to which God created it to function. And I forbid any malfunction in this body — in the mighty name of Jesus the Christ, my Sovereign Lord. Thank You, Lord Jesus and Gracious Father in Heaven, for giving such authority to men. (Galatians 3:13; Romans 8:11; Mark 16:18; Matthew 16:19)

    Once we pass through and enter into the life IN Christ, we can ask for anything (Mark 11:24). It is our heritage (Psalm 61:5). O love God and His Word with all that is within you (Psalm 119:111).

    I pray for and thus receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of my God, and the eyes of my understanding are being enlightened. So I confess I have perfect knowledge of every situation and circumstance that I come up against. I have asked and I am being filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, for I have wisdom from God — Jesus has been made unto me wisdom. (1 John 5:14-15; Ephesians 1:17-18; Colossians 1:9; James 1:5, 1 Corinthians 1:30)

    The Holy Spirit abides in me and teaches me all things, and will bring to my remembrance all things. Therefore I confess my memory is as strong as it ever was, and even better. (John 14:26)

    For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that overcomes the world: my faith. I agree with the Word of God; I believe the Word of God; I confess the Word of God, and thus change my circumstances and gain victory through Jesus Christ, my Champion. I thank God, my Glorious Father, that though it looks like the mountain of getting my family finally saved is getting bigger, in the Name of Jesus, my Lord and King, I confess and see it totally removed through my eyes of faith. (1 John 5:4, 1 John 4:4). So let it be done unto me according to my faith!

    Every scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 Amplified)

    These words I have spoken are of God. God’s Word is alive and full of power, it is active and operative. It energizes me and affects my world. As I speak God’s Word — it is sharper than any two-edged sword — it is penetrating into my joints and into the marrow of my bones. It is healing to my flesh, and it is strengthening my spirit. It is prosperity for me. It is the magnificent Word of the Almighty God! So to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all I can ask or even imagine, according to His power that is at work within me, I give glory and honor and praise and thanksgiving to my God forever. Amen. Alleluia!

    God created the universe by the method I have just put into motion: by the words of His mouth. God released His faith in words. Man is created in the image of God. Therefore man releases his faith in words. Words are the most powerful things in the universe. Let me say it this way: “The Word of God, conceived in the human spirit, formed by the tongue, and spoken out of the mouth, becomes creative power!” If the Body of Christ would only grasp the principles and truths taught through God’s promises in His Word, and put them in action, they would change the world!

  • A Good Life Awaits

    I am a wise person, so I turn away from anger; a fool gives full vent to anger, but I am a wise person and thus I must keep myself under control (Proverbs 29:8, 11). Through Jesus Christ living in me, and by His power, I am quick to hear, slow to speak, and even slower to anger (James 1:19).

    A good life awaits us, we have but to follow His call.

    O Lord, I desire not to grieve Your Holy Spirit with whom I am sealed unto the day of redemption. By the great power of Your Spirit, please guide me to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and all kinds of malice. (Ephesians 4:30-31). By Your Spirit teach me to practice hospitality and to be kind to others without grumbling or complaining (1 Peter 4:9). Teach me to not always speak in regard to need, but help me learn to be content (Philippians 4:11). For Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6).

    Just as You are Holy, so I want desperately to be holy in all I do (1 Peter 1:15).

    Father God, I desire to be kind and compassionate to others; forgiving others just as, in Christ Jesus, You forgave me (Ephesians 4:32). Empower me, dearest Father, so I may walk worthy of the calling with which I was called, by being completely humble and gentle; patient; bearing with others in love (Ephesians 4:1-2).

    Victorious God, I thank You and boldly acknowledge that the weapons with which I fight are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they are from You and have divine power to demolish all strongholds of every kind. Your power in me can demolish every argument and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of You. Teach me to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) that I may fight the good fight.

    May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14). I ask that You allow no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth, but only what is good for edification, that it may impart grace to the hearer (Ephesians 4:29). According to my faith please let it be done unto me (Matthew 9:29).