Tag Archives: Submission

Submit

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Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:7

 

We like to have our way, not give in to others. Jesus showed us we should submit to authorities. But we think we have the right to ridicule our authorities. Jesus’ brother James warns that our selfish desires cause fights and quarrels, envy, and aggression. We think it’s the other person’s fault. We seek pleasure over God’s will and enjoy friendship with the world, instead of friendship with Him. (James 4:1-6)  These evil ways have become part of who we are. So what are we to do with these temptations? James answers:

 

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)

 

Submit, resist, draw near, purify yourself, grieve over your rebellious heart, humble yourself before God. Change! This isn’t a multiple choice option. It’s the path to drawing closer to God. He knows we will never be perfect at this. But there is danger in compromising on God’s instructions. What if instead of first submitting to God we just try to resist temptation in our own power?  When I try this I get beat up over and over. We live a lifetime of frustration, guilt, and defeat with just such an approach.

 

Worse yet is befriending and justifying that which tempts us. If we insist on this pseudo relationship with God He will give us over to our own way of thinking as He did with King Saul, with the Israelites, and with those in Jesus’ time. “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts…” (Romans 1:24). He will do the same with us if we insist.

 

When we acknowledge that God is God and we are not, it makes sense to first submit to God’s authority over our thoughts, motives, and actions. Just as Moses removed his soiled sandals before stepping on holy ground, so we too serve our best interest when we ‘wash our hands’ of wrong ways of thinking and behaving. By purifying our hearts of wrong desires, and ungodly ambitions we humble ourselves before God. We can’t be humble while laughing at things that disgust Him, remaining apathetic to those things that make Him sad, or believing lies about who we are.

 

Humbling ourselves before God draws us close to Him, where He restores and renews us. Ask God today, what areas of your life have not been humbly submitted to Him and find the satisfaction of being lifted up by His righteous right hand.

 

 

Test me, search me

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Search me God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

 

What comes to mind when you think about tests? Stress, anxiety, fear, sweaty palms, headaches? Most of us don’t enjoy tests because they reveal things about our abilities and our character. They also demonstrate our preparedness and whether or not we have “the right stuff.”

 

There is also something about trials that strip away unwanted elements in our lives. We speak of the trial by fire that destroys all that is merely temporal and leaves that which is everlasting. There is the heat of the furnace that removes the impurities and leaves only that which is pure. Daniel’s trial of trusting God when surrounded by hungry lions speaks to God’s role in the dangerous times of our lives.

 

Most of us don’t have to face real lions or a literal furnace of fire in our lives. But we do encounter a battery of tests, don’t we? School tests to prove our readiness for next level learning, tests of character when tempted by deceit, anger, envy, or any number of unwholesome traits. And most of us don’t relish the idea of tests. The preparation for them is often painful and stressful. The results are sometimes embarrassing if we are, after being weighed and measured, ‘found wanting’.

 

David displayed such confidence that he actually invited God to ‘test’ him. “Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.” Psalm 26:2 He took confidence in his submission to God and God’s faithfulness to see him through the testing situation. Later in life, he had to repent of all self-confidence and again asked God to search his heart and reveal any impure thoughts or deeds.

 

As life progresses, the tests become more challenging and many of them quite outside our area of expertise. Some are completely outside of any ability or hope we might have in any of our natural abilities. But, if we have maintained a clear conscience before God, we can stand in the confidence of His promises and His grace to see us through the most severe life tests. It is out of humility, not boasting, that we invite God to test us, search us, reveal in us any unworthy thoughts and deeds, so we can submit them to him. And then, in faith, to stand firm and hold fast to God’s promises in the middle of our tests and trials.

 

Search me O God, know my anxious thoughts. Lead me in your way.

 

 

Waiting

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What do you do when you have to wait? We’ve grown accustomed to instant food, instant access, and instant gratification of nearly everything we want. We live in a “let’s get on with it” world that seems increasingly uncomfortable with silence and mindful inactivity. But waiting provides opportunities for us to GROW and to GLOW (go light our world):
Waiting at a stop light – pray for your fellow travelers. (Keep your eyes open so you don’t irritate them by missing the green light.:-))
Waiting in the checkout line – encourage a stranger in line with you. Share God’s love.
Waiting for someone to show up – pray for them. Ask for God’s discernment about your role in the meeting.
Waiting for an answer to prayer – carve out time to be quiet each day to pray and to listen to what God’s Word says. Say out loud the things for which you already are thankful.

 

God has a plan for us whereEVER we are, even in the Waiting Room of life. While you wait for a new mission, God has a mission for you right now, right where you are. David waited 14 years between being anointed as king and serving as king. Paul also waited 14 years between conversion and his first missionary journey. Moses of course waited even longer. Do you think they sat on the porch of life and twiddled their thumbs while they waited? No, and neither should we if we really want to seek God’s best in our lives.

 

God has a plan for each of us while we wait, actually three plans: to PROTECT us, to PREPARE us, and to PROVIDE for us. He protects us by keeping us from rushing into something that may be dangerous for us. He uses times of waiting which often seem like trials, to better prepare our hearts and to equip us for the next part of our journey. And He uses times of waiting to provide for us by ministering to our bodies, our minds, and our soul.

 

It has been two and a half years since we heard God’s call to serve Him in South America. Then leukemia came. During this time of waiting, He continues to remind us that we have a mission here, even though not completely revealed. But as we wait also for that we know His constant mission for each of us is to have us draw ever closer to Him, in dependence and in surrender. Always, we continue to learn what it means to really behave like a “new creation” in Christ. The answer is always found in submitting our will to the Holy Spirit and responding to that part of the mission that is clearly revealed.

In the still quiet moments of your day, ask him to reveal more of His nature to you. Draw closer to Him and submit your agenda for His, renewing your mind with His Spirit. Then receive His will for you, His good, perfect pleasing, and perfect will. . . Even as you wait.