Part 10 There were two trees in the garden: Part 3
Andrew Murray the great preacher and man of God, while in the middle of revival was asked this question, what is the most needful thing for us Christians; his reply was; ABOLUTE SURRENDER
What does that mean?
What he was essentially saying was this: The soul of a Christians must surrender to their spirit. Most Christians live their Christians lives with their SOUL, mind emotions and will being in control, they do what they feel (emotions) is right, they do what logic demands Mind and their Will is a slave to their feelings and Intellect.
| Romans 8:6 | For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. |
Carnal refers to sins of the Soul; Flesh refers to sins of the Body, the Natural Mind of the soul the Intellect is called the carnal mind.
| Romans 8:7 | Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. |
Most Christians are dominated by their natural mind and their emotions they live by these powerful stimuli which dictate the way they live.
Brokenness is the key to personal revival
We want to do things our way but God wants absolute surrender to His will. The tree of life represented Jesus and we are to live by His life, His mind, and His emotions and only allow His life or feelings and will to be expressed through a surrendered soul. When we come to the place where we can’t trust our emotions or our Mind or our ability and we come to the place where we know we can’t get it right apart from Him, this coming to the end of ourselves brings a brokenness in our soul that allows the spirit of the Lord to come through, the soul has to become a servant to our spirit which is constantly connected to the Lord.
| 1 Corinthians 6:17 | But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. |
We have to hand over the controls to our spirit which is union with God. The order is spirit, soul and body this order when achieved brings us to the place of being a spiritual man or woman.
We have to learn to yield to the spirit
In a crisis wait don’t let your emotions lead you, and control you, learn sink into God be quiet let your spirit come to the fore, don’t let carnal mind take over wait turn to the Lord within. Feel His presence let him speak the follow His leading
| Galations 5:16 | This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. |
When it comes to choices you have to make don’t let your feelings rule, tell your soul to be quiet, the natural mind will try to tell you what to do. Use your will to block you’re emotions from leading you SAY NO to the soul. Wait be quiet sink into God, turn to the Lord feel His presence let him come forth in your spirit.
Most Christians choose their life partners by feelings; you fall in love with an emotional response. If your choice of a life partner is solely based on feelings and you”fall in love” you can easily fall out of love. Love first is a choice the feelings will then follow. God can show you your partner, but this is not based on your desires or mind it is based on knowing the will of God. You come to this when your emotions and mind are stilled and you commune with God with no agenda but to know His will
Be still and Know
Ladies don’t go to a guy and say God has shown me you are my life partner, you will scare him to death; God brought Eve to Adam’s attention and he said great; but we have to be in control: We don’t have a revelation of Gods unconditional love for us, we fear that it won’t work out. If I lay down all my ambitions my desires what I want can I trust God to do the right thing for me?
The emotion of fear keeps us separated from God
| 1 John 4:18 | There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. |
If we understand Gods perfect love for us we will never fear again. The apostle Paul was willing at any point to lay down his life; he had no fear of dying or leaving this world.
| Phillippians 1:21 | For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. |
Fear was not a part of his life.
Can you trust God with your life? Absolute surrender is a requirement for walking in the spirit with the Lord. If as a Christian we live our life separated from the Lord, a life firmly in our control, we miss the very reason and purpose for our existence that is to be joined to the Lord who is the tree of life.
The lord’s mind is the tree of life
The Lords will is the tree of Life.
The Lords emotions are the tree of life
His emotions or love energizes us, His will secures us, His mind quickens us as we walk in union with Him only then do we enter into the real life that God intended.
| John 5:40 | And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. |
| Proverbs 3:13 | Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, ( the Lord) and the man that getteth understanding. |
| 17 | Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. |
| 18 | She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. |
| 22 | So shall they be life unto thy soul, Prov 3:23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. Prov 3:24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. |
| 25 | Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. |
If we keep His commandments He will abide in us, what is His commandments? Simply that of Love.
| John 15:12 | This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. |
If we abide in Him his love abides in us and we walk with Him in the spirit constantly being nourished and quickened by the tree of life
| Revelation 22:14 | Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. |
God Bless youNeville Johnson © July 2006
No comments:
Post a Comment