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Three Levels to Excellence
T he
first level to excellence is that of submission.
To "submit" means "no resistance." In electricity, resistance
causes power to diminish from a higher level to a lower level. Submission begins
with turning our will over to God. God’s will should flow through me unimpaired.
Our will must be broken and shaped. It should happen as
children where we learn to take a command and to obey what we are told. Saul was
not submitted to Samuel because he did not fulfill the command to wait at Gilgal
for seven days or to completely destroy Amalek.
We submit to God and resist the devil (Jam. 4:8) If I "resist"
the Lord, I am "submitted" to the devil and have no power over him. If I
"submit" to God, I can "resist" the devil with full authority.
Submission, then, becomes the primary source of power and
faith: "I am a man under authority" (Mat. 8:9-10) was the source of the
centurion’s great faith.
Many church members are not "submitted." The local church is
the basis of authority (Heb. 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to them"). If
their will is not submitted to obey a command, they are stopped in their pursuit
of excellence.
The second level of excellence is Surrender.
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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1 (KJV)
Surrender means to "yield," to relinquish possession.
A life insurance policy is "surrendered" when the claims on
the company are dropped. This word, "surrender," goes beyond "submit" where we
simply can carry our a command. It means to release our entire lives to the
express use of God. It is a passive word, allowing God to come possess anything
we are.
Submit, Surrender, Sacrifice
It means to release our entire lives to the express use of
God. It is a passive word, allowing God to come possess anything we are.
God wants us to surrender to Jesus, to sign our name to the
"blank check" of our life. It means, I make no stipulations, no claims, no
objections. Isaac "submitted" to Abraham in getting on the altar as Abraham
"surrendered" him to God. Jesus surrendered to the Father’s plan to die on the
cross: "Not my will, but yours be done."
Sacrifice is the third, and highest, level of excellence.
It goes beyond submit (obeying a command) and surrender
(allowing God to take what He desires). It is an "active" word, something that
comes into your heart to give to God that He has not necessarily required of
you. Examples of this would be: 1) Mary pouring a years salary on the head of
Christ or 2) the widow gave her two mites, all she had to live on, and 3)
Zaccheus gave half his worth to the poor. Each of these are sacrificial actions
that came up out of a heart of love and gratitude to Jesus.
"God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7) because He delights
to see what our hearts tell us to do for Him without being told.
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let
him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7 (KJV)
What if every member in our church moved into "submission,"
then "surrender," and into "sacrifice?" No one will ever sacrifice their time,
talent, and treasure without first submitting and surrendering.
May God help us to receive and then so present the cross to
others so that they become sacrificial believers, delighting to do for God what
He has not even required.
Thanks to BCCN for the material for this article .
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The Triumphant Christ
When we are born again, you and I are filled with the Person of
the Triumphant Christ. Think about it. What a great liberating truth.
John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and
have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the
world.
There is nothing in this world (Kosmos) that can defeat you
because of Him that is in you. At Calvary He defeated every enemy of your soul.
Col. 2:15 And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
I love the Message Bible translation here:
Col. 2:15-Msg. He stripped all the spiritual
tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them
naked through the streets.
No longer do we have to live like we lived prior to His
entrance into our hearts. Absolute victory dwells within us and is for us (on
our side).
Eph. 1:19-Amp. And [so that you can know and
understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of
His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His
mighty strength.
The Triumphant You!
Not only is He in and for us but we are no longer the same person
we were. God did not repair our sin damaged spirit but gave us a brand new
spirit that makes us a new, triumphant man. Thus it is written:
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Quit thinking of yourself as a poor sinner saved by grace. You
were a poor sinner and you were saved by grace, but now you are a new creature
who is more than a conqueror and an overcomer in the sight of God. This the
reality of your Christian life. The sooner you receive it, recognize it, respond
to it, the sooner you will begin to live in victory.
Rom 8:37-Amp ... we are more than conquerors and
gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
Avail yourself of the powerful, resurrected Christ and His
anointing in you. There is now nothing impossible for you:
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst
believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
The Voice . . .
Just as certainly as God said, “Let there be,” there was the
creation of that which He spoke:
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:3 (KJV) [Genesis 1:6; 14]
We can understand creation by faith in the tried, tested and true
Word of God which reveals the testimony of the ages:
Through faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of
things which do appear. Hebrews 11:3 (KJV)
Light came when the Holy Spirit overshadowed the virgin Mary.
There is no doubt that God, the Father, spoke that which was created and brought
it into manifestation in the virgin’s womb.
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God. Luke 1:35 (KJV)
The power of God is released in His spoken words:
Where the word of a king is, there is power: . . .
Eccles. 8:4 (KJV)
. . . his word was with power. Luke 4:32 (KJV)
The Voice of the Lord can be heard “walking” in the very place
that the footsteps of mankind can be heard. His Word brings His presence and
places the footprint of the weight of His glory to bear upon that which is
spoken to:
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day: . . Genesis 3:8 (KJV)
The Word . . .
In the beginning [before all time] was the Word
(Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was
present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence
through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into
being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. John 1:1-4 (AMP)
Imagine! The Word was spoken into being in the womb of a young
virgin. I can hear the Voice as He spoke, “Let there be, My Son in an earthen
vessel conceived.” Immediately, the Holy Spirit overshadows the precious chosen,
and willing, vessel named Mary. The Miracle of miracles takes place and once for
all the eternal Son of God becomes flesh.
Nine months later, the Christ Child is born in Bethlehem.
Caravans laden with gold, frankincense, and myrrh weave their way across the
expanse of desert sands, guided by a divinely directed star as angels proclaim
His arrival on the pages of history.
The Word spoken is now seen. Rhema has become the Logos to
mankind.
[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the
visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all
creation (Col. 1:15 Amp) .
God and man at table are now set down to reason together:
Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18 (Amp)
It is Christmas time in the city. Selah! |
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