He Asks For Absolute Surrender!

(JR Miller "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)

"Follow Me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

"They immediately left their nets, and followed Him." Matthew 4:20

Their nets were probably all that they owned! It was with these, that they earned their living. Yet at the call of Christ — they gave up all, cut themselves off from their means of support, and in simple obedience and faith, went with Him. 

That is just what we all should do — when Christ calls us. We should obey instantly and without questioning. No matter how much the sacrifice involves — we should make it cheerfully for His sake. Though to obey cuts us off from all our ordinary means of livelihood, and leaves us without provision even for tomorrow — we should not hesitate. Christ takes care of His servants — when they are faithfully doing His will. He asks for absolute surrender to Him. He wants us to trust Him — while we obey Him unquestioningly.

The faith in Christ which the gospel requires — is the utter, unreserved devotement of the whole life to Him, and the unquestioning commitment to Him for time and for eternity — of every interest and hope. The question of what He will do with us or for us, or how He will provide for us — should not be raised for an instant. There must be no 'conditions' — in the following and the consecration. We may not 'bargain' with Jesus for an easy time, for 'smooth and pleasant paths' — but should simply give ourselves to Him absolutely and forever, to follow where and to whatever He may lead us.

The "immediately" is also important. Many people are forever postponing duties. But every call of Christ should be answered immediately. Many people obey so laggardly, so reluctantly, and so long after they are called — that half the value of their obedience is lost! Christ always wants instant obedience. There is no 'tomorrow' with Him. Tomorrow He may not have any need of us, or we may not be here to do the duty which He now asks of us.

How Do We Examine The Self?

Because I have been bedridden the past few days with fever, sore throat and sinus infection which I do not recall ever having it so bad. I had time to think about my life and where I went wrong in my Christian walk. I know I was heavy handed by God. In my Blog I mostly mentioned the good things that came out of my encounter with Him, and all the experiences. But I know if I was to talk about how specifically He led me there, it would be depressive to anyone reading.

I was growing slowly, but I was also drifting in this life mainly because of what I have been taught and because of what was around me. No one ever helped me understand how important it was to examine myself.  I mean by that examining yourself according to the Holy Spirit’s way not your own way. I have to say while they did not find it important to teach us this doctrine but we had the type of mentality where we check our spiritual pulse by checking how well we have the basic Christian behaviour down pat according to those “don’ts” of the Bible. If we could put a check mark for attending Church regularly, we were okay. There was also how much you get engaged in serving in the Church as well as doing evangelism. Another one was how often do we pray and donating the 10% that we ought to.

Well, I passed all these spiritual check marks with flying colors but they did not help me understand where I was hindering God’s work in me. They did not help me walk in the Spirit or live out God’s plan for my life. In these areas I was failing miserably and clueless like everyone in the Church.

But, over time, I learned that examining self goes so much deeper than that, way much deeper. When we examine self, it is more important to examine the depth of our obedience to His Word and our relationship with Him before we even bother asking ourselves the hard personal questions we do not want to touch. We have to make sure we know that we are growing steadily with Him so ask: are you growing spiritually? And if you do not know what it is, here is your answer. Some of us tend to think just because we have accumulated more head knowledge of the Bible, we can discuss more doctrines, we are growing spiritually but that is a big lie of the devil.  

You should also ask yourself questions like: are you aware of the improvement of your relationship with the Holy Spirit? How long has it been since you heard Him talking to your heart? How committed are you to this Christian life? Don’t answer that one just because you fulfill some obligation.  Your commitment should come from love and gratitude for what Christ had done for you. It should be because you have such a burning desire to know Him. You reach the height of your commitment to Him when you can say with everything that you are, take all of me and I will follow you wherever you lead.

You should know if you have been trying to use excuses not to go forward with Him? Are you taking His Word for granted? Are you taking Him for granted? How many times you pray during the day? How many times do you think of Him during the day? Are you living a life focused on Him? If not what are you focusing on? Are you sure you are walking in His will for your life? Don’t be so sure because of what you are doing seem so good in the eyes of others, is pleasing to Him. And don’t think because you are helping others you are probably living out His plan for you. These are just a few examples of the questions you should ask yourself if you are truly looking into learning to examine yourself properly. I am still asking myself those questions all the time, even now. They will never go out of style as long as you are living in this earthly form.

It makes sense, if people in my Church knew how important it was to examine yourself with the Holy Spirit leading they would not have been a Pharisee style type of Church. It is the role of a pastor to teach from the pews and to insist, and reinforce some doctrines that we cannot escape and will not escape no matter how much we want to.  These doctrines matters to God and we better have them down pat by the time we die. Such doctrines like Holiness, the salvation of the soul, surrender, the examination of self etc. I know if I had ever heard sermons from the pew of my Church, I would know how important they were. Since there was never a sermon on them, I assumed they were equally not as important in this Christian life. But, I will never stop saying this “we can only lead others as far as we have been with God for ourselves”

There are some doctrines in the Bible, you can never bluff your way through them and if you have not been there, your sermons sound empty and it   shows what you are doing is repeating what you read. A lot of people can see it’s just a head knowledge. Some go as far as advancing their own opinion from their carnal life, on the doctrine they know nothing of. But to those who possess the real McCoy they will always know it was just that –opinion of the natural mind. You failed to feed God’s sheep.

We ought to examine ourselves even if we start slowly and we are not good at it yet. But we have to keep the habit of going to God with an open heart and ask Him to not only teach us how to examine ourselves in His light but to bring us to a place where we can do it with a willingness to see the hard things we do not want to touch, change or see. I do not believe as Christians we should be caught up with so many self-help books like the unbelievers world. We do not need self help books to teach us how to examine the self. What we need is to learn to obey and consecrate ourselves to Him. Any self help book that does not promote consecration and obedience to God first, and foremost, misses the mark. Through total obedience and true devotion of the heart to Him, everything else falls into play.

What do you know? I found out, it was also the job of the Holy Spirit to teach us how to examine the self, so your relationship with Him is of the utmost importance. Seek the Kingdom of God first. 

He Finds His Elects No Matter Where They Are

If we could only see how beautifully God is building His Church we would stop creating denominations, stop the fight, and stop feeling superior because we are not one of those who got it wrong.

I went to a training there was time allocated for testimonies to help us see how God is working all over the world finding His people even if they are in the bushes. So, a mild manner Indonesian man came forward to share his testimony. His English was not that good. Sure they were paying attention to him but as I looked around the room I realized most people there did not see the beauty and power behind what this man was saying.

Perhaps it would have been the same for me too, had God not taken me apart for a moment, it felt like the room was empty and I was the only audience. I heard a voice whispering to me “can you see behind all these?” But I could see it because He was showing it to me. This man was a monk all his life and he shared while in the monastery, among all those idols God kept appearing to Him in dreams. Through dreams only He taught the man to know Him. He opened his eyes and his heart. Of course I am giving you the gist of it when you consider his testimony lasted about 45. (he was given 15 minutes) While this man never said the sinner prayer, he was saved because he had an encounter with the God of Salvation. He was born again. So, he left the monastery for good to find a church to get baptized.

As I was looking at the man, I could see he was filled with the Holy Spirit. I like the fact that he was so grateful that God found him when he was in a place where no one could touch him. I could see his heart was full of love for Him. When he finished talking, I shivered and I had teary eyes because I realize it does not matter where we are and which bushes we are hiding under. It does not matter the mess we are in right now

God will find those who will make up His Church.

If we could understand what it’s all about, we would chill out and submit to our Master and Savior to accomplish His will through us.

Possessors of the Faith Vs Professors of the Faith

I have been sick with sinus infection for the past two days. So, I am going to keep it short.

When you are a possessor of the faith God’s Word is perfect in your eyes. No need for duplicity, no need to find loopholes and you carefully examine the Scriptures with your heart and the goal is to submit to His Word. Christ becomes more precious to you than everything else and you are guided solely by His Word. You walk in the truth with a spirit of submission because your life is His to do what He wants with. His plan and goal for your life are what matters to you. You also understand His Word from His point of view because you know Him.  Over the years, you keep decreasing as if you are disappearing while He is getting bigger and bigger in your life. Hence I must decrease He must increase. If you want me to make it simple, you are a possessor of the faith and you are living true Christianity when you have taken Christ within.

The best way I can explain what a professor of the faith looks like is to give you an example.

I know a family who has been Christians for decades and decades. We are talking about thirty years and more. After all these years of bible reading, prayers, serving in the Church, going to the mission field etc they are no where close to possess Christ. They all have hard hearts; they lie to each and other people as easily as they breathe. There is a callousness of consciences that is hard to watch. There is a darkness of the soul that comes out in the things they do, that you cannot help wondering how on earth they have not noticed that unbelievers are better human being than them. They are still counting on God’s love to make it to heaven and the fact that they said the sinner’s prayer.

While this is one example of how this family is living a Christless Christianity, for some of us it is more subtle. However, we can recognize where we are if we do not recall at any point that Christ has increased in us while the self has decreased. If we have no recollection of having conquered the evil self chances are it did not happen. We still have bitterness, bad temper, greed, jealousies and all that is associated with the flesh are prevalent in our heart. Your life is self willed, you are uncommitted, and you are living with a spirit of disobedience. You fit the picture of those who are twice dead as mentioned in Jude.

Beloved, we should care whether we are possessors of the faith vs professors because it matters to God. May we learn to examine our hearts and not afraid of asking ourselves the hard questions now, so we can correct the course of our lives. When we die, we not only have to answer for those hard questions we have been avoiding, it will also be too late.

Christian Progress - Part 8 Last Part

It is now 1:00 AM and I have to be up and running in about 4 hours and a half. I decided to put my blog out very early just so that I do not waste time.

As I am reading the questions John James is suggesting that we use to examine ourselves I am covered by a sense of sadness. Why you might say? Because this is the Christianity I have learned at His feet.

I am no better than anyone else, in fact my life is so lousy that I do not want to talk about it. Also, I am truly what you would call an unlearned, yet I have no idea why He chose to teach me in the way He taught me. I have no idea why He chose to reveal so much of Himself to me. I promise you that anyone of you who meets me in heaven, since nothing will be hidden, then you will know how much at one point I begged Him to stop revealing Himself to me because all I wanted was Him. I am telling you the truth, I actually begged Him to take this unlimited grace and pour it on someone that would be more useful to Him like my pastor. I prayed and begged because I felt those experiences would be wasted on me.

Why am I telling you all these things? Because I am trying the only way I can to make you understand how much so many of us misunderstand Christianity.  I can see the danger so many of us are in, at the same time I feel powerless because at the end of the day, the next step belongs to you. You would be wise to consider John's  questions, take them to heart. Take them to God. Don’t lie to yourself because God will be God and you would end up hurting yourself with your lies

When we go to God with our doubts and unbelief, it does not matter Satan knows them, if our hearts are open to God and we are truly seeking Him at any cost and by any roads, then Satan cannot hurt us with the information. The only time he has power to hurt you is when he knows you want God but you have your own agenda that you want Him to take into consideration and you are not willing to budge on them. Open up your heart and trust Him. Please do not make the wrong choice.

I love you all and I leave you with John’s last reading

                                                           John A James, 1853


                                ADDRESS TO THE READER
Reader, this is an unspeakably important chapter for you to ponder. You must not pass from it in haste—but linger, and muse longer and deeper. You must now take up the candle of the Lord, as I have said, and go down into the very depths of the soul, to search its hidden recesses. Nor should you trust to your own inspection and scrutiny. Like David, you should earnestly pray to God to search you, and reveal your real state to you. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 

Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." He knew how prone we are to self-love and self-deception; how sin lies hidden in the folds of the heart's deceit, and therefore he begged the trial and scrutiny of eyes more piercing and less partial than him own. So must you. We are all liable to judge too favorably of our own case. Do, do, consider the fatal, the dreadful, the eternal consequences of a mistake on this subject.

Oh, the idea of imagining we are going on to heaven, when step by step we are advancing to hell! Is this possible? It is! And the very possibility should awaken our alarm. Is it probable? It is! And this should increase our alarm. Is it certain? It is! And this should raise still higher our anxiety. Is it common? It is! And this should carry our solicitude to the highest pitch. What did Christ say on this matter? Read with awe and trembling. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" Matthew 7:21-23. Read, I say, this passage in which our Lord with his own hand, sounds the alarm through the whole church. Ought you not to examine? Is not there need of it? Is it not all but madness to go on without it? Mistake! What in such a matter as salvation? Mistake! What in a matter in which an error will require, as I have often said, an eternity to understand, and an eternity to deplore it!

Are you quite sure this is not your case? Take up the subject, then, and put the following questions to your soul.

Am tolerably sure that I am truly converted to God? Am tolerably sure that I am a real Christian?

If I am a true Christian, am I really an advancing one—or am I mistaking a declining state for an advancing one?

Am I mistaking a lengthened time of profession—for a genuine growth in grace?
Am I putting an increase of knowledge, and of ability to talk about religion—in place of an increase of holiness?

Does it satisfy me to grow in knowledge and lamentation of my corruptions—without mortifying them?

Am I mistaking sectarianism—for true piety? Am I mistaking attachment to some preacher—with love to the truth? Am I mistaking zeal for some favorite doctrine—with real love for the gospel?

Is my mortification of sin confined to some one corruption, which interest, ease, or reputation may require me to surrender; or is it directed against all sin?
Is my religion a mere excitement of the emotions, and my growth only a greater excitability; or is my will more and more determined for God, my conscience more tender, and my life more holy?

Inquire, I beseech you, into these things. Be determined, by God's grace, to know the real state of your soul, and to be under no mistake. Be this your prayer, "O God of truth, you who search the hearts and examine the thoughts of the children of men, you know I would not for ten thousand worlds be deceived about my spiritual state. 

You know me through and through. Make known to me what I really am in your sight. Painful as it would be to find out that I have been deceiving myself, this would be infinitely better than for me to go on in error until the mistake is past being rectified. I want to know my real state. Even if I am a Christian, and yet mistaking declension for progress, I wish to know this also. Let my spiritual insight be clear, my self-acquaintance be accurate. Do not allow me to deceive myself—as regards my spiritual progress or decline.

Christian Progress - Part 7

John A James, 1853

2. Distress is sometimes felt in consequence of mistaking a clearer view and deeper sense of depravity, for an actual increase of sin. This is by no means an uncommon case. The young Christian seems sometimes to himself to be growing worse, when in fact it is only that he sees more clearly what in fact he really is. In the early stages of true religion we have usually but a slender acquaintance with the evil of our sin or the depravity of our heart. The mind is so much taken up with pardon and eternal life, and even, indeed, with the transition from death to life, that it is but imperfectly acquainted with those depths of deceit and wickedness which lie hidden in itself. And the young convert is almost surprised to hear older and more experienced Christians talk of the corruptions of their nature. It is almost one of the first things one would suppose they would feel, yet it is one of the last they effectually learn, that true religion is a constant conflict in man's heart—between sin and holiness.


At first they seem to feel as if the serpent were killed—but they soon find that he was only asleep—for by the warmth of some fiery temptation, he is revived and hisses at them again, so as to require renewed blows for his destruction. Nothing astonishes an inexperienced believer more than the discoveries he is continually making of the evils of his heart. Corruptions which he never dreamt to be in him, are brought out by some new circumstances into which he is brought. It is like turning up the soil, which brings out worms and insects that did not appear upon the surface. Or to vary the illustration, his increasing knowledge of God's holy nature, of the perfect law, and the example of Christ, is like opening the shutters, and letting light into a dark room, the filth of which the inhabitant did not see until the sunbeams disclosed it to him.


3. Sometimes the young convert is discouraged, because he does not increase as fast as he expected; and supposes because he does not accomplish all, and as speedily as he looked for, that he does not advance at all. The expectations of young Christians are sometimes as irrational as the child's who sowed his seed in the morning, and went out in the evening to see if it was above ground. The recent convert sometimes imagines that sanctification is easy to work. He imagines that advance is a thing to be accomplished by a succession of strides, if not, indeed, by one bound after another. But the remains of old Adam within him soon prove too strong to allow this unimpeded course of Christian progression. 

He knew he had difficulties to surmount—but he calculated on getting over them with ease—that he had enemies to conflict with—but then he hoped to go on by rapid victories from conquering to conquer. He is disappointed—and now imagines he makes no way at all. But why should he so hastily decide against himself? All growth is slow, and that is slowest of all which is to last the longest. The mushroom springs up in a night—so did Jonah's gourd—and in a night it perished! The oak requires centuries for its coming to perfection.


4. Some mistake by supposing they do not advance at all because they do not get on so fast as some others. We would by no means encourage neglect, indifference, or contentment with small measures of grace. On the contrary, we urge the greatest diligence. We say go on unto perfection. They who are contented with what grace they suppose they have, give fearful evidence that they have none at all. To be self-satisfied is to be self-deceived. Still, as in nature so in grace, all do not grow with equal rapidity, or advance to equal strength and stature. I

t is so with flowers in a garden; trees in a plantation; children in a family; boys at school; ships at sea; or travelers upon the land. There is progress in all—but in different degrees. Yet of which of all these can it be said, they make no advance because they do not advance as fast as the foremost. The use we should make of the superior attainments of the more eminent of God's servants is neither to envy them, nor to discourage our hearts—but to find in them a stimulus and an encouragement to seek larger measures of faith and holiness for ourselves.

Christian Progress - Part 6

John A James, 1853

1. Some are fearful that they are not making progress because their feelings are not so vividly excited in religious matters as they formerly were. They are not easily and powerfully wrought upon either in the way of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, as they once were. They have not those lively and ecstatic states of mind which they formerly experienced when they began the divine life.

Here we must just glance at the constitution of our nature. True religion exerts its influence over all the faculties of the soul—it calls into exercise the understanding, engages the determination of the will, moves the affections, and quickens the conscience. The same differences of natural constitution will be observable in some degree in the new or spiritual nature as existed in the old or physical one. A person of great sensibility in ordinary things, will, after conversion, be so in spiritual ones; while they of little emotion in the former will exhibit the same phase of mind in the latter. The sensibility or emotional state of the mind depends very much therefore on our physical organization. Now it is a very wrong criterion of the reality and degree of our true religion to judge of it only by the exercise of the affections. Some people of excitable natures are easily moved to joy and sorrow, hope and fear. The power of poetry or eloquence, of sights of distress or raptures—over their feelings is irresistible; while at the same time their judgments are not proportionately employed, their wills not in the same measure engaged, and their conscience but little moved. 

Take, for instance, the sentimental readers of novels, how by fits they are melted to tears, or excited to ecstasies. Yet how idle and unemployed are all the other faculties of the soul. There is no virtue in all this. It is mere sentimental emotion. Now look at the philanthropist. He may not be a man of tears, or of strong and vivid emotions of any kind—but he is a man of principle. His understanding comprehends the circumstances of some case of deep distress, and he judges it is right to pity and relieve it. His heart, though not wrought up to extreme anguish, so as to fill his eyes with tears, and his mouth with loud lamentations, feels for the miserable object; his will resolutely determines at once to help the sufferer; and his conscience, which would condemn him if he did not, approves the determination. You will particularly notice what constituted the virtue of the good man; not wholly the emotional excitement, for there was very little—but the dictates of the judgment, the determination of the will, and the action which was performed under these conjoint powers.

So it is in true religion, which consists partly of the exercise of all the faculties—but chiefly of the judgment, will, and conscience. The heart is of course, engaged, for we must love God and hate sin—we must delight in Christ and fear the wrath to come; but the amount of vivid emotion is of little consequence, compared with an enlightened judgment, showing us clearly what is right and wrong; a determined will to avoid the evil and perform the good; and a tender conscience shrinking from the least sin. Emotion is, to a certain extent, instinctive, involuntary, and irrepressible. Not so with judgment, will, and conscience. It is not, therefore, the amount of feeling—but of willing and doing, and approving or condemning, that determines the state of true religion.

There is such a thing I know—and, alas, it is a very common one—as losing "first love," and it is marked by our Lord with his disapprobation in his address to the church at Ephesus; but many distress themselves on this account who have no need to do so. Their ardor perhaps, at first was in some measure the excitement of animal feeling, which will soon die away of course, though their real practical love may not be diminished—but may be growing stronger. When a son returns home after a long absence, especially if he be a reclaimed prodigal, and meets his parents, brothers, and sisters, there is a glow of feeling, a joyousness of emotion, which cannot be expected to continue always, and which he may never be able to recall again, though he may be ever growing in real attachment to his friends and his home.

From all this it will be seen that the emotional part of true godliness may be, and is by many, overestimated. The question is not merely what we can feel—but what we can do, for Christ; not how many tears we can shed—but how many sins we can mortify; not what raptures we can experience—but what self-denial we can practice; not what happy frames we can enjoy—but what holy duties we can perform; not simply how much we can luxuriate at sermon or at sacrament—but how much we can exhibit of the mind of Jesus in our communion with our fellow-men; not only how far above earth we can rise to the bliss of heaven—but how much of the love and purity of heaven we can bring down to earth—in short, not how much of rapt feeling we can indulge—but how much of godly principle we can bring to bear on our whole conduct.

It is evident, therefore, there may be progress where there is a fear that there has been declension. The vividness of feeling may have subsided—but if the firmness of principle has been strengthened, it is only like the decadence of the blossom when the fruit has set. The joy might not be so great—but it may be more intelligent, more solid, and more sober. Just as the exuberant delight of the child, when it passes off, leaves the pleasure of the youth less noisy—but more rational. The frames and feelings may be less rapturous—but they may at the same time be less idolized, less depended upon, less put in the place of Christ. The growing Christian is less pleased with self—but sees more of the glory of the Savior—his own righteousness appears more imperfect and defiled, and is therefore less loved—but the righteousness of the Savior comes out before him more beautiful, glorious, and necessary.