What is"surrendering" your life to God mean?

THE CONFUSED BUTTERFLY

By Judy L. Poe

I thought I was an ugly worm,

For I was taught this was the case;

And I always felt defeated,

But just assumed this was my place.

I used to watch the butterfly,

As she soared among the trees;

Her brilliant colors flashing bright,

As she floated about with ease.

But a worm, alas, was I it seemed,

That crawled upon the ground;

And there appeared no hope for me,

Till new life in Heaven I found.

But in the meantime, here on earth,

I was told to do the best I could;

And not to do the things I shouldn't,

And try to do the things I should.

So for many years I worked real hard,

To be the best worm I could be;

I worked and planned and served and studied,

To "help" God work His plan for me.

But my load became too heavy,

And failure darkened every door;

I said, "God, I just can't do it",

He said, "That's what I've waited for."

An then, through the Holy Spirit,

And His precious truths confirmed;

He said, "My child, you are a butterfly,

Stop acting like a worm.

When you trusted Christ as Savior,

You were changed and made brand new;

And those years you've acted like a worm,

Christ has longed to live through you."

So my "place" I found at last was grace,

And I thanked God for what I'd learned;

For when I surrendered all to Him,

I knew, at last, the worm had turned.

SURRENDERING RIGHTS

    A lot of misunderstanding surrounds the concept of Total Commitment. If one desires the best that God offers then Total Commitment is required. The more one gives and surrenders in Total Commitment the more one will understand and know of God.

    Understanding Christ's Life in you (The Exchanged Life) is understanding and experiencing what Christ can do in you and through you. It is what He can do in you and through you that He desires, not what you can do, accomplish or achieve.

    Another name for Total Commitment is Total Surrender or a personal Gethsemane expressed this way, "I want what You want more than anything else in life. Work on my case, and I will accept whatever You do." Many times we can give Him permission to do anything He wants to do in us, to us, with us and through us, but then complain because He doesn't do what we want Him to do and then we become angry.

    Total Commitment involves the surrender and release of that which I believe to be rightfully mine. But I really do not have that right. These are not rights. These are things I have been made to believe are mine, and that God owes me this. God does not owe me anything. He gave me His own Son. There is a large difference between what God chooses to give and what He owes.

We tend to cling to or hang on to each of the following as rights in an effort to meet our own felt needs:

MIND, EMOTION, WILL: I want to function from my soul. My mind and emotions are programmed with a world system philosophy and this get in the way of my relationship with God. The enemy wants me to function from my feelings and thoughts with no guidelines or limitations.

HEALTHY BODY:  People will like me better if I have an attractive body. I could have done a better job on me than God did. But God does not demonstrate His power in creating attractive bodies. He is more interested in re-creating Himself within us. Jesus "had no form or comeliness in His looks." There was nothing outstanding in His looks.

FUTURE PLANS:  My Heavenly Father does not owe me anything. He is working to form desires within my heart. Scripture says my first desire should be to know Him in His fullness.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION:  My attitude should be a willingness to live where He directs. I desire the best, and the best is to be where He wants me to be at any time (state, city, street, block, house on the block).

MARRIAGE: The tendency is to demand of God a spouse. If I believe God owes me a mate and I do not have one, I can become bitter and angry toward God. I will want to know when He is going to finish the job of completing me with a mate. My identity is not wrapped up in whether I am married or not. My identity in God is who I am individually. But I tend to see my identity in another form because this is the way society sees it.

RECREATION: I have no right to choose an activity that would not be honoring to God. My tendency is to function as if this is MY LIFE! But Scripture says that I have been bought with a price. I am not my own.

SUCCESS:  I feel that I belong on top, because I am His child and God desires that I prosper. But the Lord Jesus stressed the spiritual, not the physical. I want to take all those things and put them in a physical realm saying that this is what God wants for me. But I cannot measure in a physical way that which God desires for my life. By all earthly standards Christ's ministry was a flop! But it accomplished all that God intended. The prospering that God wants for me is that I mature and grow spiritually not that I measure up to some earthly standard that says that I acquired all this because I am His.

CLING TO THE PAST: I like to remember what he, she or they did to me. It gives me reason to complain. But this becomes a cop-out for my present attitude. I want to be angry and I want others to know all about what happened to me.

HABITS: I buy into a belief system which says that I am only human and that no one is perfect and that a man has to have one vice. But the Scripture says that I am indwelt by the Spirit of the Living God, therefore I am not just human. The Spirit of God lives in Me. That makes me more than just human.

POSSESSIONS: Everything I perceive to be a possession will ultimately begin to possess me. It is easy to say, "Heavenly Father, I give you my car," but what if He tells me to give it away tomorrow? I am a steward. God has given me possessions as a trust. I am to take care of God's trust they are not really mine. But I will cling to anything I think I own, and if someone violates MY STUFF, I will react in anger. "How dare they do this to my house, to me, to my car, etc.!!!?"

TIME: I do need to get away from things occasionally, however my attitude should never be one of demanding MY time. The Lord Jesus took ten specific breaks from His ministry in three years.

REPUTATION: I want people to think well of me. But what did people think and say about the Lord Jesus? What kind of reputation did He have?

DEFY AUTHORITY: This covers every area of life - parent/child, law, boss, head, God.

ACCEPTANCE: inside of me I tend to say, “Don't I have a right to get my acceptance needs met in others?” I have spent much of my life trying to milk acceptance from others. "Oh! PLEASE accept me!" But I am not to look to the world or to others for my acceptance. There is a big difference between WANTING other's acceptance and NEEDING it. I am accepted by God totally and completely in the Lord Jesus. If I spend my time trying to get my acceptance needs met in others, I will not look to God as my need-meeter.

WILL OF GOD: At times I tend to believe that God has shown me His will, and I come to believe I know exactly what God wants, but it all falls apart. I have presumed to know precisely what God wants. Often the enemy will give a stone and will try to convince me that it is bread and I conclude, "Look what God has given me!" But God did not give it. It came from the enemy. It is not the real thing. When I find out it is a stone and not bread, I become angry with God, but God did not do it.

HAPPY HOME: I NEED a neat, clean orderly home to be happy. Therefore, kids make your beds, clean your rooms, put your toys away.

PROBLEMS, DIFFICULTIES: I tend to think bad things happen to others. I believe good things mean God is blessing me, and bad things mean He is angry with me. As long as I am in this world I am potentially subject to every tragedy and difficulty that could happen. The difference is how I respond. Sometimes that is the only witness I will have to the world.

TAKING OFFENSE: I cannot offend a humble person. If I am humble I cannot be offended. A humble person can never be told anything about himself that he does not already know. When offenses come I need to keep short accounts by forgiving.

REAPING WHAT I SOW: I will reap what I sow. I want to do what I want to do, but I do not want to reap what I have sown. I may even confess my actions as sin. Many times God has kept me from reaping what I have sown, but He does not have to do so.

BE RIGHT: I must have the last word to verify my position. I need to admit that I do and can make wrong decisions, instead of functioning as if everything I do is right.

BE LOVED: Do I want love? Yes! Do I have a right to be loved? No! However, God does love me.

VISIBLE SECURITY: Land, possessions, money, stocks, bonds. It may be necessary for God to withhold any visible security so I will have to trust Him totally. It is too easy to trust what He has given instead of Him.

USED OF GOD: I want to be used of God, but I do not see Him using me. Why He does not use me is not the real issue, which is why should He use me? Who am I that He should use me? God does not have to use anybody. If I did not praise Him, the rocks would! I may not be ready for His use.

SEE RESULTS: God may lead me to do something and I want to see the results of my labors. The Word says that some plant the seed, some water, but the harvest is the Lord's. But I want to be in on the harvest.

DEMAND FROM GOD: The only right I have is the right to the Lord Jesus and all that He is. This has been given to me. It is not a right I earned. It is not a right I deserve. It is a right that was given to me through the act of salvation, through receiving the Lord Jesus as my Lord. And in that salvation I got Him and all that He is. Therefore, I function in the strength of Christ - - all that He is in me.

Evidence of brokenness, God's unconditional love

The Evidence of Brokenness

   Brokenness is evident when the believer no longer reacts with his previous flesh patterns when the following rights are challenged:

All of my rights have been surrendered.

I am willing to be out of control.

I am not believing in or living by feelings or old patterns, but by Christ within.

I am obedient out of a love motive because I want to, not because I have to.

I am not performing for God but I am actively letting Christ perform in and through me.

I am willing to fail.

I am willing to be weak.

I have a sense of total inadequacy in self-strength (2 Corinthians 3:5).

I have a sense of adequacy in Christ through His strength (Philippians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 3:6).

I recognize God's power in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:10).

I am depending upon Christ to meet my basic inner needs: acceptance, meaning and purpose, identity, power over sin, strength and victory.

I am trusting God whatever and resting in Him even with external turmoil.

I am seeking Christ Himself more than His benefits.

I am forgiving of all (Ephesians 4:32).

I am willing to be rejected.

I am transparent and willing to share failures.

I am vulnerable and willing to share failures.

There is a readiness to let others receive the credit.

There is genuine humility.

I am placing value upon those who have little or no value to myself.

There is a readiness to affirm (build up) others.

I am teachable.

I am willing to be misunderstood.

I am willing to be broken again.

I asked God to take away my pride and God said, "No." He said it was not for Him to take away but for me to give up.

I asked God to make my physical body whole, my handicapped child whole, and God said, "No." He said the body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience and God said, "No." He said patience is a by-product of tribulation. It isn't granted, it's earned.

I asked God to give me happiness and God said, "No." He said He gives His blessings. Happiness is up to me.

I asked God to spare me from pain and God said, "No." He said sufferings draw you apart from worldly cares and bring you closer to Him.

I asked God to make my spirit grow and God said, "No." He said I must grow on my own, but He will prune me to make me fruitful.

I asked God if He loved me, and God said, "Yes." He gave His only Son who died for me, and I will be in heaven someday because I believe.

I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me and God said, "Now, you finally have the right idea."

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me.

Psalm 138:8

TREASURES

One by one he took them from me,

All the things I valued most,

Until I was empty-handed.

Every glittering toy was lost.

Then I walked earth's highway grieving,

In my rags and poverty,

Till I heard my Lord inviting--

Lift your empty hands to me.

So, I held my hands toward heaven,

And He filled them with a store

Of His own transcendent riches,

Till they could contain no more.

Then, at last, I comprehended

With my feeble mind and dull

That God could not pour his riches

Into Hands Already Full.

(Author Unknown)

Blackmon, Selma, editor. The Exchanged Life News. Volume 3 Issue 8. February 23, 2003.

The principle, purpose, process and problem of brokenness

BROKENNESS

Principle

  God must break my outward man (soul and five senses of the body), so that the inward man (His Spirit) may be manifest through me; so that I may receive from Him and display His very life in me (II Corinthians 4:10).

  Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

  He who loves his life loses it: and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal

(John 12:24,25) Luke 17:35; Luke 9:23,24; Mark 8:35; Matthew 10:39

…There came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head (Mark 14:3).

  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (II Corinthians 4:7).

Purpose

  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). My Father has dedicated Himself to the task of conforming me to the image of Christ. He who began His good work in me will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

  I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection...and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:10).

  Now, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit (Romans 8:9); Let us also walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

  His purpose is to allow the Holy Spirit to control my mind, will, and emotion. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our mortal flesh (II Corinthians 4:11).

Process

  But his wife, from behind him, looked back; and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). What has become life to me? I continue to use my old ways of satisfying my need for love and acceptance, but God desires that I look to Him as my Source, and for Him to supply all my needs. God lovingly begins to draw me unto Himself and away from my false gods, object of trust, or idols, from which I seek to get my needs supplied.

  The instruments God can use in my life are: husband or wife, father or son, mother or daughter, friend, boss, health, finances, etc. Often He allows something in my life that my flesh cannot handle or control in order to break me. He will allow my old ways not to work (we are all reluctant to give up on our old ways that have worked for us). He wants me to turn from leaning on the trustworthiness of my talent, my attractive appearance, my spiritual gift, my intelligence, my position, my popularity, my good job, my financial security, my good marriage, my obedient kids…these can give me a sense of security and significance.

  God has to allow some of the all things of Romans 8:28 to come in to my life. He never causes it, but He allows it, and His purpose is love. He is totally committed to my well-being. The all things are designed to bring me (the believer) to the end of my self-sufficiency.

  I enter into a relationship of oneness with Him; I am a participant in the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants me in a loving, dependent relationship. He hates independence. He spends the rest of my life getting my walk and my talk congruent with His: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:3).

  This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me (Matthew 15:8). I must be willing for God to show me the truth about myself. I can be prideful, rebellious, and stubborn, and refuse to repent, or I can humbly bow my head and say, Yes, Lord.

  Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Yes, Lord: You know that I love You (John 21: 15-17).

  Lord, with You, I am ready to go both to prison and to death (Luke 22:33).

  …And he wept bitterly…(Luke 22:56-62).

  He always had the very nature of God but He did not think that by force He should try to become equal with God. Of His own free will He gave it all up and took the very nature of a servant. He was willing to have no rights of His own. He went humbly to the cross. There He was broken for me (Philippians 2:5-8).

Problem

  Jonah 4

Resources

Lifetime Guarantee, Bill Gillham,  pages 167-186

The Calvary Road, Roy  Hession, pages 21-26

Born Crucified, L.E. Maxwell, page 87

The Release of the Spirit, Watchman Nee

The Handbook to Happiness, Charles Solomon, pages 34, 35, 81

The Ins and Out of Rejection, Charles Solomon, pages 154-171

Brokenness, audio tapes, Dr. Charles Stanley

Blackmon, Selma, editor. The Exchanged Life News.

What is Brokenness?

BLESSED BROKENNESS

He sat by a fire of sevenfold heat

As He watched by the precious ore,

And closer He bent with a searching gaze

As He heated more and more.

He knew He had ore that could stand the test,

And He wanted the finest gold

To mold as a crown for the King to wear;

Set with gems of price untold.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,

Though we fain would have said Him, "Nay,"

And He watched the dross that we had not seen,

And it melted the past away.

And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,

And our eyes were filled with tears.

We saw but the fire, not the Master's hand,

And questioned with anxious fears.

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow

As it mirrored a form above

That bent o'er the fire, though unseen by us,

With a look of ineffable love.

Can we think that it pleases His loving heart

To cause us a moment's pain?

Ah, no! But He saw through the present cross

The bliss of eternal gain.

So He waited there with a watchful eye,

With a love that is strong and sure,

And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat

Than was needed to make it pure.

Author unknown poem transcribed from audio "Brokenness" by Dr. Charles Stanley

The Evidence of Brokenness

   Brokenness is evident when the believer no longer reacts with his previous flesh patterns when the following rights are challenged:

His right to possessions.

His right to a good reputation.

His right to have acceptance.

His right to be successful.

His right to have pleasant circumstances.

His right to presume on the will of God.

His right to life itself.

His right to beauty or strength.

His right to have friends.

His right to be heard.

His right to take up offense.

His right to avoid reaping from what he sows.

His right to be right.

His right to see results.

His right to be loved by others.

His right ______(fill in the blank)_____________.

His right ______(fill in the blank)_____________.

Are you secure? Are you significant?

   What would make you feel secure? What would make you feel significant?

Security – A sense of belonging, unconditional love, acceptance, connectedness, and protectedness.

Significance – A sense of value, importance, identity and separateness.

   We were created with certain needs. Needs that only God can meet. When I attempt to do it “my way,” I am acting in the flesh or as the old man or old nature.

   God is love. He designed you and me to need love so we would need HIM.

   Knowing nothing of God, but needing to be loved, we tried to “milk” our need-supply out of people. Little kids, being totally self-centered, learn about themselves from the feedback they get from others: They do not learn about others. If Mom doesn’t hug them, they learn “I’m unlovely,” not “Mom has difficulty expressing physical affection.”

   Our emotions began to be programmed by reacting to our belief system. We began to develop habit patterns that are programmed into our brain, patterns of thinking (mind), choosing (will), and feeling (emotions). These flesh patterns are currently how we get our needs meet our way.

“The women's needs can be summarized as the need for security… The men's needs can be summarized as the need for significance…”. His Needs, Her Needs, Willard Harley

   Trying to meet these needs within our own strength will only result in frustration. In our own strength, we are too empty and needy ourselves to be able to meet anyone else's needs.  Romans 8:6; 2 Corinthians 5:16

Source of Life Where Do I Look?

Tree of Life or Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?

Genesis 2:8-9 “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Genesis 2:15-17 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’”

Genesis 3:5-6 “’For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it…”

Genesis 3:22 “And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’” (NIV)

Secure Forever

Philippians 4:19; John 7:38-39

Additional Material

"Lifetime Guarantee" Bill Gillham

"The Ins and Out of Rejection" Charles R. Solomon

“The Search For Significance” Robert S. McGee

“The Reach of God’s Love” audio MD 146  1996 Dr. Charles Stanley

“Toxic Love” Malcolm Smith

“Overcoming the Flesh”  6 audio  Gillham

http://www.ficm.org

http://www.intouch.org

"Hiding Places" audio Patsy Clairmont, Focus on Family C5875 13351

Blackmon, Selma, editor. The Exchanged Life News. Volume 3 Issue 5. February 2, 2003.

Who am I? My identity

I am not a sinner in the hands of an angry God

I am a saint who sins in the hands of a loving God

I cannot consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with my self-perception.

John 1:12; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 3:26; 4:6; 1 Peter 2:9,10;1 John 3:1-3

WHO AM I?

Old: I am unworthy. I am unacceptable.

New: I am accepted and worthy. Romans 15:7

    "Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God"

Psalms 139:13-18    "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

Old: I am a fearful/anxious person.

New: I am free from fear.

Psalm 34:4 "I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

II Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

I Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

I John 4:18-19a "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he (God/Jesus) first loved us."

Old: I am a weak person.

New: I am strong in Christ.

Daniel 11:32b "...but the people who know their God will firmly resist him."

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Old: I am not very smart.

New: I have God's wisdom.

Proverbs 2:6-8 "For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protect the way of his faithful ones."

I Corinthians 1:30 "It is because of him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

Old: I am unloved.

New: I am very loved.

John 15:9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I (Jesus Christ) loved you. Now remain in my love."

Romans 8:35-39 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ: Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine...? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angles nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Old: I am unwanted.

New: I am adopted by God and I am His Child.

Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ."

Galatians 4:5-7 "..that you might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."

Ephesians 1:5 "he (God) predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will"

Old: I am depressed and hopeless.

New: I have all the hope I need.

Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Psalm 16:11 "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Psalm 27:13-14 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in this land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”

Old: I am alone.

New: I am never alone.

Hebrews 13:5-6/Deuteronomy 31:6"...because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

    "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels no demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Old: I have no one to take care of me.

New: I am protected and safe.

Psalm 32:7-11 "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you...  but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!"

Psalm 27:1-6 "The Lord is my light and my salvation -  whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?...One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple...I will sing and make music to the Lord."

WE BECOME WHAT WE FOCUS ON!

WHAT AM I LOOKING AT TODAY?

WHAT AM I FOCUSING ON TODAY?

WHAT WILL I BE LIKE TOMORROW?

Jesus is the truth

(John 14:6)

the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth

(John 16:13)

the Word of God is truth (John 17:17)

we ought to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)

 

Additional Material

“Victory Over the Darkness” Neil T. Anderson

“How to Listen to God” Dr. Charles Stanley

http://www.ficm.org

http://www.intouch.org

“Wheel and Line” audio Dr. Charles Solomon

“Turkeys and Eagles” audio Peter Lord

Blackmon, Selma, editor. The Exchanged Life News.

Salvation -The Doors to Life

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any may hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20)

Salvation/The Doors to Life

Dr. Sid Collison

   What is salvation" Most Christians or those who understand the historical position would readily answer, "It is being saved, knowing Christ as your Savior, being born again; it is knowing that you are going to heaven when you die."

  You're right. It is all of the above. Those who are Christians, and most who claim to be, at least understand the concept of being born again. In fact, the terminology "born again" has become a popular term, particularly among some politicians at election time. The unregenerate, as well as the carnal Christian, will not hesitate to use the Christian identification at any time that it will promote the cause of the flesh.

  Of the hundreds of people that I have seen in my counseling ministry, the majority come to me with two very definite characteristics. First, they believe that they are saved, born again, Christians; and second, their lives are totally miserable and unhappy. Some come with anxiety, hostility, panic attacks, eating disorders, lust problems, demonic activity, thought of suicide, having attempted suicide, marriages that are disintegrating, and overwhelming depression. In other words, all of the things that are happening in the world are happening to the Christian or those who think that they are Christians.

  Have you ever wondered, "Is this the way life is supposed to be for one who is a child of God?" No! I believe the answer is found by understanding what the scripture means by the word "Salvation."

  LOOK WITH ME NOW AT THE “THREE DOORS OF SALVATION.”

The Three doors of salvation: Savior, Lord and Life.

  The Hebrew and Greek words for salvation set forth the ideas of deliverance, security, preservation, healing, and soundness. Salvation is the great inclusive word of the Gospel setting forth the redemptive acts and processes of justification, redemption, grace, forgiveness, and sanctification, just to name a few. Salvation is in three tenses or doors. Each door opens as the key of faith is used (Ephesians 2:9, Revelations 3:20) and once through the door, it closes behind the believer and is never opened again as God is faithful to His word.

DOOR ONE: JESUS AS SAVIOR

  The believer is saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, he is "born again." Once the believer accepts Christ, he is eternally secure. He knows the Savior and is a "new creature in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17, Luke 7:50, 1 Corinthians 1:8, John 3:1-21). Many try to teach that this is the end of God's program for man and that when a man is born again there is no further need. If that is true, then why are so many who know the Savior so unhappy and unfulfilled? The answer may be found in understanding what is meant by Paul's admonition to the Philippians to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

DOOR TWO: JESUS AS LORD

  The believer is being saved from the habit and the dominion of sin. He is accepting Jesus as Lord and Master (Romans 6:14, Romans 12:1, Philippians 1:19, Philippians 2:12,13, 2 Thessalonians 2:13)

DOOR THREE: JESUS AS LIFE

  The believer is in the process of being brought into conformity to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, Romans 13:11, Hebrews 10:36, 1 Peter 1:5, 1 John 3:2)

  Only as the believer comes into the fullness of his identity with Christ and the "Exchanged Life" will his life take on the abundance of the supernatural blessings the Lord has intended for His children (Galatians 5:22-25).

Copyright 1996-1998 by RAB Tech and/or Life Exchange Ministry

Blackmon, Selma, editor. The Exchanged Life News. Volume 3 Issue 2. January 12, 2003.