Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. — Philippians 3:12-16
As we fully surrender our lives to Him, a wonderful facet of the jewel of His Grace begins to manifest in our lives: clarity.
Yeah, life starts to come into focus. We begin to see that it is really only about One: Jesus. Everything else begins to fade. And as we seek only His kingdom and righteousness, He adds to us a single-minded ability to now operate as His agent in this crazy, fallen and mixed-up world.
Mother Teresa lived in this power and wrote the following:
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends
and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find Joy and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be Joyful and happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.
But HOW do we do all this?
The process of getting to this place in our lives can be painful. In fact, it most certainly will be painful if it is to be proven true in the battle-trenches of our earthly existence.
My story is only one of many, but maybe the sharing of it will help give a sense of what G_d can do in a fully surrendered life. And how quickly He can bring us into a single-minded, loving focus on Himself.
I got ‘saved’ at a Billy Graham crusade in 1974. Lived sincerely as a believer, went to Bible college, became a licensed minister, went on the mission field, worked in the marketplace… actually had nominal ‘success’ in my activities (ministry, work, family, wife, finances, etc.).
One thing that was surely lacking was absolute surrender to Christ, and beginning the earnest process of dying to self.
Shortening a 35-year story… Chemical and sexual addiction slowly dominated my life and the whole thing crashed big-time (family, job, freedom, health, finances, etc. all ruined). And all the way through it all – from childhood – I literally lived in a state of high-anxiety, stress, emotional pain, and abject fear of eternity. Everything about life was hard. Like swimming through molasses.
Then, on or about 7 November 2010, I went through a 30-day catharsis. First, was true and ABSOLUTE surrender to Him, followed by an intense period of emotional pain and ending with a dreadful/wonderful vision.
As I back-filled my abandoned self-identity with what the Bible says i am in Christ (about 80+ things right?), all the pain, fear, doubt, anxiety – ALL of it – went away beloved reader. He did it!
Right now (“now”), in Him, there is absolutely no fear, no pain, no doubt, no worry, no anxiety… There is only Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and even self-control. Well, yeah, there’s more: clarity, courage, power, purpose, wonder, and more… i’m loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving others seemingly without effort. He is really Good! (i’m guessing many of you already know this). All this falls short of what is actually going on in my spirit… but perhaps this makes the point well enough.
So, what happened?
One solid Christian counselor gave me this insight:
- “Laying aside the possibility that you are enjoying the wonders of having gone stark raving mad, I would surmise that you have come to understand that you are utterly one with Christ. One thing is certain, which ever case it may be, do not attempt to understand. Oneness with the Lord is inexplicable. Further, do not look for a cure!”
Where am i going with this? Simple. The only way we can become single-minded about our faith is to surrender our mind to Him. And in that surrender, take on the very mind of Christ, that we might think only like Him – and then do only as He would do.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. — 1 Corinthians 2:15-16
