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You can type www.DarienGabriel.com to get to my most active blog. My Xanga is www.Xanga.com/neirad where I'll also be hanging out. | | |
| I have often struggled with the concept of commitment when I see the word surrender in Scripture so much more often. Well this guys hits the nail on the head in his article on this topic. Enjoy! dg
COMMITMENT, PLUS SURRENDER
By David Kemper
How many times have you made a commitment to God…your spouse…a friend…a student…your ministry…with a statement that starts with "I"? "I will be there for you." "I will change that about myself." "I will…I won't…I will never again…" You get the idea.
This year has been, and continues to be, a hard one for me. You see, I had chiseled the thought into my being that "life in Christ is going to be downhill once I reach fifty." This is the year - I'm turning fifty in a few months! Time has flown by.
It has all seemed uphill from my adolescence: married at 18, first son at 19, buying a house at 20, growing up with a wife and four sons, entering the ministry at 25, paying bills, finally finishing seminary, growing a youth ministry, graduating sons from high school, paying college tuition, graduating sons from college, marrying off three sons, seeing weight gain and gray hair, launching new ministries, ever-changing student culture, disappointments, laughing with friends, crying with loved ones, relatives dying, grandchildren born, just Cheryl and I in the house, ministry going well…you get the idea.
My belief was that after "all of that," life would be easy from there on out. Wow, did I buy into a wrong assumption!
Today, I am standing on a hilltop that is made of life's stuff, full of "I will's." As I look back, I must admit, a deep center of pride oozes into my thoughts. I feel affirmed that I have accomplished much!
Then the battle starts to rage within. Life in Christ is not "I's" tied to my accomplishments and commitments. It is "Christ in me," along with a broken and surrendered heart. It is both commitment and surrender. Life in Christ is not about what I have done. It is all about what Christ has done in and through me. It has taken years to learn this! I have not arrived as of yet, but I have tasted it along the way. And it is good! We just forget how good it tastes.
On top of my "hill," I look forward to the next 20-30 years. I envision a landscape of higher hills that will become mountains with cliffs and precipitous overhangs. There will be more hurting people, broken families, students shipwrecking their lives, and people without Christ.
I imagine a very rugged mountain. Our Father will break my heart. I will come to my knees and agree with Him that I can not just be committed to the trek that is laid out before me. I must be surrendered. My "I's" turn to "Lord, I'm here again; I am here for You. Each moment of the day as I serve is only by Your supply of Your grace to me." This is truth!
Dan Webster puts it this way in regards to the truth about Commitment and Surrender:
-- Commitment challenges us to a higher level of determination. Surrender calls us to yield our soul to God's higher purposes.
-- Commitment is me saying that I'll do better. Surrender is giving up and allowing God to do His work through me.
-- Commitment is my best effort. Surrender is God's competency working through me.
-- Commitment is writing big impressive verbal checks. Surrender unleashes the grace to cash them.
-- Commitment is me working for Christ. Surrender is Christ working through me.1
To get from commitment to surrender we must cross the bridge of brokenness. A 17th Century Puritan writer, John Flavel said: "We need to be broken of the 'self' survival mode of living."2
Let your self be shattered! When we are weak, He is strong. We might be shattered, but we are not scattered. Our Father is there, holding us up, changing us, adding Himself to us, and rebuilding us. The challenge is to be real with yourself and God.
God desires that we look up to Him with open face and say, "Here I am and I am here for you." The Hebrew word for this is Hineni. Take a moment and look up Psalm 40:7, Isaiah 58:9, and Hebrews 10:7.
Hineni means: "I am ready, Lord. I'll go if you send me. I'm listening, Lord, tell me what You want me to know." It is a complete trust in the rebuilding process.
-- "Abraham!" God said."Hineni," he replied."Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there."Isaac said to Abraham, "Father? Hineni?""The fire and the wood are here, where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"
-- God Called Moses from the bush that was burning: "Moses, Moses!" And Moses said, "Hineni."
-- A voice called in the night. The child Samuel gave an answer; "Hineni - what do you want?"
-- "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Me?" said the voice from the midst of the throne. Isaiah responded, "Hineni."
Substitute your name in place of the ones who went before you. How would you respond?
My prayer is this every morning: "Lord, here I am again. I'll go if you send me. I'm listening, Lord. Tell me what you would have me know."
I did not always pray like this. I have learned that when you break down your life in Christ to its simplest form, it is the marriage of commitment and surrender in Christ. It is listening to what we need to know about who we are, and how He changes us to be used in His service. It is being real, and having complete, absolute trust in the rebuilding process.
It's Hineni!
(footnotes)
1 Dan Webster, Real Deal, p. 106. Authentic Leadership, Inc., 2000.
2 John Flavel , Writings of John Flavel, Vol. 4, p. 67. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1976.
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David serves as the NNYM Regional Coordinator for New England. He is also the founder and president of Life Bridge Inc., a campus outreach to at-risk teens in New Hampshire, and he serves as an associate pastor of youth ministry development at First Congregational Church in Center Ossipee, NH. David and Cheryl have been married for 31 years. They have four grown sons, three of whom are married, and four grandchildren. | | |
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Hindu gods, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, New Age -- are they all the same?
By Marilyn Adamson
We all want to make it through life with some degree of success, some sense that we did it right. And if others think they know how life can be satisfying, even meaningful, it's at least worth checking out. What about the major world religions? Is there anything in them that would give our lives greater stability and value?
The following is an opportunity to look into the major world faith systems...Hinduism, New Age, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.* Included is a brief description of each, its distinguishing characteristics, and what a person can gain from each. The author then presents for your consideration the ways in which Jesus' teaching differs from the world's religions.
*Each of these systems has sects with differing beliefs. The description given here focuses on the heart of that system. Other major religions, such as Judaism, could be discussed, but for brevity, we have chosen these.
Hinduism Most Hindus worship one Being of ultimate oneness (Brahman) through infinite representations of gods and goddesses, over 300,000 of them. These various manifestations of gods and goddesses become incarnate within idols, temples, gurus, rivers, animals, etc.
Hindus see their position in this present life as based on their actions in a previous life. If their behavior before was evil, they might experience tremendous hardships in this life. A Hindu's goal is to become free from the law of karma...to be free from continuous reincarnations.
There are three possible ways to end this cycle of karma: 1. Be lovingly devoted to any of the Hindu gods or goddesses; 2. Grow in knowledge through meditation of Brahman (oneness)...to realize that circumstances in life are not real, that selfhood is an illusion and only Brahman is real; 3. Be dedicated to various religious ceremonies and rites.
In Hinduism, a person has the freedom to choose how to work toward spiritual perfection. Hinduism also has a possible explanation for the suffering and evil in the world. According to Hinduism, the suffering anyone experiences, whether it is sickness or starvation or a disaster, is due that person because of their own evil actions, usually from a previous lifetime. Only the soul matters which will one day be free of the cycle of rebirths and be at rest.
New Age New Age promotes the development of the person's own power or divinity. When referring to God, a follower of New Age is not talking about a transcendent, personal God who created the universe, but is referring to a higher consciousness within themselves. A person in New Age would see themselves as God, the cosmos, the universe. In fact, everything that the person sees, hears, feels or imagines is to be considered divine.
Highly eclectic, New Age presents itself as a collection of ancient spiritual traditions. It acknowledges many gods and goddesses, as in Hinduism. The Earth is viewed as the source of all spirituality, and has its own intelligence, emotions and deity. But superseding all is self. Self is the originator, controller and God of all. There is no reality outside of what the person determines.
New Age teaches a wide array of eastern mysticism and spiritual, metaphysical and psychic techniques, such as breathing exercises, chanting, drumming, meditating...to develop an altered consciousness and one's own divinity.
Anything negative a person experiences (failures, sadness, anger, selfishness, hurt) is considered an illusion. Believing themselves to be completely sovereign over their life, nothing about their life is wrong, negative or painful. Eventually a person develops spiritually to the degree that there is no objective, external reality. A person, becoming a god, creates their own reality.
Buddhism Buddhists do not worship any gods or God. People outside of Buddhism often think that Buddhists worship the Buddha. However, the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) never claimed to be divine, but rather he is viewed by Buddhists as having attained what they are also striving to attain, which is spiritual enlightenment and, with it, freedom from the continuous cycle of life and death. Most Buddhists believe a person has countless rebirths, which inevitably include suffering. A Buddhist seeks to end these rebirths. Buddhists believe it is a person's cravings, aversion and delusion that cause these rebirths. Therefore, the goal of a Buddhist is to purify one's heart and to let go of all yearnings toward sensual desires and the attachment to oneself.
Buddhists follow a list of religious principles and very dedicated meditation. When a Buddhist meditates it is not the same as praying or focusing on a god, it is more of a self-discipline. Through practiced meditation a person may reach Nirvana -- "the blowing out" of the flame of desire.
Buddhism provides something that is true of most world religions: disciplines, values and directives that a person may want to live by.
Islam Muslims believe there is the one almighty God, named Allah, who is infinitely superior to and transcendent from humankind. Allah is viewed as the creator of the universe and the source of all good and all evil. Everything that happens is Allah's will. He is a powerful and strict judge, who will be merciful toward followers depending on the sufficiency of their life's good works and religious devotion. A follower's relationship with Allah is as a servant to Allah.
Though a Muslim honors several prophets, Muhammad is considered the last prophet and his words and lifestyle are that person's authority. To be a Muslim, one has to follow five religious duties: 1. Repeat a creed about Allah and Muhammad; 2. Recite certain prayers in Arabic five times a day; 3. Give to the needy; 4. One month each year, fast from food, drink, sex and smoking from sunrise to sunset; 5. Pilgrimage once in one's lifetime to worship at a shrine in Mecca. At death -- based on one's faithfulness to these duties -- a Muslim hopes to enter Paradise, a place of sensual pleasure. If not, they will be eternally punished in hell.
For many people, Islam matches their expectations about religion and deity. Islam teaches that there is one supreme God, who is worshiped through good deeds and disciplined religious rituals. After death a person is rewarded or punished according to their religious devotion.
Christianity -- faith in Jesus Christ Christians believe in a loving God who has revealed himself and can be personally known in this life. With Jesus Christ, the person's focus is not on religious rituals or performing good works, but on enjoying a relationship with God and growing to know him better.
Faith in Jesus Christ himself, not just in his teachings, is how the Christian experiences joy and a meaningful life. In his life on Earth, Jesus did not identify himself as a prophet pointing to God or as a teacher of enlightenment. Rather, Jesus claimed to be God in human form. He performed miracles, forgave people of their sin and said that anyone who believed in him would have eternal life. He made statements like, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."1
Christians regard the Bible as God's written message to humankind. In addition to its being an historical record of Jesus' life and miracles, the Bible reveals God's personality, his love and truth, and how one can have a relationship with him.
Whatever circumstances a Christian is dealing with in their life, they can confidently turn to a wise and powerful God who genuinely loves them. They believe that God answers prayer and that life takes on meaning as they live to honor him.
Is there a difference?In looking at these major belief systems and their views of God, we find tremendous diversity:
- Hindus believe in 300,000 gods.
- Buddhists say there is no deity.
- New Age followers believe they are God.
- Muslims believe in a powerful but unknowable God.
- Christians believe in a God who is loving and approachable.
Are all religions worshiping the same God? Let's consider that. New Age teaches that everyone should come to center on a cosmic consciousness, but it would require Islam to give up their one God, Hinduism to give up their numerous gods, and Buddhism to establish that there is a God.
The world's major religions (Hinduism, New Age, Buddhism, Islam, following Jesus Christ) are each quite unique. And of these one affirms that there is a personal, loving God who can be known, now in this life. Jesus Christ spoke of a God who welcomes us into a relationship with him and comes along side us as a comforter, counselor and powerful God who loves us.
In Hinduism a person is on their own trying to gain release from karma. In New Age a person is working at their own divinity. In Buddhism it is an individual quest at being free from desire. And in Islam, the individual follows religious laws for the sake of paradise after death. In Jesus' teaching, you see a personal relationship with a personal God -- a relationship that carries over into the next life.
Can a person connect with God in this life?The answer is yes. Not only can you connect with God, you also can know that you are fully accepted and loved by God.
Many world religions place an individual on their own, striving for spiritual perfection. Buddha, for example, never claimed sinlessness. Muhammad also admitted that he was in need of forgiveness. "No matter how wise, no matter how gifted, no matter how influential other prophets, gurus, and teachers might be, they had the presence of mind to know that they were imperfect just like the rest of us."2
Jesus Christ, however, never alluded to any personal sin. Instead, Jesus forgave people of their sin and he wants to forgive us of our sin also. We all are aware of our faults, the areas of our lives that may cause others to think less of us, areas that we ourselves wish were not there...maybe it's an addiction, a bad temper, impurity, hateful remarks. God loves us but hates sin, and he has said that the consequence for sin is separation from knowing him. But God provided a way for us to be forgiven and know him. Jesus, the Son of God, God in human form, took all of our sin on himself, suffered on a cross, and willingly died in our place. The Bible says, "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us."3
God is offering us complete forgiveness because of Jesus' death for us. This means forgiveness for all our sins...past, present and future. Jesus paid for them all. God, who created the universe, loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us. "This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."4
Through Christ, God offers us real freedom from our sin and guilt. He does not leave a person's failures on their shoulders, with a dim hope of becoming a better person tomorrow. In Jesus Christ, God reached toward humanity, providing a way for us to know him. "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life."5
God wants us to know him.
We were created by God to live in relationship with him. Jesus said, "He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty...and whoever comes to me I will never drive away."6 Jesus called people not only to follow his teachings, but to follow him. He said, "I am the way, and the truth and the life."7 In claiming to be the truth, Christ goes beyond mere prophets and teachers who simply said they were speaking the truth.8
Jesus identified himself as equal to God, and even gave proof. Jesus said that he would be crucified on a cross and that three days after his death, he would come back to life. He didn't say he would reincarnate someday into a future life. (Who would know if he actually did it?) He said three days after being buried he would show himself alive to those who saw his crucifixion. On that third day, Jesus' tomb was found empty and many people testified that they saw him alive again. He now offers eternal life to us.
It's a two-way relationship.Many religions focus on a person's spiritual efforts. With Jesus Christ it's a two-way interaction between you and God. He welcomes us to go to him. "The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth."9 You can communicate with God, who will answer your prayer, give you greater peace and joy, provide direction, show you his love, and transform your life. Jesus said, "I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly."10 It will not mean that life will become perfect and free of problems. But it means that in the midst of life, you can relate to God who is willing to be involved in your life and faithful in his love.
This is not a commitment to a method of self-improvement like the Eight Fold Path or the Five Pillars, or meditation, or good works or even the Ten Commandments. These seem clear, well-defined, easy-to-follow paths for spirituality. But they become a burdensome striving for perfection, and connection with God is still distant. Our hope is not in following laws or standards, but in knowing a Savior who fully accepts us because of our faith in him and his sacrifice for us. We don't earn our place in heaven by religious efforts or good deeds. Heaven is a free gift to us, when we begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Would you like to be totally forgiven and personally come to know God's love for you?
Beginning a relationship with God.
You can begin a relationship with God right now. It is as simple as sincerely asking God for his forgiveness of your sin and inviting him to enter your life. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him."11 Would like to begin a relationship with the God who created you, who deeply loves you? You can do so right now, if it is your heart's desire: "God, I ask you to forgive me and invite you to enter my heart right now. Thank you Jesus for dying for my sins. Thank you for coming into my life as you said you would."
The Bible tells us that "as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God."12 If you sincerely asked God to come into your life, you have begun a personal relationship with him. It is like you have just met God and he wants to help you grow to know him better, to know his love for you, to guide you with wisdom in whatever decisions confront you. The book called "John" in the Bible is a good place to learn more about a relationship with God. Perhaps you might want to tell someone else about the decision you have made to ask Jesus into your life.
In the world's religions a person has a relationship with teachings, ideas, paths, rituals. Through Jesus, a person can have a relationship with the loving and powerful God. You can talk with him and he will guide you in this life now. He doesn't just point you to a path, a philosophy. He welcomes you to know him, to experience joy, and to have confidence in his love in the midst of life's challenges. "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God."13
 I just asked Jesus into my life (some helpful information follows)...
I may want to ask Jesus into my life, please explain this more fully...
I have a question...
{1} John 8:12
{2} Erwin W. Lutzer, Christ Among Other Gods (Chicago: Moody Press,1994), p. 63
{3} 1 John 3:16
{4} 1 John 4:9
{5} John 3:16
{6} John 6:35
{7} John 14:6
{8} Lutzer, p. 106
{9} Psalms 145:18
{10} John 10:10
{11} Revelation 3:20
{12} John 1:12
{13} 1 John 3:1
For more information on world religions, you might find this link helpful: World Religions Index.
Email this page to a friend
How to begin a relationship with God
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Great thoughts for us today. dg
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Mercy In Me
“ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’”
Matthew 9:13
When Jesus says, “Go and find out what this means…,” I would think that we would have run right out and figured that out. We would put that at the top of our priority list. But I haven’t heard many instructions at all on what He might have meant when He quoted this verse from Hosea 6. So maybe we should look into it.
What does it mean when it says, “I desire mercy”? Well, it obviously doesn’t mean He desires for us to show Him mercy. That would be totally unnecessary since He’s perfect. It can’t mean that He desires to show us mercy because He already has. So, it must mean that He desires for us to show others mercy. And He desires that more than sacrifices.
So what are “sacrifices”? Well, by definition, they are “acts of offering to a deity something precious.” They are the things we give up to the Lord. In the Bible, they were a part of worship. They were an important part of our relationship with God. Today they might be our confessions or our songs.
Does this mean that God desires us to actively love each other more than He wants us to sing our songs? I found the answer was “yes”, and that was bad news for me. You see, I know how to sing songs. Loving other people is a little more difficult. And I know that I get my new CDs, put them in the car’s CD changer and drive past the homeless. I call it worshipping, but God sees me ignoring the needs of His children. I give Him an hour in the morning but can’t stop to listen to someone who’s hurting.
So this devotional is short and simple. “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth,” 1 John 3:18. Songs are great, but God is honored more when we love those around us. Now rather than reading any more, just go do it. And rather than writing any more, I’m going to just go do it.
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Isaiah 6
I grew up in the church. So I know the Sunday School definition for “holy”; it means “set apart.” But what does that mean? How does that affect my understanding of the Lord? Well, it lets me know that I can’t completely comprehend Him; He is “other.” He is something completely different than me. When I was younger, my understanding was that He was perfect. I was good, and He was perfectly good. I was truthful, and He was perfectly truthful. I was loving and He was perfectly loving. I thought He was the perfection of me. But that’s not true. He is “set apart”; He is completely different.
So what happens when I encounter something completely “other”? Well, Isaiah gives us a good idea in chapter 6. Isaiah sees the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe fills the temple. Isaiah’s response to seeing Holiness is fear and remorse. At that moment, He realizes the depth of His own sin. When we truly experience the Lord, we first understand our complete depravity. We realize the absolute poverty of our spiritual state. And this confession leads to a relationship. This recognition of our desperate need leads to our asking for help, which is the only path to the riches that await us. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Understanding our sin leads to grieving over our sin. We don’t do that much in our culture. I read about it in my favorite book (other than the Bible, of course). In Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis focuses on grieving over our sins, or as he refers to it, compunction of heart. “It is a marvel how any man can be merry in this life if he considers well how far he is in exile out of his own country, and in how great peril his soul stands daily. But because of frivolity of heart and carelessness, we do not feel and we will not feel the sorrow of our own soul, and oftentimes we laugh when we ought rather to mourn.” Isaiah cries out, “Woe to me, for I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips!” A true experience with God’s holiness always leads to brokenness and repentance. But it is this grieving that leads to our comfort. “A broken and contrite heart He will not despise.” “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
God’s response to our confession and contrition is our cleansing. He is responsible for our perfection, not us. We cannot accomplish our salvation. God sends His angel to Isaiah with the coal to cleanse his lips. God is the owner and originator of our cleansing. Nor can we make ourselves useful. For it is only after Isaiah’s cleansing that He is available for use. Isaiah cries out, “Here am I. Send me!”
A human encounter with holiness is devastating. It refuses to allow us to be impressed with the things of the world we’ve been chasing. It refuses to allow us to remain comfortable in our sin. It refuses to allow us to remain on the throne of our lives. And it leads us to a relationship with the only One who can perfectly love us, who can forgive all our sins, and who can make us into His likeness. Our encounter with His holiness is our devastation. And our devastation is our salvation.
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